Hiker of the Woods
Active Member
- Messages
- 623
Quote from Ropes:
?We do not dispute the fact that Sealaska has legitimate claim to acreage on the Tongass. However, the locations for selection were clearly defined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Now, almost 40 years later, Sealaska is trying to change the rules by picking high-value public lands outside these defined selection areas.
Sealaska?s land selections outlined in S. 881 include many of the best hunting, fishing, subsistence, and outfitter/guide use areas on the Tongass. We understand that Sealaska seeks title for, and intends to intensively log, roughly 65,000 acres within proposed Development Sites, conduct tourism operations on 5,000 acres at 46 Native Futures Sites, and set aside another 2,400 acres for 206 Cultural and Traditional Sites and three customary trade routes.
We are concerned that S. 881 will:
? Put Fish and Wildlife at Risk: The proposed selections focus largely on areas that are prime producers of fish and wildlife. The proposed Development (logging) Sites concentrate on some of the last remaining productive habitat on Prince of Wales Island, an area that, despite intensive past timber harvest, still supports healthy populations of deer, bear, wolves, salmon, steelhead and trout. Sportfishing alone contributes $274 million a year to Southeast Alaska?s economy.
? Limit Public Access: The legislation would not guarantee public access to or through selected lands. Current Forest Service Outfitter and Guide permits, which have increased 75% since 1999, would be honored only through their termination date. Permit renewal would be through Sealaska, if they chose to renew at all.
? Increase Commercial Development: The defining language for Native Future and Cultural Sites contains no limits on the scope or scale of infrastructure or site visitation allowed. The corporation says these areas will be managed for small tourism opportunities, but in reality the sky is the limit for development should they obtain title to the areas.
? Displace Existing Businesses and Operators: Sealaska says there legislation will create jobs but what about the many lodges, guides, outfitters and tourism businesses that currently rely on the permitted use of the Tongass that S. 881 will displace? Aside from simply shrinking the availability of wild places for them to operate in, S.881 would give Sealaska free land and an unfair advantage over these businesses.
Management of the Tongass National Forest has been one of the most intractable, high profile and longest running environmental conflicts in the United States. The time has come to move past the old way of doing things in the Tongass and the Tongass Futures Roundtable is the obvious way forward. Unfortunately, the Sealaska land exchange bill threatens ongoing good-faith negotiations. Sealaska should work with other interests in the region to settle its land claims while they play a vital role in creating a long term vision for the Tongass that balances its corporate needs with conservation and sustainable timber management.
Thank you for your continued support for fish and wildlife conservation on America?s public lands.
Sealaska is the regional Native for profit corp that was set up back in 1971 under the settlement law ANSCA. Congress gave them boxes to pick their entitlement lands in. some of the lands they picked had high volume timber stands on it ... some was mountain tops and some was muskeg. low volume timber production lands. If you have ever been to SE Alaska especially Prince of Wales Island you will see what they have done to those lands. Clear cut from boundary to boundary. Now that they are out of timber .. which was all exported in the round to japan and china .. they want to trade back the low volume timber lands to the USFS for 'outside the box' High volume USFS timber lands. SB 881 is a law introduced by AK Sen Lisa Murkowski and will allow this ... Also there is 46 'Future sites' that will be from 5 to 50 acres for possible tourism development. Some of those are with in federally designated Wilderness Areas.
All current Sealaska lands are posted no trespass and they do not allow fire wood cutting or hunting on those lands. They have never given any Guides hunting rights by permit. I have tried several times. In fact such massive clear cutting is very hard on the Sitka Blacktail and those lands are very bad for hunting. After some years the Bear come back as berry brush takes over the area. Lots of bear is anti Blacktail making it even harder on the Blacktail.
If this bill passes it will set a very dangerous precedent on encroachment into Wilderness Areas across the country.
The USFS is not happy about this legislation .. if passed and all this timber ground is removed from the timber base it could possibly mean a rewrite of TLMP. Among other major objections.
I have been in touch with many persons about this building my basic knowledge and developing 'talking points' .. I just got off the phone with Edna Bay and Myla was so overjoyed that we were getting involved (APHA, Alaska Wilderness League, Trout Unlimited, Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska) that she broke down in tears. Seems Edna Bay has been fighting this since 2007 or so when Don Young first introduced the House version of the bill. And definitely felt like they were alone. Of all the communities affected by the outside the box lnds pick by Sealaska Edna Bay will take the worst hit. It will be devastated to say the least.
Of the POW area communities (I have found out) that Craig, Edna Bay, Nakuti, Thorne Bay, Port Protection, Point Baker, Whale Pass are opposed .... Hydaburg, Kasan, Klawock has some opposition but are staying neutral (probably because of shareholder conflict) and Coffman Cove is in favor. Hollis hasn't taken a stand.
There was a half page add in todays Ketchikan Daily News by SEAAC showing the maps and urging everyone to contact Don Young, Lisa Murkowski and Energy & Nat Res Comm Chair Sen Jeff Bingaman and ask for then to hold hearings in SE Alaska on this bill.
