Fire Losses in Alaska’s Forests,
Wildlife Ranges, Nesting Grounds
Are Highest in Recorded History
WASHINGTON W)—Fire losses
in Alaska’s forest lands, wildlife
ranges and migratory waterfowl
nesting grounds this summer ‘are
the worst since records began in
1940, Bureau of Land Manage
ment director Edward Woozley
said yesterday.
Reporting on the 1957 fire sea
son, Woozley said more than a
million dollars has been spent
fighting fires so far this season.
He declared “man’s carelessness
causes eight out of 10 fires in
Alaska.”
Woozley said a 50-year record
drought in the territory allowed
fires to spread rapidly and burn
as deep as eight feet into the
muskeg.
As many as 700 men have been
on the fire lines at one time.
BLM fire control experts said
with a month of the current fire
season to go, losses have equaled
the 1940 record of AVz million
acres. Alaska has 290 million
acres of public domain.
This is the way Woozley report
ed the situation:
“The largest fire burning today
covers 1,600,000 acres of the Ka
teel River drainage in western
Alaska. Several fires 200,000 to
600,000 acres in size are located
in the Kuskowim and Yukon Riv
er valleys about 300 to 400 miles
west of Anchorage and Fairbanks.
“It’s a grim picture of- desolate
blackened wastes, thousands of
acres of caribou and reindeer
range destroyed and waterfowl
nests turned to ashes in some
areas. It may take 50 years or
more before the rangelands re
i- - —
cover their pre-fire forage values,
especially for caribou.
“Valuable forest Lands have
also been lost. Actual determina
tion of acreage burned and losses
suffered will not be made until
later this fall.
“Alaska’s worst fire season was
ushered in the first week of June
with heavy lightning storm£ mov
ing up the Kuskokwim and Yukon
River valleys from the Bering Sea.
“Coupled with the driest sea
son on record, these fires rapidly
spread thru the tinder-dry forest,
grasslands, and muskeg to be
come roaring infernos of flame,1
smoke, and destruction. Billowing
clouds of smoke rose thousands of
feet into the air and blanketed
the western half of Alaska with a
pall of smoke. Prevailing south
westerly winds by mid-July had
carried the smoke blanket over
all of interior Alaska, reducing
visibility to one-half mile or less
and ceilings of 300 feet or less.”
Lowell Thomas Jr.
In Fairbanks Making
One-Hour TV Production
FAIRBANKS, UPt—A 14 - man
New York film crew headed by
Lowell Thomas Jr. is completing
here a one-hour television pro
duction dealing with man’s con
quest of the arctic.
Thomas said the film will be
released in December as part of
the TV series “High Adventure.”
The producer’s father will come
to Fairbanks next week to be
“filmed” to the backgrounds. The
senior Thomas is hbst and narra
tor for the series.
IT’S TIME
TO START PLANNING
THAT WINTER WARDROBE
- -PRESENTING —
A Lovely Group of
informal Dresses
FOR THE NOME HOSTESS or TEEN-AGER
Back-to-School Dresses,
Sweaters and Skirts
Drip-Dry Dacron Uniforms
in Interesting New Patterns
AND — A wonderful selection of new
Materials for the Do-It-Yourself Department
in washable Pamplona and Maragua, washable
and drip-dry, that look and feel like wool.
Also Superla—a Beautiful Fabric
for Party Clothes and Other Things, Too
Well Baby Clinic
On Monday Next Week
Mrs. Nels Swanberg, Public
Health Nurse, requests all those
with appointments for the Well
Baby Clinic for next Tuesday
come instead on Monday at the
same time for next week only.
Mr. Rider: “Some of you pedes
trians walk as if you owned the
streets.”
Mr. Strider: “Yes, and some of
you motorists drive around as if
you owned your cars.”
NOME SANITARY
SERVICE
Phone Main 1
P.O. Box 558
It’s Plymouth’s greatest year
and “Operation Snowball” is your greatest
chance to save on the one car
■ v
that will still be new next snowfall!
Right now is saving weather at
your Plymouth dealer’s! Plymouth
sales are storming ahead at a record
rate ... snowballing to an all-time
high. Your dealer is in a position to
give you an avalanche of savings on
the new Plymouth of your choice.
The more Plymouths he sells, the
more cash you can save.
You’ll really go for the “below
zero” prices your Plymouth dealer
is featuring during his spectacular
30-day “Operation Snowball.” And
you’ll like the very liberal allowance
he can give you for your present
car. So don’t miss out on the big sav
ings—pick out your 3-year s-ahead
Plymouth today.
and own more of the future right now!
LARRY GALVIN
Front Street, Nome