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Thehistory of Alaska dates back to theUpper Paleolithic period (around 14,000BC), whenforaging groups crossed theBering land bridge into what is now westernAlaska. At the time of European contact by theRussian explorers, the area was populated byAlaska Native groups. The name "Alaska" derives from theAleut wordAlaxsxaq (also spelledAlyeska), meaning "mainland" or "continent" (literally, "the object toward which the action of the sea is directed").[1] While initially used to refer solely to theAlaska Peninsula, the name eventually broadened to represent the entirety of Alaska.[2]
The U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. In the 1890s,gold rushes in Alaska and the nearbyYukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was granted territorial status in 1912 by the United States of America.
In 1942, two of the outerAleutian Islands—Attu andKiska—wereoccupied by the Japanese duringWorld War II andtheir recovery for the U.S. became a matter of national pride. The construction ofmilitary bases contributed to the population growth of some Alaskan cities.
Alaska was granted U.S. statehood on January 3, 1959.
In 1964, the massive "Good Friday earthquake" killed 131 people and leveled several villages.
The 1968 discovery of oil atPrudhoe Bay and the 1977 completion of theTrans-Alaska Pipeline led to an oil boom. In 1989, theExxon Valdez hit a reef inPrince William Sound, spilling between 11 and 34 million US gallons (42,000 and 129,000 m3) of crude oil over 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of coastline. Today, the battle between philosophies of development and conservation is seen in the contentious debate over oil drilling in theArctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Paleolithic families moved into northwestern North America before 10,000 BC across theBering land bridge in Alaska (seeSettlement of the Americas). Alaska became populated by theInuit and a variety ofNative American groups. Today, early Alaskans are divided into several main groups: the Southeastern Coastal Indians (theTlingit,Haida, andTsimshian), theAthabascans, theAleut, and the two groups of Eskimos, theInupiat and theYup'ik.[3]
The coastal migrants from Asia were probably the first wave of humans to cross the Bering land bridge in western Alaska, and many of them initially settled in the interior of what is now Canada. The Tlingit were the most numerous of this group, claiming most of the coastalPanhandle by the time of European contact and are the northernmost of the group of advanced cultures of thePacific Northwest Coast renowned for its complex art and political systems and the ceremonial and legal system known as thepotlatch. The southern portion ofPrince of Wales Island was settled by the Haidas fleeing persecution by other Haidas from theQueen Charlotte Islands (which are now namedHaida Gwaii and part ofBritish Columbia). The Aleuts settled the islands of the Aleutian chain approximately 10,000 years ago.
Cultural and subsistence practices varied widely among native groups, who were spread across vast geographical distances.
Russian expeditions of exploration reached Alaska by the early 18th century, and colonial traders (especiallyfur-traders) followed. On some islands and parts of the Alaskan peninsula, groups of Russian traders proved capable of relatively peaceful coexistence with the local inhabitants. Other groups could not manage the tensions and perpetrated exactions.Hostages were taken, individuals were enslaved, families were split up, and other individuals were forced to leave their villages and settle elsewhere. In addition, during the first two generations of Russian contact, eighty percent of the Aleut population died ofOld Worlddiseases, against which they had noimmunity.[4]
In 1784Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov arrived inThree Saints Bay onKodiak Island, operating the fur-tradingShelikhov-Golikov Company.[5] Shelikhov and his group killed hundreds of indigenousKoniag, then founded the first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska – on the island's Three Saints Bay. By 1788 Shelikhov and others had established a number of Russian settlements over a large region, including the mainland areas aroundCook Inlet.
