280 



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

 Mr. Boyer? 



STATEMENT OF LAURIN BOYER 



Mr. Boyer. Gentlemen, I am glad to be here for the opportunity 

 to express my views on the Tongass Region. 



My name is Laurin Boyer, and I am an employee of the South- 

 east Stevedoring. I travel all over southeast Alaska with my work 

 and I love this area and have hunted, fished and trapped in it since 

 1952. 



I believe that logging using sound practices and sustained yield 

 should be taking place and thought of in much the same manner as 

 a farmer raising and harvesting crops. 



Any cut in the amount of timber harvesting would surely have 

 an impact on the economy of this area. 



My main concern is that decisions affecting our logging and econ- 

 omy are being made based on emotionalism, misrepresentation, ig- 

 norance and downright lies. 



At least three of the nation's leading magazines have had arti- 

 cles which are filled with examples of this. 



Comparing our self-reproducing forests to the tragedy happening 

 in Brazil's forests where massive areas are cleared by burning for 

 the growth of coca and other crops is the height of ignorance. 



I have heard logged areas compared to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

 To me they could be compared to a wheat field after harvesting 

 and I know from experience that after a few years new trees and 

 brush will grow up and make it a haven for deer, bear and other 

 wildlife. 



And save a 400-year-old tree? From what? It will soon be a pile of 

 rot. It could have been used to provide work to bolster our local 

 economy and reduce our nation's trade imbalance. 



My conclusion is that southeast Alaska is the victim of an emo- 

 tional minority who blindly serve their own self interests to their 

 own end and a government who still breaks treaties and agree- 

 ments as readily as they have done in the past. 



Our trees are a natural renewable resource and lets allow them 

 to be harvested following a sound management plan brought to- 

 gether by Alaskans for Alaskans. 



Thank you. [Applause.] 



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



Mr. Virgil Gile. 



STATEMENT OF VIRGIL GILE 



Mr. Gile. My name is Virgil Gile and I am a 30-year resident of 

 Alaska and I am representing the International Longshoremen and 

 Warehousemens Union Local 87. I am here to speak in support of 

 the Murkowski-Stevens Bill 237. 



The continual picking away at the timber industry in the Ton- 

 gass has caused a great amount of instability for the working 

 people of Alaska. The two pulp mills and their satellite sawmills 

 have given southeast Alaskans their first stable year around em- 

 ployment, which has been enjoyed by workers, families and the 