In the outside the box land selections taxpayers have paid for .........
There are 101 miles of road selected on Kosciusko Island.
There are 70 miles of road selected on Tuxekan Island.
There are 145 miles of road selected on NPOW.
There are 24 miles of road selected in the Election Creek and Polk Inlet selections.
Add this with bridges and LTF's ... This is a very sizable chunk of change / investment that is about to be taken from the public domain and turned over to private enterprise .. that has a history of NO TRESPASS.
This is a very serious and grave situation.
In other words within in the 'outside the box' land selections US taxpayers have built 340 mile of roads that will go with the lands selected by Sealaska Native Corp.
The lowest multiplier you can use for basic spur roads constriction is $100,00 per mile ... some of these roads are Spec (specification) roads built at $250,000+ per mile ... add bridges and log transfer facilities.
Not to mention the value of the timber ... which some of these out side the box selections .... contain some of the largest stands of old growth spruce there is.
The Polk Inlet pick is where I hunt / guide. Within this outside the box selection is the Old Tom Creek Research Natural Area ... established by the USFS in 1951 ... It is 4,544 acres of cedar-hemlock old-growth forest. A low-site cedar-dominated watershed. It also includes some examples of riparian spruce forest, extensive tidal meadows, and dense bald eagle and black bear populations. The USFS has never even been able to road or harvest timber any where near it's proximity. If Sealaska gets this it will be stripped from boundary to boundary.
This is just one example of the travesty of this bill.
I feel so strongly about this bill that I am traveling to Washington DC on Sunday the 21st of Feb to meet with Senators / Congressman and staff for the whole week to voice my opposition.
I have never hardly ever been east of Reno in my life.
Wheather your from Or. Wa. Id. or Cali .... I ask your help on defeating this bill. If you have ever hunted Prince of Wales Island or ever planed to (or SE Alaska in general) you must get involved with this one. It just takes a few minutes to email your Senators and Congressmen.
Those guys very rarely hear from boots on the ground Alaskans like me. But they are going to. I'm not going to get biological or scientific or political ... I am just going to tell stories about what I know. I logged for over 20 years ... I've hunted this area since 1980. I even logged for Sealaska Timber Corp back in the early '80s. But tuning all this land from the public domain over to for profit private industry who will log it as fast as they can with all disregard for the fish and wildlife .... all for round log export is not the way it should be done.
Never before in the history of Alaska has so many community, hunting, fishing, eco, and even green organizations got together in one united front to oppose any legislation or do anything." Ropes
Legislative Action Center:
http://capwiz.com/ussportsmen/home/
?We do not dispute the fact that Sealaska has legitimate claim to acreage on the Tongass. However, the locations for selection were clearly defined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Now, almost 40 years later, Sealaska is trying to change the rules by picking high-value public lands outside these defined selection areas.
Sealaska?s land selections outlined in S. 881 include many of the best hunting, fishing, subsistence, and outfitter/guide use areas on the Tongass. We understand that Sealaska seeks title for, and intends to intensively log, roughly 65,000 acres within proposed Development Sites, conduct tourism operations on 5,000 acres at 46 Native Futures Sites, and set aside another 2,400 acres for 206 Cultural and Traditional Sites and three customary trade routes.
We are concerned that S. 881 will:
? Put Fish and Wildlife at Risk: The proposed selections focus largely on areas that are prime producers of fish and wildlife. The proposed Development (logging) Sites concentrate on some of the last remaining productive habitat on Prince of Wales Island, an area that, despite intensive past timber harvest, still supports healthy populations of deer, bear, wolves, salmon, steelhead and trout. Sportfishing alone contributes $274 million a year to Southeast Alaska?s economy.
? Limit Public Access: The legislation would not guarantee public access to or through selected lands. Current Forest Service Outfitter and Guide permits, which have increased 75% since 1999, would be honored only through their termination date. Permit renewal would be through Sealaska, if they chose to renew at all.
? Increase Commercial Development: The defining language for Native Future and Cultural Sites contains no limits on the scope or scale of infrastructure or site visitation allowed. The corporation says these areas will be managed for small tourism opportunities, but in reality the sky is the limit for development should they obtain title to the areas.
? Displace Existing Businesses and Operators: Sealaska says there legislation will create jobs but what about the many lodges, guides, outfitters and tourism businesses that currently rely on the permitted use of the Tongass that S. 881 will displace? Aside from simply shrinking the availability of wild places for them to operate in, S.881 would give Sealaska free land and an unfair advantage over these businesses.
Management of the Tongass National Forest has been one of the most intractable, high profile and longest running environmental conflicts in the United States. The time has come to move past the old way of doing things in the Tongass and the Tongass Futures Roundtable is the obvious way forward. Unfortunately, the Sealaska land exchange bill threatens ongoing good-faith negotiations. Sealaska should work with other interests in the region to settle its land claims while they play a vital role in creating a long term vision for the Tongass that balances its corporate needs with conservation and sustainable timber management.
Thank you for your continued support for fish and wildlife conservation on America?s public lands.
