611 

 Senator Wirth. Ms. Bernard. 



STATEMENT OF MILDRED BERNARD 



Ms. Bernard. Thank you, Senators, for giving me the opportuni- 

 ty to address the Tongass bills before your committee. My name is 

 Millie Bernard. I moved to Sitka in 1975 and started work for 

 Alaska Pulp in 1979. 



You had better believe that I care about my job. I enjoy coming 

 to work. I am the head cook in the mill cafeteria and I serve about 

 75 hard-working persons every weekday. It makes me feel good to 

 have made a small part of their day enjoyable. 



You also better believe that I care about the other 400 mill em- 

 ployees, our loggers in the camps and the hundreds of Sitka resi- 

 dents and businesses that could be hurt by Senate Bill 346. The 50- 

 year contracts must not be cancelled. They are the backbone of our 

 industry. The contracts are the reasons the mills invested millions 

 of dollars in this land in the first place. They were not only con- 

 tracts with the pulp mills, I feel, but promises with the people of 

 southeast Alaska. Promises should not be broken. 



I support Senator Murkowski's Tongass Bill S. 237. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you. 



Mr. Loitz. 



STATEMENT OF LARRY LOITZ 



Mr. Lorrz. My name is Larry Loitz. I am a tour foreman at 

 Alaska Pulp Corporation. We moved to Sitka in the fall of 1959 

 when a plant closure due to pollution problems shut down the mill 

 in Shelton, Washington, forcing my father to seek other employ- 

 ment out of state. 



When I finished high school I went to work at APC in July, 1962. 

 That fall my parents left Sitka and returned to Shelton, Washing- 

 ton. I chose to stay and have been at the mill for the last 26 years 

 and eight months. My wife also has been employed at APC for the 

 past nine years, eight months. 



I am a lieutenant in the volunteer fire department and have 

 been a member for several years. APC and the fire department 

 have worked together on training and for years had a mutual aid 

 program. 



I own a 24 foot boat; I hunt, fish, camp, and have used the log- 

 ging roads for riding my snow machines. 



I recently purchased a home, and am planning to have it paid for 

 by the time I reach retirement. 



I feel if the mill were closed due to Tongass bills, I would lose 

 everything I worked for and be forced to leave my home, as my 

 father did, to seek emplojonent elsewhere. 



Therefore, I support Senator Murkowski's Senate Bill 237. 



Thank you. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you, Mr. Loitz. 



Pat Sarvela. 



