i
WASHINGTON NEWS
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Set Net Legislation
The Senate this week approv
ed legislation which would ex
clude set gill nets, stake gill nets,
and anchored gill nets in Alaska
waters from any consideration! as
fixed gear in the writing of fish
ery regulations.
The bill, sponsored by Senator
Magnuson of Washington, is id
entical with the measure intro
duced by Delegate E. L. Bartlett
in the House and approved last
week by the House Merchant
Marine and Fisheries Committee.
For many years the Fish and
Wildlife Service has allowed
varied lengths between set nets,
as little a distance as 300 feet be
tween nets in some areas of Alas
ka, 600 feet being the distance
permitted in the Cook Inlet re
gion, because this gear was con
sidered to be movable gear. The
FWS announced last fall, how
ever, that because of a federal
court opinion issued last summer
that set nets were fixed applianc
es, the 1955 regulations would set
a minimum of 1800 between set
nets as is required between fix
ed gear fishing appliances. The
legislation which received appro
val on the Senate side this week
would exclude such nets from
consideration as fixed gear and
would permit the issuance of
regulations similar to those is
sued in past years.
COMIC BOOK COMMITTEE
TO MEET FRIDAY NIGHT
A meeting of the Comic Book
Committee has been called for 8
p.m., Friday evening, March 4.
The meeting will be held in the
American Legion hall.
Sheet Metal Work
Furnace^ Stokers Pre-fob Chimneys
Stainless Steel Work
Free Estimates —
PALMER SHEET METAL & HEATING
Box 179? John Weisenberger Palmer
Phone: 62J3
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THINKING OF BUYING
New Home Appliances
OR NEW HOLLAND
Farm Equipment!
You are invited to leave four name and
address at the Go-Op Warehouse. Our sales
representative will call at your residence.
NEW TV SETS ARRIVING
Co-Op Warehouse
MATANUSKA VALLEY FARMERS COOPERATING ASSN.
Review of Current
Land Laws Given
Editor’s note: The following is
the conclusion of an article start
ed in a previous issue of The
Frontiersman, pertaining to a re
view of land laws placed into ef
fect the past few years, as releas
ed by an official of the Bureau of
Land Management.
If a person merely wants a
place to live, there are two laws
under which he can get a home
1 site—the Small Tract Act which
was amended in 1954 to permit
classification of wnsurveyed lands,
and the Homesite Act of 1934. Un
der the Small Tract Act, a per
son leases a tract of five acres or
| less for a period of two or three
I years and then pays an appraised
1 purchase price set at the time he
leases the land. He can buy the
land at the end of the first year
if he has complied with the
lease terms. No stated period of
occupancy is required. The Home
site Act of 1934 allows a quali
fied person to move onto an un
occupied, unreserved portion of
the public domain, live there five
months per year for three years,
pay $2.50 per acre and become eli
gible for patent.
At times, the Bureau of Land
Management receives complaints
because veterans get priorities in
filings and credit for service.
Whether or not this is a weak
ness in the law is for Congress
to determine, a spokesman for
BLM said.
The grazing law for Alaska was
passed in 1927, seven years be
fore the Taylor Grazing Act
which is used in the Continental
United States. The Alaska graz
ing statute has no acreage limita
tion and is so flexible, BLM of
ficials said, that terms of the vari
ous leases can be altered to meet
almost any situation.
A point to be observed is that
some withdrawn land can be ob
tained under the Public Sale Act,
Small Tract law and under the
grazing regulations. Records show
that with one or two exceptions,
all of the land sold .under the
Public Sale Act and most of the
grazing leases issued involve
lands which are inside some type
of reservation. This, together
with Secretary of the Interior Mc
Kay’s policy of reducing reserva
tions to a minimum, indicates a
definite trend toward easing the
problems land withdrawals have
caused in Alaska, it was pointed
out.
The disposal of timber and a
wide variety of resources of the
land was authoried by a 1947 law.
A special amendment was passed
in 1950 to permit BLM in, Alaska
to dispose of materials located be
low mean high water mark in
navigable waters. Before that
time no Federal agency or indi
vidual could legally obtain gravel
from streams or off coast areas,
Disposition of timber under the
Act of May 14, 1898 is authorized
Hundreds of small sales and free
use permits have been made and
issued under this Act. The 1941
law authorizes, among other
things, the sale of clay. A brick
manufacturing industry is de
veloping at Anchorage using ma
terial obtained under this law.
The Coal Leasing Act dates
4
Precision Machine Work
“"**• Welding
HEAVY EQUIPMENT
REPAIR IS OUR
SPECIALTY...
