269 

 Senator Wirth. Mr. Bray. 



STATEMENT OF DAVID BRAY 



Mr. Bray. My name is David Bray and I am a member of the 

 United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters. I am not against logging since 

 my father worked in the local pulp mill for 26 years. What is both- 

 ering me is that a clearcut cannot be cleaned up by removing all 

 the slash. Why cannot logging equipment such as old cable, rusted 

 flywheels and drums be removed from the streambeds? Granted, 

 not all streams in a clearcut area have these problems. 



I realize it would cost extra money to do this but we as fisher- 

 men have to spend extra money to protect our resources. 



Whatever bill is adopted it should make the logging company 

 police their logging practices. 



All I am concerned about from a fisherman's point of view is pro- 

 tecting a resource that I make a living from. The fishermen have 

 given up a lot in terms of enhancing their resource, why cannot 

 the logging companies give a little in a form of a compromise and 

 those in recreation and 



Well, I recommend strong enforcement. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you very much, Mr. Bray a refreshing 

 statement. 



Mr. Connelly. 



STATEMENT OF STEVE CONNELLY 



Mr. Connelly. My name is Steve Connelly and I live and work 

 at Ketchikan Pulp at Thorne Bay on Prince of Wales Island year- 

 round. 



Senator Wirth, I am opposed to your bill because one way or an- 

 other it attempts to shut down our industry through contract can- 

 cellation and reducing our timber supply. 



After ANILCA agreement we thought a lasting compromise had 

 been reached and we could go to work with a secure timber base 

 and harvest levels. This was an agreement which put two-thirds of 

 the commercial forest land in wilderness or other non-harvest des- 

 ignations. 



These compromises may not shut us down or kill us initially but 

 they are surely killing us by half. 



Now you and preservation groups are back and want even more 

 of a small timber base upon which our livelihoods, families and 

 communities depend. We are tired of being told that we have to 

 sacrifice our productive lifestyle by other people with more wealth 

 and sophistication who will bear no part of the costs imposed on us. 



The men and women in the timber industry contribute to this 

 country by working hard and paying taxes and then they find that 

 their sustenance is not as important as that of an over-mature 

 forest of which eight million acres in the Tongass is already pre- 

 served. It's now apparent there is no effective counterbalance to 

 the environmental movement. Senator, I wish you would consider 

 people to be at least as important as fish and as deer. 



The real tragedy of legislation is that there is no crisis in the 

 Tongass Forest. Our timber industry is renewing a small portion of 

 a decaying forest through sustained yield forestry. Fish and wild- 



