the old alaska to the new alaska . from the log cabin to the modern city.e have not seen all of the story of alaska because much of it will be happening in the future. at the state university near fairbanks, young people are preparing for that future. alaskans are working on building to improve their land, but there is still much to do area developing a new state is a big job, which we can understand because we have seen how big alaska is. we know too how important alaska is because of its position in the air world, and we have seen alaska's importance in terms of its natural wealth, the timber, , and theals, the fish farmlands. and there is one more kind of wealth alaska has, its young american citizens, the children who will someday at their achievement to the story of alaska. ♪ announcer 1: you are watching "american history tv, only on c-span3.

alaska's southeastern cities.s can be moved at fraction of the cost of moving an and maintaining conventional highways. it is surely one of the most beautiful anywhere. at scagway, ride alaska's first railroad, the white pass and yukon. its construction, 1,000 miles from the nearest base of supplies blasting the roadbed through miles of solid rock was one of the most heroic fetes of he 20th century. this railroad opening up the vast yukon and the alaska railroad connecting the sea port city of sue ward and whittier with fairbanks and the interior of the state were essential to alaska's development. without them it is doubtful that they would be more than a ndful of coastal settlements with a huge interior. everywhere, the present exists with the past. the explosive forces of growth that hurled alaska from the gold rush to the space race denied the state its adolescence. the relics of yesterday often lie where they fell as the people preoccupied with the new shape of their destiny abandoned hem. along the fertile c

alaska elections. each new legislature has the responsibility to review and sign regulations. duties,e, other officials,lected other duties have may be asked of the lieutenant governor by the governor and are also always there. in this administration, the governor has asked me to be his commercial fisheries advisor. on the -- i am the chair of his climate change initiative and that is significant responsibility without relationship with canadian provinces and territories regarding mining activity and keeping alaska's waters and flow from canada into alaska. i have been asked by the governor to do a variety of other things. including long-term responsibilities working with him on the alaska gasket pipeline. it's been a very busy for years. 15% of alaska's population belongs to the native population including you. lt. gov. mallott: yes. i am from the southeast of alaska. and am the raven tribe wearing my clan symbol as you may see here. it's the humpback or pink salmon. our clan symbol also includes moun

welcome to the alaska state museum here in juneau, alaska. our museum was created in the year 1900 when alaska was not even a territory at. it was a district. on becomingll focus of europeans and americans into alaska, starting in about the 1770's. and talk about their efforts to colonize alaska, and the response of alaska's native people to that -- to those efforts. what we're looking at is the top figure of a kalinga to poll from the southern part of southeast alaska. the alaska natives who created this were commemorating a very historical event, and that is the sighting of the first non-native explorer to enter into alaska. their way of recording history is not in writing, it is an carving and artwork and oral traditions. that particular plan saw the first spanish for traders and explorers here. and explorers here. they carved a total poll. they feet is an artifact of first russian people that came to alaska. a legale following doctrine called the doctrine of discovery that gave europeans and any christian nation a primacy in claiming titl

alaska for his advocacy for alaska statehood.ing that time, he gleaned -- he gained a diverse group in order to effectuate a change that they wanted to make. in this case, it was trying to convince members of congress, states that were part of the union, that alaska statehood was beneficial to the united states. in doing so, he brought together journalists and people from outside the normal realm to help sell that message to the american people into congress. serving in the alaska state legislature as a representative, governor wally hickle appointed senator stevens to the u.s. senate seat upon the death of senator bob bartlett. at the time, he was appointed, was pressing in congress was soderling the aboriginal land claims of alaskan natives in the state. prior to that, oil had been discovered on the north slope. the question established under statehood of owned land in alaska had never been settled. the discovery of the oil was threatened because we could not access it. timeenator called his working on what became the alaska na

sullivan ofan alaska. it is july, what is going on in alaska? sen. sullivan: everything is going on right now. i always say there is no season in alaska but is not incredible. we have all the seasons, but as you can imagine, in the summer, the vibrancy, the state really comes alive. our fishing communities are in full swing. we have the biggest salmon runs in the world. it's always a bit of a challenge each year, certain runs come in strong and others don't. we have to watch for that. it is a bit of a concern. but the vibrancy of alaska -- we have a lot of tourists who come up in the summer. but every part of the year is a great part of the year in alaska. july has a lot of energy. the midnight sun is out and you just did a sense of the vibrancy wildlife,ple, and the and hopefully you guys are seeing it on the road trip. it's great you are up there, and congratulations on 25 years of doing this. there very glad you are on road in alaska seeing our wonderful state. >> it is alaska weekend on c-span. how did you get to alaska? sen. sullivan: my alaska

