The word conservation has meant many things to many people over the years. This seems especially true in Alaska where whether you want to preserve a forest or harvest it for use, you call yourself a conservationist.
This was as true in 1925 as it is today as shown by the book "Alaska, its Past, Present, Future" by then-Territorial Gov. Scott C. Bone.
On page 24, Gov. Bone states his conservation credo:
Lest you think that Gov. Bone is simply stealing language, let's allow him to explain his view a little more after a paragraph on timber statistics I don't care to transcribe:
Notice he's not simply saying "come and get it!" While his use of the the term "conservation" isn't familiar to most people using it today, there is a sense of managing resources for the future, which I think could be viewed as a kind of conservation. Or at least reasonably viewed as stewardship.
At the end of this speech on on conservation, Gov. Bone makes some predictions worth sharing:
As predictions go, this isn't so bad. The Alaska Railroad, having been transferred from federal to state owenership, continues to play a significant role in Alaska. There are many who dream, as I do, of connecting the Alaska Railroad to the Canadian rail system. This would not only have potential to lower the cost of living in Alaska, but would give Alaska products more outlets to the world. And possibly give us who live near the railroad cheaper travel to Canada and the Lower 48.
His remarks about "prospective oil discoveries" could rank as one of the understatements of the 20th Century. He was way, way off the mark about coal. But then most anyone talking about the future of coal in the early 20th century was bound to be off the mark. Alaska's coal not only didn't reach Pacific markets, it doesn't even have much use in Alaska. One coal mine that does seem to have some market for its coal is the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy, Alaska.
Personally, I view coal as a fuel that needs to be phased out. We will need to find some strong alternative fuels for China and India, large coal consumers, to change their ways.
Daniel Cornwall is a librarian, amateur photographer and hiking enthusiast who lives in Juneau. Find more about him, and lots about libraries, on his blog, http://alaskanlibrarian.wordpress.com, where this column first appeared.