Legislature(1997 - 1998)
01/29/1998 01:25 PM House RES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SSHJR 49 - NAT'L FOREST ROAD-BUILDING MORATORIUM CO-CHAIRMAN HUDSON announced the next order of business was Sponsor Substitute for House Joint Resolution No. 49, Relating to opposition to a moratorium on the building of roads in the roadless areas of national forests. Number 0400 CO-CHAIRMAN HUDSON explained there was a committee substitute and asked for a motion to adopt it. Number 0407 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN made a motion to adopt proposed committee substitute for SSHJR 49, version 0-LS1402\B, Luckhaupt, 1/28/98, for discussion. There being no objection, it was before the committee. Number 0415 REPRESENTATIVE BILL WILLIAMS, sponsor of SSHJR 49, read the following statement into the record: "The Forest Service recently announced a sweeping two-year moratorium on development of 'roadless' areas of national forests. Although the announced 'land freeze' appears to have exempted the Tongass National Forest from the policy, that is not necessarily the case. "The public has 30 days to comment on the roadless policy, after which the Tongass could be included in the moratorium. Also, the Chief of the Forest Service, Mike Dombeck, has said that the final long term policy will apply to all forests. "The resolution speaks to the inappropriate manner in which the White House is dictating management of our national forests. The Forest Service has turned the public process upside down by announcing their policy first, then searching for scientific evidence to support their position and reaching out for public participation. "The resolution also speaks to the Tongass Land Management Plan. We spent over 10 years and $13 million dollars revising how we manage the Tongass. It would be wrong to come back later with unilateral amendments which alter the balance struck in the plan. "I urge your swift passage of the resolution, as the 30 day public comment clock is ticking." REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS stated there are a lot of things in the plan that have not been looked at, in particular, a socioeconomic study for the residents in Southeast Alaska. CO-CHAIRMAN HUDSON called on the first witness to testify. Number 0521 BUCK LINDEKUGEL, Conservation Director, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC), stated SEACC opposes the resolution. He explained SEACC was founded in 1970 as a coalition of 15 volunteer citizen groups in 12 different Southeast communities. The council is dedicated to preserving the integrity of Southeast Alaska's unsurpassed natural environment while providing for sustainable use of its remarkable resources. The council does not believe that the 1997 Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) is a reason to exempt it from the roadless policy. The forest service has failed to meaningfully consider a range of alternatives that address the needs of local communities in Southeast to protect the areas in terms of subsistence, recreation and commercial use of fish and wildlife. He cited the following areas: Cleveland Peninsula, Port Houghton/Cape Fanshaw, East Kuiu Island, Poison Cove/Ushk Bay, Upper Tenakee Inlet, and Castle River. The roadless area moratorium would not prejudge the ongoing TLMP appeal because there is a substantial amount of suitable and available timber scheduled under the plan within a mile of the existing road system. It would not require expensive or environmentally damaging roads. The council believes the forest service should adjust its timber planning activities to take advantage of providing the timber needs of the transforming timber industry in Southeast Alaska. MR. LINDEKUGEL cited in 1996 the industry cut only 100 million board feet (mmbf). In 1997 the industry cut about 109 mmbf. At the same time, the forest service authorized for export 113 mmbf of cedar, spruce and hemlock logs from the Tongass National Forest. There is plenty of timber in the pipeline that could be used by the industry as the forest service goes through its transformation. MR. LINDEKUGEL stated, in conclusion, a strong moratorium is consistent with SEACC's vision for the development of a new Tongass National Forest timber industry. It would put Alaskans to work making products from Alaskan wood instead of exporting timber and jobs to the Pacific Northwest or Asia. The industry would also be compatible with the long-term use and supply of fish and wildlife resources for subsistence, recreation and commerce in Southeast Alaska. Number 0765 CO-CHAIRMAN HUDSON asked Mr. Lindekugel, according to his understanding, whether the resolution would apply directly to the Chugach National Forest. MR. LINDEKUGEL replied, "Correct." CO-CHAIRMAN HUDSON asked Mr. Lindekugel, according to his understanding, whether the Tongass National Forest would be exempt. MR. LINDEKUGEL replied, according to his understanding, the Tongass National Forest would be exempt from the moratorium by rule. The forest service is taking comments on that portion of the rule for the next 30 days. CO-CHAIRMAN HUDSON stated, therefore, it is not conclusive whether the moratorium would or would not apply to the Tongass. MR. LINDEKUGEL