Opportunity For Develoment In Alaska

Question 1

Fishing

Answer 1

The States 3000 plus rivers cover 365,000 miles and the state also has The USA’s longest coastline at 10,690 km.
Alaska Natives have been harvesting salmon and many other types of fish since the early 17th century.
Commercial fishing is very important for Alaska. The seafood industry provided over 60,000 jobs in 2017, generate almost $6 billion for the economy and put $250million into the Alaskan government coffers via tax.

Question 2

Mineral extraction

Answer 2

Alaska’s rocks are abundant in mineral resources including Copper, Coal, Iron Ore, Silver, Gold and Zinc.
Gold first focused world attention on Alaska. Prospectors found gold near Sitka in 1872 and at the present site of Juneau in 1880. The gold mined out of Alaska is estimated to have been worth $12.5 billion.
Platinum was also discovered in 1926, the platinum at Goodnews Bay is today the largest domestic source of this metal, used in electronics, dentistry, and in corrosion-resisting alloys.
Alaska’s second most valuable non-energy commodity is gravel. More than a billion tons have been mined, worth $2.1 billion at today’s prices.
The value of the industry is well over $1B annually and growing rapidly.

Question 3

Tourism

Answer 3

Alaska is a unique wilderness and offers incredible opportunities for tourists and for locals to profit from those tourists. It has mountains (Mount Mckilnley), glaciers, rivers and wildlife. Grizzly Bears in Denali National Park to attract tourists.
Tourism helps thousands of businesses as tourists take their tours, dine in their restaurants, and stay in their guest rooms. People go to ski, go to dog sled festivals, sight see, fish and hunt, and try other adventurous activities.
In 2016 1.96 million people visited Alaska. Direct visitor spending is more than $1.8 billion annually and tourism accounts for one in eight Alaskan jobs.

Question 4

Oil

Answer 4

The largest energy source in Alaska is Oil and Gas however. The North Slope area of Alaska has huge resources of petroleum which are found in the Prudhoe Bay oil field, discovered in 1968. The industry is hugely important to Alaska, it employs 110,000 people and brings in $14billion to the state’s economy.
To transfer this petroleum companies use the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which pumps the oil 1287km south to Valdez and through some rough terrain and mountains.
The movement of oil by tanker has posed problems, a tanker named Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound in 1989. It released almost 11million gallons of crude oil into a region that is a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals and seabirds.

Question 5

Energy

Answer 5

There is a geothermal power plant at Chena Hot Springs near Fairbanks which produces power for local people. The plant has a 400kw capacity, enough for roughly 400 homes.
Hydroelectric power is Alaska’s largest source of renewable energy, supplying about 21 percent of the state’s electrical energy in an average water year