1998 Oral Testimony for the Hearing Record

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES

Hearing on H.R. 3087

Submitted by:

Dune Lankard
Director & Spokesperson
Eyak Rainforest Preservation Fund
Eyak Traditional Elders Council

February 25, 1998

Introduction

My name is Glen Dune Lankard. I am a local resident of Copper River Delta and Prince William Sound. As an Eyak Indian, director of Eyak Rainforest Preservation Fund, a local commercial and subsistence fisherman, and shareholder of both the Eyak Corporation and Chugach Alaska Corporation, I present to you my written testimony concerning the proposed easement.

Eyak Rainforest Preservation Fund appreciates the opportunity to submit comments for the record before the House Committee on Resources on H.R.3087. The Eyak Rainforest Preservation Fund is a grassroots defense fund for the traditional lands of the Eyak people; we represent issues facing the Eyak Traditional Elders Council and address local environmental concerns that erode our subsistence relationship to our ancestral land.

The proposed bill would force the Secretary of Agriculture to grant Chugach Alaska Corporation (CAC) an"irrevocable and perpetual " 500-foot-wide, 25-mile-long easement through the Copper River Delta- one of the most fragile, healthy and productive ecosystems in the Chugach National Forest.

The Eyak Rainforest Preservation fund strongly opposes H.R. 3087. The Copper River Delta region has sustained not only the Eyak but all Native people for thousands of generations. The proposed bill is not only unnecessary, but undermines months of ongoing productive discussions between CAC and the United States Forest Service.

Under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) CAC is entitled to access its in-holdings, subject to appropriate conditions to safeguard the public interest, including its diverse land-based Native shareholders that still live in the Copper River Delta region. Accordingly, the Forest Service has worked closely with CAC to develop a process for identifying an economically viable, yet environmentally sensitive right-of-way to the corporation's land. H.R. 3087 rejects this responsible approach in favor of immediate but poorly-considered action. The bill's hasty "solution" to such a complex issue may ultimately harm not only the public and Chugach Corporation's interest, but also the Chugach and Eyak Corporation shareholders interests while threatening the health and viability of one of the world's environmental gems.

The Eyak Rainforest Preservation Fund believes that H.R. 3087 should above everything else, reflect sound policy that preserves and enhances this one of a kind wetland habitat that has for thousands of generations sustained communities that are dependent upon the health and bounty of the Copper River Delta.

Creation of the Chugach National Forest

The Bering River coal fields have been on the national stage once before. In 1907, President Teddy Roosevelt, squaring off against the J.P. Morgan and Guggenheim syndicate building the Copper River Railroad to the copper mines, removed the half-billion ton coal field (and others in Alaska), from public entry to prevent corporate monopoly. The same year, with his Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot, President Roosevelt created the Chugach National Forest to more permanently protect the Rainforest and wildlife resources of the Copper River Delta and Prince William Sound. These extraordinary and visionary conservation measures were of national significance.

Gifford Pinchot, the father of the U.S. Forest Service, was fired in 1910 by President William Howard Taft after Pinchot blew the whistle on the syndicate's attempt to reclaim the Bering River coal fields in a back-door deal with Taft's Secretary of the Interior, Richard Ballinger. The ensuing scandal rocked the nation and convinced Roosevelt, in defense of Alaska conservation, to come out of retirement and run against Taft in the following presidential election. The Republican Party was soon splintered- Roosevelt formed the Bull Moose Party, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected into office.

The Copper River Delta

The Copper River Delta is located in a remote area of south central Alaska and drains significant parts of the Alaska, Wrangell and Chugach mountain ranges into the Gulf of Alaska. For much of its length, the Copper River forms the western boundary of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest National Park in the country. The St. Elias mountains to the east of the Copper River are the tallest coastal mountains in the world and are capped by the greatest mantle of glacial ice outside the polar ice caps and Greenland. The Copper River Delta is considered the most important habitat in the Western Hemisphere for shorebirds; it serves as a key staging area for over 16 million shore-birds and a significant portion of other Pacific Coast flyway for waterfowl populations. The Delta region hosts nearly the entire population of dusky Canada geese and the largest concentration in North America of both nesting trumpeter swans and beaver, as well as almost the entire spectrum of large Alaskan terrestrial and marine animals.