alaska from russia for point $2 million.usands of citizens protested, calling it a waste of public money. alaska became known as a seward's folly. today there is no man better qualified to give you a true picture of alaska than farther -- father bernard hubbard, an explorer who has spent over 10 years in our great northern territory. ago,r hubbard: 10 years with my loyal young college men i thoughtul dog, alaska was a worthless knob of land on top of america, where amidos lived in a close snow and ice. i was certainly surprised that it was anything but this. popular notions about alaska are for the most part all wrong. it is the least understood of any united states territory. its size, its expanse and its great variety are by no means comprehended. land no onethe knows. nhe best way to get a idea of the true size of alaska is to move it down to the united states. although only 1/5 as large as the united states and square miles, nevertheless alaska touches all four borders of our country. this will give you the wide --anse a

alaska is unique. i look forward to hearing from the guests on c-span to explain laws arels of how the uniquely tailored for alaska. latecame a state in the 1950's, in the course of that there were tens of millions of acres of federal land to carve up and allocate administrative responsibilities for. to a degree are not entirely cognizant of, alaska is a unique state. the caller has put his finger on it, this is a states rights issue, for good or ill. host: what has a relationship in like between the federal government and alaska? and that shared responsibility? guest: a blend of dependence and resentment. alaska depends upon federal policy, and largess to some degree. and there is a commensurate resentment over the federal hold. for instance, last year in the tax bill, senator murkowski, and senator sullivan got a provision that would mandate the bureau of land management to open up oil and gas leasing on the arctic national wildlife refuge. that is something that had been opposed in washington, d.c.

how did you get to alaska? sen. sullivan: my alaska story is pretty simple. i fell in love with the beautiful alaskan woman when i was the young man, and we decided to live in alaska. if you ever met my wife, you would understand why i hightailed it to alaska. very simple, and beautiful alaska native, a proud family. i have a great mother-in-law and father-in-law. after my first tour in the and i moved to fairbanks, her hometown, and started our life there. we have three wonderful daughters and a great life in alaska. for me, it is simple. it was love. love for the state, but first and foremost love for my wife. >> you mentioned your service in the marines. you recently said alaska is very important when it comes to missile defense for the u.s.. sen. sullivan: i always like to talk about alaska constituting three pillars of america's military might. i am >> you necessity, i always like alaska about of tituting three pillars america's military might. i'm sure you've seen this on your road trip. cornerstone of the missile defense. that's important with rogue an

>>host: what is the draw of alaska as a traveler and writer? >> as a traveler obviously in scenery with mountains pressed right up against the shore and the you can stand on a beautiful beach looking and 18000 flights no caps peak with the wildlife in the bears in the whales and dolphins and walrus. and it is bigger and emptier than anything that you can conceive if you've never been there. and with the writer that is a blank canvas. there is a lot of material right now it is an interesting time because things are changing very, very quickly. >>host: you retrace the steps of the harriman expedition. how did you find out about that? >> it's one of those things you fall into i was on vacation in pioneer square that was in the old part of town so this had a u.s. park ranger and what is the deal with the total whole? he said this is a replica of a pole that was stolen by a bunch of seattle city fathers as a tourist attraction they were inspired by the harriman expedition i said like the railroad guy? because that station that he built was a couple

figure in alaska.i think in the other 49 states he's sort of a romantic hero who goes off to commune with nature like a sort of modern-day hero that in alaska a lot of people with good reasons they alaska is a brutal place. somebody says in the book you can go from oblate 20 man i'm in trouble pretty quickly in alaska certainly in the space of a few minutes. he doesn't seem to have fully understood that and alaskans are proud of the fact they can get themselves out of trouble in nature and people coming up to sort of retrace the steps is seen as the height of foolhardiness. >> you've written about other adventures and share those with your readers. you turn right at machu picchu and you were looking for the boston goes in atlantlost incomr the lost city of atlantis. what were you searching for when you went to alaska? >> i was trying to find out what was going on in alaska right now because in 1899 when the team had gotten there it started off on this sort of churchmen boondoggle they thought they woul

