In Alaska, 68 miles of contentious asphalt

Alaska, population 630,000 gets $6 in subsidies for every $1 it pays to the federal treasury - making it the most heavily subsidized state in the country.

Governor Murkowski explains the apparent imbalance by saying that Alaska only gained statehood in 1959 and has a lot of infrastructure catching up to do - even though Alaska is having difficulty maintaining existing roads. Some residents are quick to agree.

"Communities are meant to grow," says Kathy Hosford, a lifelong Alaskan who rents rustic tourist cabins in Skagway, the Juneau road's proposed terminus. "If you can't grow, you can't survive."

Other Alaskans, however, would just rather not be bothered with the dramatic changes such a road could bring. Recently, the US Environmental Protection Agency gave thumbs down to the Juneau Road blueprint, joining the majority of citizens in the towns of Skagway and Haines - communities poised to reap the biggest benefits.

"We don't want the road because we don't need it," says Jan Wrentmore, proprietor of the famous Red Onion Saloon in Skagway, which thrives on the commerce from thousands of cruise ship passengers.

"We [locals] can get around fine using a high speed ferry."

Mr. Yost says it's expensive for Alaskans and visitors to ride the ferry, costing $53 for a one-way ticket from Skagway to Juneau - more if they bring their car. A flight by bush plane between the towns costs $150 roundtrip, plus hotel expenses.

With unreliable ferry service in winter, people leave Skagway in droves and youth sports teams are gone for a week at a time to compete in other towns. Making a trip by highway into Juneau would be reduced to the price of a quarter tank of gas.

But Emily Ferry, a conservationist for the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, says the expense of road construction is being deliberately underestimated to win support, and many believe the actual cost will reach $1 billion because of the challenging terrain. The day the highway opens, if it ever does, it will be known as the most perilous in the world because of avalanches, she says. One state official said it will require an ongoing arsenal of bomb shells being detonated for seven months of the year to prevent snow slides.

Whether building the highway and maintaining it amid hostile weather conditions ultimately proves to be more effective and cheaper than subsidizing ferry service is arguable. But environmentalists and hard-line fiscal conservatives alike are uniting against Congressmen Young in what they see as runaway pork-barrel spending.

Pat Williams of Montana, a former nine-term Congressman who is a senior fellow at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Missoula, Mont., goes as far as to call the money designated for Alaska "shameful."

"Where is the scrutiny?" Mr. Williams asks. "There isn't any because with his seniority, Don Young is untouchable.... "

Up in Haines, Steve Vick, hopes to help "wake the country up" when he splashes into the frigid ocean water Aug. 1 to bring attention to his cause. "Doing it can't hurt," he says. "The governor and our congressional delegation aren't listening. They're trying to strongarm us by giving us a highway we can do better without."

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