The Copper River Delta lies at the confluence of the Copper River and the Gulf of Alaska. At 700,000 acres, and 70 miles long, the Copper River-Bering River Delta is the largest contiguous wetland on the Pacific Coast of North America. The Delta is a State of Alaska Fish and Wildlife Critical Habitat Area. The Delta and its coastal Rainforest form a two (2) million-acre unit managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Chugach National Forest. Only 11 of 46 watersheds with temperate Rainforests larger than 100,000 hectares in the Pacific Northwest remain intact and undeveloped: of these two (2) are within the Copper River Delta and Prince William Sound.

The Delta also supports residents such as world-renowned salmon runs and is a haven for grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, moose, mink, wolverines, otters, sea lions and harbor seals.

By any reasonable standard, the Copper River Delta is a unique and irreplaceable wonder. This international significance is reflected in its designation as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network Site, an emphasis area in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, and a State Critical Wildlife habitat Area. Actions affecting this region should therefore be thoroughly evaluated and responsive to a clearly established need.

The Copper River Delta Salmon

The Copper River Delta is also critical habitat for the Copper River salmon. These salmon are one of the most highly prized wild stock salmon runs in the world. Extra environmental precaution should be exercised when allowing one of the largest wetland extraction projects in the country to take place in this region. Commercial and subsistence fishing is the economic and cultural mainstay of Cordova, which ranked in 1988 as the eighth largest seaport in the nation based on ex-vessel value of seafood landed. Over half of the 5,000 people who live in the Copper River Basin reside in the seaport Cordova, which is the only community within the entire Delta region. The community is about 12 percent Native (it is the largest Native village in the Copper River - Prince William Sound bioregion), and over 90% of the residents continue to live a subsistence lifestyle- harvesting and sharing the sustainable natural resources.

A healthy ecosystem is essential in order to protect this commercial and subsistence way of life, and there are few places left on the planet that allow not only Indigenous people, but all people to thrive from the bounty of the land and the ocean.

The Copper River Delta and Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA, 1980)

In 1980, ANILCA added the Copper River and Rude River regions to the Chugach National Forest. 16 U.S.C. ¤ 539. At the same time, Congress explicitly recognized the extraordinary nature of the Copper River and the Copper River Delta, stating that "the conservation of fish and wildlife and their habitat shall be the primary purpose for the management of the Copper River and Rude River addition and Copper River-Bering River portion of the existing Chugach National Forest." Id. Congress also cautioned that multiple use activities must be "consistent with the conservation of fish and wildlife and their habitat." Id. Notably, this is the only region in the forest system in which the protection and enhancement of fish and wildlife populations are afforded this statutory priority.

ANILCA also gave Chugach Natives, Inc. (CNI) the right to select lands within the boundaries of the Chugach national Forest. 16U.S.C. ¤ 1613. To ensure that the Chugach people obtained a "just and fair land settlement," the Secretary of Agriculture and others were directed to prepare a study of the Chugach region. 43 U.S.C. ¤ 1601, 1611. Ultimately, CNI (now Chugach Alaska Corporation) and the Forest Service signed a 1982 Settlement Agreement directing as United States to convey to CNI 73,000 acres of land known as the Bering River/Carbon Mountain tract.

The Carbon River/Bering Mountain tract lies 30 miles east of the Copper River Delta and is 20 miles from the Gulf of Alaska. It is located entirely within the boundaries of the Chugach National Forest. Under ANILCA, CAC is entitled to access its land by utilizing the procedure established by 16 U.S.C. ¤ 3210. This is exactly the same right afforded to other Alaska native corporations for accessing their own in-holdings. In addition, the 1982 Settlement Agreement provides that CAC may "construct at its own cost, roads, pipelines and transportation facilities for access necessary for economic utilization of the Bering River coal fields." CAC's Utilization of the Bering River/Carbon Mountain Tract

One of the principal reasons CAC selected the Bering River/Carbon Mountain tract was the coal deposit that underlies the area. In fact, the easement described in the 1982 Settlement Agreement was specifically created to facilitate the exploitation of this mineral deposit. However, CAC no longer owns the rights to the coal. In 1981, CAC sold its interest in the Bering River coal field to a partnership between Hyundai, Samsung, and Samtung known as the Korea Alaska Development Corporation (KADCO). Thus, access to the Bering River/Carbon Mountain tract for purposes of mining coal will not further the economic interests of CAC or its 1900 shareholders.

