Survey Disputes Seen
As Delay in Alaska
State Lands Selection
If the land selection process is
not speeded up, it will take over
inn years before the state receives
the lands promised it by the Con
gress—lands so important to Al
aska’s economic development. U.
tv Sen. E. L. Bartlett said in a
Senate speech last Thursday.
The state has not been slow in
selecting lands — the slow down
has come because of disputed sur
vey techniques. Bartlett added,
and is not the fault of BUM em
ployees.
Ninety-nine per cent of the land
mass of Alaska is now owned by
the federal government. Under
terms of the Statehood Act, the
state is allowed to select 103 mil
lion acres from the public lands
in the first 25 years of statehood.
So far, only about 3.2 million
acres of lands have been selected
by the state, surveyed by the Bur
eau of Land Management, with ti
tle awarded by the Secretary of
the Interior to the state.
Because of the extent of the
area and the wild rugged frontier
nature of the land itself, the as
signment of surveying the state
selected lands is described as “the
biggest and toughest land sur
veying job in America.’’
Survey I.ags
The economic development of
Alaska will depend in many ways
upon the state making full and
proper use of these lands. For
this reason the state is anxious
to obtain title to them, Bartlett
told Congress. Unfortunately,
however, the land selection pro
gram has fallen behind. The sen
ator said the delay may be caused
I
by disputed survey techniques in
the land selection process.
The senator pointed out that
Congress recognized that without
adequate surveys the titles would
be clouded and the land would
lose much of its value. It is for
this reason that provision was
made for BLM exterior surveys
of all selected lands. The Senate
Report 11611, 85th Congress, says
"the sub-section provides for ex
terior boundary surveys be made
by the Secretary of the Interior.
This provision is required because
a large part of public lands in Al
aska has never been surveyed and
such surveys are necessary for
the use or conveyance of selected
lands.” The report goes on to
emphasize “the granted lands
cannot be used until surveyed;
so without funds for surveys, the
land grants would become an idle
gesture.”
“These grants were not meant
to be an idle gesture,” Bartlett
told Congress, and yet for the
second year in a row BLM has
sought, in its appropriation re
quest, to reduce the amount to be
spent for cadastral exterior sur
veys. Last year. Congress restor
ed the funds for surveying and
Bartlett said he was hopeful that
it will do so again this year.
In explaining the reduced re
quest, Karl Landstrom, BLM di
rector, stated that there are ‘two
features that will slow down, per
haps temporarily, this program
• . . and in view of that possibility,
this amount is adequate at this
time.”
One of the factors mentioned
i
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Revolving Loan
Fund Slighted
In Annual Budget
The administrative portion of
the Division of Agriculture's
budget was treated quite well in
the state budget completed by the
Alaska Legislature in its 1963
session, according to Sigmund H.
Restad, director of agrculture.
The Agriculture Revolving
Loan Fund, however, did not fare
so well.
The Agriculture Revolving
Loan Fund wound up without any
additional appropriation for the
first time since the Legislature
created it in 1953.
As of December 31, 1962, the
Loan Fund's assets were $1,124,
594. This is a revolving fund, so
there will only be a limited
amount of loan monies available
during the coming fiscal year, the
director said.
by Landstrom is the dispute as to
the size and the shape of the
areas being; selected and surveyed.
Boundary Disjute
The Secretary of the Interior
has said “The law provides that
all selections shall be made in
conformity with such regulations
as the Secretary of the Interior
may prescribe taking; into account
the situation and potential uses
of the land involved ...”
The affect of this interpreta
tion has been that the Department
of the Interior claims a right of
veto over the size and shape of
state selections and the right to
determine what size tracts shall
be given the benefit of exterior
surveys. Bartlett explained.
According to the Statehood Act,
he pointed out, the matter of sur
veying is discussed at the end of
Section (i—“Where any lands de
sired by the state are unsurveyed
at the time of their selection, the
Secretary of the Interior shall
survey the exterior boundaries of
the area requested without any
interior subdivision thereof and
shall issue a patent for such se
lected area in terms of the exter
ior boundary survey.”
Bartlett stressed that the law
makes it clear that the Secretary
of the Interior “shall survey the
exterior boundaries of the area
requested by the state” and does
not mean that the Secretary may
decide which lands are or are not
selectable.
“If the State of Alaska were to
accede to the position taken by
the Secretary, the State would
lose authority over its own land
selections. The Secretary would
be in a position to determine
whether the state selections are
acceptable to him, the state would
have to show him what it intends
to do with the land ... he w'ould
decide when and in what size ex
terior surveys should be made,
without regard to the size of the
tracts the state had selected.”
Bartlett concluded his speech to
the Senate by asking that the
Bureau of Land Management get
busy on the surveys, saying “BLM
has both the tools and the task,
Let it get on with the job”.
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Little Theatre Group Schedules
‘The Male Animal’ This Weekend
“We men are animals, too,”
states one of the characters in
the Thurber comedy scheduled for
immediate showing to Kenai Pen
insula play lovers.
Three performances of “The
Male Animal,” being presented
by the Homer Little Theatre
group, have been announced, with
two of these performances sched
uled this weekend. Curtain time
is at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 11, and
at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 12, for
the matinee. Proceeds of the ma
tinee will go to the Homer Con
sort Assoc, to assist that organiz
ation in bringing the Alaska Mu
sic Trail series to the Homer area.
The third and final perform
ance of “The Male Animal” will
be on the following Saturday,
May 18, also at 8 p.m. The show
ing on all three occasions will be
in the Elks Hall at Homer. Tick
ets for the individual performanc
es are on sale at Uminski’s Dept.
Store, Homer, and may be obtain
ed by mail. >r
f
“The Male Animal” was co
authored by the late James Thur
ber, one- of the best-known Amer
ican humorists, and Elliot Nu
gent. It is being presented by
special arrangement with Samuel
French, Inc. Mrs. Thurber has
given the Homer Little Theatre
permission to use some of the or
iginal Thurber cartoons for ad
vertising purposes.
Interest in the Homer Little
Theatre has been steadily increas
ing, says Mrs. Betty A. Stokes,
publicity chairman.
The current production is being
directed by Marion Thorn. Mem
bers of the cast are Rita Weber,
Alden Thorn, Nancy Davis, Leon
Wilbanks, Bob Norman, Larry
Shorb, Bob Breakfield, Martha
Wickersham, Eddie Langsdale
and Betty Stokes.
After seme 50 to 60 years of
off-and-on-again searching, oil
was discovered in commercial
quantities in Alaska in 1957.
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