112 



view suggests a large 

 at a I ou cost i 



Furthermore) the contracts must be renegotiated to reflect tree market 

 realities. As R. Neil 5ampson> Executive Vice President of tl-ie 

 American Forestry Association* said in testimony before the House > 

 dictating the management of any national forest by federal legislation 

 is doomed to failure. The furor of the Tongass debate proves that. 



Uith regard to the Timber Supply Fund ue feel that the USFS in south- 

 east Alaska should be ful ly funded to 1) bui Id roads that access some 

 of the timber stands that are not in sensitive areasi 2) have 

 fisheries biologists in the field to influence logging activities and 

 3) continue research into ways that logging can occur uith minimal 

 impacts on salmon habitat! in other uords> to do a good Job of 

 managing the forest. To the extent that the supply fund meets these 

 goals ue uou I d hope to see it continue. Houever > ue are auare that 

 efforts are ongoing to divert some of these funds into an economic 

 diversification loan program that could benefit increased production 

 of commercial fishing. Ue Support these efforts to promote economic 

 d i ver s i f i cat i on . 



The total ex-vessel value earnings contributed by the commercial 

 salmon fishing industry to the southeast region betueen 1978 and 1986 

 was $38D million. These are only the dollars paid to the fishermen 

 and don't take into account the value of the seafood processing 

 industry and its employment benefits) nor does it reflect the benefits 

 as those dol lars trickle through the rest of the economy. Ue are 

 clearly a major contributor to our region's economy and a renewable 

 resource industry that has been a staluart of the regional economy 

 since the turn of the century. Uith good stewardship and protection 

 of spawning habitat uh i I e timber is being harvested; ue uill continue 

 to be a healthy industry into the 21st century and beyond. This is 

 supported by a recent survey (see reference below) that shoued a 

 majority of southeast residents believe commercial fishing to be the 

 most important industry to the future. 



The timber industry is also an important source of renewable resource 

 income in southeast Alaska and aluays will be. Our interest is not to 

 pu.t our friends and neighbors Out of uork but rather ue want the 

 Forest Service to provide adequate protection of fish rearing and 

 spawning habitat which is critical to the survival of the fishing 

 i ndust ry . 



