# Who OWNS The "DEW" Line? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-dew-line/126849 "2002-09-03T19:07:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-dew-line/126849/1 "2002-09-03T19:07:46Z")
During the “Cold war”, from 1954-1962, the US Govt. built a chain of radar bases in the canadian Arctic, stretching from Alaska to greenland. We spent over $2 billion dollars building these bases, and supposedly enough concrete was used that could build a two-lane highway from LA to NYC. Now that the "Evil Empire " is history, who owns these bases? As a US citizen, am I entitled to file for salvage rights? Or are these properties on the abandoned property list? Or can I simply move in and utilize squatter’s rights? Anybody know when the “DEW” Line was abandoned?😃 ---
**Author:** ![jbird3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/aeb1de/32.png) [@jbird3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbird3000)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-dew-line/126849/2 "2002-09-03T19:16:56Z")
Possibly still in use by NORAD? [http://www.dnd.ca/menu/canada-us/bg00.010\_e.htm](http://www.dnd.ca/menu/canada-us/bg00.010_e.htm) > [@](#): > > The North Warning System (NWS) provides surveillance of potential attack routes via Arctic airspace. The NWS consists of 15 long-range radars (11 in Canada, four in Alaska) and 39 short-range radars (36 in Canada, three in Alaska) along the northern edge of North America. The state-of-the-art radars form a 4,800-Km-long and 320 Km-wide “tripwire” stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-dew-line/126849/3 "2002-09-03T21:07:15Z")
I flew around one back in '93 off Spy Island near Prudhoe and it certainly was operational at the time. We had to give it a half mile or so berth. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-dew-line/126849/4 "2002-09-05T07:06:00Z")
Exactly what inspired your post, \*\* ralph124c\*\*? I mean, did you read somewhere that those bases were no longer operational? Or did you just assume that since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. was no longer using those bases? I would imagine that they’d still be very useful to us today & in the future. ---
**Author:** ![burntsand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@burntsand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burntsand)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-dew-line/126849/5 "2002-09-07T00:08:02Z")
There’s an excellent summary of all of the early warning radar lines [here](http://www.pinetreeline.org/articles/resartg.html). A quick summary: The Pinetree Line - shut down in 1988 The Polevault/Pine-Gap Line - shut down in 1975 The Mid-Canada Line - shut down in 1965 The Distant Early Warning Line - shut down in 1988 The Alaska Radar Network - still functioning as of 1989 The North Warning System - still functioning as of 1989 As far as moving in goes, you might want to consider the following quote from the site referenced: “A clean-up of PCBs and other contaminants was undertaken in the mid-1980s at all abandoned [DEW line] stations. Most of these had become uninhabitable due to vandalism and a quarter century of harsh climate”. Twenty years later, it’ll be worse. Also, most of these radar sites were on Canadian soil (or ice), so you can’t just stroll in and claim salvage rights. But just for you, my American friend, I can give you such a deal on the whole works … 😃