The Kusko times., 1925-12-19
Abstract of Governor
 Parks Annual Report
Continued from Page l)

of 1923. Prospectors were encouraged
 by several new discoveries, and the
 consolidation and renewed activities
 of some. of the larger dredging com panies have stimulated the quest for
 low grade placer ground. Governor 1 Parks recommends more liberal laws
 for the development of. the ow grade
 placer gravels of the Territory. The
 existing law he points out, was de-
 signed to prevent the monopolization
 of bonanza ground, and works hard
 ship on capital seeking to develop ! areas of low grade ground which can
 not be profitably worked except Joy large scale operations The gold lode
 mining industry of the Territory showed healthy development, and the increase in gold output for the
 year was due mainly to the activity in the lode mines, particularly in [ Southeastern Alaska. While benefits
 to the gold mining industry follow ing the completion of the Alaska
 Railroad have been rather slow tosap- pear in the production of gold, sig nificant developments are now in progress which, with an increase in pros peq1ing, will eventually lead to augmented gold returns.
 The production of the copper mines was materially snallee than in 1923. This resulted from unSatisfac- tory market conditions which provid- ed no stimulus for extended or en- larged operations.
 Coal production likewise experi- -enced a decrease, but extensive ex- porations are being carried on which point to increased production and wider distribution of Alaskan coal in the near fnture4
 The Katalla oil fields continue to be the2 only producing fields in the Territory. However, exploration in other districts was carried on by some of the larger companies. Wells are being drilled in the Cold Bay dis trict blythe Standard Oil Company of California and the. Associated Oil Company. Geologic and topographic surveys lying within Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, on the Arctic slope, were made. by government agencies during the year. Definite results of these surveys cannot be determined until office and laboratory studies have been made of the data and tech nical information thus obtained
 While receipts from resources within the national forests of Alaska showed a healthy growth for the year, the Territory's timber industry continues to be but small factor in the industrial life, and the annual re- turns from the forests infnitesimalI when possibilities for development and utilization of the forest resources are realized. n the calendar year 1924 the timber cut from the national forests aggregated 52,500000 board feet, and the total cut since 1909, when the national forests in Alaska were created, has been 582,000,O0O board feet. In accord with the fixed policy of the government to encour- age utilization of forest resources to a point equal to the average yearly growth of timber, the annual cut from Alaska forests should aggregate 1 1,000,000,000 board feet. In other words, the total value of timber pro- duction in the past sixteen years, is about one-half of the growth an nually.
 Governor Parks points out that the Illogical extension of the development of forest resources must come 1 through the pulp and paper industry. The predominant species, Sitka spruce and western hemlock, are both, excellent pulping woods,. the trees largely of sizes more suitable for