Module 5 - American Period: Alaska's Economy

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

This time period brought a lot of prosperity to the economy of Alaska. Alaska had a lot of natural resources that were being discovered and capitalized on. The early American economic ventures were pretty much the same as the Russians. The fur trade was a major resource of revenue as well as fishing and the discovery of minerals and oil. Because of these new discoveries, the resources were taken advantage of without concern of possible future depletion. It wasn't until there was a noticeable decrease in some of these natural resources that restrictions were set in place. And by then it was almost too late in some cases.

Fur Trade in Nome

The fur trade started to increase. The Russians mainly focused on a few types of furs. However, American traders were interested in a variety of different pelts. American trading companies took over Russian and British companies. For a short while, the new North American Trading and Transportation Company competed with the dominating Alaska Commercial Company who took over the Russian American Company. Both companies sold furs. Because of the competition among the two companies, prices were driven down and drove the quality up. Individual entrepreneurs also took advantage of the fur market. They would set up trap lines all over Alaska in hopes of selling good pelts. World War I caused prices of pelts to rise. America became the top seller of fur. New technology like planes and snow machines changed the pace of delivery.

Because of the high demand of pelts and the limited source of the supply taken for granted, the fur bearing animals began to decline drastically. This forced the government to require licenses and establish limits on trapping except to the Natives. Furs eventually lost their popularity once people were becoming more educated on the effects of trapping. Protecting the animals became a higher priority.

Fishing

Fishing was and still is a major revenue source for Alaska. It started off with a big push for salmon. That was the fish that was in highest demand early on. Fishing canneries were being built in a number of different places. Because of the high demand for salmon, there was a high demand for workers at the canneries. Many people were able to get jobs during this time. However, with time comes technology and machines eventually replaced the jobs of most of the people. Salmon fishing started broadening out to other types of fishing. Cod, crab, herring, halibut, and shrimp demands started to take off.

During WWI, demand was high for fish. After the war, however, demand fell. Canneries were forced to close. Also after the war, a major decline in the numbers of salmon was seen due to the abundance of commercial fishing. Just like it had with it’s trapping and hunting, Alaska had to require licenses and establish limits on fishing after it acquired statehood.

Whaling was a big interest back in the day. They developed shore whaling stations which mainly Eskimos were employed, mostly because of the their knowledge of the animal and mainly because they were cheap labor. They were paid with a years worth of flour, or riffles and bullets and other goods in exchange for 2 months work. The Eskimos started whaling for pay instead of for their own use. Seals and walrus also became a high interest. Walrus were easy to hunt because they would let hunters get close to them and they wouldn’t shy away from gunfire. They were all in very close vicinity to one another which made it easy to kill many at one time.

Whaling in Point Barrow, AK in 1935

Technology improved whaling. Steam powered ships were used instead of sailing. This improved navigation beyond a wind source. The Transcontinental Railroad shortened shipping time. Factory ships were introduced allowing companies to capture, haul in, and process the whale on board. Again, there was a huge decline in this resource which prompted the International Whaling Commission to be introduced and set quotas on whaling.

Aside from living sources of revenue, minerals also had a big part in Alaska’s economy. Large-scale mining operations were quickly developed. Mining camps and boom towns were developed all over Alaska based on the type of mining and the speed of extraction. Among the minerals excavated were: coal, copper, lead, zinc, platinum, and tin. The Gold Rush reached Alaska with Juneau, Nome, and Fairbanks being the sites of the major gold mining areas in Alaska.

Klondike/Yukon Gold Rush

Trans Alaska Pipeline

Oil is a huge part of Alaskan history and still is the biggest source of revenue today. Oil brings in 88% of Alaska’s revenue. In the early 1900’s, it was refined into kerosene. The pipeline was developed to carry the oil down from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. The pipeline has created many jobs from building it to maintaining it. It also is responsible for boomtowns in Alaska.






