The Wrangell sentinel., 1952-06-27


 LOOKING UP IN
 SOUTHEASTERN ALASIA
 Interest in pulp mill in South eastern Alaska is showing al up- turn Charles Burdick. Assistant U. IS. Regional Forester and President of the Juneau Chamber of Com |merce, told the Wrangen Chamber at it's luncheon meeting Monday. The official was through here on a field trip to various Southeastern communities.
 With the 3O-million-dolla Ket- chikan plant underway. interest at the moment is centering around a possible 300-ton pulp mill in the Sitka area and a considered 1000- ton plant near Juneau, possibly at Thane. he reported. Other sites are not being overlooked he ex-. plained, but with power and avail able facilities, important factors in encouraging this industry the a. boye two mentioned proposed pro jects appear to be the hottest" at this particular time. He said Wrangells back channel area of fered opportunity and that it was estimated that Mill Creek could provide enough power for a pulrt mill of 300 to 4OO ton capacity.
 Power Factor
 The Forest Service, he pointed out, fayors no one location as a. gainst the other but is interested only i'll encouraging the industry and developing the timber resourc- les. The huge cost of installing plants, coupled with the need for almost unlimited power supply, he said, tend to point the industry to- ward mainland sites. As an exam pie of the cost, he referred to the proposed 1000-ton mill in the Ju- .neau area which is estimated to be around a hundred million dollars. The Ketchikan plant which is to start out with 325-ton capacity is in the 30 million bracket. Plans are for this plant to be producing 800 tons a day in 10 years.
 The hike in price of Canadian paper to $126 ton is stimulating interest in American production, he said, and there is the possibility that the great timber resources of the Tongass National Forest in Southeastern Alaska ultimately will figure in the establishing of paper producing plants in the Southeastern area. Railroads are showing an interest in the trans portation problem of getting the paper out which probably would have to be ferries or vessels captJ able of taking railroad cars a. board. If the rail lines can figure out a way to absorb the cost of shipment from the Southeast to Prince Rupert or Puget Sound, it would be a big incentive to paper manufacture, he said.
 Hanford Hopeful
 Fred G. Hanford, Director of the Office of Price Stabilization and also acting as liaison officer for the city and Federal agencies, al5o was a guest of the Chamber. He said he was trying to line up af- fidavits showing the need for the harbor dredging which it was hop ed would cause the Army to recon sider it's adverse report. He urged that the waterfront be kept clear of building as there was opportun- ity at this time to make it the most attractive waterfront in AL aska. He was optimistic that both the fill and the seawall would be obtained He reported there was new interest in establishing a lum- Der plant here, possibly on the site of the old APA cannery At one time the Nettleton Lumber Company of Seattle was interested in this proposal. He said that re- presentative of the Nettleton in- terests was scheduled to be here July 10, and he expected to come down from Juneau to meet him.