The Daily Alaska empire., 1950-05-18
All Public Lands Granted New State But Fisheries
 Stay Under Government

mercial fisheries would remain in vested with the federal government if Alaska becomes a state under the rewritten statehood bill turned out by the Senate committee on h. terior and Insular Affairs.
 The only copy of the new bill to have reached the Territory so far is in possession of Alaska Senator Howard Lyng, Nome mining mar and Democratic National Commit teeman, who arrived in Juneau this week aboard the steamer Baranof.
 Senator Lyng attended the Senate hearings last month in Washing ton in his capacity as a member of the Alaska Statehood Committee
 When he left Washington witt other Alaskans who had testified or the bill, committee members prom ised to come up with revised ver- sion of HR 331, which was under severe fire by representatives oi the Alaska Salmon Industry, Inc. .o expand land grants to the new state and to "clarify" the fisheries picture.
 New Bill Arrives
 The new bill arrived by air mail today, addressed to the longtime member of the Alaska Legislature Portions of the bill passed by the House which have been revised arc struck out, and substituted by itali cized paragraphs which apparently meet with the approval of those who opposed the original bill.
 In fact, the new version seems tagged, canned and labeled by Seat tie opponents of the original. They had opposed the original as not giving enough land to the new state only four sections of each town ship
 The new bill provides:
 e.. all real property within the State of Alaska to which the United States now has title, including pub lie lands, is hereby granted to the said state to be used or disposed ot as the legislature thereof shall pro- vide. :"
 This excludes oil reserves. anc other federal reservations already in existence.
 Old and New
 However, where the old bill granted jurisdiction of fisheries to the new State of Alaska, with the same control as are possessed and exercised by the several states within their respective limits, in- cluding adjacent waters" the new bill specifically exempts commer- cial fisheries from state control.
 This is the way the new section reads:
 $. that except in respect to fur seals, sea otter, migratory abirds, commercial fisheries, and the areas heretofore designated for adminis- tration by the Secretary of the h. terior for the protection of wild life, the State of Alaska shall possess and exercise the same jurisdiction and control over the fisheries and the fur and game of Alaska as are possessed by the several states -"
 While Senator Lyng didn't com ment extensively on the new inser- tions in the revised bill, it was ob- vious he wasn't pleased with the new fisheries regulation.
 Concering passage of the measure during this session of Congress, he said that "it looks like a 50-5O pro- position to me"
 But chances appear somewhat better than they did when we (55 Alaskans) left Washington on the chartered Alaska Airlines plane for Seattle, Juneau and Anchorage.
 Since our departure from home the Senate committee has written practically new bill -"
 Senator Lyng, now stopping at the Baranof Hotel, leaves here Sat urday for Fairbanks and his head quarters in Nome.