to enjoy the scenic beauties of the State. People 

 live in Alaska not only to earn their livelihood, 

 but because they are enthusiastic lovers of the 

 outdoors; so they are vitally interested in the 

 maintenance and enhancement of the outdoor 

 recreation resource. 



Fire damage to recreational facilities cannot 

 be estimated accurately in dollars. The fisher- 

 man, the hunter, the camper, and the picnicker 

 all suffer in an intangible personal way. Only 

 rough estimates can be made to determine how 

 much more traffic would occur if all the land 

 were productive and beautiful. Many categories 

 of business are affected by both the short-term 

 and long-term results of fire. A few of these are: 

 lodging, food, and automotive repair services; 

 aircraft charter and guide business; and photo- 

 graphic and sporting goods merchants. 



MINING 



Mining has been one of the three major in- 

 dustries in Alaska for the last 7 decades. Gold 

 stimulated rapid development of mining in the 

 late 1800 s and early 1900's. Most gold mining 

 in western and Interior Alaska is placer mining, 

 and is completely dependent upon water to 

 process gravel and remove the minerals. High 

 costs of production have seriously reduced vol- 

 ume of the mining industry, but it still is far 

 from being eliminated; in 1957, mining was 

 second high in economic value to the State — 

 wildlife was first (Buckley 1957). 



Placer mining requires removal of over- 

 burden and gravels down to bedrock in order to 

 make the mineral-bearing strata accessible to 

 shovels, dozers, draglines, and other equipment. 

 Preparation of an area, including the cutting of 

 bedrock drains and digging of holes prior to 

 actual mining, is extremely expensive. Floods, 

 always a threat to mining operations, may fill 

 the cuts and cause loss of equipment, work, and 

 time during the short field season which runs 

 usually from early June until late September. 



Mining operations often produce silting, 

 which damages rivers and smaller streams. 

 Mining may also be detrimental to stability of 

 individual watersheds. Forest fires can cause 

 any such potentially serious situation to become 

 disastrous. 



USFS 



Figure 8. — Commercial recreation area near Fairbanks. 



Oil and gas production is at the threshold 

 of becoming big business. Much of the current 

 exploration, well drilling, and pipeline construc- 

 tion is in timbered country. Protection from large 

 fires is imperative for the safety of workmen as 

 well as for the large investments. Income to the 

 State from oil and gas leases is already sub- 

 stantial. By law, the State receives 90 percent 

 of the Federal revenue, which for the first half 

 of 1959 amounted to $4-1/3 million. 



USFS 



Figure 9. — Gold mining operation, near Fairbanks. 



15 



