327 



We do printing from companies as far away as Cold Bay to An- 

 nette Island. This takes in the Tongass National Forest and is 120 

 miles wide by 500 miles long. 



The Tongass is very vast and rich in resources and can sustain 

 all the industries in harmony, such as fishing, timber, mining, visi- 

 tor and recreation. 



I feel that the government made a commitment by signing the 

 50-year lease and should uphold therein without cutting back any 

 of the timber yield any further. If there has to be a compromise 

 then I support Senator Ted Stevens and Senator Frank Murkow- 

 ski's bill. Frankly, Senator Wirth's bill is just not worth a damn. 



Let us Alaskans choose our own destiny. Lind Printing cannot 

 survive without the timber industry. 



Also attached is a letter from Alaska Women in Timber printed 

 on pulp made at Ketchikan Pulp Company, giving you the true 

 facts about logging on the Tongass. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you, Mr. Martin. 



Mr. Harbour. 



STATEMENT OF SEAN C. HARBOUR 



Mr. Harbour. My name is Sean Harbour and I am 22 and have 

 lived in Alaska all my life. I grew up in a logging camp and am 

 now employed at the Ketchikan Pulp Mill. I was raised with a 

 thorough grounding in the economics of timber harvest. 



A virgin forest is not paradise. In many areas widespread devas- 

 tation takes place naturally from a variety of sources, including 

 insect infestation of trees, forest fires and blowdown. Each of these 

 three factors accounts for a sizable loss in the forest each year. The 

 key word on the Tongass is harvest. The forest can naturally make 

 up for its annual losses from acts of God many times over. It is for 

 this reason that the idea of sustained yield harvesting is practica- 

 ble from an economic viewpoint. 



In 5 years' time a clearcut area has rebounded so far that it is 

 almost impossible to walk through the area. I have found that the 

 only practical means of traversing these areas is by following the 

 inevitable and numerous deer and bear trails that literally criss- 

 cross any section of the forest, clearout or otherwise. That is if you 

 like to crawl on your hands and knees. 



A principal fact of life is that for multiple use purposes the only 

 practical access to inland forest is via logging roads. 



The people of Alaska in conjunction with the United States Con- 

 gress worked hard to establish a viable year-round timber industry 

 that would attract and support permanent residents to further and 

 broaden the economic development of the state. I personally feel 

 that the limber industry is needed to provide an adequate income 

 for a large number of people, especially in view of the fact that I 

 was raised to believe that logging is an honorable and worthwhile 

 profession. I deeply resent the portrayal of the logger as an assas- 

 sin of the forest when what I know from personal experience is 

 that modern forest management practices not only provide wood 

 for today's forest product industries but will also provide for tomor- 

 row's on a perpetual basis and improve the health, quality and 

 amount of wood produced per acre, therefore improving our world- 



