591 



oil leakage into fishing waters which cling to all fishing gear, not 

 only damaging gear but discouraging a catch. Bark from trees 

 stored in the waters are creating irreparable acidity damage. It is a 

 common sight to see blemishes on the surface of herring and 

 salmon, a disintegration of food quality right before our eyes. 



The forest is our provider through its rich life in plants and ani- 

 mals. Through the forest we have materials for food, medicines, he- 

 raldic poles, canoes for transportation, paddles to motivate the 

 canoes, tools, baskets, and boxes for storage of food, clothing and 

 other valuables, as well as gaff hooks, herring rakes, smokehouse 

 firewood for food preservation, household firewood for heat and 

 protection. The forest is an intricate part of the ecosystem which, 

 when upset, affects all the other major parts. Disintegration of one 

 part of the ecosystem will cause continued and uncontrolled imbal- 

 ance in the balance of nature from which our successful existence 

 has been based. We witness hundreds of hunters invade our island 

 every hunting season and with them the massacre of deer. The 

 State of Alaska has declared an emergency closure of brown bear 

 hunting on Chichagof Island due to the detrimental effects of the 

 sport hunter invasion. 



There are five logging camps on North Chichagof Island today, 

 each one bulging at the seams now that the USFS is beefing up its 

 harvest operations as fast as they can while Congress is fumbling 

 to grasp the reins of sound management. Daily we see barge after 

 barge importing heavy equipment and living facilities for the log- 

 ging operations, barges that run right through both local fisher- 

 men's long-line and crab line operations. 



The $40 million subsidy must be deterred from the timber indus- 

 try subsidy and be mandated for multi use of these lands to provide 

 land protection and opportunity for public usage and benefit. The 

 Hoonah Indian Association urges protection of traditional and cus- 

 tomary land usage. The land and its people cannot be separated. It 

 is our responsibility and commitment to co-exist and speak for the 

 land and the rich life it supports. 



If the Senate subcommittee has not done so already, please take 

 this as an official invitation to set aside time to fly over North Chi- 

 chagof Island to see firsthand the destruction that U.S. mismanage- 

 ment of our forests has caused. It would be a shame and a waste of 

 money to come all the way from Washington, D.C. and not view 

 the very purpose of these hearings. 



Thank you. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you. 



Mr. Bean. 



STATEMENT OF RICHARD BEAN, JR. 



Mr. Bean. My name is Richard Bean, Jr. I am Tlinget from the 

 T-tudxtdientaan clan in Hoonah, Alaska, a Tlinget village on Chi- 

 chagof Island in southeast Alaska. I subsist on commercial fish for 

 a living. 



I would like to urge the Senate subcommittee to help pass Sena- 

 tor Wirth's bill, S. 346. Senator Murkowski's bill does not do enough 

 to protect Tongass old growth, rain forests, and the salmon rivers. 