The Russians had gained control of the habitats of the most valuablesea-otters, the Kurilian-Kamchatkan and Aleutian sea-otters. Their fur was thicker, glossier, and blacker than that of sea-otters on thePacific Northwest coast and in California. The Russians, therefore, advanced southwards along the Pacific coast only after the superior varieties of sea-otters had become depleted, around 1788. The Russian entry to theNorthwest Coast was slow, however, due to a shortage of ships and sailors. Russians reachedYakutat Bay in 1794 and built the settlement ofSlavorossiya there in 1795. James Shields, a British employee of the Golikov-Shelikhov Company, reconnoitred the coast as far as theQueen Charlotte Islands. In 1795Alexander Baranov, hired in 1790 to manage Shelikhov's fur enterprise, sailed intoSitka Sound and claimed it forRussia. Hunting-parties arrived in the following years, and by 1800 three-quarters ofRussian America's sea-otter skins were coming from the Sitka Sound area. In July 1799 Baranov returned[citation needed] on the brigOryol and established the settlement ofArkhangelsk. Destroyed byTlingits in 1802 but rebuilt nearby in 1804, it becameNovo-Arkhangelsk (Russian:Новоархангельск,lit. 'New Archangel'). It soon become the primary settlement and colonial capital of Russian America. (After the United Statespurchased Alaska in 1867, Novoarkhangelsk was renamedSitka and became the first capital ofAlaska Territory.[6])
Russian fur-traders informally introduced theRussian Orthodox church (with its rituals and sacred texts translated into Aleut at a very early stage) in the 1740s–1780s. During his settlement of Three Saints Bay in 1784, Shelikov introduced the first resident missionaries and clergymen. This missionary activity would continue into the 19th century, ultimately becoming the most visible trace[citation needed] of the Russian colonial period in present-day Alaska.
Spanish claims to the Alaska region dated to thepapal bull of 1493, but never involved colonization, forts, or settlements. Instead, Madrid sent out various naval expeditions to explore the area and to claim it for Spain. In 1775Bruno de Hezeta led an expedition; theSonora, underBodega y Quadra, ultimately reachedlatitude 58° north, entered Sitka Sound and formally claimed the region for Spain. The 1779 expedition ofIgnacio de Arteaga and Bodega y Quadra reachedPort Etches onHinchinbrook Island, and enteredPrince William Sound. They reached a latitude of61° north, the most northern point attained by Spain.
In 1788Esteban José Martínez andGonzalo López de Haro visited Russian settlements atUnalaska.[7]
TheNootka Crisis of 1789 almost led to a war betweenBritain and Spain: Britain rejected Spanish claims to lands in British Columbia and Spain seized some British ships. The crisis was resolved in Madrid by theNootka Conventions of 1790–1794, which provided that traders of both Britain and Spain could operate on the northwest coast, that the captured British ships would be returned and an indemnity paid. This marked a victory for Britain, and Spain effectively withdrew from the North Pacific.[8] It transferred its claims in the region to the United States in theAdams–Onís Treaty of 1819. Today, Spain's Alaskan legacy endures as little more than a few place names, among these theMalaspina Glacier and the towns ofValdez andCordova.
British settlements at the time in Alaska consisted of a few scattered trading outposts, with most settlers arriving by sea. CaptainJames Cook, midway through histhird and final voyage of exploration in 1778, sailed along the west coast of North America aboardHMSResolution, from then-SpanishCalifornia all the way to theBering Strait. During the trip he discovered what became known asCook Inlet (named in honor of Cook in 1794 byGeorge Vancouver, who had served under his command) in Alaskan waters. The Bering Strait proved to be impassable, although theResolution and its companion shipHMSDiscovery made several attempts to sail through it. The British ships left the straits to return to Hawaii in 1779.
Cook's expedition spurred the British to increase their sailings along the northwest coast (the north-eastern coast of the Pacific), following in the wake of theSpanish. From 1791 to 1795, Vancouver would lead his own expedition to map the Pacific coastline from the Cook Inlet down to Spanish California. Alaska-based posts owned by theHudson's Bay Company operated atFort Yukon, on theYukon River,Fort Durham (a.k.a. Fort Taku) at the mouth of theTaku River, andFort Stikine, near the mouth of theStikine River (associated withWrangell throughout the early-19th century).
