priation of $150,000 to construct a general aviation landing strip near the light aircraft parking apron, which will allow the large and small aircraft to operate independently of each other; and a $1,500 chlorinator for the Fairbanks water supply system. Appropriations for Anchorage International Airport include $250,000 for the study and preparation of a master plan for the airport which will insure that future growth of the airport continues to proceed in an orderly and logical manner; an $800,000 project for a modern, up-to-date airport maintenance building to replace the existing, inadequate maintenance building which is occupying prime auto parking land adjacent to the new terminal; an $880,000 project to construct an urgently needed auto parking lot in front of the new terminal; and $875,000 project for construction an extension to the jet aircraft parking apron northwest of the terminal; an appropriation of $500,000 to completely phase the existing terminal building into a useable and integral part of the new terminal complex; a $350,000 project to increase the capacity of the airport sewer system and install additional sewer laterals and water mains for service to airport lessees; a $260,000 project to construct a taxiway and access road leading north from the terminal and parallel with the north/south runway, thereby opening additional lease property for developing hangars and cargo handling facilities on the airport; and a $134,500 project to create additional float plane parking in Lake Hood Canal, upgrade the existing low intensity runway lights on the canal and construct a new general aviation landing strip in the Lake Hood/Lake Spenard area. All funds for the International Airport projects were appropriated from the International Airport Revenue Fund. The Governor anticipates that Federal funds will become available to match State funds for certain eligible projects. General Fund appropriations for Trunk and Secondary Airports consisted of an $800,000 project ($300,000 of which had been appropriated in 1969) for the construction of an aircraft parking apron at Cold Bay Airport; a $300,000 runway rehabilitation project at Gulkana which will remedy the existing rough and failing condition of the asphalt pavement resulting from frost heave and poor drainage; an appropriation of $20,000 for gravel surfacing the Kodiak Municipal runway; $20,000 and $100,000 for engineering studies for McGrath runway relocation vs. extension and Sitka runway extension, respectively. Also appropriated from the General Fund in accordance with the Governor's request was $110,000 to provide airport maintenance buildings at Galena, Gulkana, Northway, and Summit. The Governor noted that the only deviations from his original request were in the bush airport program and funds requested for the purchase of airport maintenance equipment. A sum of $3,760,900 was requested for maintenance equipment at airports throughout the State; $2,943,300 was appropriated by the Legislature. The cutback in equipment funds affects only airports other than the international airports, which were funded in accordance with the Governor's request. The Bush Airport Program, as submitted by the Governor's office, provided for the construction of 100′ x 2,000′ utility airports at the communities of Chignik Lake on the Alaska Peninsula; Chevak, and Scammon Bay located on the westernmost tip of the Yukon-Kuskokwin Delta area; and Kake, a logging community on the northwestern tip of Kupreanoff Island in Southeastern Alaska. Also, funding was requested for miscellaneous minor repairs to various airports including, but not necessarily limited to, Birchwood, False Pass, Girdwood, Goodnews Bay, Iliamna, Kokhanok, North Naknek, Nikolai, Ninilchik, Petersburg Seaplane Float, Pilot Point, Sand Point, Seldovia, Shungnak, Noorvik, White Mountain, and Marshall. The total General Fund appropriation requested for bush projects was $1,900,000. However, the Legislature added utility airports for Eek and Tuntatuliag, both lower Kuskokwim villages southwest of Bethel. Bush project authorization was cut from $1,900,000 to $1,650,000, which will reduce the scope of the "miscellaneous" minor repair projects by one-half, i.e., from $850,000 to $425,000. CIP FOR 1972-1976 STATE OF ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION-SUMMARY OF INDIVIDUAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT PROPOSALS 1970-75 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM-DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, DIVISION OF AVIATION STATE OF ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION-SUMMARY OF INDIVIDUAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT PROPOSALS-Continued 1970-75 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM-DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, DIVISION OF AVIATION STATE OF ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION-SUMMARY OF INDIVIDUAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT PROPOSALS-Continued 1970-75 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM-DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, DIVISION OF AVIATION STATE OF ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION-SUMMARY OF INDIVIDUAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT PROPOSALS-Continued 1970-75 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM-DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, DIVISION OF AVIATION Senator GRAVEL. Senator Blodgett, I understand you want to give some testimony. STATEMENT OF STATE SENATOR ROBERT R. BLODGETT, REPRESENTING THE NORTHWEST DISTRICT OF ALASKA Senator BLODGETT. For the benefit of the record my name is Robert R. Blodgett. I am a State senator representing the northwest district of Alaska employing an area of Prudhoe Bay to the northeast of the mouth of the Yukon River in the southwest, an area substantially larger than the State of California with a population of 15,000 people living in 35 towns and communities. For the past 12 years minus 1 month I have served as a member of the house finance committee in the State legislature where I have been the subcommittee chairman of the public works budget which emembraces a division of aviation budget. We have been very kind to the division of aviation. We are not at all satisfied with the State division of aviation. I was not satisfied with the State division of aviation at another time and was instrumental in getting a new director, and I am not above doing that again. I am very pleased with the Federal Aviation Administration operation within the State of Alaska, particularly within the environs of my senate district. However, they still have a very real need for additional funds, specifically in the area of air navigational aids for they are extremely important to us. Our airways are our highways. Twothirds of the Federal aid to highway funds that are generated by the land mass area of the State of Alaska are generated in the western northwestern district which has the dubious honor of having less miles of road per capita than any other area in the free world. Now our airfields, we have worked very diligently on our bush airfield program which is a shambles. The planning of the State division of aviation has overlooked our requirements and as a consequence the legislature in a committee of free conference of which I was a member upgraded a general obligation bonding proposition that will be on the November ballot from $7 million to $10 million, a $3 million increase being for bush airport construction as the administration only had $2,072,000 in their bonding measure for bush airport construction in rural Alaska. The committee of free conference, the house and senate saw fit to increase that to $5 million bringing the total bonding package to $10 million. I believe actually that the $5 million for trunk airport |