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Senator Burns and the members of the professional committee 

 staff of the Public Lands Subcommittee, I welcome you to Alaska 

 and, of course, to the City of Sitka. Both Ted Stevens and Don 

 Young regret that they are unable to be here today but the oil spill 

 disaster kind of spread our congressional delegation a little thin 

 and Ted and Don are touring the Cordova, Valdez, Seward, Homer 

 areas. 



Legislation affecting the future of the Tongass National Forest is 

 a subject vital to the people of Alaska, as the Chairman has al- 

 ready indicated, particularly those living here in Southeastern 

 Alaska. 



It is essential that Alaskans be heard before any legislative 

 changes are made affecting the management of the TongEiss. 



Chairman Wirth, as Acting Subcommittee Chairman, I thank 

 you. Senator Bennett Johnston, the Chairman of the full Commit- 

 tee, as well as Senator Dale Bumpers, the Subcommittee Chairman, 

 for holding these hearings. I also appreciate the courtesies that 

 have been extended to me as a non member of the Public Lands 

 Subcommittee. 



The Committee has before it two bills which would have radical- 

 ly different impacts on the Tongass, Senate Bill 346, introduced by 

 my colleague Senator Wirth and others, and Senate Bill 237, intro- 

 duced by myself and Senator Stevens. 



It is my belief that the Wirth bill would seriously cripple the 

 timber industry as we know it today. It would drastically reduce 

 the timber supply, abrogate our two pulp mill contracts, and force 

 the United States to walk away from a commitment made to the 

 people of Southeastern Alaska. I find it rather ironic and trouble- 

 some that at a time when Alaska is facing severe challenges to our 

 economic stability and our state budget disaster principally in 

 Prince William Sound that we are also facing a potential loss of 

 our timber industry and as much as 4,423 jobs and the life styles of 

 those Alaskans dependent upon it. 



Now, when we sort out the effects of the spill, exploration of 

 ANWR, as well as resale activity associated with Bristol Bay, we 

 are certainly off the screen. Exploration of ANWR and Resale 92 

 should not go forward until questions are resolved as to the ade- 

 quacy of containment and contingency plans and that they are 

 proven by actual testing. 



Further, it is significant, given the reality that we are here today 

 fighting for our state's only year-round manufacturing industry. 

 WTiy is it that some members of Congress want to shut down the 

 mills, the provider of jobs for three out of 10 residents in South- 

 eastern Alaska? We can reform management of the Tongass with- 

 out devastating the economy of Southeastern Alaska. That is what 

 the Tongass Land Management Plan or TLMP is all about, gather- 

 ing the input from all interests to make the management of the 

 Tongass National Forest more responsive to the concerns of all par- 

 ties. With all of the hearings and inputs from Alaskans already in 

 the record, and the TLMP report available this year or early next 

 year, I find it inconsistent that we move on legislation now before 

 considering the recommendations of the TLMP plan. 



Our bill, I feel, is a workable compromise and responds to reason- 

 able concerns about the Tongass management, which takes in the 



