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Editor’s note: The following editorial advocating the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Range appeared in this column on Oct. 23, 1959. As we recognize the 50th anniversary of President Dwight Eisenhower’s signing of the Alaska statehood proclamation on Jan. 3, 1959, the Daily News-Miner is reprinting a sampling of its statehood-related editorials from that era.

Public hearings on the Arctic Wildlife Range begin in Fairbanks on Oct. 29 and will last until Oct. 31.

There is a great deal at stake in these hearings.

Some of the people who have been most opposed to setting up an Arctic Wildlife Range have contended that Alaskans themselves see no need for such a reservation.

The coming hearings will give Alaskans ample opportunity to soundly refute that claim. Such groups as the Tanana Valley Sportsmen’s Association, Alaska Sportsman’s Council, Izaac Walton League of America and Alaska Federation of Women’s Clubs have already indicated their support for the wildlife range. There are many others. But they must stand up and be counted or the group opposing the range can go back to Washington with a smug “I told you so.”

This is a golden opportunity for Alaskans to state forthrightly their views on the wildlife range.

This newspaper has already made a stand on the matter. After months of crossfire on this issue, we see no reason to alter our views.

If anything, we feel more strongly than ever that it is absolutely essential this withdrawal go through.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton already has pointed out very clearly the manner in which establishment of the range would provide an ever-growing source of financial benefits to the 49th State by reason of tremendous tourist potential.

At the same time, development of the area such as in the fields of mining and mineral leasing could still go on.

But why set aside these 9 million wilderness acres NOW when Alaska has so much free land? This question is often asked by some of those who are sniping at the Arctic Range proposal.

It is true that the area is now an untracked and unspoiled wilderness. It is true that the area is accessible for only a few months of the year (the months, incidentally, when Alaska’s tourist industry is going full blast). It is true that within the next five to 10 years, there will be no serious encroachment on this area.

But the Arctic Wildlife Range is predicated on more than concern for this generation of Americans. Population experts tell us that the major areas of the world are now undergoing what is called a “population explosion” — a rapid acceleration in the rate of population growth. The same “explosion” is going on in the United States that is going on in Asia.

When America has three, six or nine times the population we now have — will the Arctic Wildlife Range still be “unspoiled and untouched?” We think not.

We think, in setting aside this magnificent “last frontier of wildlife” in northeastern Alaska, that Americans will be keeping in mind the needs of future generations of Americans.

We think we owe some consideration to these generations and that by passing on this magnificent heritage to them unspoiled, we will be showing a recognition of that debt. ...