February 26, 2005
Saturday

If Ms. Antonsen is insinuating that Alcan has acquired the property at Mountain Point or the timber cutting rights from the Mental Health Trust through "greased palms and back room deals" she is flat wrong. Once again: the University of Alaska sold Mountain Point through a seal bid auction process. Alcan had no contact with the University prior to the bid. We had no idea how many people would be bidding on the Mountain Point property. The University of Alaska has sold thousands of land parcels in the State of Alaska through the exact same process as the Mountain Point parcel was sold. To say the University did not follow the rules is incorrect.

Alcan purchased the timber cutting rights from the Mental Health Trust through a sealed bid "Request For Proposal" basis. Alcan offered the highest price for the timber and had the best operating plan for Ketchikan. The other proposer proposed to build roads and clear cut Signal Mountain and Bear Valley.

Anyone could have bid on and acquired either one of these projects if they had a higher bid.

The United States was founded on democracy and free enterprise. Instead of wishing for the government to enact more restrictions on business why not let the free market work. If a large demand for "world class lumber, sheet goods, furniture,etc." exists and the manufacturing of these products can be done in Ketchikan at a competitive cost, the manufactured products can therefore be sold at a competitive price on a global basis. Ms. Antonsen, SEAC and all the others that preach the high value of our Alaskan timber should take their own personal money invest it in building the factory here in Ketchikan in order to produce all of these wonderful products. By adding so much value to the Alaskan timber this company can then buy these logs or bid on the timber. Thus no log exports. This is the American way.

A word of caution before you make the investment of manufacturing timber goods in Alaska, as one very wise person asked me one time "Why do you think you will be successful when so many have failed before you."

Alcan is already supplying one small mill here in Ketchikan and would welcome additional markets for our logs.

Eric Nichols
Ketchikan, AK - USA

Related Viewpoint:

Log export by Beth Antonsen - Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

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