stated an announcement excluding the nation's largest national forest is a pretty strong indication of where the forest service will end up. It is not final at this point, however. Number 0829 REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS stated, in regards to the testimony of 100 and 109 mmbf, he lives in Ketchikan and Saxman and works as a longshoreman. He is aware of the amount of work going on in the timber industry today. The sawmill in Ketchikan last year ran for only four months. There were jobs for only four months. And there were fewer jobs in Metlakatla. Therefore, the amount of 100 mmbf is totally bogus. It is agreeable that the TLMP is not complete because a socioeconomic study has not been done. And, as a result, the Southeast is feeling it today where 83 percent of timber receipts have been cut. Number 0921 MR. LINDEKUGEL replied, according to SEACC, there is sufficient timber under contract right now for operators. There is over 500 mmbf that will be going to the mills during the next several years. Therefore, the impact of the moratorium would be negligible on the industry. In addition, the industry is going through a tremendous transformation, and SEACC is trying to work with operators who are interested in avoiding controversial areas. Number 0971 CO-CHAIRMAN HUDSON stated a company would not build a new road if it did not have to. "We don't want a moratorium on building new roads when it is clearly, economically, in the best interest of getting to good, harvestable timber." A blanket moratorium would stifle even legitimate economic opportunities. Number 1015 MR. LINDEKUGEL replied road credits are subsidized by federal tax payers. Therefore, there will always be concern nationwide about how much money is used to subsidize development. Number 1049 RACHAEL MORELAND, Representative, Alaska Forest Association, Inc., testified via teleconference in Ketchikan and read the following statement into the record: "The forest products industry in Southeast Alaska is heavily dependent upon the purchase of timber from the Tongass National Forest. The Tongass Land Management Plan Revision of 1997 has greatly reduced the land within the Tongass that is available for timber harvest from 1.7 million acres to a mere 676,000 acres, and the maximum average annual allowable sales quantity from 520 million board feet (mmbf) to 267 mmbf. This is considerably below the amount the industry needs to sustain the remaining mills in the region. The promises made by Congress in 1990, at the time the Tongass Timber Reform Act was made law, that sufficient volume would be made available to sustain direct timber employment in Southeast Alaska have now proven to be hollow. "The impact on southeast Alaska of the reduced harvest of Tongass timber has been drastic. Thousands of jobs have been lost through mill closures, and Federal payments to communities in the form of timber receipts have fallen to a tiny fraction of what they were previously. Recently released data indicate that timber receipts this year will be down by 83 percent compared to last year. This money is used for schools and road maintenance, so the decline hurts all the residents of the region. "Now comes the Clinton Administration with its proposed roadless moratorium. This policy is being superimposed upon the National Forest System in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act, both of which require a public process, not unilateral government actions unrelated to sound science and public review. The government's new roadless policy is top-down management of the worst sort. It subverts public process and asserts a political strategy in place of sound, scientific, professional forest management. It is bad public policy and is aimed only at promoting the radical environmental agenda of stopping all logging on federal land. The much-touted 'exemption' for the Tongass and other Western forests is not, in fact, an exemption, but an announcement that the policy will be applied through a different mechanism; that is, through forest plan amendments. "The recent TLMP revision took more than 10 years to write and cost the taxpayers more than $13 million. It includes protection of some 90 percent of the roadless areas remaining on the Tongass. The Chugach Land Management Plan revision is just beginning, and the Chugach National Forest is more than 98 percent roadless. Application of the new roadless policy to the Chugach amounts to predetermining the plan revision in the direction of no development at all. Among other consequences, this will effectively prevent the Forest Service from addressing the growing spruce bark beetle devastation through active forest management. In the case of both Alaska national forests, the roadless policy is unnecessary and very harmful to Alaska's economic future. "The estimated impact on the Tongass timber program is 202.5 mmbf per year over the life of the plan. Given an Allowable Sale Quantity of 267 mmbf, and expected offerings of around 200 mmbf, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this would finally spell the end to industrial logging in the Tongass. Furthermore, full implementation of the roadless policy (whether through direct application or