Benjamin Franklin Heintzleman (December 3, 1888 – June 24, 1965) was an American
forester
A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests ...
who spent much of his career supporting the development of
Alaska Territory
The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; th ...
. Following a career with the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
he was appointed
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
Alaska Territory
The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; th ...
, a position he held from 1953 till 1957. During his term as governor he continued to support economic development but was largely opposed to efforts granting statehood to Alaska.
Background
Heintzleman was born to Andrew J. and Rebecca Jane Heintzleman in
Fayetteville, Pennsylvania
Fayetteville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,128 at the 2010 census, up from 2,774 at the 2000 census.
History
A post office called Fayettevil ...
, on December 3, 1888. He was educated in public schools before being graduated from the
Pennsylvania State College
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
with a
Bachelor of Forestry in 1907 and from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
with a
Master of Forestry
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
in 1910.
Shortly after graduation, Heintzleman joined the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
and worked in
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...
and
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. With the United States entry into
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, he was transferred to Alaska to oversee lumber production. There, from 1918 till 1934, he served as Assistant Regional Forester in
Ketchikan, Alaska
Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District.
With a population at the 20 ...
.
In this role he assisted the development of the region's
pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material ...
and
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
industries and was key to the construction of two
pulp mill
A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or fu ...
s in southeast Alaska.
During this time he wrote the 1921 Forest Service bulletin "The Forests of Alaska".
Heintzleman was made head of the
National Recovery Administration
The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was a prime agency established by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) in 1933. The goal of the administration was to eliminate " cut throat competition" by bringing industry, labor, and governm ...
forest conservation efforts in 1934. In 1937, he was appointed Alaskan Representative of the
Federal Power Commission
The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was an independent commission of the United States government, originally organized on June 23, 1930, with five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The FPC was originally created in 1 ...
. The same year he was promoted to Regional Forester for Alaska, a post he held till 1953. As Regional Forester he also held the position of Alaskan Commissioner of the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
. In this role he encouraged the development of lumber and pulp mills along with other industrial development.
From 1939 to 1940 he served as chairman of the Alaska Territorial Planning Board.
Governorship
Heintzleman was appointed to become Governor of Alaska Territory by President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
on March 11, 1953.
Following confirmation, his term of office began on April 10 of the same year.
The primary focus of the new governor's administration was economic development. Toward this end he called for revised
homesteading
Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of food, and may also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craft work for household use or sale. Pur ...
and land laws along with updated mineral leases, power licenses, and timber contracts.
The Alaskan governor also joined with Hawaiian Territorial Governor
Samuel Wilder King
Samuel Wilder King (December 17, 1886March 24, 1959) was the eleventh Territorial Governor of Hawaii and served from 1953 to 1957. He was appointed to the office after the term of Oren E. Long. Previously, King served in the United States House ...
in a call for a 25-year
tax holiday
A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. It is synonymous with tax abatement, tax subsidy or tax reduction. Governments usually create tax holidays as incentives for business investment. Tax relief can be provided in the ...
to promote industrial development in the two territories.
Finally, Heintzleman opposed the
native
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and enterta ...
claim of "possessory rights" to millions of acres of land, wishing to open the land to development. This opposition led to a prolonged battle in the
United States Court of Claims
The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims (), and abolished in 1982. Then, its jurisdiction was assumed by the n ...
.
Heintzleman submitted his resignation on December 18, 1956. His letter of resignation explain his departure by pointing out that he "had forty-six years of public service" and desired "to retire to less strenuous work". The timing, three months before the end of his term, was occasioned by the outgoing governor's desire to allow for his replacement to be in place before the next territorial legislature convened on January 28, 1957.
Heintzleman's resignation became effective on January 4, 1957, when Territorial Secretary became Acting Governor.
A permanent replacement was not named until May 9, 1957, when President Eisenhower nominated
Michael Anthony Stepovich
Michael Anthony Stepovich (March 12, 1919 – February 14, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the last non-acting Governor of the Territory of Alaska. Stepovich served as Territorial Governor from 1957 to 1958, and Alaska w ...
.
Opinion on statehood
The leading political issue within Alaska at the time was the territory's gaining statehood. Heintzleman's opinion on the matter evolved over time. At the beginning of his term of office, he felt Alaska's efforts to become a state were "a little premature".
After a year, he revised his opinion and instead proposed that the territory be divided, with statehood for the most populous southern and eastern areas. Heintzleman laid out his plan in an April 3, 1954 letter to
speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** In ...
Joseph W. Martin Jr., calling for a border to be drawn starting at the Alaska-Yukon border, following the
Brooks Range
The Brooks Range ( Gwich'in: ''Gwazhał'') is a mountain range in far northern North America stretching some from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada's Yukon Territory. Reaching a peak elevation of on Mount Isto, the range is beli ...
and then the
152nd meridian west, until reaching the
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the eas ...
, and veering into the
Shelikof Strait
Shelikof Strait (russian: Пролив Шелихова) is a strait on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Alaska between the Alaska mainland to the west and Kodiak and Afognak islands to the east.
Shelikof Strait separates the mainla ...
so that
Kodiak Island
Kodiak Island (Alutiiq language, Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is ...
is included in the east. This eastern area, including
Anchorage
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...
,
Fairbanks
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the ...
, and the
Alaska Panhandle
Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...
, would contain about 85% of the then-territory's population, and according to Heintzleman should be granted statehood. Meanwhile the north and west of Alaska, being largely unsettled, would remain a territory.
The proposal to divide the territory was so unpopular among Alaskans
that a petition drive was organized asking President Eisenhower to remove Heintzleman as governor.
By 1956, the Alaskan governor no longer opposed statehood and supported the creation of a
state constitution.
Heintzleman signed the bill establishing the
Alaska Constitutional Convention
The Constitution of the State of Alaska was ratified on April 4, 1956 and took effect with Alaska's admission to the United States as a U.S. state on January 3, 1959.
History and background
The statehood movement
In the 1940s, the movement for ...
.
After office
From 1957 till 1959, Heintzleman was a member of the
University of Alaska
The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time stu ...
Board of Regents
In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual ...
. He then served, in 1960, as an advisor to the Alaska Rail and Highway Commission.
Heintzleman died of a heart attack on June 24, 1965 in
Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality
A mu ...
.
He was buried in
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the ...
.
Heintzleman Ridge, a geographic feature north of Juneau, was named after him as a memorial in 1966.
[''Dictionary of Alaska Place Names'', Donald J. Orth author, United States Government Printing Office (1967), page 414]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heintzleman, Benjamin Franklin
1888 births
1963 deaths
People from Franklin County, Pennsylvania
Governors of Alaska Territory
American foresters
American Lutherans
Burials in Pennsylvania
Military personnel from Pennsylvania
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences alumni
University of Alaska regents
Yale University alumni
Alaska Republicans
20th-century American politicians
Scientists from Alaska
Scientists from Pennsylvania
People from Ketchikan, Alaska
20th-century Lutherans
Recipients of the Sir William Schlich Memorial Award
20th-century American academics