180 

 Senator Wirth. Mr. Gildersleeve. 



STATEMENT OF KEATUN GILDERSLEEVE 



Mr. Gildersleeve. Mr. Chairman and members of the Commit- 

 tee, my name is Keatun Gildersleeve and my family has been log- 

 ging in the Tongass National Forest for almost 40 years, except for 

 the time spent in the U.S. Military and college and commercial 

 fishing. I have spent my entire life in logging camps. My children 

 go to school in a camp school and many of our employees are the 

 sons and daughters of the original crew. 



With the changing markets and harvesting and labor, we have 

 chosen to reinvest in this industry each year and much — milling 

 capacity has changed several times, between harvesting and re- 

 source protection policies come and go. 



Most of the timber which surrounds our operations are not avail- 

 able for harvest, that which can be harvested is programmed to be 

 responsible to the sustained yield as mandated by Congress. The 

 evidence of the wisdom of that mandate can be seen in stands 

 which were clearcut by my father and now are approaching com- 

 mercially viable second growth. I see no evidence whatsoever that 

 our industry has had a negative impact on other resource uses. 



Commercial fish harvests are at a near-record level and King 

 populations are higher than when timber harvest began. Wildlife 

 populations of all kinds are heaviest in the areas of recent clear- 

 cuts and old timber. 



The State of Alaska will probably have 800,000 visitors this year; 

 tourism is an increasing operation over the years. 



People speak kindly of our contribution and understand that we 

 harvest a renewable resource and we do so with much less impact 

 on the environment than is the case with many industries. The 

 timber business is set to our way of life and a reduction in the 

 amount of timber available for harvest — we believe Senate Bill 346 

 can be directly translated into a loss of employment. Obviously the 

 proposed legislation would be sure to reduce the availability of em- 

 ployment and lowering capacity will withstand the next economic 

 downturn, we who live and work in the Tongass National Forest. 



You have my word that I will do nothing which would threaten 

 this diverse usage. I invite any committee member and any of your 

 staff to look at our operation. 



Thank you for coming and thank you for your time. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you very much, Mr. Gildersleeve. 



Ms. Coady. 



STATEMENT OF SALLY COADY, ALASKA WOMEN IN TIMBER 



Ms. Coady. Before I begin my testimony I would like to present 

 this petition supporting the bill. There are over seven hundred sig- 

 natures here representing the people of Tongass and Wrangell, 

 Hobart Bay, Thorne Bay, Hofman Cove and Lemesuirler Bay. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you very much. 



Ms. Coady. My name is Sally Coady, President of Alaska Women 

 in Timber. 



Our organization of 286 members work in support of the timber 

 industry through legislation, education and communication. 