In 1799, Shelikhov's son-in-law,Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov, acquired a monopoly on the American fur trade from emperorPaul I and formed theRussian-American Company. As part of the deal, theemperor expected the company to establish new settlements in Alaska and carry out an expanded colonization program.
By 1804, Alexander Baranov, now manager of the Russian–American Company, had consolidated the company's hold on the American fur trade following his victory over the local Tlingit clan at theBattle of Sitka. Despite these efforts the Russians never fully colonized Alaska. The Russian monopoly on trade was also being weakened by theHudson's Bay Company, which set up a post on the southern edge of Russian America in 1833.
In 1818 management of the Russian-American Company was turned over to theImperial Russian Navy and theUkase of 1821 banned foreigners from participating in the Alaskan economy. It soon entered into theAnglo-Russian Convention of 1825 which allowed British merchants to trade in Alaska. The convention also settled most of the border between Alaska andBritish North America.
TheRusso-American Treaty of 1824, which banned American merchants above 54° 40' north latitude, was widely ignored and the Russians' hold on Alaska weakened further.
At the height of Russian America, the Russian population reached 700.
Although the mid–19th century was not a good time for Russians in Alaska, conditions improved for the coastal Alaska Natives who had survived contact. The Tlingits were never conquered and continued to wage war on the Russians into the 1850s. The Aleuts, though faced with a decreasing population in the 1840s, ultimately rebounded.
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Financial difficulties in Russia, the low profits of trade with Alaskan settlement, and the important desire to keep Alaska out of British hands all contributed to Russia's willingness to sell its possessions in North America. At the instigation of U.S. Secretary of StateWilliam Seward, theUnited States Senate approved thepurchase of Alaska from Russia forUS$7.2 million on August 1, 1867 (equivalent to approximately $162M in 2024). This purchase was popularly known in the U.S. as "Seward's Folly", "Seward's Icebox," or "Andrew Johnson's Polar Bear Garden", and was unpopular among some people at the time. Later discovery of gold and oil would show it to be a worthwhile one. Scholars debate whether the purchase of Alaska was financially profitable for the federal Treasury itself, apart from its benefits to Alaskans and to businesses, and to national defense.[9][better source needed]
The United States flag was raised on October 18, 1867, now calledAlaska Day, and the region changed from theJulian calendar to theGregorian calendar. Therefore, for residents, Friday, October 6, 1867, was followed by Friday, October 18, 1867—two Fridays in a row because of the 12-day shift in the calendar minus one day for the date-line shift.[10]
During the Department era, from 1867 to 1884, Alaska was variously under the jurisdiction of theU.S. Army (until 1877), theUnited States Department of the Treasury from 1877 to 1879, and theU.S. Navy from 1879 to 1884. Civil administration of Alaska began in 1877 under the United States Treasury Department. A Collector of Customs was appointed by the president of the United States. The collector was the highest-ranking official of the United States government in Alaska and de facto governor. Henry C. DeAhna, a former Union Army officer andMottrom D. Ball, a former Confederate Army officer, were the first individuals to serve as Collector of Customs.
When Alaska was first purchased, most of its land remained unexplored. In 1865,Western Union laid atelegraph line across Alaska to the Bering Strait where it would connect, under water, with an Asian line. It also conducted the first scientific studies of the region and produced the first map of the entireYukon River. TheAlaska Commercial Company and the military also contributed to the growing exploration of Alaska in the last decades of the 19th century, building trading posts along the Interior's many rivers.
In 1884, the region was organized and the name was changed from the Department of Alaska to the District of Alaska. At the time, legislators inWashington, D.C., were occupied with post-Civil War reconstruction issues, and had little time to devote to Alaska. In 1896, thediscovery of gold in Yukon Territory in neighboring Canada, brought many thousands of miners and new settlers to Alaska, and very quickly ended the nation's four year economic depression. Although it was uncertain whether gold would also be found in Alaska, Alaska greatly profited because it was along the easiest transportation route to the Yukon goldfields. Numerous new cities, such asSkagway, Alaska, owe their existence to a gold rush in Canada.Soapy Smith, a crime boss confidence man who operated the largest criminal empire in gold rush era Alaska, was shot down by vigilantes in the famedShootout on Juneau Wharf. He is known as "Alaska's Outlaw."
