630 



Senator Wirth. Thank you all of you. We appreciate that you 

 were here. 



The final group, Stretch Chatham, Russell Zeman, Nancy Elia- 

 son, Patricia Bickar, Chuck McGraw, and Ted Larsen. 



Mr. Chatham. [No response.] 



Mr. Zeman. 



STATEMENT OF RUSSELL ZEMAN 



Mr. Zeman. My name is Russell Zeman. I am the president of a 

 little logging company down in a place called Smith Cove, north- 

 west of Ketchikan. We have grown to approximately 70 people and 

 have 12 students in our little school which supports two school 

 teachers. 



Our business is directly dependent on timber. Timber is our only 

 renewable resource. I have been in this business for about 26 years, 

 the business of harvesting trees. I also like to hunt and fish. 



Like most of the loggers I know, we are not out there to destroy 

 the land. We go to a lot of trouble and a lot of expense to comply 

 with forest practices, which I have seen come a long way in the last 

 decade. 



My view as a logger is let us get some wood without destroying 

 the land in doing it. We have to live here too. 



Thank you and, Senator Murkowski, I support your bill. 



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



Ms. Eliason. 



STATEMENT OF NANCY ELIASON 



Ms. EuASON. Thank you for the opportunity to give oral testimo- 

 ny on Senate Bill 346. 



I am opposed to it and I support Senator Murkowski's bill, S.237. 



I am a retired public health nurse and, as such, I care about 

 people, specifically my friends and neighbors who live and work in 

 southeast Alaska, right in the midst of the Tongass National 

 Forest. 



The mills will be forced to close without a continued supply of 

 their raw material, putting people out of work. Because of our geo- 

 graphical location, it is not possible to find jobs in nearby towns. 

 People will have to move, but will be unable to sell their houses in 

 a depressed market. It also means pulling up stakes from the 

 places we have come to think of as home. For myself, on a fixed 

 income, I see a real budget crunch as prices rise because of less 

 volume and decreased demand. 



More important than the economic hardship that APC's closure 

 would have on Sitka, I am concerned with the immorality of my 

 government cancelling a contract that was entered into in good 

 faith. Essentially, my government is considering going back on its 

 word. I firmly believe that a government's word should be sacred. 

 Because of my recent retirement I have been bombarded with 

 advice about how to safely manage my money. The bottom line is 

 always, "U.S. Treasury bonds are the safest place to put money for 

 they are backed by the United States government." How can I 

 trust my government in one area if it breaks contracts in another? 



