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Senator Wirth. Mr. Prefontaine. 



STATEMENT OF ED PREFONTAINE 



Mr. Prefontaine. I am Ed Prefontaine, I am the Manager for 

 High and Dry Building and Plaster, and it is owned by my oldest 

 son. 



I will skip over the creation of additional wilderness areas at the 

 request of minute but very vocal groups. Creation of a wilderness 

 area automatically condemns the land to non-use. It does not make 

 it a single-use lands; it is non-use; it then becomes a public liability 

 which only a select few taxpayers can enjoy. 



The long term timber contracts should not be canceled in total. 

 The honesty and integrity of the government demands this. These 

 are not Indian Treaties. These contracts were made in good faith to 

 the American people and they should not be abrogated. 



The Forest Service and Timber Industries in the Tongass areas 

 are staffed by competent and successful foresters and engineers. 

 We do not need interference by persons or groups that have no fi- 

 nancial stake locally. In short let them stay at home and tend to 

 their own affairs. 



A well-managed forest on a sustained yield basis is to be pre- 

 ferred to urban decay, ghettos, drugs and street gangs, et cetera. 

 Consider a moment a bathroom without toilet tissue or a school- 

 room without pencil and paper. Is preserving a decaying forest 

 worth these privileges? 



The welfare rate of participants in the Tongass Forest Industry 

 sets an enviable national record. If we lock up our forests we are 

 going to go on welfare. 



Thank you. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you, Mr. Prefontaine. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Prefontaine follows:] 



