11000–9000 B.C. | First recorded humans in Alaska |
1725 | Peter the Great orders expedition to America 1741 Captain Vitus Bering lands in Alaska, stimulating sea otter trade 1778 Captain James Cook reaches Alaska, begins British/American fur trade |
1784 | Gregorii Shelikov creates first Russian settlement, on Kodiak Island |
1786–1787 | Gerassim Pribylof finds Pribilof Islands, begins fur seal industry |
1808 | Russian-American Company moves to New Archangel (Sitka) as part of plan to extend Russian control down West Coast of North America |
1835 | Commercial whalers discover right whales in Gulf of Alaska, begin century-long period of commercial whaling |
1847 | