540 



Senator Wirth. I think I know what you are saying. As I under- 

 stand you, if the bill were to cancel those long-term contracts, 

 would terminate those long-term contracts, that you would not the 

 next day close down the mill? 



Mr. RoppEL. That is correct. 



Senator Wirth. A final question. Do you expect that you will 

 remain here after the 50-year contract runs out? 



Mr. RoppEL. Let us see, I am 52 years old. We have another 20 

 years to go. Whether I will be or are you speaking of the plant? 



Senator Wirth. APC. 



Mr. RoppEL. Well, I hope so, and we have not thought about that 

 far down the road, but we have a good strong market for this now 

 and they will still need paper products. I think so. I think we could 

 renew our contract or do something different. 



Senator Wirth. Now, you operate under the standard kind of 

 contract that the Forest Service makes in other forests, the five- 

 year contracts. Why did you use a 50-year contract rather than a 

 five-year contract on the Tongass? 



Mr. RoppEL. At the time that contract was made, no one would 

 come into Alaska. 



Senator Wirth. We are looking at today. 



Mr. RoppEL. At today? We probably would not need a 50-year 

 contract. You would probably not need one. You could probably 

 build it with a 20-year, or 15-year, 25-year contract in a pulp mill. 



Senator Wirth. Why do you need a 15 to 25-year contract when 

 every other contract on the national forests is five years to eight 

 years? 



Mr. RoppEL. If you look at where new pulp mills are being built, 

 they have an active timber supply. I can tell you that the track 

 record of the timber availability on the Tongass leads me to believe 

 that, without some sort of guaranteed contract, the Federal Gov- 

 ernment is not to be relied upon to supply that timber on a regular 

 basis for as long as you need to pay off that mill. You are looking 

 at a 20- to 25-year recovery in the pulp operation. 



Senator Wirth. When are you planning to replace this mill? 



Mr. RoppEL. Right now we have no total replacement plans in 

 mind. 



Senator Wirth. When does it have to be replaced; what is a 

 useful time of the plant? 



Mr. RoppEL. We have been putting as much as $4 million, to this 

 year, as much as $22 million, $23 million a year into upgrading the 

 plant as we go along. We keep it modern as we go, rather than 

 shut down the workings of it and replace it. But if that is neces- 

 sary, we will have to do that too. 



Senator Wirth. Mr. Roppel, thank you very much. You are a 

 very good witness and you do a very good job explaining and advo- 

 cating your position, and I appreciate it, as I am sure does the com- 

 mittee. 



Now, any questions? 



Senator Murkowski. I just have a couple of follow-ups. If the 

 contracts were cancelled, would you seek damage against the Fed- 

 eral Government for breach of contract? 



Mr. RoppEL. Yes. 