the they were working on alaska national inter-lands act, which was designating wilderness areas, alaska, heefuges in was working with a counterpart, representative udall in the house. read the letter to you. dear ted, you're a good man. apologize for not responding to your note pof a couple -- note of a couple weeks ago. sit down and work out alaska lands compromise but it got into a channel where i must work and go through the whole markup process. i suspect we'll be working it in conference stage together. touch.eep in mo. another example of bipartisanship is senator stevens loved to bring people to alaska. i think alaska is such a vast two and a half times the size of texas. and most of our rural are only accessible by air or boat. don'tcause of that, they have running water, et cetera. so he thought it was important senators and representatives to alaska. here's actually a photo of in 1969 withens senator ted kennedy. pilot station, alaska. and given that it was 1969, no e-mail. phone service was spotty, as were telegrams. our photo person was able to of theown the daughter post mas

i've fly to fairbanks or southeast alaska like sitka and alaska -- it ranges so were talking hundreds of miles and hour long flights so it's not quite simple but that is where the telemedicine comes in. it saves costs for the state and saving cost to travel. instead of having to do that travel time they are able to get the care telemedicine. i think that alone is a huge savings major of the patients have that care connection as a part of that. of course, giving people away from hostile services like us being there prior to conditions getting worse where they have to be hospitalized. >> host: christopher dietrich, if you wanted to see a patient in no more sitka and you're in anchorage, where does that patient go? is he or she able to do this from their home? >> guest: yes, they download a similar app like skype and they could initiate care via their hub but sometimes we will have them go to their local clinics and that way they get basic vital signs and have more formality there but it's not always the case or needed. >> host: is it easier for you, as someone who works on mental health

everyone you meet in alaska they say the first and you get to alaska you buy a pickup truck and a fishingpole. even tenured history professors were telling me downtown anchorage is a small part in 1% is kind of urban. alaskans love the outdoors they are constantly in the outdoors especially in the summer because that is the three months you can get outside to extreme mood -- enjoy those extremely long days. at the same time conservation is a taboo subject in much of alaska. it is a deeply red state they were deeply suspicious of government intervention and they worry about federal overreach that is very popular term there senator makowski has a whole section on federal overreach on her webpage. it is a weird sort of schizophrenia they love the outdoors always in the outdoors but at the same time they assume the outdoors will take care of themselves and that may not be the case. >> how long have you wanted to go to alaska before this trip? and then how long before you started to write about it? >> the story of how i got alaska in the back of my mind is a story of failure. i just lined up m

, why they stay in alaska.to me that's the most interesting part visiting anyplace. >> host: you write in your book, he says to you, alaska isn't the last frontier when it comes to climate change. it's the first frontier. how much did climate change in questions about alaska being impacted factor into your journey and also your writing? >> guest: more and more as the journey went on. i went up there with a vague idea that things are changing and alaska, but wherever you are on the political spectrum and alaska you realize something is going on. you may not agree on the cause. most people in alaska i would guess pushback against the idea of man-made climate change or at least man-made climate change that we can do anything about. the longer i i was there the me i saw what was happening. alaska's warming up twice as fast as the other 49 u.s. states because the arctic is warming up faster. it's manifesting itself. you can see buildings at the university of alaska fairbanks where the foundation is starting to fall

in ridge alaska people what's the most important issue in alaska. >> i've worked with the alaska native engineering program at the university of alaska and we feel that the most important issue facing alaskahave to do with education and workforce development . we see a lot of students running into our university who are under prepared for college and are also not doing a great job of providing the environment in the community to present them through the undergraduate degree so what we're doing is engaging students as young as three all the way through middle school, high school and into the university to provide a string of longitudinal opportunities help support them academically, socially providing the information and guidance for them to succeed at all those different levels . >> i'm with rotary cares for kids. one of the issues i see as important is a nationwide as well as in alaska and that is getting children garbage bags when they are being removed from their homes by ocs. we tried to a issue in the state of alaska giving backpacks and duffel bags to children when they are being

we know too how important alaska is because of its position in the air world, and we have seen alaska's importance in terms of its natural wealth, the timber, , and theals, the fish farmlands. and there is one more kind of wealth alaska has, its young american citizens, the children who will someday at their achievement to the story of alaska. ♪ announcer 1: you are watching "american history tv, only on c-span3. next on "reel america," alaska's silver millions. narrated by father bernard hubbard, a priest to popularize the alaskan wilderness from the 1920's to 1950's in lectures, magazines and films. alaska's silver millions was filmed by a canning equipment manufacturer and introduces the regions of alaska, detailing the salmon fishing and canning industries. the 30 minute film is courtesy of the library of congress and national film preservation foundation. ♪ narrator: about 70 years ago in 1867, secretary of state william h. seward bought alaska from russia for $47.2 million. announced,rchase was thousands of citizens throughout the united states protested, calling it a waste of pub

