Module V - Minerals; Gold, Black Gold and All the Rest

Essential


What have been the major components of the Alaska economy during the American period of 1867-present?



      1.       Ocean stocks – Fish and sea mammals

2.       Gold – Sitka 1870’s, Juneau 1880’s, Nome 1890-1900, Fairbanks 1900

3.       Mineral – Coal, copper, lead, zinc, platinum, tin (developed after gold)

4.       Oil – Katalla well first in 1902

How is Alaska’s economy a reflection of diverse, and sometimes conflicting, perspectives of the natural landscape?

Alaska’s natural economy is diverse; it has gold, oil, timber, some agriculture and fish stocks of all kinds.  However this does not make for an inherently diverse total economy.  All of the aforementioned products are extraction based.  While it is true that Alaska is blessed with a natural diversity many other states, or nations, could only pine for, it is still all based on extraction.  This means that no matter how diverse the resources, it all still comes down to Alaska makes most of its money by what it can pull out of the ground.  This also means it must be managed in primarily the same way as well.  Each one of these resources is directly dependent on how well they are managed.  Unlike Silicon Valley in California that can pump out as many lucrative ideas as it employs people, if Alaska poorly manages its fisheries they will run the resource into extinction.  Oil, gold and timber (what bit is done now) are all finite.  Once you blow through these resources there is no more, period.  A perfect example of the resource tight-rope that Alaska walks with its diverse natural resources is the argument surrounding the Pebble Partnership project.

The Pebble Mine project seeks to utilize the abundant mineral wealth found in this state.  This could see jobs and revenue into the projected billions.  However, it competes with salmon hatcheries.  Pebble may mean millions for the state but not everyone in the state works for the mine.  If the Pebble Partnership gets it wrong fish lines go extinct, fishermen become unemployed and people who utilize the fish stocks for subsistence in the area go hungry.  All those people will benefit from the mine in the form of government checks to supplement the way of life they have lost.  This is a perfect example of conflicting views on the use of the natural landscape.       

  

Sources: http://www.pebblepartnership.com/ 

Source: http://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/

Examine

What were the main reasons for the American purchase of Alaska?




     ·         Maintain Russian relations

·         Help in the purchase of B.C.

·         Resources

·         Proximity to Asian Markets

What were the primary motivations for Americans moving to Alaska in the late 1800's?

     ·         Forced relocation – Soldiers, sailors, government officials

 ·         By Choice – Those looking to exploit the land and those looking to exploit them

Extend

Living in Anchorage is unique in because the diversity of its economy comes from the land both directly and indirectly and makes it so the rest of the state can take advantage of its resource wealth.  Two issues that are confronting Anchorage’s economy at the moment are the Port of Anchorage and BRAC looking at ways to streamline the Defense Department. 

 Currently the Port of Anchorage is a political touch point in the Anchorage mayoral race.  The port is no doubt a piece of Alaska’s life blood.  However, how it is managed and how large the expansion should be is a point of contention for Anchorageites specifically and Alaskans in general.

Port Expansion: http://www.muni.org/Departments/budget/utilitiesEnterprise/2012%20ppsd%20Utility/Book%20-%20PORT.pdf

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) is under scrutiny from the Base Re-Alignment Committee (BRAC).  If the base were to close this would mean approximately 1/5 of the Anchorage economy leaving as well.  JBER probably will not be impacted but other cities in Alaska have felt BRAC’s touch such as Fairbanks and Eilmendorf AFB.  

ADN Article on BRAC and Alaska: http://www.adn.com/2012/02/17/2323686/alaska-must-defend-its-military.html

Source: http://www.firerivergold.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=372796&_Title=Fire-River-Gold-Announces-10-Million-Brokered-Private-Placement

Sites of Interest:

http://myalaskanexploration.blogspot.com/


http://explorealaskatimes.blogspot.com/

Note: At point of publish only two sites with Module V blog available