it removes 100,000 acres of some of the most used and visited lands in southeast alaska. from public ownership and gives them to the corporation who plans to clear-cut the vast majority of its land selections for timber. this is approximately 20,000 acres over the legal nimet under the alaska native claim settlement of 1971. with 290,000 acres of land and additional 560,000 acres of subsurface rights, it is already the largest private landowner in southeast alaska. and after three decades of extensive and intensive logging, they have left a legacy of expansive clear cuts of the lands they already own. they will do the same to some of the most biologically and culturally valuable lands within the tongass. over the alaska for years the national forest has already lost 550,000 acres of old growth trees and marked by 5,000 miles of logging roads. this further threatens what is left of this national forest. it also endangers the economy of southeast' by privatizing lands and waters that are used by guys in commercial fishermen. industries that employ over 17,000 men and women,

more time to devote to the many, many volunteer and civic efforts that she is engaged in in southeast alaska. but it's going to be -- it's going to be a sad time for myself, for congressman don young. sherry has provided guidance to the alaska delegation in ketchikan, alaska's first city, through a very interesting time. it's been somewhat of a turbulent quarter century, one in which the region's former economic mainstay which is its timber industry has sharply contracted. during a period in which the tourism industry has significantly grown, and during a period where its prospects of supporting major mineral development i think have substantially brightened, it's a good spot for us. it's a period when the ketchikan area which is the seventh longest entity in our state which is the only large community that is separated from its life line with its airport on a neighboring island, has endured somewhat unwelcome national attention, solely because they seek dependable access by bridge. now, sherry over the years has responded to tens of thousands of public and media inquiries, requests for help

southeast at 5 to 10 modes >> tamron? >> all right, michelle, thank you. >>> four mountain climbers are presumed dead today after an avalanche swept them away on alaska's mount mckinley. v veronica de la cruz has more. >> mount mckinley is the highest peak in north america. in the area where the avalanche hit was not known to be especially dangerous. but the climbers just appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. it was in the early hours of thursday morning, on mount mckinley's most popular trail. five climbers visiting from japan tethered together by a single rope. just below 12,000 feet. when they're swept downhill by an avalanche. when the ground settled, only one climber was alive, saved when a part of the rope he was holding broke loose, swinging him into a crevasse. this photo from the national parks service shows the aftermath of the massive slide. what looks like a tiny trench is actually that 60-foot deep area where the 69-year-old man was protected. when he emerged, he couldn't find his friends and had to make a 14-hour climb down another 4,000 feet by himself to summon help. the national parks service is presuming the four others are d