listen to the alaska house and if they shouldn use for the first time the alaska permanent fund to close the budget. also and him -- an interview with juneau empire reporter james brooks. listen to the program saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on our website, c-span.org, or with the free c-span radio app. >> former president barack obama was in south africa earlier this week to honor the life and legacy of nelson mandela on the 100 anniversary of the leader's birth. histhe occasion, he gave first major speech since leaving office where he highlighted talked aboutk and the current state of politics. this is just under an hour and a half. [applause]

alaska, and across the country. joining us for that is michael doyle of e&e news. joining us is michael doyle.

work on the alaska railroad.can see things have changed. anchorage has become a global travel center heart of trade, services, and communication for western alaska. at sunset, the city skyline measures its shadow proudly against cook inlet and its frame of mile-high mountains. anchorage is a young city. 100,000 people call anchorage home. the population has doubled in the last five years and maybe a quarter of a million by 1980. moderate winters and mild summers give the city like the northern great lakes region. and although it's as far left as hawaii and finland, anchorage has one familiar household name. alaska lays claim to the title flying estate in the union and backs it up with statistics like this. one ear plane for 150 people. one out of every citizen is a licensed pilot. combined air operations in the anchorage area, take-offs and landings reveal for air traffic than los angeles, new york, or miami. nearby lakehood is home base to -- nearby lake hood is home base to 1/5th of the world's sea plane, the l

piece oferesting legislation alaska has is the alaska permanent fund. when oil was discovered and started to be produced from audeau bay, alaska had windfall in revenue. wasof the issues discussed how we deal with that influx of cash knowing that this is a resource that will eventually run out or be depleted. was set upent fund to handle some of the revenue from the oil industry. spentrpus cannot be without a certain amount of approval from the constituents, but the revenue that spun off of that is available for revenue. right now, i think there's something like $70 billion in that fund. it has a unique feature, which is a permanent fund today and, which every year, residents of the state would be given a dividend check, just like if you were a stockholder. it is based on the revenue produced by the corpus of the permanent fund. it varies from a few hundred dollars up to a couple thousand dollars. it's very significant. just now, it is being considered that some of that will be used for state operations, because it was always set up as a "rainy day fund

to the state of alaska? we are a resource state, for the pipeline has 20% of our nation's oil at one time. to ourbeen crucial economy since the mid-1970's. >> does it preclude you from having a state income or sales tax because of the revenue generated from a pipe line? the income tax, that was the beginning of the oil revenues coming in. alaskans have been very fortunate to be able to live off the resources in our great state for a long time. we've been very fortunate in that regard. we have other resources. of course, our natural gas up in the north is a very large opportunity for alaska and asia. reporter: governor walker, you just signed the state budget in alaska. there is a pretty substantial cut in funding, and your unemployment rate is high. what is going on economically there? gov. walker: our economy was tied almost solely to oil. almost 90% of our revenue came from oil. with the price dropped from always $100 a barrel to $26 a barrel come up we had to make some changes. it is an adjustment we have

. >> as part of alaska's vast c-span's alaska weekend, we look at communication issues faced i our 49th state your .-- 49th state ron duncan is one of the founders of the company. they had a vision they do toiver better services alaska by investing in technology. 1970's,time, the late there are long-distance services that customers experienced, especially in rural alaska that were very expensive and not of particularly high quality. they felt they could improve the service and deliver a better experience that eventually serves statewide. the original entrepreneurs, two greatn a garage with a idea, making a difference for the people that invested and deserve. >> now it is a largest communication company in alaska. waxed that is correct. ,e serve the most locations very many people, and we do it using pretty much all the technology tools in the toolbox. any telecom company could possibly use. ask what are some of the challenges given your geography, location, it f? >> we like to say that we recognize there are challenges serving rural communities everywhere. in alaska, we take those chall