Sealaska is the regional Native for profit corp that was set up back in 1971 under the settlement law ANSCA. Congress gave them boxes to pick their entitlement lands in. some of the lands they picked had high volume timber stands on it ... some was mountain tops and some was muskeg. low volume timber production lands. If you have ever been to SE Alaska especially Prince of Wales Island you will see what they have done to those lands. Clear cut from boundary to boundary. Now that they are out of timber .. which was all exported in the round to japan and china .. they want to trade back the low volume timber lands to the USFS for 'outside the box' High volume USFS timber lands. SB 881 is a law introduced by AK Sen Lisa Murkowski and will allow this ... Also there is 46 'Future sites' that will be from 5 to 50 acres for possible tourism development. Some of those are with in federally designated Wilderness Areas.
All current Sealaska lands are posted no trespass and they do not allow fire wood cutting or hunting on those lands. They have never given any Guides hunting rights by permit. I have tried several times. In fact such massive clear cutting is very hard on the Sitka Blacktail and those lands are very bad for hunting. After some years the Bear come back as berry brush takes over the area. Lots of bear is anti Blacktail making it even harder on the Blacktail.
If this bill passes it will set a very dangerous precedent on encroachment into Wilderness Areas across the country.
The USFS is not happy about this legislation .. if passed and all this timber ground is removed from the timber base it could possibly mean a rewrite of TLMP. Among other major objections.
I have been in touch with many persons about this building my basic knowledge and developing 'talking points' .. I just got off the phone with Edna Bay and Myla was so overjoyed that we were getting involved (APHA, Alaska Wilderness League, Trout Unlimited, Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska) that she broke down in tears. Seems Edna Bay has been fighting this since 2007 or so when Don Young first introduced the House version of the bill. And definitely felt like they were alone. Of all the communities affected by the outside the box lnds pick by Sealaska Edna Bay will take the worst hit. It will be devastated to say the least.
Of the POW area communities (I have found out) that Craig, Edna Bay, Nakuti, Thorne Bay, Port Protection, Point Baker, Whale Pass are opposed .... Hydaburg, Kasan, Klawock has some opposition but are staying neutral (probably because of shareholder conflict) and Coffman Cove is in favor. Hollis hasn't taken a stand.
There was a half page add in todays Ketchikan Daily News by SEAAC showing the maps and urging everyone to contact Don Young, Lisa Murkowski and Energy & Nat Res Comm Chair Sen Jeff Bingaman and ask for then to hold hearings in SE Alaska on this bill.
In the outside the box land selections taxpayers have paid for .........
There are 101 miles of road selected on Kosciusko Island.
There are 70 miles of road selected on Tuxekan Island.
There are 145 miles of road selected on NPOW.
There are 24 miles of road selected in the Election Creek and Polk Inlet selections.
Add this with bridges and LTF's ... This is a very sizable chunk of change / investment that is about to be taken from the public domain and turned over to private enterprise .. that has a history of NO TRESPASS.
This is a very serious and grave situation.
In other words within in the 'outside the box' land selections US taxpayers have built 340 mile of roads that will go with the lands selected by Sealaska Native Corp.
The lowest multiplier you can use for basic spur roads constriction is $100,00 per mile ... some of these roads are Spec (specification) roads built at $250,000+ per mile ... add bridges and log transfer facilities.
Not to mention the value of the timber ... which some of these out side the box selections .... contain some of the largest stands of old growth spruce there is.
The Polk Inlet pick is where I hunt / guide. Within this outside the box selection is the Old Tom Creek Research Natural Area ... established by the USFS in 1951 ... It is 4,544 acres of cedar-hemlock old-growth forest. A low-site cedar-dominated watershed. It also includes some examples of riparian spruce forest, extensive tidal meadows, and dense bald eagle and black bear populations. The USFS has never even been able to road or harvest timber any where near it's proximity. If Sealaska gets this it will be stripped from boundary to boundary.
This is just one example of the travesty of this bill.
I feel so strongly about this bill that I am traveling to Washington DC on Sunday the 21st of Feb to meet with Senators / Congressman and staff for the whole week to voice my opposition.
I have never hardly ever been east of Reno in my life.
Wheather your from Or. Wa. Id. or Cali .... I ask your help on defeating this bill. If you have ever hunted Prince of Wales Island or ever planed to (or SE Alaska in general) you must get involved with this one. It just takes a few minutes to email your Senators and Congressmen.
Those guys very rarely hear from boots on the ground Alaskans like me. But they are going to. I'm not going to get biological or scientific or political ... I am just going to tell stories about what I know. I logged for over 20 years ... I've hunted this area since 1980. I even logged for Sealaska Timber Corp back in the early '80s. But tuning all this land from the public domain over to for profit private industry who will log it as fast as they can with all disregard for the fish and wildlife .... all for round log export is not the way it should be done.
Never before in the history of Alaska has so many community, hunting, fishing, eco, and even green organizations got together in one united front to oppose any legislation or do anything." Ropes
Legislative Action Center:
http://capwiz.com/ussportsmen/home/
