COPY
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA

THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY, ALASKA CHAPTER;
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY; and
SIERRA CLUB;

Plaintiffs,

v.

MICHAEL A. BARTON,  Regional Forester,
Alaska Region, United States Forest Service; and
UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE;

Defendants, and

THE ALASKA FOREST ASSOCIATION,
Defendant-Intervenor.

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DECLARATION OF MATTHEW D. KIRCHHOFF

I, Matthew D. Kirchhoff, declare as follows:
1.	I reside in Juneau, Alaska.
2.	I have been an active member of the Alaska Chapter of the Wildlife Society for 12 years, and have served on the Executive Committee as Secretary-Treasurer (in 1989).
3.	I am a professional wildlife biologist.   I have a Bachelor's degree in Forest Zoology (1975) from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, and a Master's degree in Zoology (1977) from the University of Maine, Orono.  I have conducted wildlife research in Southeast Alaska since 1979, and have been responsible for the Department of Fish and Game's deer research program since 1987.  In this capacity, I conduct and supervise studies on deer/habitat relationships throughout southeast Alaska.  I have coauthored numerous papers in the technical literature, as well as several habitat models used by the Forest Service to evaluate timber harvesting effects on wildlife.
4.	The Alaska Chapter of The Wildlife Society has designated me to speak on behalf of the organization with respect to the issues presented in this litigation.  I submit this declaration solely in my capacity with The Wildlife Society and not as a representative of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.  The facts set forth in this declaration represent my personal views and the position of The Wildlife Society, but not necessarily the position of the Department of Fish and Game.

Purposes of The Wildlife Society and
Historical Involvement in the Highgrading Issue
5.	The Wildlife Society is a national non-profit organization of wildlife professionals and others who share the organization's commitment to sound, scientifically-based wildlife management.  The Society has about 9,000 members nationwide and about 250 members in its Alaska Chapter.  The organization's purposes are summed up in its by-laws, the first page of which is attached to my declaration.  They provide as follows:

The principal objectives of the Society are:  (1) to develop and promote sound stewardship of wildlife resources and of the environments upon which wildlife and humans depend; (2) to undertake an active role in preventing human-induced environmental degradation; (3) to increase awareness and appreciation of wildlife values; and (4) to seek the highest standards in all activities of the wildlife profession.

In addition, our by-laws include a Code of Ethics in which each member of the Society pledges, among other things, to:

-	"Recognize research and scientific management of wildlife and their environments as primary goals;"

-	"Disseminate information to promote understanding of, and appreciation for, values of wildlife and their habitats;"

-	"Encourage the use of sound biological information in management decisions."

6.	Because of its principal focus as a professional scientific organization, the Alaska Chapter of the Wildlife Society has, to my knowledge, never engaged in advocacy litigation.  We've taken this step because the Forest Service's methodology, which is at issue in this case, is scientifically indefensible.  By relying on inaccurate inventory data, the Forest Service invites the over-harvest of rare, ecologically important forest types, and the degradation of important wildlife habitat.  This is inconsistent with our organizational purposes and our Code of Ethics, as quoted above.

7.	The Alaska Chapter of The Wildlife Society has long taken an active, leading role in the movement to eliminate the practice of highgrading in the Tongass National Forest.  For example, in 1987 we appealed the Record of Decision for the 1986-90 Operating Period for the Alaska Pulp Corporation Long-Term Contract, in large part on the basis of highgrading.

8.	During Congressional deliberations over the Tongass Timber Reform Act of 1990, The Wildlife Society was active in lobbying for the inclusion of section 301(c) (2) in the Act.  I testified on this issue in one House committee hearing, and other members testified in other House and Senate hearings. In addition, we submitted extensive written materials in support of this provision to House and Senate members and their staffs.   For several years, both before and after passage of the Act, our members have worked closely on an ongoing basis with Forest Service personnel to discourage highgrading and, since passage of the Act, to implement section 301(c) (2) faithfully.

9.	Members of the Alaska Chapter of the Wildlife Society use and enjoy the Kelp Bay area and other parts of the Tongass for scientific as well as recreational, subsistence, and aesthetic purposes.  These uses are adversely affected by high-grading.

