328 



wide competitive standing without decreasing, indeed increasing, 

 our natural resource base. 



In conclusion I would like to state my support for Senator Mur- 

 kowski's bill as the best compromise available for the Tongass and 

 the Nation. 



Thank you. 



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



Senator Murkowski and Senator Burns, any questions? 



Senator Murkow^ski. Mr. Head, you indicated in your statement 

 on page two that you feel anyone exporting saw logs should be 

 banned from bidding on federal timber. The consequence of that 

 statement of course, addressing legislation that has been intro- 

 duced in the State of Oregon and I wonder if one can draw the con- 

 clusion from your statement that if you are a private owner of 

 timber that would preclude in your opinion the ability to bid on 

 federal timber; for what specific reason? 



Mr. Head. The biggest reason we saw was and now it is almost a 

 mute point because there has been so much export but we felt that 

 the biggest thing here is jobs. One of the biggest considerations is 

 that the— well, if it had manufacturing capabilities, we had to have 

 manufacturing facilities before export, that the demand for the 

 wood would still have been there, even after it was manufactured 

 but the jobs would have stayed in Alaska and so given us a better 



base to 



Senator Murkowski. Well, I know there is a good deal of debate 

 coming up. I know the Senator from Oregon is involved heavily 

 and the Federal Government does under Congress regulation have 

 the authority to prohibit the export of raw logs. I am not suggest- 

 ing that at this time but I was just interested in that portion of 

 your testimony. I can judge from that that your mill would be a 

 viable entity if you had more timber and you cannot use pulp, you 

 have to have saw logs? 



Mr. Head. Right. 



Senator Wirth. And saw logs are being exported currently? 



Mr. Head. We are not talking about the saw logs, we are talking 

 about all of Alaska if there are not any more restrictions on it we 

 should have enough to process for our sawmill. I am talking about 

 building facilities, other people building facilities, so there are 

 more people here of course. 



Senator Murkowski. Are you operating currently? 



Mr. Head. Yes. 



Senator Murkowski. Where are you getting your logs? Are you 



buying them? 

 Mr. Head. Yes. 

 Senator Murkowski. Now what do you do with your pulp, do you 



chip it? 



Mr. Head. No, we have never been able to negotiate a contract. 

 We are exporting it to Japan. 



Senator Wirth. Do you export the shipment direct? 



Mr. Head. Right. ^ u f vo 



Senator Wirth. Do they pay more than you can get here tor it.-* 

 Mr. Head. Right. 



Senator Wirth. Well, gentlemen, we thank you, the four of you 

 very much, we appreciate your being with us and your patience 