In 1899, gold was found in Alaska itself inNome, and several towns subsequently began to be built, such asFairbanks andRuby. In 1902, theAlaska Railroad began to be built, which would connect fromSeward to Fairbanks by 1914, though Alaska still does not have a railroad connecting it to the lower 48 states today. Still, an overland route was built, cutting transportation times to the contiguous states by days. The industries ofcopper mining,fishing, andcanning began to become popular in the early 20th century, with 10 canneries in some major towns.
In 1903, aboundary dispute with Canada was finally resolved.
By the turn of the 20th century, commercial fishing was gaining a foothold in the Aleutian Islands. Packing houses saltedcod andherring, andsalmon canneries were opened. Another commercial occupation, whaling, continued with no regard for over-hunting. They pushed thebowhead whales to the edge of extinction for the oil in their tissue. The Aleuts soon suffered severe problems due to the depletion of furseals andsea otters which they needed for survival. As well as requiring the flesh for food, they also used the skins to cover their boats, without which they could not hunt. The Americans also expanded into the Interior and Arctic Alaska, exploiting the furbearers, fish, and other game on which Natives depended.
When Congress passed theSecond Organic Act in 1912, Alaska was reorganized, and renamed theTerritory of Alaska.[11] By 1916, its population was about 58,000.James Wickersham, a Delegate to Congress, introduced Alaska's first statehood bill, but it failed due to the small population and lack of interest from Alaskans. Even PresidentWarren G. Harding's visit in 1923 could not create widespread interest in statehood. Under the conditions of the Second Organic Act, Alaska had been split into four divisions. The most populous of the divisions, whose capital was Juneau, wondered if it could become a separate state from the other three. Government control was a primary concern, with the territory having 52 federal agencies governing it.
Then, in 1920, theJones Act required U.S.-flagged vessels to be built in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and documented under the laws of the United States. All goods entering or leaving Alaska had to be transported by American carriers and shipped toSeattle prior to further shipment, making Alaska dependent on Washington. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the provision of the Constitution saying one state should not hold sway over another's commerce did not apply because Alaska was only a territory. The prices Seattle shipping businesses charged began to rise to take advantage of the situation. This situation created an atmosphere of enmity among Alaskans who watched the wealth being generated by their labors flowing into the hands of Seattle business holdings.
In July 1923Warren Harding became the first sitting president to visit Alaska as part of his Pacific NorthwestVoyage of Understanding. Harding arrived by boat fromSeattle and made nine stops in the Territory via train which went from Seward to Fairbanks. On July 15 Harding drove in a golden railroad spike atNenana. The train car in which he rode now sits in Fairbanks'Pioneer Park.[12]
The Depression caused prices of fish and copper, which were vital to Alaska's economy at the time, to decline. Wages were dropped and the workforce decreased by more than half. In 1935, PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt thought Americans from agricultural areas could be transferred to Alaska'sMatanuska-Susitna Valley for a fresh chance at agricultural self-sustainment. Colonists were largely from northern states, such asMichigan,Wisconsin, andMinnesota under the belief that only those who grew up with climates similar to that of Alaska's could handle settler life there. The United Congo Improvement Association asked the president to settle 400African American farmers in Alaska, saying that the territory would offer full political rights, but racial prejudice and the belief that only those from northern states would make suitable colonists caused the proposal to fail.
The exploration and settlement of Alaska would not have been possible without the development of the aircraft, which allowed for the influx of settlers into the state's interior, and rapid transportation of people and supplies throughout. However, due to the unfavorable weather conditions of the state, and high ratio of pilots-to-population, over 1700aircraft wreck sites are scattered throughout its domain. Numerous wrecks also trace their origins to the military build-up of the state during bothWorld War II and theCold War.