Adverse Effects of Highgrading
10.	The practice of logging the largest, highest-quality stands of trees first, and leaving the rest behind (hereafter referred to as high-grading) is not new, nor is it unique to southeast Alaska. The most productive timber stands in the Pacific Northwest were logged in the first half of this century.   In southeast Alaska, industrial logging over the last 40 years has also concentrated in the higher-volume, more accessible stands. The timber industry has defended high-grading on silvicultural or economic grounds, but ecologically, it remains a ruinous practice.

11.	There are many different types of old-growth forest in southeast Alaska.  A stand of Sitka spruce, 150 feet tall and 6 feet through, growing on a well-drained riparian site, differs markedly from a stand of 30' shore pine, growing on muskeg-like soils near treeline.  Both stands are old growth, but they vary in important ways in terms of their composition  (understory and overstory species), their structure (tree size, spacing, and dead and down wood), and in their function (for example, as wildlife habitat, or in hydrological or nutrient recycling).  Enlightened forest management recognizes and perpetuates this diversity.  In order to maintain a healthy forest ecosystem-- one that continues to function well-- essential components of the ecosystem can not be impaired.

12.	The importance of forest diversity to wildlife can be illustrated by example of the Sitka black-tailed deer.  Deer utilize a wide variety of forest and non-forest habitats during the year, from the beach fringe up to the alpine.  When snow is absent, deer may use open forest stands, including young clearcuts, where forage is relatively abundant.  During most winters, however, an important shift in habitat use occurs.  During periods of deep snow, deer move into high-volume old-growth stands.  There, deer find significantly lower snow depths, and higher forage quality than in open stands. Thus, in the case of deer, a small percentage of the land area is critically important to a large percentage of the population. If that small but critical component of the forest is removed, the effect on deer populations using that landscape is great.

13.	Deer, being relatively well studied, provide just one example of why forest diversity is important.  But the argument for maintaining diversity should not rest with deer alone.  There are literally hundreds of species and dozens of ecological processes within the forest that have not been studied.  Maintaining representative forest types, in an approximation of their natural size, shape, and spacing, is the only practical approach to maintaining biodiversity in its many forms.  Active management, including logging, can and should occur in this forest. It must be done, however, with careful attention to the first law of "intelligent tinkering," and that is to save all the pieces.

Lack of Adequate Information
14.	Keeping track of those pieces is the responsibility of the U.S. Forest Service.   The Forest Service maintains mapped inventory data showing the size, shape, and location of different forest stands across the Tongass.  One of the criteria used to differentiate among old-growth stands is timber volume (number of board feet per acre).  Timber volume varies as a function of site productivity (tree size and stocking), species composition, and defect (non-merchantable wood).  The forest in southeast Alaska exhibits a wide range of timber volumes.  Stands on poor sites support less than 8 thousand board feet per acre (volume class 3), while stands on productive sites have over 50,000 board feet per acre (volume class 7).  The highest volume stands on the Tongass contain up to 125 thousand board feet per acre, and are truly impressive. They are also exceedingly rare. Class 7 old growth is today found on only 1 percent of the forest.

15.	Despite the economic and ecological importance of relatively rare, high-volume old-growth stands, the Forest Service is unable to identify the location of these stands from the agency's timber-type inventory maps.  As often as not, stands marked as high volume on the map turn out to really be low volume, while stands marked as low volume on the map turn out to really be high volume.  Using such inaccurate maps to generate reports for Congress, or for the public, is particularly troubling because it effectively validates wrong information.  My personal experience with these maps matches the conclusions of the Forest Service's own reviews:  they can not be used to reliably locate high-volume stands.

16.	Such basic information is essential to sound resource management.  These rare stands are a significant resource economically, ecologically, and aesthetically. The ability to even find these stands for research, education, management, or simple personal enjoyment is largely foreclosed by deficiencies in the current inventory.  Our effort to ensure that reliable resource information  is  available to researchers,  resource managers, Congress,  and  the  general  public  is  consistent  with  the organizational purposes of The Wildlife Society, and is in the public interest.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
DATED this ___th day of September, 1993.

Matthew D. Kirchhoff