394 



My colleague from Colorado wants to know why Alaska is differ- 

 ent, and we had better look in our own back yards, Senator. That is 

 why we are different. We are treated different right down the line 

 and I am a little sick and tired of it, but nevertheless that is the 

 price we have to pay. We are one of the newer states. When we 

 talked about the Western movement, that is the full history of the 

 exploration of the Western states and it is just too bad about it, 

 and we are going to try and change it. But I assure you it is not 

 easy because there are other states that say, "Hey, we do not want 

 your Western coal in the East that is free of some of the effects of 

 air pollution. No, we do not want that coal. We want Eastern coal. 

 'Why? Because they do not want to face the realities associated of 

 losing markets as we address who has got the cleanest coal. 



So, as we attempt to develop diversification in the State of 

 Alaska, people do not come to Alaska because they are in love with 

 it from the standpoint of buying our resources. They come simply 

 because they can make a return on their investment; we are either 

 competitive or we are not competitive. 



So, when you go to look at the timber industry, look at the fish- 

 ing industry. Tremendous amounts of money are expended, as they 

 should be, on the fishing industry because it is a renewable re- 

 sources, but so is the timber industry if it is appropriately man- 

 aged. 



So, I have been a little provoked from time to time, Mr. Chair- 

 man, as you can tell but, nevertheless, we have a job to do here to 

 try and work this thing out and I think the compromise is the obvi- 

 ous course we are going to follow and I think that the recommen- 

 dation from our governor and the Southeast Conference are right 

 on target. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you. Senator Murkowski. I notice that 

 you were saying that you were sick and tired of Alaska being treat- 

 ed differently, and I understand that and one of the things we 

 want to do, I think, is to make sure that Alaska is not treated dif- 

 ferently. 



The coal area, that is another area. It certainly would do well if 

 you and I agreed upon that. There were real discriminatory efforts 

 to take a shot at Alaskan oil in the last trade bill. We got together 

 on the floor of the Senate to try and eliminate that. 



I would like to ask the staff if we might also find out why only 

 3.7 billion board feet was in fact purchased. Was that because there 

 was no market for the other 800 million? I do not know and I think 

 we ought to know on that and have that recorded. In preparation 

 of that additional 800 million board feet, how much did it cost the 

 taxpayer to prepare for sale the timber for which there was no 

 market? It is part of the process. Governor, of looking at the subsi- 

 dies that are involved in all of this, the Federal funds in all of this. 



Let me also, if I might, before we get into the rest of the day, 

 focus a little bit on how much wilderness was created and how 

 much timber was created in 1980. Arguments have been made on 

 what price wilderness and I think that is a good question. I think 

 we ought to look at that. 



First of all, I should point out for the record that this has no par- 

 allel at all with Federal action on the redwoods. In the redwood 

 area, the Federal Government created a Redwood National Park 



