August 27, 2012
Monday

I want to urge everyone to take the opportunity to vote for Agnes Moran on Tuesday to represent this district in the State House.

Through her service on the Borough Assembly she has demonstrated that she has the ability and desire to tackle the tough problems we face today.

After 35 years in the timber industry, I was forced to close the doors and lay off 85 workers due to a decision reached in Washington DC to swiftly curtail the harvest of old growth timber on the Tongass National Forest. The decision came with the promise of a 2nd growth timber supply and restoration work.

The curtailment of old growth timber was immediate. We are now told that the 2nd growth supply is 20-30 years away.  Closing harvest roads to limit access by recreational users hardly qualifies as restoration in my book. The Administration got what it wanted. Southeast Alaska got swindled.

Like Oil, our Fishing, Mining and Tourism dependant operators will face intervention at the Federal level that will limit or halt access to the resource and the flow of economic benefits they provide this region. Unless each of us makes a concerted effort to elect representatives that will fight for and support resource extraction, the lock up will continue.

The resources in our region reside in the shadow of big oil at the State level. Southeast Alaska must have a strong representative in Juneau who will fight for meaningful action by the State to take on the Washington regulators.   On August 28th, join me in casting your ballot for Agnes Moran.

Steve Seley Jr.
Ketchikan, AK

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