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CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON THE TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST 

 SITKA, ALASKA APRIL 25, 1989 



TESTIMONY OF: 

 GORDON J. WILLIAMS 

 BOX 7, ANGOON, ALASKA 99820 



REPRESENTING THE ALASKA TROLLERS ASSOCIATION 



Senators, staff members: My name is Gordon Williams. I am a 

 third generation resident of southeast Alaska, having lived 

 here for all of my 38 years. I am a commercial fisherman, and 

 a sport, subsistence, and recreational user of the Tongass 

 Forest and its resources. I am here today on behalf of the 

 Alaska Trollers Association (ATA), a major fishermen's 

 organization here in southeast which represents commercial 

 salmon trollers. ATA has a history of concern with Tongass 

 management because this forest provides the vast majority of 

 the spawning and rearing areas for the salmon species upon 

 which we depend. We continue to ask for meaningful Tongass 

 reform not out of spite for another industry in southeast 

 Alaska, but out of genuine belief that the long term 

 detrimental effects of current Tongass management will 

 severely impact our industry. 



The key word in the discussion of the effects of large scale 

 clearcut logging on our fisheries resources is the word 

 "cumulative. " While there have been some rather large obvious 

 impacts, it is the accumulation of the multitude of smaller 

 more subtle effects of habitat alteration that will have the 

 greatest negative impacts on fisheries resources. Actions with 

 regard to protecting the environment are too often knee-jerk 

 reactions to catastrophic events. There is no "Exxon-Valdez" 

 aground in the Tongass, but without changes in direction, we 

 in Southeast Alaska may face habitat degradation which will 

 have comparable long term effects on our salmon resources. 

 It's just happening at a slower pace. 



The old growth forest provides for successful salmon spawning 

 and rearing in many, many ways. Among these are a canopy for 

 protection against temperature extremes, good ground cover to 

 control erosion and protect against flooding, provision of 

 nutrients to the streams, and provision of large woody debris 

 in streams at a natural rate to control stream flows and 

 provide spawning areas. Old growth forest habitat provides the 

 crucial combination of these elements that will sustain 

 healthy levels of salmon production and survival. 



Second growth forests do not provide this balance. Research 

 shows that while at one stage or another of the second growth 

 process productivity might actually be increased, it is 

 usually a rather short term gain which is soon more that 

 offset by the negative impacts of succeding stages. 



