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Speaking Wednesday in Craig at the annual meeting of the Southeast Conference, Alaska Deputy Regional Forester Steve Brink offered ideas to leverage federal money for road and ferry improvements.

The Southeast Conference is an organization composed mostly of local government and business leaders.

"We're suggesting several different funding sources if Southeast Conference and the mayors are interested," he said.

Forest Service officials were careful to say they couldn't lobby for the proposals or projects, but said they could provide information and analysis if asked.

To start the discussion, the agency handed out a map of road corridors and ferry links that have been "historically" discussed in the region, officials said. The map included some controversial proposals, such a road north from Juneau and highway from Wrangell to Canada via the Bradfield Canal, but Brink cautioned it would be up to communities to decide what the priorities should be.

But many of the projects might be of smaller scale, according Regional Engineering Director Keith Simila. As an example, the South Mitkof road connecting to a new ferry terminal near Petersburg could be paved earlier if the $9 million that Southeast Alaska receives through the federal Forest Highway Program was doubled, he said. Additional funds might mean a state project to upgrade Glacier Highway from Tee Harbor to Bessie Creek in Juneau could be finished sooner, he added.

"In most cases, a single-lane primitive road is upgraded to a two-lane highway. Or a two-lane gravel road is upgraded to a paved road," he said.

Forest highway funding recently has helped add miles of pavement to the Big Salt Road and the Thorne Bay-Coffman Cove Cutoff on Prince of Wales Island, Simila said. The new Sitka Benchlands road that will be owned by the city and borough of Sitka is another project under contract, he said.

Southeast Conference members on Wednesday suggested the organization establish a subcommittee to work with Forest Service staff on ideas. Robert Venables of Haines, co-chairperson of the conference's Economic Development Committee, said many of the ideas are part of the state's Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan.

"We're looking at a couple of different objectives, bringing more federal dollars into the region and developing transportation corridors that have already been identified," he said. "We weren't really looking to discuss or finalize (the proposals). We're introducing the concept."

Joanna Markell can be reached at joannam@juneauempire.com.