The Alaska State House of Representatives today demonstrated strong support for the state’s salmon streams and for Alaska’s forest products industry when it passed House Bill 373, according to Alaska Forest Association executive director, Jack Phelps. HB 373, sponsored by House Speaker Gail Phillips, amends the state’s Forest Resources and Practices Act, ensuring greater protections for salmon streams on non-federal land in the coastal forests of Alaska.

"This legislation, which has the strong support of the timber industry, is good for fish, it is good for the industry, and it is good for all Alaskans," Phelps said. "It is good for the industry because it helps assure the public that when loggers cut trees, they work under scientifically sound guidelines to protect other values in the woods. We think that is an important facet of the state’s forest practices law. For that reason, we are pleased to support Speaker Phillips’ bill." The bill is also supported by the state’s largest fishing industry group, the Knowles Administration, environmental groups and the state Board of Forestry.

"Research funded by the timber industry over the past five years showed the importance of additional timber retention along certain streams for the benefit of fish habitat," Phelps said. During that period, forest products companies and the Association have invested half a million dollars in scientific stream monitoring to evaluate the fisheries protections in the Act. "As empirical data become available to show where changes make sense," Phelps stated, "the industry will continue to take the lead in improving the law. We hope that the cooperative attitude that prevailed in the discussions leading up to House Bill 373 will set the standard for the way any future changes are proposed."

* * * *

---