Speech #880009557

I have on previous occasions discussed the arbitrary action by some officials of the Bureau of Land Management and the Geological Survey as such action affected Alaskan homesteaders. The life of the homesteader in the 49th State differs from that of the homesteader in the Great Plains States nearly a century ago. Many Members of this body will recall that during World War II in anticipation of the entry into the United States of war refugees. the Department of the Interior had withdrawn certain lands in Alaska which the Department of Agriculture. after careful study. had determined were suitable for agriculture. However. that project of opening these lands to refugees was abandoned and it was decided instead to open these lands to veterans for homesteading. Homesteading in Alaska is difficult since the land must first be cleared of dense covering of trees. At the time the land on the Kenai Peninsula was opened to homesteaders heavy equipment was almost completely unavailable in the then Territory.