military dropped them off and selfies alaska. -- in southeast alaska.n 1941, and were told they could go back to their villages on the aleutian islands, and when they went back, their homes were round stack -- were ransacked, some of their idols were stolen. the u.s. government told them that they could not build schools because they did not have homes, so they had to relocate again. there is a lot of history that is not taught about the native people of alaska that we teach here. the homee approaching of the people of southeast alaska. one of the peoples originated british columbia came to alaska in 1887 four religious freedom. alaska, theyto were given a gift. behind me to have a total pull carved by a -- told him -- totem world-renowneda artists. you will notice the chief has three rings around his head. handill see in his right he is holding a talking stick, meaning no one is allowed but for him. when he is done speaking, he passes it on to the next person. under the uncle is his nephew. we are taught and trained by answer and uncles. the nephew has

the state of the alaska -- of alaska is the watchdog state. there are a lot of rules in place of what the returns will be. one thing they don't want to do is overfished. it is very critical that we have enough this release that will spot and continue this year after year. in state has a lot of rules place, very closely monitored. if you were to go out on the waters today, you would see fishing game enforcement out there making sure that the boats are staying in the places they're supposed to stay in. they're not getting too close to creeks. we have rules in place that allow for a certain amount of cats. tac. total allowable catch. >> the alaska department of fish and game has been very careful about -- their diligent in establishing commercial fishing seasons that provide for that sustained yield, some key management tools that have been employed over the last 30 years include limited commercial entry fishes programs. they control the participation in commercial fisheries in alaska instead of a wide open derby type style. you had to have a per

alaska." a personal account of the people and culture of the state. he also talks about the experiences that led him to write his other books including his 1979 bestseller "a walk across america." this was recorded of the southern festival of books in nashville, tennessee in 2001. it's about one hour. tom: good afternoon. welcome to this section of the festival. i am pleased to have you at the nashville public library. my name is tom turk, director of the metro national arts commission. we provided some of the funding for the festival. this afternoon's session is being taped by c-span. at the conclusion of peter jenkins' remarks, if you have questions, we would like you to stand. peter jenkins lives in middle, tennessee, not far from nashville, where he farms and writes. is -- his most familiar writing may be "a walk across america," to find himself and his country. he has written "the walk west" and "the road unseen." today, peter will give you a look at his new book, "looking for alaska." i

it is not just alaska. the federal government owns land across the country. >> guest: one argument by the congressional delegation who are among the big opponents of the obama era rule and supporters of the trump ever to rescind it is this goes beyond alaska. if you allow the federal government based in washington dc to restrict state authority, they will be coming for your state in california, nevada or anywhere else. we 19 restricting hunting in those states as well. >> guest: yes. those under attend in some respect which is we allow the argument goes, to restrict hunting, then more restrictive on mining or grazing or public use in general. there is a specific and general fight, specific fight is over hunting regulations. the general fight is over who controls public lands, the states or the federal government. >> host: we have a call from wyoming. tracy in wyoming, i am going to begin with you this morning. tell us that morning to you. what are your thoughts as we discuss hunting restrictions in alaska a

grid of modernn alaska. today we are have an alaska mae national 1a, the aleutian chain. it stop the timbering on the pain of alaska. created these incredible resources. places like the yukon delta bird reserve treated with federal orders come executive orders from roosevelt saw that democracy had to be synonymous with women is and make no mistake about. alaska is an incredible wilderness and it's a wonderland. america without alaskan wilderness would be a much less place. more treasure landscape in less than any other state but extraction industry, oil, gold, silver,n zinc, are always lookg to spoil the state. >> did tr ever visit alaska? >> guest: he never did. his opportunity to, with an expedition in 1899 but he got back from the spanish american war and then ran for governor of new york. g but what he did was receive the volume of the report which was josh and johnto and others who wrote these reports on what were our heirlooms, what need to be saved, two and today that are just under pressure to develo

alaska." an 18 month adventure. when you read this book, you will discover alaska is much bigger than you think. its coastline is longer than the contiguous states. you will learn some wonderful stories that he drew when he lived with his wife and members of his family. fishinge bear stories, andies, dog stories, commentators and on men, women, and critters. unlike many who went to alaska to seek their fortunes, you won't have to kick cold to discover gold in this book. there are lots of nuggets for .ou to enjoy please help me welcome peter jenkins. [applause] peter: it is great to be here. it is nice to be so close to come. i live and spring hill tennessee, which when i first moved here 20 years ago, my nashville friends would say where did you move to, we are glad to have you in middle, tennessee. i moved to springhill. everybody knows where it is. it is great to be in what i think is one of the greatest cities in the world, nashville, and we welcome those viewers from c-span to come down a

