Word: alaska
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Geographer Henry Gannett, who mapped much of the American West, wrote those words at the turn of the century. But even today, Alaska's scenic grandeur almost defies description. Larger than Texas, Montana and California combined, the 49th state possesses more coastline than the rest of the nation. It boasts North America's tallest mountain, the nation's third longest river and, in addition to Alaskan brown bears, the world's largest land carnivores, a glacier the size of Rhode Island. Purchased from Russia in 1867 for a paltry $7.2 million, Alaska also contains some...
...lines for this battle were drawn last week as advocates from both sides converged on Washington for hearings on legislation to turn 45.6 million hectares (114 million acres) of federally owned lands-some 30% of Alaska's total area-into protected parklands. The first rumblings of the Alaska land war were heard in 1959, when the vast territory became a state. The Statehood Act allowed the state to select 41.6 million hectares (104 million acres) of Alaska's 150 million hectares (375 million acres) -an area the size of New England, New York and Pennsylvania-for economic development...
GATES OF THE ARCTIC. Above the Arctic Circle in the central Brooks Range, the Gates of the Arctic is the crown jewel of Alaska's proposed parklands, a haunting, austere land of towering peaks and unspoiled wilderness. White, curly-horned Ball sheep, caribou, wolves and other game are found in the park. Nunamiut Eskimos and Athabaskan Indians venture into its vastness to hunt these animals for food...
...before Congress offers the U.S. a unique opportunity to preserve these and other valuable lands as a part of the national heritage. Says he: "Never before in our history have we been able to set aside areas of this magnitude." Other conservationists, including spokesmen for the 16-organization Alaska Coalition, endorse his views. "This is it," says Jack Hession of the Alaska chapter of the Sierra Club. "This is the nation's last chance to set aside meaningfully large areas of Arctic and subarctic lands. It doesn't make sense to sacrifice the lands now for short-term...
Backers of the Udall bill insist that the enormous acreage they seek is essential if Alaska's fragile ecosystems are to be preserved. Tundra, for example, recovers so slowly that a tractor's tracks are visible years after they are made; many of Alaska's animals require substantial sections of terrain for forage. "While 114 million acres may sound like a lot, there's an awful lot to preserve up there," says the Sierra Club's Charles Clusen. "It takes 100 square miles to support a single arctic brown bear...