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City and Borough of Sitka 



304 LAKE STREET. SITKA, ALASKA. 99835 



TESTIMONY OF MAYOR JOHN DAPCEVICH 



CITY & BOROUGH OF SITKA 



AGAINST THE WIRTH BILL • 



BEFORE THE SENATE ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE 



OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE 



AT SITKA, ALASKA, APRIL 25, 1989 



Mr. Chairman, my name is John Dapcevich. I am the Mayor of the 

 City and Borough of Sitka. I am also a sixty year resident of Southeast 

 Alaska, and a life long Democrat. I was a member of the Southeast 

 Conference Task Force, which has reviewed Tongass legislation and made a 

 reconmiendation to Congress and the Governor. 



Sitka 

 residents and 



is the most beautiful city in Alaska. We have 8,500 

 a diversified economy consisting of timber, fishing, 

 tourism, and education. We want to maintain that diversity. We also want 

 the federal government to keep its word on maintaining the jobs of timber 

 workers in exchange for wilderness. 



To begin with, I would like to give a historical preface to show 

 how we arrived at the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act 

 (ANILCA) in 1980. 



Prior to World War II, Alaska was a sparsely inhabited Territory 

 with less than 70,000 residents, mostly Natives. Juneau and Ketchikan 

 were the two largest cities with approximately 5,000 and 4,000 persons, 

 respectively. Sitka's population was under 2,000. 



Southeast Alaska's main economy was made up of fishing, mining, 

 and tourism. The timber industry was small, with a smattering of sawmills 

 throughout Southeast Alaska. These mills produced nothing for export. 