seward bought alaska from russia .hen the purchase was announced, thousands of citizens throughout the united states protested, calling it a waste of public money, and alaska became known as a seward's folly, right or wrong in their conclusion. today, there is no man better qualified to give you a true picture of alaska than father bernard hubbard, known as the glacier priest, a jesuit explorer who has spent over 10 years in our great northern territory. father hubbard: 10 years ago, and with my loyal young college men and faithful dogs, i undertook a scientific explanation to the north. i thought alaska was a worthless knob of land on top of america, .here eskimos lived in igloos i was certainly surprised that it was anything but this. popular notions of alaska are, for the most part, all wrong. it is the least understood of any united states territory. its size, its expanse, and its great variety are by no means comprehended. it is truly the land that nobody knows. ♪ the best way to get an idea of the true size of al

it is the alaska permanent fund of thed and is one part fund that is universally popular in alaska. environmentalists would say, by thisng this pipeline in, is like putting a scar across the mona lisa. that is the kind of language they used at the time. supporters, it is like a thread across a basketball gym. theintensity of environmental fight and the bitterness of it that occurred in the 1970's has faded into the background. become an accepted part of the background, like telephone poles, electric wires, and that sort of thing. that is normal, i guess. accustomed to what you see around you. this is a positive touristy viewpoint here -- tourist viewpoint here. thousands of people come to the pipeline to see it up close every year. it is a symbol of modern alaska in many ways. it has changed the state culturally and economically. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] anchorage is the largest city in alaska. marsh,ted potter thunderbird falls, and the glacier. [birds chirping] blowing]

he recounts his childhood as an alaska native and histonnures in the alaska house of representatives and state senate. >> i'm actually shocked and awed. thank you very much for coming. i'd like to thank susan and hartside for inviting me down to

there are 11 native culture groups in alaska. how sometake a look at of those groups live and the traditions that are still carried on today. >> >> welcome, we are at the alaska native heritage center. here we teach youth from preschool to high school about alaskan native cultures. we also have guests from all over the world and we teach about our 11 indigenous groups. >> some of us are classified as eskimos, some as classified as indians, but none of these words come from our people. the people classified as eskimos would be northwest, northern part of alaska. my people would be st. lawrence island, which is west of nome. and then we have the people classified as eskimos. there are also the people of the aleutian islands, and the alaska peninsula. the people classified as indians, the 11 indigenous groups. i'm going to take you around the lake and to our six traditional homes of the native people of alaska and i will teach you about the different items we have there and about each of the cultures in each of the houses. this is a

my mom was born in nome, alaska. her dad was brand new baby attorney and got a message from one of his buddies saying hey, come up to alaska and come to the sound and ketchichan and there's only one lawyer. long as there's one lawyer there is not much work. i need somebody. he came up as a young man and as they say, the rest was history. both my parents grew up in ketchichan and that's where i was born and moved around in southeast alaska and became grew up and lived in anchorage and i've got good roots from the state. >> host: what's this difference between gnome and ketchichan? >> guest: probably a couple thousand miles. in terms of similarities you are both off the grid so to speak. ketchkhan is an island and gnome is up mainland but it may as well be an island in terms of its isolation. they are both communities that i think the pioneers look to as a place of opportunity. gnome for the gold rush and ketchikan was about the fisheries that drew not only people from the lower 48 but a strong filipino contingency and

it was just east of the alaska-yukon border.the 13th of october, the remaining gap was only a few hundred feet. there were two crews working toward each other. in this section there was permanent ground frost. that meant the ground stayed frozen down to the depth of 50 feet or 60 feet. the ground would quickly thaw and become a quagmire. so the contactors use a road building technique peculiar to the north. rock fill and gravel were spilled out on the ground and carefully spread over the surface. in this way, installation was added to that already provide by nature. and it was permanently locked n. >> when the end was in sight, the truck drivers, the foremans d superintendents were witnessing the excitement by 0,000 men. it was 6:00. he sun was down. the bulldozers moved in. their blade cut. the alaska highway was finished. a handshake and the groom of an utumn evening, marked the end. this is the road these men built. and this is a good road as good as any gravel road in the world, better in alignment and grade than any road of

of alaska? governor walker: we are resource state. one pointpeline at provided 25% of our nation's oil. it is critical to alaska's economy. it has been since about the mid-19 70's. christ is it preclude you from having a state -- host: does it preclude you from having a state income tax because of the revenue generated from the pipeline? governor walker: alaska has been very fortunate to be able to live off the resources in our great state for a long time. we are fortunate in that regard. we have other resources like natural gas that we've put back in the ground up and north. stateyou just signed the budget and it was a pretty substantial cut in funding. your unemployment rate is high. what is going on economically? walker: 90% of our revenue came from oil. when the price of oil dropped from $100 and more a barrel, we lost about 86% of our revenue. we had to make some changes. an adjustment we knew for a long time would have to take place. we are doing that now. significant budget cuts and closu

sullivan ofan alaska. it is july, what is going on in alaska?

