NY Times Article - Alaska “Up North Looking for Direction”
Good article in today’s NY Times on Alaska’s traditional boom and bust economy and what the next few years might bring. The opening paragraph pretty much captures Alaska business as usual:
SCOURING the tundra for the source of the next big boom is the Alaskan way.
Skin it, mine it, fish for it, drill for it.
It has all paid off, at least for a while. It has also propped up the state’s place in the national mythology — the alluring frontier detached on the map but also a critical supplier of the world’s wants.
However, as the article goes on the analyze, that’s all about to change:
Now, as oil production continues its steady decline, and the temperature creeps higher, it is far from clear what the next big boom might be, or what Alaska might become without one. Nearing a half-century of statehood, the wildest and most mysterious of American places could use a reliable map to the future. Fog seems to be rolling in instead.
Political scandal has erupted, leading to indictments for state lawmakers and even raising questions over the dealings of Senator Ted Stevens, “Uncle Ted,” the great provider for the Great Land. Global warming is puddling the permafrost and threatening coastal villages. The federal government, which spends more money on Alaska per capita than it does on any other state, may no longer be such a sugar daddy. The population, which once surged and plummeted with fortunes found and dashed, now relies more on trusty old biological reproduction for replenishment than some new rush of speculators.
Yesterday, Mom and I were out shopping and Mom said, “Geez, the population has become so old.” That statement echoes the last sentence in the above paragraph. I know I sound like an old fart, but Alaska used to be quite different than it is now. The population was very young, dynamic, and can do. I just finished reading, Kay Fanning’s Alaska Story, her memoir. Kay, newly divorced from Marshall Field (the Marshall Field) and with her three kids, drove up here in 1965 in a battered blue station wagon. They actually drove up a month after my Mom and I drove up in Henry I. Kay married Larry Fanning and together they bought the Anchorage Daily News in the late ’60’s and although the endeavor was challenging and difficult, the Daily News grew from a little combative rag into a 1975 Pulitzer Prize winner (although it was still staggering on the edge of financial disaster). The book is a wonderful read for an old Alaskan like me because I remember those days - the energy, the intelligence and the real rawness of life in Alaska. It’s no longer like that. However, compared to the mostly sanitized suburban Lower 48, we definitely still have an edge. But that edge has been honed and smoothed.
The New York Times article touches upon that smoothing. The real issue now is that many Alaskans have an undeserved sense of entitlement. “Damnit to Hell, we’re not going to pay any f***ing state income tax.” But, at the same time, we want all the money we can possibly get from the Federal Government - “Damnit to Hell, we earned it!” sigh…
Hello. I am 
I know I sound like a mother, but, the link on the NYT article didn’t go anyplace. I wanted to see if your email address was still there!
Ooops - link fixed!!!!!!