Word: 49th
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Today a dramatic conflict between man and nature is being staged in Alaska. Wild, virtually unspoiled and fabulously rich in natural resources, the 49th state is a testing ground of American values. The Aleuts aptly named the place Alakshak, or "Great Land," and modern Alaskans just as properly think of it as America's last frontier...
...vital first step would be to establish a federal-state land commission to plan and zone all of Alaska. This can be done because the 49th state is still mainly wilderness, most of it controlled by the state and federal governments. The old mining and homesteading laws should be reformed to prevent continuation of the present system of irrational first-come, first-served claims. In addition, a partial land freeze should be continued until present surveying and assessing programs by federal agencies can be completed. With 20 more planners, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management estimates, it can classify...
...discovery on Alaska's North Slope opens the 49th state to great economic development...
Americans have long paid little heed to their frontier of the north, idealizing instead the memory of a Western frontier that is forever gone. Now Alaska increasingly presents what Historian Turner called the "stubborn American environment" with its "imperious summons to accept its conditions." The 49th state's environment is as raw and untouched as the Great Plains and Rockies were 150 years ago, offering anew a spaciousness unknown to urban Americans and an awesome treasure of untapped wealth...
Ogilvie has also been brash in his approach to taxpayers. Illinois ranks third among states in per capita personal income, but 49th in the percentage of personal income going to state and local taxation. Ogilvie believes that the "bedrock needs of this state" demand radical change. Even the Republican legislative leaders were stunned by the size of his proposal: a budget increase of 45% and the biggest tax jump in Illinois history, including its first income tax. The money would be used to hike welfare spending by more than 20%, nearly double aid to elementary and secondary public education...