423 



Senator Wirth. Thank you very much, Senator Eliason. 



Let me set the record straight. Yesterday, we had a number of 

 comments saying that people's livelihood was going to be destroyed, 

 jobs were going to be taken away, the whole economic fabric of 

 Southeast Alaska was going to fall apart. If the mills were forced 

 to close down, all of this would turn into wilderness, and the 

 timber industry would stop. There is no provision in the bill that 

 we force out A, B, C. There is no provision in the bill that says we 

 are going to shut down the timber industry. There is no provision 

 in the bill that says we are going to turn all of this into wilderness. 

 There is nothing in the bill that says that. 



I understand that there are a lot of individuals who like to get 

 people all riled up and excited and fearful. It reminds me a little 

 bit of Washington lobbyists who go around creating problems and 

 then go to their clients and say, "Hey, there is a problem out there. 

 I will solve it for you if you pay enough money." They are paid big 

 money, and then they go back and solve the problem. And we are 

 back where we started, with everybody a little worse for the wear. 



I think a good metaphor is the Chicken Little syndrome. If you 

 do this, the sky is going to fall in. I do not think there are many 

 unreasonable people who read this legislation who believe all of 

 these drastic things are going to happen. I do not make this com- 

 ment based on your testimony, Senator Eliason, it is just an obser- 

 vation by the Chair about this legislation. I am just preparing ev- 

 erybody for a lot of what we are going to hear probably later in the 

 day. 



Senator Eliason. May I respond to that? Well, I think that is a 

 trend that I have seen in the past. Like I say, it is just one step, in 

 my opinion, toward that goal, and if you step too far, you are going 

 to do that. 



Senator Wirth. One can believe that the trends are there and so 

 on that are going to transpire. I heard this morning that the trends 

 in the timber industry are just the opposite. Timber is getting 

 stronger rather than weaker. 



Now, Mayor Yost from Pelican. 



STATEMENT OF RUBIN YOST, MAYOR, PELICAN, AK 



Mr. Yost. Mr. Chairman, and members of the Subcommittee, I 

 am Rubin Yost. I am here today representing the City of Pelican, 

 which is a small fishing community located 70 miles up from Sitka. 

 I would like to thank the subcommittee for inviting me here to tes- 

 tify at this hearing. 



The City of Pelican supports Amendment Sections 705 and 706. 

 Pelican has a past resolution stating its opposition to 4.5 billion 

 board feet per decade timber supply goal. We passed a resolution 

 supporting the same amendments that are proposed in Senate 346. 

 We also call for permanent protection of the Lisianski River area. 

 The present council stands behind these resolutions, and I am in- 

 cluding copies of the resolutions in my written testimony.^ 



The Lisianski River is one of the top five pink salmon producing 

 rivers in Southeast Alaska. When you consider the importance of 



' Retained in subcommittee files. 



