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Alaska Electric Light & Power Co.'s eviction of homeless people from their camp above Franklin Street graphically illustrates the imbalance we have allowed to develop between public and private ownership.

Land that was owned, or at least controlled, by indigenous people became subject to federal law following the Treaty of Cession in 1867. The federal Mining Act of 1872 provided for transfer of vast amounts of this land from the public to giant mining companies - not only the subsurface rights, but also the surface rights. Thus, following transfer from the AJ Mining Company, AEL&P acquired private ownership of these lands that would otherwise have been public lands.

Of course, AEL&P has an interest in protecting its transmission equipment from vandalism or accidental damage, but the point here is that they privately own virtually everything on the upside of town because of the Mining Act, which many consider out of date in this day and age.

While AEL&P has rights as a private landowner, we all recognize homelessness and poverty as public problems. In a time when war, poverty and substance abuse have left many people unable to buy or rent private homes, and especially in a time when the high rollers have so collapsed the economy that many other people are unable to find work at a living wage, the public has a duty to provide a reasonably safe place where people can camp.

Simply expecting the homeless people of Juneau to disappear is not an option. The city should buy, lease or use its power of eminent domain to acquire and maintain campgrounds for those in need.

As with the arguments about whether people who don't ski should help pay for Eaglecrest, people who don't drive should help pay for roads, or people who don't have children should help pay for schools, there will be those who say the housed population need not help pay for campgrounds for those who do not have housing. In my view, it is a question of decency. If Juneau is to be a decent place to live, it must provide the opportunity for homeless people to live legally and safely not only in summer, when the weather is good, but also in the winter, when it is not so good. The city should provide this opportunity as a public good, and not leave it to private hands.

Tom Wagner

Juneau