effect on alaska? >> it affects alaska more so because we're small in number of and we have such a massive federal land and we have special interest groups that try to establish species that i don't think are endangered. i happen to be the last congressman that ever voted for the endangered species act. people don't remember when it proposed. by the way, it passed overwhelmingly. save tigers and lions and exotic species. snails and bugs grasses and grouse and other things. the been misused by environmental group that tries to stop any type of manned development. for that ct them because that was not the intent of the act and i've always said species that's been reclaimed by the endangered species acts and they say the eagle and it's not true. it was reclaimed primarily ddt, se of stopping using and this is a big argument. serve its purpose if followed by the way the law was written. i say it's been subverted and it makes me very upset because i know intent of the law. >> and you call it weaponized? it'

popular in alaska.of the things that struck me was how often people would say that the environmentalists would say putting this pipeline income this is like putting a scar across the mona lisa. that's the kind of language that was used at the time. the supporters of the said no, it's like a thread across a basketball gym, right? that would be giveaways people that looking at it. the sort of the intensity of environmental fight and the bitterness of it that occurred in the 1970s has really faded into the background here now. it has become an accepted part of the background, like telephone poles and wires and that sort of thing. in some ways it's normal i guess, you just get, become accustomed to what you see around you and you get the idea that it's always been there. this is a popular tourist viewpoint here are thousands of people come every year to take a look at the pipeline to see it up close. it's a real symbol of modern alaska in many ways, and it changes the state culturally and economically. >> m

the state of alaska. broadly endorsed the project the scientists at the university ratcheted up their opposition. and one of the outcomes of all this is that tyler's group did find a series of scientific studies. maybe to placate the objecting scientist at ua. maybe because they thought they were important. is not completely clear. prior to a project and then had ever been done. i think ever anywhere. essentially it prefigured the modern environmental impact report. it would not be acquired. this was in the late 50s. that is another thing that came out of chariot. fish, weather. studies of all kinds. in studies to include the human use of that area. by the native people and their's assistance. forty-two different studies. it was this big. and what they started to show with some of the scientists coming out of fairbanks here. they started to show around the world there had been problems with radiation moving up through the food chain demand. in the lower states when fallout from an atmospheric test in neva

announcer: as part of c-span's alaska weekend, here is an interview with alaska senator dan sullivan. he talks about the top issues in his state, as well as his support for supreme court

its alaska weekend with programs on c-span, tv and american history tv exploring alaska's natural beauty, history and culture. next week we will take you back to 1989 when the exxon oil tanker hit a reef and spilled 11 million gallons of oil. stan jones is a reporter with the anchorage daily news. he recalls what happened at the effect of alaska. up and it wasoke all over the news. by the time i got to work a new all about it. my first reaction was dis- believe, how could this happen? the second reaction was shock at the enormity of it. they spilled i think 11 million coveredof oil and 11,000 square miles of ocean you for it was her. the scale was inconceivable. >> where were you working? mr. jones: i was a reporter at the anchorage daily news. but also covering business so i had covered oil even before the spill. >> can you tell us what the history of the oil industry was in alaska #how large was it during that time? in 1967s: it started with their was a huge oil strike . the pipeline began operating in 1973 and that's when the traffic again. about 15 years past before the spill. fromil

the film "alaska silver millions," the film "eskimo hunters in northwest alaska," "alaska centennial" and the 1944 film "alaska high." watch alaska weekend saturday and sunday july 21 and 22 on the c-span networks. at c-span.org. or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> former prettyish foreign secretary boris johnson stepped down last week to protest prime minister theresa may's brexit plan but delivered his resignation speech yesterday. >> who have done an outstanding job over the last two years. and i'm very proud that we have rallied the world against russia's barbaric use of chemical weapons with an unprecedented 28 countries joining together to expel 153 spies in protest of what happened. we have rejuvenated the commonwealth a superb summit that saw zimbabwe back on the path to membership and angola now wanting to join. and as i leave we are leaving global -- leading global campaigns against illegal wildlife trade and in favor of 12 years of quality education for every girl and we have the flag, the union flag, going up in nine new missions. the yibian an africa and more to

