[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 116 (Thursday, August 1, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1440-E1441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE ISSUES OF THE TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 1, 1996

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, the issues of the Tongass National 
Forest have been before the Congress for some time. Many of us were 
here in 1990 for the Tongass Timber Reform Act, which set aside 1 
million acres of wilderness and unilaterally modified the two long-term 
timber contracts. Some of us remember the Alaska Lands Act of 1980, 
which set aside about 5 million acres of Tongass wilderness. But no 
current member was here for the first act of Congress specific to the 
Tongass--the Tongass Timber Act of 1947, which authorized the sale of 
timber from the Tongass for the purpose of local employment. At a time 
when debate over the Tongass becomes every day more contentious and 
confused it may be worthwhile to look back to that act. This history is 
relevant because the problems the 1947 act worked to solve are being 
recreated today by a handful of extremists.
  The 1947 act was the culmination of a quarter-century-long effort to 
develop a stable, year-round industry in southeast Alaska. Before 
Congress authorized the sale of timber, thereby inducing the pulp 
companies to invest in Alaska, there was not much of an economy in 
southeast. Fishing was poor, tourism was nonexistent and the gold mines 
had been closed during the war. The population was small and 
transient--it was a hard place to raise a family. Congress decided, and 
President Truman agreed, that the sale of timber through long-term 
contracts would improve the situation, stabilize the economy of 
southeast Alaska and serve the interests of Alaska and the United 
States.
  The contracts were in the interest of Alaska because they fostered a 
prosperous and stable economy. They were in the interest of the United 
States because Tongass forest products helped supply the post-war 
housing boom in the United States and were instrumental in the 
reconstruction of Japan. The contracts were necessary for defense 
purposes as well--Alaska had proven vulnerable in World War II and 
needed a stable population to secure the territory. All of these 
benefits were recognized in the House report that accompanied the 1947 
Tongass Timber Act:

       A large-scale development of the timber resources in 
     southeastern Alaska, involving the establishment of important 
     business enterprises and the employment of many persons for 
     extensive operations on a year-round basis, is essential to 
     the maintenance of a prosperous and stable economy in the 
     Territory. Heretofore, Alaska has been handicapped by the 
     seasonal nature of the principal industrial activities 
     conducted within the area. A timber program of the sort 
     mentioned by the Secretary of the Interior would be of great 
     benefit in assisting the people of Alaska to progress from 
     the present dependence upon seasonal business operations. 
     Moreover, such a development within the Territory would be of 
     great value to the Nation as a whole, both from the 
     standpoint of making available to the National economy 
     valuable and sorely needed products from the great forests in 
     southeastern Alaska and from the standpoint of promoting 
     national defense through increasing the population and 
     industrial capacity of Alaska as our ``Northern Rampart.'' 
     House Committee on Agriculture, Report No. 873, July 10, 
     1947.

  The Tongass timber industry was essential to those ends in 1947 and 
it remains so today. We still need a year-round economy in southeast 
Alaska. We still need a domestic supply of forest products to meet 
national and international demand. We still need a stable population 
base in Alaska for our national security.

[[Page E1441]]

What is more, the only viable domestic timber supply comes from the 
Federal Tongass forest. Please keep this history in mind the next time 
the Tongass issue comes before Congress.

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