In 1990, CAC entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement with the U.S. Forest Service in order to build a road to its in-holding and develop the Rainforest resources. Both parties recognized the environmental significance of the area traversed by the proposed road and agreed that a full environmental impact statement (EIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Act was the "best way to adequately assess and disclose the impacts of constructing and operating a road through this area." The agreement provided for the appropriate data collection and studies and also afforded an opportunity for meaningful public involvement. Although CAC eventually withdrew its project proposal (for reasons unrelated to the MOU), it is significant that the environmental studies CAC believed necessary in 1990 would not be conducted if H.R. 3087 were passed.

CAC is now pursuing a new project to cut the timber on the Bering River/Carbon Mountain tract. To access the land CAC has proposed building a road directly across the Copper River Delta. This road would sever 250 streams that feed into the Copper River, 100 of which are fish spawning streams, and potentially degrade thousands of acres of tidal marshes and other wetlands in the first 25 miles of Chugach National Forest. Without question, a road across the Copper River Delta and hundreds of its tributaries will significantly affect the environmental and aesthetic values of the area. In fact, it would be one of the single largest wetlands development projects in the United States.

CAC and the U.S. Forest Service are both fully aware of the richness of the Copper River Delta and the environmental threat posed by a major road project. Long term cumulative effects in this sensitive region will far outweigh the short-term economic benefits being posted by CAC. Consequently, CAC and the U.S. Forest Service have spent months developing a new M.O.U. agreement that will establish a procedure for processing CAC's application for permits and conducting critical environmental studies. To date, the M.O.U. has not been signed and the public has not been a part of this critical agreement or process.

CAC's Shareholder Concerns

Beyond the specific concerns regarding H.R. 3087 and the road right-of-way, as one of the 1900 plus shareholders of the Chugach Alaska Corporation, I must state that we have a fiscal concern - and that is what CAC's proposed project at Bering River/Carbon Mountain will mean financially to us shareholders.

Isn't the proposed purpose of this easement and this project to make money for its shareholders? We have heard some projected revenue figures, but most share-holders are uncertain how these revenue projections will translate into dividends for us. If, after project costs are deducted from projected gross income, remaining profits are then subject to 7i revenue sharing provisions (where 70 percent must be shared with the other 12 regional corporations), and after federal taxation, and capital gain taxes are paid by the shareholders (if there are dividends), it appears that little, if any money will be available to distribute as shareholder dividends.

I would sincerely appreciate the Resources Committee urging CAC to provide all of its shareholders with realistic defensible revenue projections for the Bering River Carbon Mountain project as proposed, and what CAC projects to pay realistically to its shareholders in the form of dividends. And when. Then, we as shareholders can make educated decisions on whether we can support such an undertaking.

Further, I respectfully urge the Resources Committee to work with CAC to aggressively explore alternatives to the project as proposed that would be more financially lucrative to the shareholders while protecting the region as is, thus providing significant public benefit. Alternatives such as exchanging federal surplus properties elsewhere for CAC's development rights in the region or acquisition of a comprehensive conservation easement should be explored. I am certain that either scenario would result in substantially higher dividends to CAC shareholders then the present project as proposed, and would clearly be in the best interest of the public.

This is an exquisite area, one that should not be sacrificed for a few years of work for out of work loggers, miners, contractors and accountants from Seattle and Texas, particularly since we the CAC shareholders probably won't realize any financial return whatsoever on the Bering River/Carbon Mountain project, except as jobs to destroy our ANCSA land.

In the past 25 years we have not received dividends of any significant amount from CAC, and with CAC is still recovering from its 1991 bankruptcy, we will more than likely not see much of a change in the form of future dividends. We cannot bank on more broken promises or guarantees of a successful future from CAC, or Congress.

If the intent of the Resource Committee is to help us poor Native shareholders to rise from the level of near poverty by fast tracking this Bering River/Carbon Mountain easement, then it should also be your best interest to protect us share-holders from the carpet-baggers who have made a good living at not only our expense, but the expense of the environment in which we need to survive. We need a concise economic analysis to compliment an environmental impact statement to determine how to best address the Bering River/Carbon Mountain project. As ANCSA shareholders we need fiscal responsibility, if not from CAC, then from you. We CAC shareholders are not in the position to defend ourselves from CAC's public relations campaign or CAC's money to influence government.

