496 



Honorable Senator TimWirth 

 United States Senate 

 Washington, D.C 20510 



Dear Senator Wirth, 



The Sitka Fish and Game Advisory Ccnmittee is made up of a 17-member body 

 elected by the public to represent a cross-section of fish and game users 

 in the Sitka area. The primary responsibility of the Ccrmittee is to 

 advise the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on regulations to conserve 

 and enhance fish and game resources. It became obvious to the Ccrmittee 

 several years ago that adequate protection of fish and game necessitated 

 working with the United States Forest Service, to ccmrient on timber harvest 

 plans in an effort to modify these plans in the interest of wildlife, and 

 associated subsistence, conrtriercial , and recreational opportunities. 

 (Attachment.) 



We have studied the present issues and proposed legislation and have a 

 five-point ccrrment. 



1 . Wi Iderness - 



We are in favor of protecting several areas in our area of juris- 

 diction, such as Deep Bay, Finger Creek, tisianski River, and the 

 head of Hoonah Sound from logging and log dumps to protect fish and 

 wildlife habitat. Hcwever , we are not conv inced Wi I derness designation 

 should be the only method of protecting high-value recreation and 

 wildlife areas from logging. 



2. $1*0 million annual appropriation - 



We propose future annual appropriations be redirected to multiple 

 resource mitigation and enhancement, such as habitat improvement in 

 streams adversely affected by past logging (ie., Rodman Bay and 

 Katlian River), timber stand irrprovement , fisheries enhancement 

 projects (including hatcheries), subsistence research, and recreation 

 enhancement such as cabins and trails. 



3. 50-year contracts - 



We believe the 50-year Timber Contracts should be renegotiated to 

 reflect environmental concerns, updated silvaculture information, 

 mitigation for resources impacted by the timber harvest, and local 

 economic needs. 



It. 450 annual timber harvest goal - 



We believe the 450 million board foot annual timber harvest goal 

 should not be a predetermined political figure. We reccmrend that 

 the Forest Service be directed to redetermine by unbiased land 

 management planning the volime of timber that can be harvested on a 

 sustained-yield basis, which provides permanent habitat protection 

 to sustain and enhance the present populations of fish and wildlife. 

 The annual cut should reflect a comprehensive mix of market demand, 

 industry needs, environmental, and other resource protection 

 concerns. The mandated figure often unduly pressures managers to 

 compromise fish and wildlife values, subsistence, and recreational 

 opportunities to meet "mandates". 



(cont inued) 