through a plan amendment) will immediately result in a further reduction in timber receipts - amounting to as much as $2.5 million in FY98. Alaska simply cannot afford this government boondoggle into anti-development politics. "In short, the government's proposed roadless policy is bad for national forests, bad for the American public, and particularly bad for Alaska. The Alaska Forest Association urges the legislature to take immediate action to protest this terrible public policy by quickly passing House Joint Resolution 49. We should send a message to the Clinton Administration on behalf of Alaskans and on behalf of our counterparts in other states, that the Alaska people will not tolerate the Administration's attempts to force a radical agenda upon the people of this state and of this country." Number 1340 DICK COOSE, Representative, Concerned Alaskans for Resources and Environment (CARE), testified via teleconference in Ketchikan. He stated CARE wants responsible access to economic development of Alaska's natural resources, therefore, it strongly supports HJR 49. Political medaling of the Clinton Administration of our national forests needs to stop. It is causing economic disaster in many communities that rely upon national forest resources for livelihoods. MR. COOSE recommended including language in the resolution to prevent any moratorium on any national forest in the United States. In addition, he suggested inserting an additional "WHEREAS" on page 2, line 8, that reads, "the proposed moratorium would eliminate the timber industry that remains on many national forests to nearly zero." He also suggested inserting the language "or any national forest land management plan" on page 2, line 19 after the word "Plan". Number 1495 MIKE WILLIAMS, Vice President, Chugach Alaska Corporation (CAC), testified via teleconference in Anchorage. The CAC supports HJR 49. The CAC is currently trying to build a road across Chugach National Forest land to access lands given to the corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in the Copper River area. The CAC owns approximately one million acres of land of which 40 percent requires road access across forest service lands. Therefore, the CAC is very concerned that the moratorium on no new roads would kill or delay plans. MR. WILLIAMS further stated the roadless policy would frustrate the intent of ANCSA and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) resulting in costly and timely appeals. The forest service is already subverting its own planning regulations under Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations which require the agency to solicit tribal and Alaskan Native input on all planning processes that impact the management of Native and Indian owned lands. MR. WILLIAMS further stated the roadless policy would restrict the CAC from developing its resources valued in excess of $1 billion, a payroll value worth $250 million. It would also impact revenues statewide due to ANCSA's sharing provision between Native corporations. MR. WILLIAMS further stated the actions of the forest service have been developed in a vacuum. The forest service has forgotten that its policies impact in-holders and adjacent landowners. Ninety- eight percent of the Chugach National Forest is inventoried as roadless and virtually all of its roadless area is either within or adjacent to conservation units which would result in automatic lock-ups of almost the entire national forest under the proposed roadless policy. MR. WILLIAMS further stated, in conclusion, with so much of the Chugach National Forest and the state of Alaska already protected and in a roadless condition, there is no need for this policy in Alaska. Number 1660 SCOTT ANAYA, Alaskan Sportsman, testified via teleconference in Anchorage. He stated roads are an irreversible impact and there is sound science that indicates roads negatively impact the fish and wildlife. Fish and wildlife are a far more lasting and long-term investment for Alaskan families, businesses and economies that thrive on them. The roadless policy would allow other types of logging without the irreversible damage or roads. For example, on the Kenai Peninsula, the brown bears have lost 70 percent of their habitat. There has not been a fall brown bear hunt for the past three or four years. And, in addition, thousands of dollars are being spent to study the impact of logging roads on the world-class fishing streams. This is an example of the cost that logging roads would bring to the Tongass National Forest and Alaska. Number 1776 REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS asked Mr. Coose to fax his recommendations to him. He would like to move the resolution out of the House Resources Standing Committee today. He would consider recommendations either on the floor of the House of Representatives or the Senate. Number 1814 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN made a motion to move the proposed committee substitute for SSHJR 49, version 0-LS1402\B, Luckhaupt, 1/28/98, from the committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note. There being no objection, CSSSHJR 49(RES) moved from the House Resources Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|