Political Quotes

“Seventeen million acres are set aside already. The CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Connecticut controls the time. Ms. DeLAURO. If the gentleman would just back off. Okay? At 17 million acres--roughly the size of West Virginia--the Tongass is the crown jewel of our forest system. Along with the Chugach National Forest in Alaska, it boasts the world's most intact temperate rainforest, with centuries-old trees providing critical habitat for wolves, grizzly bears, wild salmon, bald eagles and other wildlife. The Tongass is also a vital piece of the tourism industry in Alaska, allowing visitors from around the world to take in a true environmental spectacle. I have experienced the beauty of the Tongass firsthand when I got to travel through the forest on an old Navy minesweeper 10 years ago. It's hard to imagine why anyone would want to spoil such a perfect example of nature's magnificence, but the bill before us would do exactly that. It removes 100,000 acres of some of the most used and visited lands in southeast Alaska from public ownership and gives them to the Sealaska Corporation, who plans to clear-cut the vast majority of its land selections for timber. This is approximately 20,000 acres over Sealaska's legal entitlement under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement of 1971. With 290,000 acres of land and an additional 560,000 acres of subsurface rights, Sealaska is already the largest private landholder in southeast Alaska.…”