The Alaska daily empire., 1926-09-23
IS
FIGHTING ROAD
WORK IN NORTH
Delegate Opposition to For
estry Ro ds Makes 1t
Hard to Get Road Money
BY JOHN L. PEGUES

The greatest need of Alaska, and
II is a universal need, common alike
to all sections of the Territory from
Hyder and Ketchikan into the farther
most regions of Seward Peninsula.
is roads. This has been recognized
by every Territorial Legislature and
all of them have made as generous
provision for road construction as
the finances of the Territory would
permit However, with the Federal
Government owning and controlling
% per cent of Alaska, the major
responsibility for road construction
has, as a matter of course, fallen on
it. And Congressional appropriations
have in the past and do now consti-
tute the principal source Of funds
for the building and maintenance of
roads.
There are two major divisions of
Federal road funds. First is the fund
controlled and expended by the
Alaska Road Commission which is
comprised of the Alaska Fund de-
rived from Federal taxes on Alaskan
industry, business and trade, and
direct appropriations by Congress.
This money for the past five years
has been expended on projects in
the hinterland, the interior away
from the southern and central coast
al sections, and on Seward Peninsula.
Second is the Forest Road
Fund, allotted to Alaska by the
Secretary of Agriculture from the
General Federal Highway Appropria-
ton. 1t comes to the Territory by
reason of the two national forests
which are situated in the First and
Third Divisions. = Under the law,
which applies alike to Alaska and
hll States and Territories in which
National Forests lie, this money may
be expended on roads which are
either wholly or partly in National
Forests, or on roads which are ad-
jacent to and lead to such forests.
Projects on which money from this
fund may be expended are character
lied as Forest Roads. They are
selected by the District Forester in
each National Forest District recon-
mended by him for consideration and
approval to the Chief Forester and
by him to the Secretary OF Agricul-
ture He is the individual who is
solely responsible for the develop
ment of the forested areas and ad.
jacent districts dependent largely or
entirely on the forests for their
existence and prosperity, and the
policy of the Federal Government is
to place upon him the responsibility
for constructing such roads as we'll
as to bring about their development
and settlement.
In Alaska the District FOrester's
program, launched in 1921, embraced
highways leading out of the towns
of Hyder, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Pet
ersburg, Juneau. Sitka mining roads
out OF Wrangell to Mill >Creek, the
Apex-El NidO mine at Lisianski Pen
insula. Funter Bay and smaller pro-
jects in Southeastern Alaska; Cor
dova, Seward and along The Alaska
Railroad on Kenai Peninsula, These
routes and the expenditures on them
received the approval generally OF
the citizens of the communities and
districts affected, chambers of com
merce and similar organizations
which were primarily interested in
the development of their own towns
and the Territory generally.
Sometime ago, the present dele
gate to Congress made a personal
protest to the Chief Forester against
the Alaska road program Of the
Forest Service. He criticised and
objected to the expenditure OF money
on roads leading out Of towns situat-
ed on the coast and sought to upset
the program at that time recon-
mended by the District Forester in
charge of Alaskan National Forests.
1t is significant that at the time
this was done, road project OF
some Importance had been approved
by the District Forester leading out
OF Skagway. After the Delegates
protest, this proposed work was
dropped and has not since been re-
vived 1t is true that the Delegate
approved this project, but the esti-
mated cost was so excessive as
compared to other pending projects
on which work was under way, and
the economic justification so much
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