04/05/2013 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY

          SCR  2-ACQUIRE TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST LAND                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:49:38 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR COGHILL announced the consideration  of SCR 2, a resolution                                                               
relating to the state acquiring Tongass National Forest Land.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
1:50:54 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR BERT  STEDMAN, Alaska State  Legislature, sponsor  of SCR
, said his staff would present the sponsor statement.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
1:51:20 PM                                                                                                                    
CHRISTIE  JAMIESON, Staff,  Senator Bert  Stedman, sponsor,  read                                                               
the  sponsor statement  for SCR  2  into the  record as  follows:                                                               
[Original punctuation provided.]                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     The  Tongass National  Forest was  created  in 1907  by                                                                    
     President Theodore Roosevelt. Today,  it is the largest                                                                    
     national forest in the United  States with 16.8 million                                                                    
     acres. In 1947 Congress  enacted the Tongass Timber Act                                                                    
     the  purpose of  which was  to clear  the way  for long                                                                    
     term  timber  sales on  the  Tongass.  From the  1950's                                                                    
     through  the early  1990's, the  commercial harvest  of                                                                    
     timber from the Tongass  National Forest formed a major                                                                    
     part    of   the    economy   in    Southeast   Alaska.                                                                    
     Unfortunately, that's  no longer  the case  because the                                                                    
     timber  industry does  not have  access to  an adequate                                                                    
     volume  of  timber  supply  that  can  be  economically                                                                    
     harvested   from    the   Tongass    National   Forest.                                                                    
     Interestingly, only  400,000 acres of the  Tongass have                                                                    
     been harvested between its creation  in 1907 and today.                                                                    
     In addition, there were more  sawmills operating on the                                                                    
     Tongass in 1900 than there are today.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     The reasons behind  the lack of timber  supply began in                                                                    
     1980 when Congress passed  the Alaska National Interest                                                                    
     Lands  Conservation   Act  (ANILCA)   establishing  4.5                                                                    
     million acres  of Wilderness and National  Monuments in                                                                    
     Southeast Alaska.  In order to  ensure that  these land                                                                    
     withdrawals  from the  available  timber  base did  not                                                                    
     harm  the  existing  timber industry,  ANILCA  mandated                                                                    
     that the  Forest Service offer  450 million  board feet                                                                    
     of timber  annually. Then in 1990,  Congress passed the                                                                    
     Tongass Timber  Reform Act (TTRA) creating  another 1.1                                                                    
     million  acres of  Wilderness  and  Roadless Area  set-                                                                    
     asides,  further   reducing  acreage  in   the  Tongass                                                                    
     National Forest that could be  used for timber harvest.                                                                    
     In  1997   the  Forest  Service  adopted   a  new  land                                                                    
     management  plan for  the Tongass  National Forest  and                                                                    
     switched  to  "ecosystem  management." Under  this  new                                                                    
     philosophy,  attention  to  timber sale  economics  was                                                                    
     abandoned.  However,  in  2005 the  1997  Tongass  Land                                                                    
     Management  Plan (TLMP)  was set  aside and  nine major                                                                    
     timber  sale   environmental  impact   statements  were                                                                    
     enjoined pending preparation of  an amended Forest Land                                                                    
     and Resource  Management Plan.  (See the  9th Circuit's                                                                    
     Decision  in  Natural   Resources  Defense  Council  v.                                                                    
     United States  Forest Service, 421  F.3d 797  (9th Cir.                                                                    
     2005)). The 1997 Forest Plan  was enjoined, not because                                                                    
     of an  environmental problem, but  because of  a Forest                                                                    
     Service math  error in computing  the volume  of timber                                                                    
     needed to meet market demand.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     Every significant  timber sale  the Forest  Service has                                                                    
     attempted to  make since adoption  of the  2008 Amended                                                                    
     TLMP  has been  litigated. This  litigation has  caused                                                                    
     annual  Forest Service  sales to  be  reduced to  30-40                                                                    
     MMBF,  not  nearly  enough  to  supply  the  integrated                                                                    
     industry  advocated  by   the  Governor's  Timber  Task                                                                    
     Force.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     Moreover, the Secretary  of Agriculture interfered with                                                                    
     implementation of  the 2008 Amended TLMP  with his 2010                                                                    
     announcement  of  an  "immediate  transition  from  old                                                                    
     growth   timber   to   second  growth   timber."   This                                                                    
     announcement  was made  notwithstanding  the fact  that                                                                    
     there  is  insufficient  second growth  timber  on  the                                                                    
     Tongass that  meets the  definition of  cumulative mean                                                                    
     annual  increment  required   by  the  National  Forest                                                                    
     Management Act (NFMA). Timber sales  in old growth were                                                                    
     delayed while  Forest Service professionals  have tried                                                                    
     to make it  clear to the Secretary  that an "immediate"                                                                    
     transition to second growth would violate the NFMA.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     In  March  2011  the  Federal District  Court  for  the                                                                    
     District  of Alaska  set  aside  the Tongass  Exemption                                                                    
     from  the  2001  Roadless  Rule, which  the  State  had                                                                    
     negotiated with  the Federal  Government in  2003. This                                                                    
     has  resulted  in  9.6  million  acres  of  non-timber-                                                                    
     harvest areas being created on  the Tongass in addition                                                                    
     to   the  5.6   million  acres   of  non-timber-harvest                                                                    
     Wilderness  areas.  In  addition,  the  Roadless  Areas                                                                    
     create   a  serious   impediment  to   mining  and   to                                                                    
     hydropower and other  renewable energy opportunities on                                                                    
     the Tongass.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     The  Tongass  National   Forest  currently  encompasses                                                                    