DuringWorld War II, two of the outerAleutian Islands—Attu andKiska—were invaded and occupied by Japanese troops. They were the only parts of thecontinental United States to be invaded and occupied by an enemy nation during the war. Their recovery became a matter of national pride.
On June 3, 1942, theJapanese launched an air attack onDutch Harbor, a U.S. naval base onUnalaska Island, but were repelled by U.S. forces.[13] A few days later, the Japanese landed on the islands ofKiska andAttu, where they overwhelmed Attu villagers. The villagers were taken to Japan, where they were interned for the remainder of the war. Aleuts from the Pribilofs and Aleutian villages were evacuated by the United States to Southeast Alaska. Many suffered during their two years internment there, and the federal government, charged with their care, provided inadequate health care, food, and shelter.[14]
Attu was regained in May 1943 after two weeks of intense fighting and 3,829 American casualties:[15] 549 were killed, 1,148 were injured, 1,200 had severe cold injuries, 614 succumbed to disease, and 318 died of miscellaneous causes.[16] The U.S. then turned its attention to the other occupied island, Kiska. From June through August, a multitude of bombs were dropped on the tiny island, though the Japanese ultimately escaped via transport ships. After the war, the Native Attuans who had survived their internment were resettled to Atka by thefederal government, which considered their home villages too remote to defend.
In 1942, theAlaska–Canada Military Highway was completed, in part to form an overland supply route to theSoviet Union on the other side of the Bering Strait. Running fromDawson Creek, British Columbia toDelta Junction, Alaska, the road connected thecontiguous United States to Alaska across Canada.[17] The construction ofmilitary bases, such as theAdak base, contributed to the population growth of some Alaskan cities.Anchorage almost doubled in size, from 4,200 people in 1940 to 8,000 in 1945.
By the turn of the 20th century, a movement pushing for Alaskastatehood began, but in the contiguous 48 states,legislators were worried that Alaska'spopulation was too sparse, distant, and isolated, and its economy was too unstable for it to be a worthwhile addition to the United States.[18] World War II and the Japanese invasion highlighted Alaska's strategic importance, and the issue of statehood was taken more seriously, but it was the discovery ofoil atSwanson River on theKenai Peninsula that dispelled the image of Alaska as a weak, dependent region. PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower signed theAlaska Statehood Act intoUnited States law on July 4, 1958,[19] which paved the way for Alaska's admission into the Union on January 3, 1959. Juneau, the territorialcapital, continued as state capital, andWilliam A. Egan was sworn in as the firstgovernor.
Alaska does not havecounties, unlike every other American state exceptLouisiana. (Louisiana hasparishes). Instead, it is divided into 16boroughs and one "unorganized borough" made up of all land not within any borough. Boroughs have organized area-wide governments, but within the unorganized borough, where there is no such government, services are provided by the state. In the unorganized borough, cities or tribal organizations often provide community services while the state government provides education services through the Regional Educational Attendance Areas (REAA).[20]
Pioneering conditions in Alaska awoke ingenuity leading to invention of theAlaskan sawmill, an attachment to achainsaw letting it be used to cut a felled tree into neat parallel-sided planks or boards.
On March 27, 1964, theGood Friday earthquake struck South-central Alaska, churning the earth for four minutes with a magnitude of 9.2. Theearthquake was one of the most powerful ever recorded and killed 139 people.[21] Most of them were drowned by thetsunamis that tore apart the towns of Valdez and Chenega. Throughout thePrince William Sound region, towns and ports were destroyed and land was uplifted or shoved downward. The uplift destroyed salmon streams, as the fish could no longer jump the various newly created barriers to reach their spawning grounds. Ports at Valdez and Cordova were beyond repair, and the fires destroyed what the mudslides had not. At Valdez, an Alaska Steamship Company ship was lifted by a huge wave over the docks and out to sea, but most hands survived. At Turnagain Arm, offCook Inlet, the incoming water destroyed trees and caused cabins to sink into the mud. On Kodiak, a tsunami wiped out the villages ofAfognak, Old Harbor, and Kaguyak and damaged other communities, while Seward lost itsharbor. Despite the extent of the catastrophe, Alaskans rebuilt many of the communities.