We are also dealers
for HOLT
FARM DOZERS
PALMER MACHINERY CO
arrc shop
RALPH GOODRICH — JACK SCOTT
SPRINGER ROAD
PHONE 81
PROPOSED CERTIFIED
MAIL SERVICE
Postmaster General Arthur E.
Summerfield disclosed on Feb
ruary 15 details of a proposed
change in. the registered mail ser
vice which would reduce cost to
patrons and speed delivery on at
least 25 million letters a year now
sent by registered mail. He also
announced the new service would
not become effective until the
mailing public has had an op
portunity for 30 days to make
comments or suggestions to the
Post Office Department. Depart
ment employees are also invited
to make comments or suggestions.
The new mail service would be
called “certified mail.” As pres
ently contemplated, a charge of
15 cents would be made for giv
ing the patron a certificate of
mailing and for having the letter
carrier take a delivery receipt
from the addressee. This is in con
trast with the present minimum
charge of 30 cents for registered
mail.
Postmaster General Summer
field explained that the savings
which would be passed on to pa
trons are the results of simplifi
cation studies made by the De
partment. At the same time, he
annourced that the diversion of
mail out Of the present registered
service would enable the Depart
ment to give greater security pro
tection to letters carrying items
oi real nnancial value.
“We believe that there is a
need for varying the present reg
istry service so that the patron
could simply get proof of deliv
ery without having to pay for the
expense of guarding registered
mail at every handling point as
at present,” Summerfield said.
“The proposed 15 cents charge
does rot include the cost of ob
taining a return receipt. As in the
case of registered mail, a receipt
would be received by the carrier
and retained on file by the post
office. An additional charge of
seven cents would be made for
back to 1914 and follows the
standard pattern of tonnage re
quirements, bonds and royalties
There are other land laws in
effect in Alaska—some new, some
old—but these are the main ores
in operation in the Territory. No
land laws operate smoothly when
conflicts of interest appear and as
Alaska grows and land acquisi
tion becomes more and more im
portant, these conflicts become
important factors in the adjudica
tion of applications, a Land Office
official observed.
Tailored to Fit
Your Industry
and Savo You Dollars
WAREHOUSES
OFFICES
BUTLER*
Steel Buildings
Check your building require
ments and you'll find that a
Butler building can give you the
quickest, lowest cost answer.
Butler buildings provide max
imum usable space—-with per
manent, all-steel construction.
They help improve efficiency and
slash your maintenance costs.
Before you build, it will pay
you to see us for Butler building
advantages and savings. Phone
or write .. • today.
Address Inquiries to • • .
Matanuska Valley
Farmers Co-op Assn.
Agent for •
Alaska Metal Buildings
Box 509 Fairbanks, Alaska
delivery of a return, receipt to the
sender. If the public would prefer
to get a return receipt automatic
ally on each piece of mail, this
would of course, require that we
charge a somewhat higher fee for
the certified mail,” he said.
This project is under the direc
tion of Norman R. Abrams, As
sistant Postmaster General in
charge of the Bureau of Post Of
fice Operations. Comments should
be addressed to him in, care of
te Post Office Department, Wash
ington 25, D. C. __
FRONTIERSMAN CLASSIFIEDS
ALWAYS BRING RESULTS
SUNDAY, MARCH 6
10:00 Sunday School Hour
11:00 Morning Worship
11:00 Morning Worship "Thy Son - Thy Mother'
Jesus' Third Word from the Cross
7:00 Westminster Fellowship Groups meet
A CORDIAL WELCOME TO Al,L
Brian H. Cleworih, Minister
FAITH FOR OUR TROUBLED TIMES
Zenith Appliances
GOLEMAM STOVES AND
FURNACES
mxccrD^c hardware &
UliillJljIlII U SPORTING GOODS
“Hent ®f Dutch Bey Paints”
-W. A# At JU JL> W U H M UM V W M
WWTTBWWITWWWV WV
4 mwm m m
, _ af/LB* is in good haiids
ir**w*p
^f^jg Dedicated to
Your Health
Doctor, nurse, pharmacist . . . Hoiked together
for your health's sake. Our accurately filled
prescriptions, reliable sick room supplies, keep
the *'‘pharmacy link" strong.
24-hour emergency service
3 Pharmacists on Duty at All Times
BERT’S DRUG STORE
Your checks serve you TWICE. First, they pay your_
qU1CkIy' «n«niently. Second, they come back to ye*
endorsed, as bona fide receipts for every payment you
make. Save time. Avoid disputes. Open a checking account
here.
MATAMJSKA VALLEY
Palmer. Alaska
Open Thursday Evenings S — 8 P.M. — 18 lu
3 F.M.