Assembly Decision
Dear Editor: Where is our renewable and self-supporting economic base when we really need it? Back when we had a timber industry we had a strong and vibrate economy. Fishing and tourism have always had their ups and downs. Those occasional hiccups didn’t devastate our economy like it is now doing. We were able to weather through those times without our economy falling apart, because we had the timber industry that was reliably stable, year after year after year, and it was designed to go on that way forever. It was not only self-supporting it also added greatly to our economy, services, and infrastructure for everyone, not just for the select few. It didn’t require the many government subsidies and grants that this unstable eco-tourism economy requires to make it appear as if it is working.
We were doing well, even before the oil drilling started. We built a well-run ferry system that was full 12 months of the year, not just for a few months during the tourism season. Now that the state is broke the underutilized ferry system needs more government funding from an already over-extended government. The money is not there, and our small communities are going to suffer greatly. Our schools were well-funded not just by the government, but in a larger part by the stumpage fees paid by the timber industry. Those stumpage fees also paid for other infrastructure needs and wants in addition to paying back the government for the costs of preparing the timber sales. The economy was running well. It was self-supporting and reliable. The communities were doing great. The people had steady year-round jobs with benefits and good pay. We all had a secure future, or so we thought.
Then in 1992 there was Rio de Janeiro with its communistic bio-diversity treaty and the wildlands project. Special interest groups rolled up their sleeves and went to work. Their unstated goal is to destroy the developed world’s economy by using so-called “environmental devastation” to sell their end plan. They made lots of money destroying our families, jobs, and economies. They used phony and manipulated science to fool the unsuspecting public into joining their cause.
Our city council recently voted not to support our city, our jobs, and our economy, but instead to support the special interest groups that are determined to destroy our economy and empty everyone, except themselves, out of our corner of the world while they suck up every bit of any remaining government subsidies and grants they can get their hands on.
Theresa Helem, Sitka
