The Daily Alaska empire., 1949-02-11
COMMUNICATION

pire. Juneau, Alaska About two weeks ago story was released to the local papers by Territorial ! Highway Engineer Frank A. Met calf, relating to the 750-foot Eagle River Landing Road, the construc- tion of which, with Territorial funds, by the Territorial Board of Road Commissioners, has led to legal action against Metcalf and j the two other members of the Board. Treasurer Oscar Olson and i Coy. Ernest Gruening.
 Metcalfs release contains some questionable and misleading infor- nation. The taxpayers are entitled tc the fact, unvarnished.
 There are a tota- of only 3 lots i touched or served py this 750-foot road. Lot c is owned outright i by Gov. Gruening; Lot A is held under special use permit from the Forest Service by Gov. Gruening; Lot B is held under special use permit from the Forest Service ] by Huntington Gruening. This is i matter of public record, as is the fact that Gov Gruening is also Chairman of the Board of Road Commissioners which built the read with motor fuel tax funds.
 Metcalf stated that the road lis | rot now and never has been pri- i vate road in any sense of the word, but on a par with numerous other roads built for the benefit of the public with allocated funds from l the motor fuel tax" If there have 1 Leen other roads "on Q par" With | the 750-foot Eagle River Landing road built at cost to the Terri tory of several thousands each, to serve Territorial officials and their relatives, then it is high time that Metcalf published list of such expenditures so that the public can see where the motor fuel ta.. money really is going.
 Metcalf also states that the road was initiated by a petition of four interested parties not includ- ing the Governor" Signatures on a petition of this type have little value unless they are those of per- sons who will be served by the proposed construction. In this case, the only persons who would have any use for the road would be one of the Gruenings or one of their guests. It is hard to under stand how an expenditure of over s290o could have been approved on the basis Of a petition signed by four persons, none of whom would be served by the road.
 Metcalf also states The Forest Service was sufficiently interested in the project to make the original survey without cost to the Terri tory, as it opened up numerous forest homesites and gave direct access to Glacier Highway Met calf must have known that the road "opened up" exactly two for est homesites (already taken up by the Gruenings) and one tract of private land owned by the Cover nor; and that access by highway was already available to the south end of the private tract and one of the two forest homesites by an existing road, so that the new road provided access to only one forest homesite, held under special use permit by Governor Gruening (The road ends where the Governor is now building a private summer home on this one forest home site)
 In view of the facts, it is incon- ceivahle that the Forest Service made the survey because it open ed up numerous forest homesites and gave direct access to Glacier Highway" as stated by Metcalf, or that the road was built through the instance and cooperation with the U. s. Forest Service" as Met calf states in another section of his release.
 The Forest Service normally makes such surveys only when re- quested to do so, and if it made this one, particularly in view of the circumstances, then it is a safe bet that somebody asked them to, i. e., that it was not built "at the instance" of the Forest Service.
 It is difficult to understand, too, how petition could have been passed around, survey made, project approved, bids called for, bids re- ceived, an award made, and 750- foot road built, all, according to Metcalf, without Board Chairman Gruening knowing anything about it until "his return after the road was completed" It must have heen quite surprise to the Gov ernor.