The “Far” North & Alaska

1. The “Far” North & Alaska

2. Physical Geography • Three physiographic provinces: • The Northwest • An extension of the high mountain Cordillera and the Pacific coastal mountains • The Laurentian Shield • Gentle relief; few hills • The Arctic, including Greenland • Gentle relief; few hills; Expansive views

3. Physical Geography • Terrain • Permafrost • Laurentian Shield • Ice-scoured plain; low-lying relief • Arctic • Includes LOTS of different landforms • Many lakes • Greenland • Craton > 3 billion years old!

4. Physical Geography • Basic characteristics of the Region: • Cold temps, long winters, thin soils, poor drainage, low precipitation • Climate • Subarctic (Dfc), Tundra (ET), ice cap (EF) • Long winters, short & cool summers • Variable precipitation •  distinct biogeographic characteristics

5. Physical Geography • Biogeography • Taiga • Boreal forests • Tundra • Lichen, mosses, tiny things • Global climate change } Defined by treeline

6. Historical Settlement Aboriginal Peoples • Four main cultural groups: • Algonquin-speaking Crees and Ojibways • Athabascan cultures • Aleut • Inuit (eskimos)

7. Historical Settlement • Early Europeans • Scandinavian Norse (“Vikings”) Igaliko, Greenland(built on 1000 year-old Viking ruins!)

8. Historical Settlement • Early Europeans, Fur and Fish • French fur traders and trappers in the Northeast (16th & 17th centuries) • The Hudson Bay Company focused on the Northwest • Both used water transport and built military forts to protect their interests • Alaska’s purchase

9. Current Settlement • Aboriginals no longer rely totally on hunting, fishing and gathering • Often occupy bottom rung on the social and economic ladder • Native American = in the interior; Inuit = along the coasts and in the Arctic • Native land settlements key issues

10. Traditional Political Economy • Aboriginal people lived off the land, rivers, and the sea, relying on hunting, gathering and fishing to achieve sustenance • Euro-Americans looked for three things: animals, minerals, trees • Farming available, but very slim • Fishing

11. Current Political Economy • Logging/Forestry • The largest area of uncut forest in North America • Lumber, pulp and paper operations dot the region from Quebec to Manitoba • The spruce forests south of Hudson Bay are the prime source for most paper mills

12. Current Political Economy:Mining

13. Current Political Economy: North Slope Oil Alaskan Pipeline

14. Current Political Economy • Hydroelectricity • Provides 70% of all Canada’s power • Cheap & abundant • Sells surplus to New York and New England states, competing with the coal-burning power plants of the Ohio Valley

15. Current Political Economy Denali, National Park Fly Fishing, Denise Lake • Tourism • Major attractions • Parks and national forests • Wildlife (big game) • Sport fishing • The areas closest to the US border receive most of the pressure Grizzly Bear Relaxing

16. Alaska, a Political “Island”

17. Relative Location

18. Struggle for Alaska’s Land • Continuous controversies: • Developing natural resources • Safeguarding the last frontier • Protecting and preserving traditional native population’ way of life • State’s rights to pursue economic development through exploitation of its natural resources

20. Chronology of Key Events • 1867: US acquires Alaska from Russia • 1884: Alaska Organic Act: victory for Aboriginal People • 1959: Year of statehood • 1959: Alaska Statehood Act annexation of 104 million acres, without regard of Aboriginal claims • 1968: Petroleum discovered at Prudhoe Bay • 1971: Alaskan Native Land Claims Settlement Act, providing one billion dollars and 44 million acres • 1980: Conservation Act: 104 million acres of parks and refuges and 57 million acres specified as wilderness

21. Integrating Alaska into North America and the World Aleutian Islands

22. Resource Management Strategies • Preservation: • Removing from or limiting use, saving it for the future • Conservation: • Balancing use with protection • Exploitation: • Full or unlimited use • Multiple Use • Wilderness • Boom and Bust Economy • Cyclical rapid growth and catastrophic decline

23. Final Thoughts • Transportation • (Eco)Tourism • Retirees?

24. Readings • San Francisco Chronicle: Greenland likes global warming • Mayer, Audrey, Pekka E. Kauppi, Per K. Angelstam, Yu Zhang, and Paici M. Tikka. 2005. “Importing Timber, Exporting Ecological Impact,” Science 15 (April): 359–360. • An intriguing cultural & political ecology of the Far North. • Rundstrom, Robert A. 1990. “A Cultural Interpretation of Inuit Map Accuracy,” The Geographical Review 80 (2): 155–168. • Very cool article on how Inuit peoples use “maps” with incredible accuracy!

25. Discussion Questions How does continued Euro-American settlement influence the once-balanced lifestyle of the Inuit people? The Arctic Explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson says the “Far” North & Alaska will become a densely settled and fully-integrated region. Why would he say this? Is it really possible? How and why (or why not)? What kind of effects will occur in the “Far” North & Alaska as the Earth attempts to balance its temperature? Will they be beneficial? Disastrous? Non-effective? Why (or why not)?

26. Related Books • Berton, Pierre. 1988. The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole, 1818–1900. New York: Viking. • The elusive 100-year search for the Northwest Passage. • Bone, Robert M. 1992. The Geography of the Canadian North: Issues and Challenges. Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press Canada. • A geographical look at life and landscape of the region. • Haycox, Stephen. 2002. Alaska: An American Colony. Seattle: University of Washington Press. • Divided nicely into Russian exploration and the American period of settlement.

27. WebSources • All Things Arctic http://www.allthingsarctic.com/countries/canada.aspx • Greenland!! http://iserit.greennet.gl/bgbw/attractions.html • Extreme Points of North America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_North_America • Tourism, Parks and Recreation http://www.uphere.ca/ • Indian and Northern Affairs Canada http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sj26_e.html