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what is needed to provide even a modest income for themselves and 

 their families. The Longshoremen throughout Alaska, the last 4 or 5 

 years, have tried to earn a living based on 800 to 1000 hours. It is 

 impossible for us to believe that any cutback in work opportunities would 

 be to our memberships' benefit, specifically those Longshoremen 

 working in the ports of Ketchikan, Metlakatia, Klawock, Pelican, Sitka, 

 Wrangeli and Juneau. 



Many of are members are native Alaskans and would be required to look 

 for other sources of income, such as in the fishing industry, to provide a 

 living. With the problems in the oil industry today those jobs may also 

 be drastically effected, for some time to come if not permanently, 

 because of the oil spill in Valdez. 



It doesn't make sense, to those of us in the I.L.W.U., to support Senator 

 Wirth's position to control and/or reduce the allowable cut, when 

 approximately 40 to 60% of the timber that is harvested is literally rotting 

 standing up. To support Senator Murkowski and Senator Stevens 

 position to replace the forest with healthier more productive trees, does 

 make sense. 



With the suggested 1 .7 million acre increase in the wilderness area, to a 

 total of 7.2 million acres, and increase the amount of timber that is 

 literally dying or rotting standing up, would be a total loss of a very 

 valuable resource. It surely isn't logical in the fact that it is a marketable 

 resource which also effects a lot of jobs throughout the Southeast 

 portion of the State of Alaska. 



