Seward seaport record., 1954-12-24
By LOUIS R. HUBER

belt of Alaska is ripe for industrial development.
 That is the belief of the Alaska Development Board which recent ly issued two separate S0-page re- ports on the economic resources of this region.
 Reading them, one realizes that this territorial agency wants indus trial development to come, not be- cause of defense bases and their needs alone but rather, because the exploitation of resources re- gently made accessible will aid Alaska, the nation and the bases.
 You get this much from one of the titles: Possibilities of Com mercial Development of Gubik Gas Field and Use of Natural Gas as a Source of Heat and Power in the Railbelt Area of Alaska"
 The Cubic Gas Field. 465 miles northwest of here, near the Arctic Coast, is one of the by-products of the United States Navy's search for oil in, it's huge Petroleum Re serve No. north of the Brooks Range.
 The other report. on Fairbanks itself, points out that industrial expansion in this region can occrI' at surprising times. When the rest of the nation was sunk in economic depression in the 1930's. Fairbanks experienced prosperity due to introduction of modern gold mining methods.
 As for the Gubik gas field, the report states that "a minimum of 300 billion cubic feet of gas" exists there in two test wells.
 It would cost slightly over s1S,- 100000 to build a pipeline from Fairbanks to the Cubic field with that done, however, an immediate market would commence using the gas.
 "In Fairbanks and vicinity all cne." says the report, 'the annual cost of fuel used for generation of electric power and for heating purposes by all consumers, includ- ing the military. is estimated to be in excess of $11 ,000,000."
 If the Cubic gas were used in place of coal and fuel oil. saving of $4.OO0.O00 yearly would be effec- ted. the board asserts.
 Tn addition, the pipeline could easily be extended southward al ong the railbelt with stimulation for several potential industries.
 At present the Cubic gas field is tied up as a part of the Navv's 37,O00 square mile Petroleum Re- serve No. 4. Close to $6O.000. 900 was spent in oil exploration in this area in the nine years preceding 1853. at which time the work was stopped
 The Alaska Development Board suggests that, since the Navy has no use for the gas deposit, it should be opened up to industrial use.
 Then. says the board, ore-reduc- tion plants could be built for re- fning local deposits of antimony, tungsten. copper, molybdenum. gold and silver; fertilizer and chemical plants could be built with great benelt to Alaska agriculture; and ceramic industry could be estab- lished for producing building ma terials that now cost dearly in the area.
 Any progress toward economic self-sufficiency will strengthen the position of the military establish ment in Alaska and thereby have beneficial effect on the defense of the United States in event of national emergency" say the board. It also points out pressing need for lowering the high cost of electricity in this area-which could be accomplished by harnes- sing some. at least, of the 21 hydro electric sites 'hereabouts whose combined potential is estimated al around 's.0OO,O00 kilowatts. ''
 Close to billion dollars has been poured into the present, defense sys' tenn in Alaska, 1t is. pointed out and by exerting g comparatively small push in the direction of nat. ural economic expansion up north valuable saving to the entire nation will result.
 The report on Fairbanks traces the history of this far.north metro polls, whose greater-area popula- tion now is estimated at 10000.
 The city got its start in 1901 when goldseekers picked this spot as a likely one for trading post. Tn those days you reached Fair banks either via St. Michael on the Boring Sea coast. travelling up the Yukon and Tanana Rivers for $500 miles; or through Skagway and Whitehorse and thence down the Yukon for 2,375 miles.
 Tn 1913 route overland from Valdez on the Gulf of Alaska coast was established, only 365 miles