Senatro Murkowski Defends Tongass National Forest Timber Program; Says Roads Are Needed for Multiple Use

Press Release

Tonight, Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke on the Senate floor to defend the Tongass National Forest against an amendment introduced by Sens. John Sununu (R-NH) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) that would prohibit federal funds from being used for new timber road construction. A vote on the amendment to the Senate Interior Appropriations Act is expected on Wednesday, June 29.

"This amendment is the first falling domino in the national campaign to lock up our national forests, throwing people out of work and wreaking havoc on our local Alaska economies. And most offensive to me, it is an amendment that discriminates against just one national forest, the Tongass National Forest," said Murkowski.

Murkowski noted that the Tongass timber program cost $22.5 million in 2004, while revenues were $2 million. Moreover, about 75 cents on every dollar of timber sale costs in the Tongass go to environmental reviews, appeals and litigation. Without these extraordinary costs, timber sales in the Tongass, could produce, on average a 13 percent profit margin.

"We sought statehood so we could gain control of our resources, but sometimes that goal remains pretty elusive," said Murkowski. "All we're asking for is that we have the ability to manage our federal lands responsibly. We, in conjunction with professional foresters, manage the Tongass to provide for the multiple uses that we are tasked with and we make it work."

Currently, 96 percent of the land in the Tongass National Forest is off limits to timber development. Some 16 million acres of the Tongass is completely off limits to timber harvesting due to federal laws and provisions of the Tongass Land Management Plan, the plan that took nine years and $13 million to develop.

"Only four percent of the Tongass or approximately 650,000 acres out of a total of 17.8 million acres is available for timber development. This four percent allows development in Southeast Alaska, an economy that is already very hard pressed. We ask to be allowed to provide a few jobs that benefit those who call Southeast Alaska home," Murkowski said.

Tongass timber sale program cuts in the 1990s led to the closure of two major pulp mills and the loss of thousands of jobs in Southeast Alaska. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Sununu-Bingaman amendment could lead to the closure of at least two mills in Southeast, and will cost 680 potential jobs in the region. The potential further loss of additional year-round jobs is critical in Southeast Alaska where the regional unemployment is already twice the statewide average.

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