Shootall: That comment about the Federal Government bought Alaska from Russia so they own it, burns me up. That infers we are a colony, not a state. That seems to be the view of most of the people in the lower 48. That they own Alaska, and have to rule everything we do up here. They want to rule every aspect of our lives, things you would not put up with if someone tried it run your business like the lower 48 wants to run ours. And we are not a small island off the coast of California either as so many people in the lower 48 think. We were granted statehood and all the privileges that go with it. Yet the Federal government has not lived up to their end of the bargain, by giving over possession of land as called for in the Statehood Act. We are the only state where the Federal Government controls hunting and fishing on federal land, that's 3/4 of the state. They discriminate as to who can hunt and fish there as well.
Get a map sometime and look at the roads we have. Not very many, compared to the size of our state. The last highway the Feds helped up build in Alaska was back in 1972, the Parks Highway. The only road built since then (The Haul Road or Dalton Highway 1976) was built by private industry. There has been no new roads built since then. That's 32 years since we had a highway built. That peanut farmer locked up huge portions of the state for no understandable reason. Now when we ask for subsidies for a road or bridge they call it a bridge to no where. That bridge at Knik is a bridge for expansion. The city of Anchorage is blocked in and has no place to go except across the water. The distance is so far and remote by road, that no one has really built anything there yet. It's also a long way across Knik Arm with strong tides and currents, and a bottom made up of silt. You guys down south have had all the bridges and highways built by the federal government. Now you have yours paid for by the federal government, and you want us to build our own with no help? Sounds real fair to me. As for strategic military value, Alaska is the place where intercepts will be done from. Anything coming from Asia, or Northern Europe headed to the lower 48 can be intercepted from Alaska. It would be good to have a military base close to Nome, Point Hope, or Barrow, but there are no roads to there. The Federal Government in fact won't let us build a road if it crosses federal land, which is almost everywhere, without jumping through impossible hoops. BTW, The second costliest battle of WWII in the Pacific theater was fought on Alaskan soil, at Attu.
You set there in your comfortable homes that you heat with cheap Natural Gas, much of which comes from Canada, and complain that we have all the oil so we should just tax it. Well how about letting us drill for it? Every time we talk about drilling in ANWR or the NPR congressmen from the lower 48 get up in arms that we might hurt a Caribou. Caribou aren't even present during the winter when drilling has to be done. They have all migrated to Canada. Now we are looking at drilling in the Beaufort Sea, suddenly it might hurt Polar Bears. Now the move it to have Polar Bears placed on the endangered species list to stop us from drilling there as well. We are heating our homes with fuel oil for well over $3.00 per gallon. We don't have Natural Gas here in Fairbanks, Anchorage is the only area that does. The rest of the state has to burn fuel oil. Most of our Electricity is produced by fuel oil as well, and is also expensive. Now the Feds are putting restrictions on mining. We've got all the minerals, but again we are restricted on mining for them due to Federal Red Tape.
So why can't we have what you all ready have? We helped pay for yours, can't you help pay for ours?
Everyday I feel more and more, Old Joe had the right idea. Since the US bought Alaska, and we are a colony. Can we get out Independence too?