612 



STATEMENT OF PAT SARVELA 



Mr. Sarvela. I am Pat Sarvela. For 13 years I have been em- 

 ployed at the Alaska Pulp Corporation and have lived in Sitka for 

 42 years. 



I came to Sitka in 1946 after serving in the U.S. Army Nurse 

 Corps during World War II. My husband's family has lived in Sitka 

 for over 70 years and he and I have raised two sons here. 



When I first heard of the proposed plan for the mill I was appre- 

 hensive of the changes the new industry would bring, but having 

 lived through the changes I can only say from my personal per- 

 spective that I enjoy the better standard of living, including medi- 

 cal services, lower property tax, lower utility rates, better shop- 

 ping, and all the things that come from the improved economic 

 conditions that the mill has helped bring. 



Many young Sitka people, lately over 30 per year, are able to 

 continue their college education through the Aleiska Pulp Corpora- 

 tion summer hire program. 



I hope to financially be able to stay in the community after re- 

 tirement but if the Wirth bill were passed and the mill was not as- 

 sured of an adequate supply of logs they would be forced to close. I 

 am sure that would have a drastic effect on the economy of the 

 town. The pulp mill needs a long time guarantee of timber and we 

 need the mill. 



Although the idea of a sleepy little fishing village is appealing to 

 some, I would hate to see the economy of the town change so that I 

 cannot afford to spend my retirement years here. 



Senator Wirth. Mr. Furrow. 



STATEMENT OF FRANCIS J. FURROW 



Mr. Furrow. My name is Frank Furrow. I work at the pulp mill 

 and have lived in southeast Alaska for a couple of years. 



To shorten this, I am going to bypass part of my statement but I 

 do have some things that I would like to say. One of them is I did a 

 study of where the people of southeast Alaska chose to hunt. I ob- 

 served that most hunters prefer to hunt where there has been log- 

 ging activity. Of the areas with the highest hunting days there are 

 more than 90 miles of logging roads each. One of them happens to 

 be at Tetlahan after Fish Bay and back around that way and the 

 other one happens to be a unit up in Hoonah. Those areas are 

 highly logged. I think it is clear — we want more access, not more 

 wilderness. Wilderness that you cannot see and experience is like 

 sound to the deaf. 



Thank you for your concern. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Furrow follows:] 