Farming was expensive to get started. It didn't have a huge effect on the economy but was mainly used for local towns and villages. It was difficult to grow things because of the short season, permafrost, and high labor costs to name a few. Fresh fruits and vegitable were a delicacy when they were shipped in. Herding reindeer became very popular. The first reindeer were brought to Alaska in 1891 to aid in helping out the people do various field work and hauling as well as using their hides and eventually for food. On a side note, I have to admit that I enjoy a good reindeer dog every now and then. Lumber was also in high demand. Over the years, the timber industry had been putting out more board feet and had employed more people than in previous years. There were restrictions put on this too. Reserves were created to keep people from destroying the forests.

There were a lot of major components that went in to the Alaskan economy. I tried to keep each component as brief as I could but still ended up with a lot of information. One constant that I observed with every component was the inevitable need for limits. I guess hindsight is 20/20. I just can help but not understand how the people back then didn’t realize that they were depleting their resources faster than the resources could reproduce. But I guess there are still people doing the same thing today to make that extra dollar and totally disregard future effects.






Examine Question:
What is the current status of fur trapping, trading, whaling, and fishing?

Fishing (ID 1147) is still a major component of the Alaskan economy. In 2004, fisherman harvested about 5.4 billion pounds of seafood with a value of $1.2 billion from Alaska waters. The state seafood catch includes salmon, halibut, shellfish, herring and groundfish. Although groundfish are the majority of the catch, salmon, halibut, and shellfish are more valuble and bring in more revenue than groundfish. The state government manages fisheries within three miles of shore and the federal government manages fisheries beyond the 3 mile limit. Production of farmed fish is growing rapidly because fish farmers can meet the demands of the market with year round supplies. Farming also helps the cost stay consistant. Competition has increased because of globalization. Processing has been moved to other countries with lower labor costs, increasing consolidation, restructuring of distribution and more demands for new types of products. All of these factors are affecting the fishing industry.

Alaska Fishing

Trading and trapping is still a very important part of Alaska’s economy. People who live in small villages trap and hunt during the winter for money, especially if they live in isolated villages where there are very few jobs. Others do it for extra money and/or because it is part of their heritage and culture. Thousands of people buy trapping licenses each year. Alaska Fish and Game regulate trapping. I recently went to Bethel and some of the people (non-natives) that I met there were talking about their trap lines and that they needed to go check them and set up new ones. It was very interesting to hear them talk about it. Alaskan fur sewers are known around the world for their work. They use the money they earn for necessities. Most of the people in small remote villages use the skins/furs to keep them warm during the winter. The trappers pass down their skills from generation to generation. It teaches youth valuable skills and responsibility.

Trapping

Whaling

Whaling is not permitted in Alaska anymore except to the Natives. Natives have always hunted whales and it is a major part of their heritage. Whaling helps villages get through the winter months. They use every part of the whale, hardly any of it goes to waste. Any whaling done by Eskimos is monitored by the Alaskan Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). These organizations have a cooperative agreement with each other on whale hunting.  As stated in this article, Whalers are only allowed 75 strikes per whaling season. Hunters are concerned with ice thickness. The is becoming thinner than it used to be. because of this, whalers are not able to hunt the biggest whales they can find. They hunt the smaller ones because they know the ice will be able to handle the weight. This has become a problem because the smaller whales are not lasting through the winters. Another issue is the possible drilling for oil near Barrow. This cold drastically change the outcome of whaling for the village. The article also has a very interesting video about whaling you should definitely watch. Here is another video of the process of killing and pulling the whale out of the water. I definitely takes the cooperation of a lot of people.





Evaluation:

I feel like I keep repeating myself in these evaluations. I really enjoyed reading this module and learning about the economy of Alaska and how it's come along through the years. I enjoyed researching the information to answer the questions that I chose. I'm happy that I was able to find some short videos on whaling. I had always wondered how it was done and what it looked like but never sat down to research it.


Reviews:

I like how Gary used a lot of pictures to show what he was talking about. And he did a good job explaining the nature of cultural contact between the Europeans of Russian America and the Natives of Alaska.

Crystal did a good job providing links to further explain her answers.

I enjoyed reading Lane’s blog about the Creoles. It was very interesting how they came about and how they were viewed by the Russians. I also like how visual set up of the blog.