     about  93% of  the available  timberlands in  Southeast                                                                    
     Alaska.  However,  only  two  percent  of  the  Tongass                                                                    
     National  Forest   is  managed   for  the   purpose  of                                                                    
     providing  local communities  with  the opportunity  to                                                                    
     harvest  timber. Consequently,  the Forest  Service has                                                                    
     monopoly  power over  the timber  supply.  In the  past                                                                    
     four years,  several efforts  to revitalize  the timber                                                                    
     industry  in Southeast  Alaska  have  failed because  a                                                                    
     timber  industry  cannot   exist  without  an  adequate                                                                    
     timber  supply. Since  the U.S.  Forest  Service is  no                                                                    
     longer  able to  provide enough  timber in  the Tongass                                                                    
     National Forest to sustain a  viable timber industry in                                                                    
     Southeast  Alaska,  it  is time  for  the  Governor  to                                                                    
     intervene.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     Under the Alaska Statehood  Act, the federal government                                                                    
     provided   Alaska   with   a  103,350,000   acre   land                                                                    
     entitlement.   Of  that   original  land   entitlement,                                                                    
     5,500,000 acres  still remain available  for selection.                                                                    
     SCR 2  urges the  Governor to  take steps  necessary to                                                                    
     select land in  the Tongass National Forest  as part of                                                                    
     Alaska's statehood entitlement.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
1:57:31 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  STEDMAN   personalized  the  history  of   the  Tongass,                                                               
describing his family history in  the timber business and the two                                                               
50-year   timber  contracts   in  Southeast   Alaska  that   were                                                               
negotiated following World War II.  There were sawmills in Sitka,                                                               
Wrangell, and  Ketchikan, all of  which provided a  good economic                                                               
base  for  the  region.  The federal  government  recognized  the                                                               
importance of this for year  around jobs and restricted statehood                                                               
land selections  within the Tongass  to recreation  and community                                                               
expansion.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Over  time, the  economics and  mood of  the country  changed and                                                               
pressure  was exerted  to terminate  those timber  contracts. The                                                               
timber  contract in  Sitka was  prematurely  terminated in  about                                                               
1992 and a  few years later the federal  government and Louisiana                                                               
Pacific mutually  agreed to terminate the  contract in Ketchikan.                                                               
The  Tongass   restrictions  and  termination  of   these  timber                                                               
contracts left  this region  in Southeast  in a  precarious state                                                               
because it doesn't  have the landmass for an  industrial base for                                                               
year around jobs.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR STEDMAN  explained that SCR  2 is  an effort to  open the                                                               
discussion about having  a land selection in the  Tongass if it's                                                               
not possible  to work with  the federal government  on reasonable                                                               
access  to a  timber supply  and to  open mines.  If the  federal                                                               
government  is  uncomfortable  with   that,  he  would  like  the                                                               
governor  to  initiate  discussions   to  purchase  land  in  the                                                               
Tongass. He  opined that there  is no reason to  penalize today's                                                               
generation for  those contracts  that were put  in place  over 70                                                               
years ago. People in Southeast  Alaska should have the ability to                                                               
expand their communities and be self-sustaining.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
2:07:27 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR COGHILL commented  on the excellent history  lesson and the                                                               
sobering effect  it had on Juneau  when the pulp mill  closed. He                                                               
agreed to give the land  purchase idea some thought, and inquired                                                               
about the life span of an old growth forest.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:10:42 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  STEDMAN said  that when  the  pulp mills  shut down,  it                                                               
affected  roughly  30  percent  of the  economic  base  south  of                                                               
Juneau. The  repercussions are still  felt. It was  equivalent to                                                               
Anchorage  losing the  airport or  Fairbanks losing  the military                                                               
bases. Responding  to the question  about old growth, he  said he                                                               
believes it takes  about 300 years for a forest  to be classified                                                               
as old growth. The point is, the forest does come back.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL opened public testimony.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:12:34 PM                                                                                                                    
OWEN  GRAHAM,  Director,  Alaska Forest  Association,  Ketchikan,                                                               
Alaska,  stated that  SCR 2  will  help the  state implement  the                                                               
recommendation  last year  by the  governor's  timber task  force                                                               
recommended  to pursue  withdrawal of  2 million  acres from  the                                                               
Tongass. He said that Congress made  about 6 million acres of the                                                               
Tongass  off limits,  2  million of  which  is commercial  timber                                                               
land.  In  addition,   there  is  about  3.5   million  acres  of                                                               
commercial  timber land  that is  not congressionally  set aside,                                                               
which could  support a  sustained yield of  2 billion  board feet                                                               
annually. He highlighted that the  Forest Service currently plans                                                               
to offer only 6 percent of  that potential sustained yield in the                                                               
near term  and 2 percent  in the long  term. He said  that supply                                                               
won't sustain the  one midsize sawmill that's  left in Southeast,                                                               
much less the handful of small family mills.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. GRAHAM  maintained that  state management  of that  2 million                                                               
acres of commercial timber land  would supply the timber required                                                               
to  restore a  fully  integrated  timber manufacturing  industry.                                                               
State  management   of  those  lands  pursuant   to  the  [Forest                                                               
Resources  Practices Act]  will ensure  protections, access,  and                                                               
multiple use.  Unlike a  federal timber sale  program, he  said a                                                               
state  timber  sale  program could  be  funded  entirely  through                                                               
timber sale receipts.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  COGHILL  stated his  intent  to  make refinements  to  the                                                               
resolution and keep  public testimony open. He  noted the letters                                                               
of support.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
He held SCR 2 in committee for further work.