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 2, 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.