"North to the Future" is the official state motto of Alaska, adopted in 1967 for thecentennial of the Alaska Purchase. As one of the events leading up to the celebration, the Alaska Centennial Commission sponsored a contest in 1963 to come up with a centennial motto and emblem that would express the unique character of the State of Alaska. They offered a $300.00 (which is about $3000 in 2023 dollars[22]) prize to the winning entry. 761 entries were received by the commission. In December 1963, the commission announced that they had selected Juneau journalist Richard Peter's suggestion.Bob Marshall stated that the motto "...is a reminder that beyond the horizon of urban clutter there is a Great Land beneath our flag that can provide a new tomorrow for this century's 'huddled masses yearning to breathe free'."[23] The motto represents a visionary optimism for a state filled with promise; promoting the State of Alaska by advising that the future lies with the next-to-the-last United States star located to the north of theLower 48.
The 1968 discovery of oil on theNorth Slope'sPrudhoe Bay—which would turn out to have the most recoverable oil of any field in the United States—would change Alaska's political landscape for decades.
This discovery catapulted the issue of Nativeland ownership into the headlines.[24] In the mid-1960s, Alaska Natives from many tribal groups had united in an effort to gain title to lands wrested from them by Europeans, but the government had responded slowly before the Prudhoe Bay discovery. The government finally took action when permitting for a pipeline crossing the state, necessary to get Alaskan oil to market, was stalled pending the settlement of Native land claims.
In 1971, with major petroleum dollars on the line, theAlaska Native Claims Settlement Act was signed into law byRichard Nixon. Under the Act, Natives relinquished aboriginal claims to their lands in exchange for access to 44 million acres (180,000 km2) of land and payment of $963 million.[25] The settlement was divided among regional, urban, and village corporations, which managed their funds with varying degrees of success.
Though a pipeline from the North Slope to the nearestice-free port, almost 800 miles (1,300 km) to the south, was the only way to get Alaska's oil to market, significant engineering challenges lay ahead. Between the North Slope and Valdez, there were active fault lines, three mountain ranges, miles of unstable, boggy ground underlain with frost, and migration paths of caribou and moose. TheTrans-Alaska Pipeline was ultimately completed in 1977 at a total cost of $8 billion.
The pipeline allowed an oil bonanza to take shape. Per capita incomes rose throughout the state, with virtually every community benefiting. State leaders were determined that this boom would not end like the fur and gold booms, in an economic bust as soon as the resource had disappeared. In 1976, the state's constitution was amended to establish theAlaska Permanent Fund, in which a quarter of all mineral lease proceeds is invested. Income from the fund is used to pay annual dividends to all residents who qualify, to increase the fund's principal as a hedge against inflation, and to provide funds for the state legislature.[citation needed] Since 1993, the fund has produced more money than the Prudhoe Bay oil fields, whose production is diminishing. In March 2005[update], the fund's value was over $30 billion.
Oil production was not the only economic value of Alaska's land, however. In the second half of the 20th century, Alaska discoveredtourism as an important source of revenue. Tourism became popular after World War II, when military personnel stationed in the region returned home praising its natural splendor. TheAlcan Highway, built during the war, and theAlaska Marine Highway System, completed in 1963, made the state more accessible than before. Tourism became increasingly important in Alaska, and today over 1.4 million people visit the state each year.