alaska doesn't have mega crust earthquakes happen very often but there's lots of of the faults in alaskaand is responsible for something like 16% of the earthquakes in the world, in alaska. >> thank you very much. >> sure. >> i was lucky enough to your interview on npr fresh air, a great interview but one of the think i choice about you mentioned in 40ir or 50 years ty think the pacific northwest will have earthquake for some time like that? you mention it, plafker said every 500 years the obviously the development of plate tectonics have been helpful at how much better have we gotten at able to forecast with earthquakes will happen? >> you talking to different areas, talking about alaska and about the pacific northwest. it's two different plates. so different situations. it's a good question. a lot of people ask like why can't we predict earthquakes? people have been trying to do it forever. i think it's never going to happen. but what they can do is they can forecast probabilities. it's based on knowing how frequent big earthquakes are. so for instance, in the pacific northwest, and pa

north pole, alaska, is located 14 miles southeast of fairbanks. the population of about 2000 people celebrate christmas year-round with its largest attraction being the house where santa claus lives. next, we visit lab air force base to learn about its role in world war ii -- ladd air force base to learn about its role in world war ii. >> this airfield probably had as much to do as any facility in the army with winning world war ii. not a single shot was ever fired from here. the military value of alaska was noted clear back in 1905 when lieutenant billy mitchell, an aviator of some fame who grew up to be the commander of the army air force. he came to alaska to chein a telephone line from ken to valdez. that is the first noted american military interest in alaska. billy mitchell later in his career testified in front of congress that the strategic value of alaska was enormous. in fact, he said, and is still quoted to this day, whoever controls alaska controls the world because of its strategic location. if you look at the world on a flat projecti

alaska is unique.look forward to hearing from the guests on c-span to explain laws arels of how the uniquely tailored for alaska. latecame a state in the 1950's, in the course of that there were tens of millions of acres of federal land to carve up and allocate administrative responsibilities for. to a degree are not entirely cognizant of, alaska is a unique state. the caller has put his finger on it, this is a states rights issue, for good or ill. host: what has a relationship in like between the federal government and alaska? and that shared responsibility? guest: a blend of dependence and resentment. alaska depends upon federal policy, and largess to some degree. and there is a commensurate resentment over the federal hold. for instance, last year in the tax bill, senator murkowski, and senator sullivan got a provision that would mandate the bureau of land management to open up oil and gas leasing on the arctic national wildlife refuge. that is something that had been opposed in washington, d.c. for

this piece is from southeast alaska. and whatoven tunic that refers to is a style of art of woven mountain goat hair over cedar bark. they have wonderful designs that portray the emblems of particular clans. case, this design represents the diving killer whale. ,nyone from that community would be aware of the clan affiliation. this is an emblem of the clan. to explain the design, this is a diving killer whale, the large eyes at the bottom are the whale's eyes. its body rises above. you see spirit faces. these are separate souls of the whale. one at the blowhole and one that represents the body of the whale. the tale of the whale has eyes built into it. this would be worn mostceremony and the important ones were memorials to someone who had died. ceremony would reflect on the person's ancestry and the ravens or eagles would host the ceremony for the other side. is from the lower yukon river. it portrays the wilds man. some people call it the crybaby mask. philip errol, one of our elders who came to washington to look at p

alaska oil and gas industry fuels alaska's economy.bout one third of the jobs in the state of alaska can be attributed to the industry, as well as 35% of the private payroll can be attributed back to the oil and gas industry. we are by far the state's largest source of government revenue and have been that since the production at trudeau bay 40 one years ago. right now, our production in alaska is 530,000 barrels per day, about 5% of the u.s. production. the good news for alaska is we have a lot of potential remaining. if you include both our onshore and offshore resources, over one third of the nation's reserves are here in the state. host: we want to hear from you. if you hear -- if you live in alaska, we realize it is early in the morning. but the phone number to call is (202) 748-8002. for alaska residents, (202) 748-8002. let's go to kurt joining us from brownsville, new jersey. thank you very much. this is a very complex issue for me. i would love to have cheap energy. i don't make a lot of money. but i would have to turn towards