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amount should be used to promote, protect and enhance commer- 

 cial, subsistence and sport fisheries, the wildlife and recreation re- 

 sources, in addition to other normal appropriations for these pur- 

 poses. The balance of intensive management funds should be used 

 to conduct precommercial thinning in young timber stands and, 

 under existing Forest Service criteria, to invest in the construction 

 of new facilities needed to access timber sale areas. 



The Southeast community compromise includes the placement of 

 12 areas in a special Congressionally protected status that would 

 permanently prohibit commercial timber harvesting. Less restric- 

 tive than wilderness, this status would allow other compatible mul- 

 tiple use activities as described in the Land Use Designation II cat- 

 egory of the 1979 forest plan. Areas which would receive special 

 permanent protection are Kadashan River, Chuck River, and Wind- 

 ham Bay, Yakutat Forelands, Lisianski and Upper Hoonah Sound, 

 Nutwa River, Karta River, Mt. Calder and Mt. Holbrook, Young 

 Lake, Outside Islands, Trap Bay, Goose Flats, and Berners Bay. 

 These special areas have been identified by communities as par- 

 ticularly important to them for subsistence, sport, and commercial 

 fishing, and the harvest of wildlife for subsistence and sport. These 

 high values are confirmed by our Department of Fish and Game. 



Communities understand that setting these areas aside from log- 

 ging will reduce the land base currently available to supply com- 

 mercial timber. It is important, therefore, that this impact be miti- 

 gated to the extent possible by the intensive forest management 

 program. According to the data available to us, these set-asides 

 would reduce the current 430 million board foot annual sale quan- 

 tity by 28 million board feet. This is about 6 percent of the average 

 amount to be made available annually in accordance with Section 

 705 (a) of ANILCA. We believe that this reduction will have little 

 effect on existing employment levels, but it is likely to impact po- 

 tential future jobs as the industry rebounds from its 1980-85 reces- 

 sion. Last year, 331.5 million board feet of saw timber was harvest- 

 ed from the Tongass Forest, or about three-quarters of the 450 mil- 

 lion board foot annual timber supply. This 1988 harvest, according 

 to published Forest Service estimates, directly supported 1,781 jobs 

 in the dependent timber industry and indirectly affected another 

 3,385 jobs in the support services. 



The Southeast compromise also recognized that the forest plan, 

 when revised, might also limit the available timber supply in pro- 

 viding appropriate protection to other resource values. Community 

 leaders and I know that there are such risks and uncertainties 

 with the compromise proposal. We believe, however, that there is 

 greater risk of adverse impact and the promise of renewed conflicts 

 inherent in legislation currently before the Congress. 



For many years, the primary objective of the Forest Service's 

 timber program in Southeast Alaska has been to provide communi- 

 ty stability and economic diversification. This has been a worth- 

 while objective but the focus of the program is timber. I believe 

 that Congress should now broaden this objective. 



The three major sectors of the economy in the southeast are com- 

 mercial fishing, tourism and timber. Hardrock mining is regaining 

 a major role in the region. The Southeast compromise recognizes 