With tourism more vital to the economy,environmentalism also rose in importance. TheAlaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) of 1980 added 53.7 million acres (217,000 km2) to theNational Wildlife Refuge system, parts of 25 rivers to theNational Wild and Scenic Rivers system, 3.3 million acres (13,000 km2) toNational Forest lands, and 43.6 million acres (176,000 km2) toNational Park land. Because of the Act, Alaska now contains two-thirds of all American national parklands. Today, more than half of Alaskan land is owned by theFederal Government.
The possible environmental repercussions of oil production became clear in theExxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. On March 24, the tankerExxon Valdez ran aground inPrince William Sound, releasing 11 million gallons of crude oil into the water, spreading along 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of shoreline.[26] According to theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at least 300,000 sea birds, 2,000 otters, and other marine animals died because of thespill. Exxon spent US$2 billion on cleaning up in the first year alone. Exxon, working with state and federal agencies, continued its cleanup into the early 1990s. Government studies show that the oil and the cleaning process itself did long-term harm to the ecology of the Sound, interfering with the reproduction of birds and animals in ways that still aren't fully understood. Prince William Sound seems to have recuperated, but scientists still dispute the extent of the recovery. In a civil settlement, Exxon agreed to pay $900 million in ten annual payments, plus an additional $100 million for newly discovered damages. In a class action suit against Exxon, a jury awarded punitive damages of US$5 billion, but as of 2008 no money has been disbursed and appellate litigation continues.
Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation v. EPA, 540 U.S. 461 (2004), is aUS Supreme Court case clarifying the scope of state environmental regulators and theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA). In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court found the EPA has authority to overrule state agency decisions under theClean Air Act that a company is using the "best available controlling technology" to prevent pollution.[27]
In 1998,Teck Cominco Alaska, requested a permit to build an additional generator and to modify an existing generator at its mines in order to expand zinc extraction. In May 1999, theAlaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) issued the permit, and a technical report concluded that "Low NOx" technology was BACT and identified "selective catalytic reduction" (SCR) as the best control technology. The EPA opposed the permit and objected that the ADEC had identified SCR as the best available control technology but failed to require it as BACT.
The ADEC issued a second report reinforcing the original findings but conceded the lack of cost data from Teck Cominco made it impossible to evaluate the impact of SCR on the mine's profitability. The EPA issued orders to ADEC under §§113(a)(5) and 167 of the Act that prohibited the ADEC from issuing permits to Teck Cominco without documenting why SCR was not BACT.
The ADEC appealed the EPA's orders to theNinth Circuit Court of Appeals and argued that the EPA did not have the right to interfere with the state agency's decision. The Ninth Circuit sided with EPA, and ADEC appealed.
Today, the tension between preservation and development is seen in theArctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) drilling controversy. The question of whether to allowdrilling for oil inANWR has been apolitical football for every sitting American president sinceJimmy Carter. Studies performed by theUS Geological Survey have shown that the "1002 area" of ANWR, located just east ofPrudhoe Bay, contains large deposits ofcrude oil.[28][29] Traditionally, Alaskan residents, trade unions, and business interests have supported drilling in the refuge, while environmental groups and many within theDemocratic Party have traditionally opposed it. Among native Alaskan tribes, support is mixed. In the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, votes about the status of the refuge occurred repeatedly in the U.S. House and Senate, but as of 2007 efforts to allow drilling have always been ultimately thwarted by filibusters, amendments, or vetoes.
TheCOVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state ofAlaska on March 12, 2020.[30]
On March 11,GovernorMike Dunleavy's office declared a state of emergency to ensure all entities have the necessary response resources.[31] The next day, the first case, a foreign national inAnchorage, was announced to the public.[32]
On March 21, 2020,Ketchikan, a small, coastal town of approximately 8,000 residents located inSoutheast Alaska was determined to have a cluster of six COVID-19 cases. The townsheltered in place for the following 14 days.[33] On March 24, 2020, three more cases of COVID-19 were found in Ketchikan, bringing the total there to nine.[34] The next day, the total cases there reached 11.[35] On April 1, 2020, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Ketchikan rose to 14.[36]
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