THE KENAI PENINSULA
CHEECHAKO NEWS
Phone 262-4624 Kenai Drawer 0
LOREN STEWART .Editor
DOROTHY STEWART .Society Editor
KEITH ARNOLD .Rovmg Editor
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AERA Calls Meeting
Dear Editor:
The regular meeting of the
Alaska Entrymen’s Rights Assn.
BLM Land Sale
Lacked Response;
Few Lots Sold
The Bureau of Land Man
agement’s small tract sale held
last Saturday in Kenai drew
a small crowd and little re
sponse. .
Of the 50 lots offered in the
Kenai, Homer, Ninilchik and
Anchor Point areas only 10
were sold. Only two of these
.racts brought more than the
appraised value.
The sale was in direct con
rast to the state sale held last
week earlier at which all lots
were sold bringing premium
orices.
Those attending the BLM
sale gave several possible rea
sons for the lack of response.
Most restrictive were the fact
lhat only one lot would be al
lowed per individual and then
only if that individual did not
have another federal homesite,
and that cash payment for the
lots, priced from $250 to $2,700,
would be required.
will be held at the boiaoma
hall on June 1st at 7:30 p.m.
All persons who do not have
electric power into their homes
are invited. Senator Gruening
has asked the AERA to provide
him information on the number
and location of families who do
not have power. Senator Gruen
ing has promised to investigate
ways and means of bringing
power to these people.
Eugene D. Smith.
Other possible drawbacks to
the federal sale were lack of
proper advertisement and too
high appraised value. Although
the lots were not priced too
high for sale, to begin the bid
ding at a premium rate discour
aged some bidders, one partici
pant said.
Another BLM sale is sched
uled July 10, it was announced,
with additional lots being off
ered and a reevaluation of the
present lots.
Fish Sites To Remain
The Fishermen’s Co-op has
been unofficially advised that
all nets may be fished in the
same location as last year for
this season. The Co-op has
asked for official confirmation
on the information.
D & D
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If It's Fixable We Fix It
Also Tooling Up for
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FRANK & PAT DONNER
DON WILSON’S
Soldotna Store
One Stop for
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SOLDOTNA Phone 262-4511
Kalifonsky Beach Fisherman
Seeks Governor Egan’s Help
Editor’s Note: Following is
a copy of a letter sent to Gov
ernor Egan.
Governor Wiliam A. Egan,
Juneau, Alaska.
Dear Mr. Egan:
I live and I fish at Kalifonsky
on the Kenai Peninsula. This
year the state is building a
beautiful road here, replacing
the Union Oil road. The west
side of the road has been used
by commercial fishermen for
many, many years and in many
many spots they have built up
fishing locations that catch the
eye of tourists, which Alaska
certainly needs. The fishermen
have their web buildings, cab
ins, net tacks, fish drying racks,
smoke houses and so on built
on the narrow strip of land still
belonging to the BLM. We
would certainly like for the
state to select this land so we
can have some protection for
our property.
On May 4th the project engi
neer (state) told one fisherman
he would have to get his prop
erty moved off, that he was
about ready to push the over
burden over the cliff or bank
to the beach, to get the gravel
from under the lots. The fisher
man told him that he had the
lots leased from the B.L.M. and
that he had neither the time nor
the money to do this. The an
swer was that the engineer had
a road to build and if somebody
got hurt that was just too bad.
At this particular place the
road is 300 feet from the bank.
We have received word from
the engineer that he will take
all the gravel, down to the blue
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clay. This clay, oxidizing rap
idly on contact with the air, dis
solves readily and oozes out
onto the beach, becoming so
soft as to be impassable. Gravel
which keeps shifting down
from the bluff covers this clay,
making a gravel beach on
which we can fish. If all this
gravel is exhausted we shall
have nothing but soft blue clay
on the beach, utterly impass
able.
This would, in turn, cause
erosion very readily and the
road would be eaten away in 15
or 20 years at the latest. One
place across from Union gas
well No. 3 lost 90 feet of land
in 1959 and 60 feet in 1960. The
homes in this area have been
moved back several times but
the road will not be moved.
We would like the state to
get the gravel from the east
side of the road and not push
any debris over the bluff, mak
ing a very great hardship on
the men fishing below. If the
state sets the example I’m sure
the oil companies will follow.
Union Oil has been very good
about putting the overburden
back into the pits after remov
ing the gravel. They have also
left the land on top of the bluff
in neat form, for photographing
of the Inlet and mountains and
our fishing operations. With a
little advertising we can make
Kalifonsky a beautiful tourist
spot where many types of sea
food can be acquired and many
pictures can be taken of the old
fishermen mending nets.
Alaska is bigger than Texas,
but it won’t be if we start push
ing it into the ocean.
I often wonder who has more
troubles, a fisherman or a Gov
ernor?
Sincerely,
Bud Keener,
Pres. Kenai Peninsula
Fisherman’s Co-Op.
Center Service
Kenai
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