511 



more a major visitor destination for them than Chonos Archipelago 

 in South America, a region with which we are all very familiar. 



We are the pioneers who grasped the opportunity that this last 

 frontier offered. We are the pioneers that many of our visitors 

 dream that they might have become. We are the loggers, the fish- 

 ermen, the miners, the shop keepers, the tradesmen who, for lack 

 of a better term, tamed this frontier and made it our homes. 



I believe that we have done this with a far greater respect than 

 history shows was accorded to other frontiers. We have protected 

 substantial areas, which will remain pristine and untouched for 

 Alaskans, today's visitors and for future generations. We have also 

 demonstrated effective husbandry of the resources we have har- 

 vested, be they growing from the land, swimming in the sea or 

 buried in the earth. We have inhabited a forest which exemplifies 

 the most extraordinary that nature can offer, while providing a 

 living to those with the courage, fortitude and the sensitivity to 

 endure. 



This is the attraction that is Southeast Alaska. 



This does not license us to plunder the resources that the Ton- 

 gass offers. It must go without saying that unregulated harvest of 

 timber within the Tongass will upset this frontier balance of wil- 

 derness and opportunity. However, the harvest of timber from 

 public lands within the Tongass is the most highly regulated 

 timber industry in the world. 



The organizations that represent the broadest base of visitor in- 

 dustry businesses in Alaska are the Alaska Visitors Association 

 and the Southeast Alaska Tourism Council. Neither feels that this 

 balance of wilderness and opportunity in the Tongass is in jeop- 

 ardy. Neither feels that the viability of the Tongass National 

 Forest as a visitor destination is threatened. 



Senator Murkowski's Senate Bill 237 assures the continuation of 

 this balance. Senator Wirth's Bill 346 does not. 



Thank you. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you very much, Mr. Ward. 



Next is Mr. Cronk. 



STATEMENT OF LESLIE A. CRONK, PORT MANAGER, SITKA, AK 



Mr. Cronk. My name is Les Cronk. I am Port Manager for 

 Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska as well as Southeast Stevedoring. 



The original intent of the long-term contracts issued by the U.S. 

 Forest Service was to attract investment to utilize the timber re- 

 source of the Tongass, provide jobs for U.S. citizens and subse- 

 quently establish a stable economic base for the communities locat- 

 ed here. This has been successful and today is largely responsible 

 for the infrastructure in Southeast Alaska that benefits almost 

 every aspect of the tourism industry. 



In 1988, 65 percent of all visitors to Southeast Alaska came via 

 cruise ships. These ships can bring visitors here because there are 

 facilities and services available that would not be here or would be 

 reduced without the year-around needs of the timber industry. 

 Some examples are docks constructed for the handling of forest 

 products: tug boats that assist cruise ships in docking and spend 

 their winters assisting log, lumber and pulp ships; marine pilots 



