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STATEMENT OF LEW M. WILLIAMS. JR.. PUBLISHER, KETCHIKAN 



DAILY NEWS 



Mr. Williams. My name is Lew Williams, Jr. I am Publisher of 

 the Ketchikan Daily News here. I have been running newspapers 

 in southeastern Alaska for 43 years now. I have served in local 

 public office, in civic organizations and on State Boards and Com- 

 missions. Currently I am a member of the State's Citizens Advisory 

 Commission on Federal Areas. 



I support the legislation before you today sponsored by Senator 

 Frank Murkowski and I oppose any legislation that would reduce 

 the harvest, sustained yield harvest in the national forest below 4.5 

 billion per decade. I oppose cancelling the long-term timber sales 

 and I oppose adding any acreage to the wilderness unless the revi- 

 sion of the Tongass Land Use Management Plan is completed and I 

 recognize of course your bill doesn t ask for wilderness but there 

 are some that do. 



As a member of the Citizen's Advisory Commission for the State 

 we have a briefing from the Forest Service on their revision and I 

 am very encouraged by it and I think they are going to like it and I 

 hope the committee will get a briefing before making any designa- 

 tion on any of the areas. 



Senator Murkowski's legislation probably is the most reasonable 

 approach because he grew up in Ketchikan. He served in the Coast 

 Guard in Sitka and he was a manager of a bank in Wrangell after 

 the war and he was Commissioner of Economic Development when 

 Walter Hickel was Governor of Alaska. 



The last time I testified before the Senator here in Ketchikan he 

 was Commissioner of Economic Development and our newspaper 

 had completed a long series promoting a beach log salvage legisla- 

 tion. It took us four years to get it through but we finally made it 

 so we are not anti cleaning up the environment. 



Murkowski's legislation as I understand it automatically repeals 

 the forty million a year to the Forest Service to make enough 

 timber available. My understanding is that for the last fiscal year 

 and the next one has already been incurred so I do not know if 

 that is necessary. 



The Southeastern Conference and other organizations have asked 

 that the forty million be continued and allowed to be used for other 

 things and I think that would be fine except that I do not think 

 more money is going to be forthcoming. As for the long-term 

 timber sales, there is only 10 years left on the KPC sale because 

 the next five-year plan, which carries up to 1994, had been ap- 

 proved. I think it would cost you more money and time to cancel 

 something that has 10 years left than it would be to carry it out. 



Keeping the harvest level at present is acceptable or I mean good 

 business because the Forest Service alone is going to pay — well, 

 Ketchikan Pulp Company is going to pay the Forest Service ten 

 million in stumage this year, which is a great increase. The other 

 mills will kick in a comparable amount and it will only cost twelve 

 and a half million to make a different sales program so I know that 

 you are going to begin getting money and it is a poor time to make 

 any changes. 



Thank you. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Williams follows:] 



