409 



CITY OF PORT ALEXANDER 



P.O. Box 8725 Port Alexander. .AK 99836 909/568-2211 



25 April 1989 



STATEMENT OF MARK J. KIRCHHOFF, REPRESENTING THE CITY OF PORT 

 ALEXANDER, ALASKA, BEFORE THE SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC 

 LANDS AND NATIONAL PARKS AND FORESTS, PERTAINING TO TONGASS 

 TIMBER REFORM LEGISLATION. 



My Name is Mark Kirchhoff. I'm here today representing the City of Port 



Alexander. Port Alexander is a small fishing community of 128 people located on 

 the southern end of Baranof Island. I've lived in Port Alexander since 1976, and 

 from 1986 to 1988 I served as Port Alexander's mayor. 



The City of Port Alexander is very dissatisfied with current management of xhe 

 Tongass. As a community strongly dependent on commercial fishing and the 

 subsistence harvest of wild fish and game, we see our lifestyle and livelihoods 

 jeopardized by the level of clearcutting taking place across the Tongass. With 

 every passing year, tens of thousands of acres of valuable, productive fish and 

 wildlife habitat are replaced with relatively sterile second growth. Forest Service 

 and Alaska Department of Fish and Game research has shown that over the long 

 term, this pattern will result in decreased production of fish and wildlife from our 

 forests. 



Port Alexander was one of the first communities in southeast Alaska to ask for 

 changes in how the Tongass is managed. In 1984, the city council unanimously 

 passed a resolution calling for the repeal of the '450" timber supply goal contained 

 in the Alaska Lands Act. With the "450" written into law, the Forest Service has 

 little flexibility to change or delete harvest units, stay out of important fish and 

 wildlife producing drainages, or otherwise meet the desires of local communities, 

 fishermen, sports hunters, or subsistence users of Southeast. 



Traditionally the small villages of southeast Alaska have been centered near areas 

 of abundant fish and wildlife. Now, many of these same areas are being 

 threatened by logging. We recognize the importance of the timber industry to the 

 southeast Alaska economy, and that it means jobs to the mill towns. There will be 

 many here today who will testify to that. But we also have to be concerned about 

 the of the region's economy. ^■■■■■■■^^■MMiMlBHHltali^HliMiii^M^'V 



m 



There are 



other important resources in the forest besides timber. That's why many other user 

 groups in the Tongass, including sixteen southeast Alaska communities, the 

 Sealaska Corporation, the Alaska Trollers Association, and the Alaska Territorial 

 Sportsmen, have called for reform. 



The question is, what kind of reform? The City of Port Alexander hasn't yet 

 endorsed any of the measures now before Congress. It is apparent, however, that 



