636 



Like any good business we must be able to project and prepare 

 for the future. My local business, my logging operation, as well as 

 Ketchikan Pulp, has based our future on the promise of this 

 timber. Without it Ketchikan is at stake, pulp is at stake, and 

 without them our future is at stake. 



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



Mr. Burns. 



STATEMENT OF TED BURNS 



Mr. Burns. Thank you for this opportunity. I am Ted Burns and 

 a partner in a private industry in southeast Alaska and my com- 

 munication products serves the logging industry. Everjrthing is sup- 

 ported in some manner by the timber industry in southeast Alaska 

 as well as everyone in Alaska is affected by the timber industry in 

 some form. 



I do support our Alaskan senators in Washington, D.C. They rep- 

 resent Alaska and the only voice in Washington, D.C. that are 

 qualified to speak for Alaska and Alaskans on issues of state, na- 

 tional, and natural resources. 



I was reminded this morning of the beautiful garden that sur- 

 vived and flourished with cultivation and pruning. I do know you 

 cannot make a cake simply by reading a cook book or a garden by 

 reading a magazine, nor can natural resources be managed by 

 words. It takes work. 



I do appreciate your interest in preserving the natural resources. 

 However, as you said, Senator Wirth, Americans are awakened to 

 their natural resources. Most Americans are surprised that Alaska 

 is a state. Alaskans are Americans too and we have not been asleep 

 all of this time. 



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



That brings the hearing to a close. 



Senator Murkowski, everyone wants to thank you again for your 

 hospitality and that of all Alaskans. We thank the residents of 

 Sitka. 



I thank all of the witnesses for both their patience and their un- 

 derstanding. We have scheduled an enormously productive hearing 

 and I think the best of the hearings on this issue came from Alaska 

 and I think is by far the best they ever had. 



Senator Murkowski. I would like to congratulate you on the 

 manner in which you conducted this hearing. There were some dif- 

 ficult conditions, but we heard over 100 witnesses here. We certain- 

 ly thank the professional staff and my colleague from Montana, 

 Senator Burns, and I want to conclude my part by saying that we 

 respect your views and, hopefully, a compromise can be achieved. I 

 am committed to represent those of you who want to maintain the 

 lifestyle you have become accustomed to, and the reason you live 

 here. I realize that that in and of itself is a contradiction but that 

 is the way the process has to work. I am pleased to work with you 

 and my good friend over here. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you very much, Frank, and I want to also 

 add a word of thanks to the court reporter, who has done such a 

 thorough, complete, and exhausting job. We thank you all for 

 coming. 



