News from the Senate Majority

Alaska State Legislature

Wendy Lindskoog, Senate Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582
web site: http://www.akrepublicans.org
Broadcast Actualities: 800/478-6540

For Immediate Release: April 3, 1997 Contact: Senator Jerry Mackie, 907/465-4925

Senate Urges Completion of Tongass Land Management Plan

Alaskans Need Assurance To Ensure Southeast Jobs

JUNEAU - Urging the US Forest Service to bring the decade-long Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) to a conclusion and adopt a minimum annual harvest level of 300 million board feet (MMBF) is the intent of legislation passed by the Senate Thursday by a vote of 19 to 1.

"The Southeast economy has lost $60 million in forest products payroll since 1990, half its timber jobs, and the closure of two pulp mills and one sawmill while the Forest Service continues to stall the approval of a revised Tongass plan," said Senator Jerry Mackie, sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 24.

The resolution encourages the US Forest Service to immediately finalize the TLMP for the Tongass National Forest so the people and communities of Southeast Alaska can move forward with their economic and personal lives with some degree of certainty.

"Alaskan jobs and entire communities are hinging on the outcome of this plan," Mackie said. "Alaskans are anxiously waiting to see if they if they will be granted a minimum annual harvest level of 300 million board feet from the Tongass to help reestablish a viable, integrated timber industry. It’s a crime to delay the plan any longer when Alaskan families need to know if they will have an economic base to support them."

A second goal of SJR 24 is to endorse continued oversight by Congress and the Alaska Congressional delegation of Forest Service Management activities relating to the Tongass. Mackie noted that this endorsement urges review of the analyses and procedures employed by the Forest Service to ensure that decisions affecting the social and economic well-being of Southeast communities are appropriate and scientifically credible.

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