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Tongass Timber Reform Act: Implementation of the Act's Contract Modification Requirements

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Report Type Reports and Testimonies
Report Date Jan. 31, 1995
Report No. RCED-95-2
Subject
Summary:

In Alaska's Tongass National Forest, two companies--the Ketchikan Pulp Company and the Alaska Pulp Corporation--have held 50-year contracts to cut timber. The Forest Service maintains that its existing policy provides consistent treatment of credits in contracts that timber harvesters are awarded for building harvest-related roads. GAO disagrees, believing that the policy gives Ketchikan Pulp a competitive advantage by allowing it to apply "ineffective" road credits for a much longer period than timber harvesters that must use short-term contracts. Through the end of fiscal year 1993, Ketchikan Pulp used road credits to pay for 73 percent of the timber harvested. Also, some streamside buffers did not meet the 100-foot minimum. The Forest Service has since taken steps to ensure that this requirement is met. GAO also found that the Forest Service was not following its policy of documenting the environmental effects of changes made to planned timber-harvest boundaries.

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