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Mr. Bartholomew. 



STATEMENT OF LESLIE J. BARTHOLOMEW, PRESIDENT OF 

 GREATER KETCHIKAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 



Mr. Bartholomew. Thank you. My name is Leslie Bartholomew. 

 I am Vice President of Ireland Transfer and Storage and President 

 of the Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce. 



I was born and raised in the Tongass National Forest as were 

 four other generations of my family. I have had the opportunity to 

 witness first-hand the growth and development of our community 

 and region because of the existence of a large year-round forest 

 products industry. 



If you had been here thirty years ago, or even forty, you would 

 realize that our economy is not a base that can be supported by a 

 single industry. The timber industry has allowed us to expand and 

 I firmly believe it has had a positive effect. The number of support 

 businesses that have developed and flourished under a diverse eco- 

 nomic base are many. How many communities can you point to 

 with a population base as small as Ketchikan's that has jet service 

 six times a day, even in the winter months when there are no tour- 

 ists; large shopping centers; transportation companies offering mul- 

 tiple shipments per week; construction companies; superb profes- 

 sional corporations; a first-class health care facility and many 

 others. These businesses have prospered not only because of their 

 commitment to Ketchikan but because of a long-term commitment 

 by the forest products industry to our community. 



The tourist industry, which people so mistakenly believe can 

 carry us on a year-round basis, depends on the income derived 

 from permanent residents during the winter months in order to be 

 available for the tourist in the summer. No one can survive on a 

 five-month income; it could be tried but the welfare rolls can only 

 take so many people and without the taxes being paid by our busi- 

 nesses and industries the government would be hard pressed to pay 

 for the services required by the indigent. 



Our company has been in business in Ketchikan since 1919. We 

 have gone from operating a small fleet of trucks hauling groceries 

 from the old Alaska Steamship Dock, along with the ice for the 

 District at Creek Street, 181 to a large, modern facility and fleet 

 representing companies throughout the world in the movement of 

 household goods. Without our population base and the natural 

 desire of man to live in different parts of the world, we could kiss it 

 all goodbye. 



The Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce has been on 

 record since the beginning of its time in support of a strong forest 

 products industry. They key here is commerce, the wages of every 

 person in this community filter through Ketchikan many times 

 over. Every dollar paid by an employer moved from their bank to 

 the grocery store, for example, who then turns that dollar over to 

 their fuel oil supplier, who in turn gives it to their employee and so 

 on. Thirty percent of those dollars seems like an awful lot to lose; I 

 cannot imagine going back to the way we used to live. It was not a 

 bad way to live but it is not the way we live now. 



