Pueblo chieftain., 1922-01-19
BY Frederic ]. Ha.kin


Washington. ID. c. Jan. 1s-That the
resources of Alaska are not being pro-
perly developed and that the methods
and conditions OF Federal admins
tration in that territory arc IN part
responsible. is a statement which has
been emphatically made In connection
with the proposal to take the bureau
OF Forestry out OF the Department of
Agricultural and place 1t in the De-
, partmcnt OF the Interior.
This. Of course, would give the In
| terror Department control of the great
national forests in Alaska and would
/ make tho department the chief FEEDER
al arbiter of Alaska's industrial dcs-
| tiny as the Interior Department al
ready has tho administration OF other
public lands in Alaska.
! Curiously enough the conservation
lists in and out OF the Forest Service
who are all opposed TO the transfer
OF the Forest Service. agree with their
opponents that Alaska Ia in n bad way
industrially and that Federal admin
| istration is in part the reason for
this. These conscrvationists claim
/ that the move to place tho Alaskan
/ forests under the administration OF
! tho Department OF tho Interior Is part
OF a general plan for the abandonment
OF the Roosevelt conservation policy in
! Alaska. and for frccr use OF her
4
demanded by many persons financially
interested In Alaska, and vigorous
lobby in favor OF such a policy has
long been maintained in Washington
by such interests.
| These interests say tina. Alaska II
not developing and tina. the Federal
\ policy of careful conservation is re-
sponsible for the lack Of development.
Tho conscrvationists agree that Alas
ka is not developing ns IL should. but
claim that every one OF its natural re-
sources is open to development This
/ is hindered. they clam 10 some cN-
! tent by the long range methods Of Fed
eral admiiiistrstio which should be
abandoned in favor OF administration
on the spot, but mainly by the fact
that Alaska Is far from markets and
has poor transportation facilities.
/ OUR LAST FRONTIER
The greater American public Is in
different to and ignorant OF tho whole
matter. That Is. in n sense. tho most
serious and unfortunate part OF the
situation. Alaska is tho last American
frontier. Ninety-nine per cent of the
area H. public land. 1t is almost the
only part OF the territory of the United
States where true pioneer conditions
still obtain-that is. where the indi
| vidual may obtain land and other
natural resources free or at nominal
cost.
/ Such frontier country should be
valuable overflow-lanc Tor our excess
| population. as the frontier West long
was. Alaska should be the haven of
the hardy and adventurous man who
has no capital but wants chance to
! win place OF his own on the face
of the earth. To some extent Alaska
has been that, and TO some slight OK
/ tent perhaps 1t still is. But this last
/ frontier OF ours is certainly not func-
tioninE as 1t should
No doubt harsh climate in many
parts of 1t has something to do with
it. Also there 10 not great deal Of
! farm land in Alaska and tho cstab-
lishment of n profitable farm there Is
n difficult business. The onc-man pIa-
Ger mining is largely n thing of the
past. All observers secm agreed that
the development of Alaska Is largely
q task for organized capital. 1t never
will he the land OF individual oppor-
tunity that the old West was. But It
is far more n land of individual op-
portL.-ity than the great part of tho
states and should be even moro SO
than 1t is. There is rich land to be
taken up. Fur farming is a profitable
business there. and one where little
capital is needed. Small capital has
many chances in Alaska.
Needless to say, conservation favors
the development of Alaska as a place
where the little fellow" has n good
chance and the demand for "A less
strict conservation policy springs
chiefly from men of large capital The
timber on the national forests of Alas
ka can be cut. only under Forest Ser
vice supervision, so that they are not
destroyed. They are being cut, and
at the sa1nc time conserved to furnish
the paper supply of the future for tho
United States. without any Federal