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Alaska Fact Sheet
Alaska's 365 million acres extend from latitude 55� to 71� north, and longitude 130� to 172� west. In consequence, there is a wide variation of climatic conditions, ranging from almost temperate in the southernmost �panhandle' to truly arctic in the far north.2 Alaska is the largest state, about 2.3 times the size of Texas and about one-fifth the size of the Lower 48 states.3 In 1867 the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for just over $7,000,000 - one of the greatest land deals ever recorded.4 Alaska has nineteen peaks above 14,000 feet and seventeen of the nation's twenty highest mountains.5 In 1989 the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, releasing over 10 million gallons of oil into the water in the worst oil spill in U.S. history and severely damaging the ecosystem.6 On Mar. 27, 1964, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in North America occurred in Alaska, taking approximately 114 lives and causing extensive property damage. Some cities were almost totally destroyed, and the fishing industry was especially hard hit, with the loss of fleets, docks, and canneries from the resulting tsunami.7 Proposals for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, E of Prudhoe Bay, have brought continuing controversy. A 2003 National Research Council report on drilling concluded that lasting environmental damage had resulted because the harsh climate slows natural recovery and because there is little incentive to restore areas where drilling has ceased.8 |
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El Camino
In May 2008 join us as we walk the last 11 days of the Camino de Santiago, a magnificent route through northwestern Spain's Galicia. > Read More