Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

A saga is a narrative dealing with families and their descendants across generations--and frequently with their relations with gods and higher powers.

Saga is an appropriate way to describe the story of two Bridges to Nowhere in Alaska that were recently stripped from the highway bill, though the state will still receive the funding for them. The story involves willful and all-powerful being (Rep. Don Young, Sen. Ted Stevens) and, as it turns out, generations of Alaskan nobility. First we learned that the Murkowski family--the state's governor is Frank Murkowski and one of its senators is his daughter, Lisa Murkowski--owns a property on Gravina Island--one of only a couple dozen there in total--that would appreciate significantly if the government paid for a bridge to the island. Unfortunately for almost all concerned, that's nearly the only economic benefit that the bridge would bring.

And then there's the Knik Arm bridge, Alaska's other Bridge to Nowhere, dubbed "Don Young's Way," a name that many believed was intended to showcase the Representative's passion for federally-funded boondoggle infrastructure projects in the state. Not so. The Associated Press reports that the project is nearer, and dearer, to Young than anyone had imagined:

A proposed $229 million bridge across Knik Arm near Anchorage could significantly increase the value of adjacent land owned in part by a son-in-law of U.S. Rep. Don Young, the Anchorage Daily News reported...

The Daily News said the 60-acre parcel is owned by a five-member partnership, Point Bluff LLC. Nelson has a 10 percent share, the newspaper said.

If a road were built, a commute to downtown Anchorage from Point Bluff's land would take about two hours. A bridge would shorten the drive significantly and make the land much more valuable, the newspaper said.

The Point Bluff partnership was formed in December 2002, a year before a first version of Young's highway bill unsuccessfully sought money for a Knik bridge.

Stay tuned. This story is still unfolding.

Update: The WSJ's John Fund nails this story:

Santa came early to Alaska this year, depositing a few taxpayer-funded bridges in the process. And it turns out that among the beneficiaries of this largesse are the family members of a few prominent politicians.

 Readers might remember the recent flap over the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. Congress allocated $223 million for the span on the theory it would unite Ketchikan, Alaska with its local airport on nearby Gravina Island (with a population of 50 residents). In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the much-ridiculed bridge earmark was removed from the transportation bill, although Alaska was allowed to keep the broader pot of money to spend as it saw fit.

GOP Governor Frank Murkowski last week saw fit to go ahead with the bridge anyway, proposing a down payment of $91 million on the bridge -- the most he could provide under federal-state spending formulas. Meanwhile, another controversial bridge, a span near Anchorage called Don Young?s Way (named after Alaska?s lone Republican congressman) was allocated a separate $94 million. Since the federal transportation funding bill runs through 2009, it's possible that both bridges will be fully paid for with federal dollars as more funds get doled out in future years.

The bridge flaps have once again put a focus on disproportionate federal spending in Alaska, a state that currently receives more in Homeland Security grants against terrorism than even the nation?s capital of Washington, D.C. this despite the fact that Alaska currently enjoys a $1 billion budget surplus and its oil trust fund is now sitting on a record $32 billion.

But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the bridge funding is that the well-connected Alaskan politicians that did the most to promote both bridges have relatives who will benefit from their construction. The Anchorage Daily News reports that State Board of Fisheries Chairman Art Nelson, the son-in-law of Congressman Young, is part owner of 60 acres of what he described as ?beautiful property? on land that will be opened up to development by the bridge that bears Mr. Young?s name. ?A bridge would change everything,? reported the Daily News. ?Don Young?s Way would . . . make the land much more valuable.? Mr. Nelson, who is married to Mr. Young's daughter, Joni, said he has discussed his acquisition of the 60 acres with Mr. Young, who runs the House Transportation Committee. The congressman didn't return the Daily News' phone calls.

And that?s hardly all. It has also come out that Governor Murkowski?s wife, Nancy, and her three siblings, own a 33-acre parcel of land on Gravina Island, which the Bridge to Nowhere will connect to nearby Ketchikan. Development, spurred by easier access to the island, could increase the value of the Murkowski property, which is one of the few privately-held plots on the island. Nancy Murkowski is also the mother of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, who lobbied for the bridge and has written an op-ed promoting its construction.

I?ve heard of doing well while doing good, but Alaska?s pork-barrel bridges look to be a case of doing well while making someone else pick up the tab. Will all of Alaska's politicians be getting Christmas bridges for their relatives?