Intrinsic Values: sovereignty, subsistence & spirituality

When weighing the intrinsic values of any region that is still left intact and in its "wild state," it is important to consider the true value of such a place in regards to what it means to the planet. Very few wild places are left on earth, and one should consider such a place priceless and not for sale, at any cost.

With sovereignty and subsistence being challenged by governments that are afraid of Natives having any control over their own lives, we as shareholders of these ANCSA corporations must do everything in our power to protect these wild places. When one is in one of these wild places, they can still experience sovereignty, subsistence and spirituality in its finest state.

The intrinsic value of the Copper River Delta and its inhabitants; i.e., the bears, eagles, wolves, salmon, etc., etc. and their importance to the planet are simple. Without any wild animals there will not be any wild sounds or natural sanctuaries. It is my hope that collectively we can see the true value of this irreplaceable habitat and find a way to value the intact pristine state of this existing coastal refuge. It is also important to express the latest push by government and these Native corporations to turn this place into a tourist destination. Major dollars and strategies are being conjured up to lure the elusive tourists to Prince William Sound and the Copper River Delta. In some places, people are convinced that tourists, strip-mining and clearcuts are compatible industries. Regardless of what one is lead to believe, it makes absolutely no sense to put this kind of money into tourism and then go out and annihilate what you're enticing everyone to come see.

H.R. 3087

H.R. 3087 is an unnecessary and imprudent "solution" to a problem that does not exist. There is no question that CAC is entitled to a fair profit from its land holdings. However, CAC's access to land within the Chugach National Forest affects the interests of the general public, fisherman, shareholders and its own fiscal interests. The process for balancing the various interests has been defined by ANILCA and the 1982 Settlement Agreement. CAC was aware of the provisions of ANILCA when it selected the Bering River/Carbon Mountain tract and was a party to the 1982 Settlement Agreement. Therefore, it is no surprise to CAC that its proposed right-of-way must be examined carefully and in coordination with the U.S. Forest Service and in the best interest of the public.

The proposed bill ignores the provisions of ANILCA, the terms negotiated by CAC in the 1982 Settlement Agreement, and the considerable progress CAC and the U.S. Forest Service have already made toward establishing a right-of-way. Forcing the U.S. Forest Service to grant an easement in 90 days- bypassing the negotiations between the parties and ignoring the critical need to conduct environmental studies- is a slap-dash approach to a complex situation in which both Native and non-Native Alaskans have a deep and passionate interest to preserve their way of life and continue to coexist in harmony.

Conclusion

The Eyak Rainforest Preservation Fund strongly opposes H.R. 3087. It will require finesse and appreciation, not a sledgehammer, to responsibly evaluate the sanity of a 25-mile-right-of-way road easement project affecting one of the worlds most unique and spectacular wetland regions. In fact, many Chugach Alaska Corporation shareholders believe that building a road into the heart of the Copper River Delta is a means to an end for us. CAC would be able to post more losses that Congress might one day again let us write off as only more "paper losses", but, we will be a part of the destruction of our only way of life that has for generations provided dividends in the form of sustenance i.e., subsistence, employment in the fishing industry and unparalleled way of life that one cannot replace by a mall or supermarket. We must put aside our differences and find a way to cooperate. Because it will take a sound effort from all of us to find a way to leave this place untouched and intact. I want to believe that it is the intent of the Resources Committee to allow CAC the opportunity to a fair and just profit from our ANCSA lands. It is also my hope that you share the same fiscal responsibilities to our CAC shareholders, since, ultimately it is you, who are considering granting this easement. Each of you must be prepared to answer to the public in the event that this is just another irrevocable exploitation of one of the last wild places on earth.

As stated earlier, CAC shareholders will obtain a greater financial return in preserving this Bering River/Carbon Mountain tract in its pristine state, in perpetuity, while maintaining our ability to preserve traditional subsistence activities, by helping us to implement a comprehensive conservation easement and preserving the entire region for all future generations- regardless of color, race, religion or greed.

Thank you for this opportunity to comment. Please call me if you have any thoughts or questions. I will be standing by @ 907.424.5890.

Dune Lankard, Director & Spokesperson
Eyak Rainforest Preservation Fund
Eyak Traditional Elders Council

Eyak Preservation Council
PO Box 460
Cordova, Alaska 99574
PH: 907.424.5890
Fax: 907.424.5891
email: eyak@redzone.org
website: www.redzone.org

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