Valley frontiersman., 1950-06-09
DANIELS-In the Lions Den

We were sorry to learn, this week, of the excep- tionoIIy poor job of publicity we've been doing on Palmer and the Motonusko Valley. We take the blame for thot-both from the point of view of our newspaper and for the Chamber of Commerce for the proposed Chamber of Commerce booklet has been stopped in file basket for several weeks now
 However we don't think even we can be completely to blame for the deep dark ignorance of Palmer facts and figures that displayed by Douglas resident last week. We just can't understand how any member of our territorial legislature possibly know so little about this territory for which he helps make the laws After his quoted statement in the Juneau, Alaska, Empire that Palmer is just few minutes away from Anchorage on paved road, we don't wonder that town too often seems to get lost in the shadow ot big neighbor.
 We also depIore the legislators confused version of our airport facts and figures. We can understand that he may have been msled, in some respects, by stories published in Anchorage concerning the airport However we had been assured by the editor Ot the paper publishing those stories, tot everyone interested in the Palmer airport in Juneau would be properly in- formed of the true facts Where he got his figures on the per-ucre cost of airport land we'll never know it's the first time we'd been introduced to those Por- tcuIur costs. Not even the recent oIout attack on the territorial commissioner of aviation in Anchorage uneorthed any report as alarming as thot.
 We'd further like to assure the Doug las repre- sentative, and have other Valley residents do likewise, that PuInoers airport is considered completely essen- tiul to the mIion-doIdr field under construction in Anchorage It often happens, on the best ot regulated orports, that weather does close in. When thot happens oirines pilots and passengers alike are happy in the thought that there IS an alternate strip at hand, only few minutes further by air.
 Anchorage is extremely interested in seeing thot Palmer gets its airport Anchorage planners know that the Valleys flying weather is probably the most ideal in the territory Surely anyone who lives in the Juneau area can recognize the importance ot weather when planning new olrfieds
 But, as we started to soy we're sorry the Douglas gentleman is so n1isinformed about Palmer and the VoIey And we think that we who live in the Valley ought to do something about it. We'd suggest thot everyone who reads this colunn and who is convinced thot Palmer needs airport, who believes that the capitol ought to be located somewhere north of the Gulf of Alaska write the Douglas legislator and tell him so-Wth reasons.
 We'd further suggest thot anyone who has any pictures of Palmer businesses, activity in town, and other pertinent pictorial facts send prints of those along to the Douglas gentleman. Let's bring him up to dote on Palmer
 In the meantime, to further plans for hoIting the proposed construction of the territorial office building in Juneau, it was suggested at Wednesdays quorum less Chamber of Commerce meeting, thot we direct letters to GSA officials and to Department of the h.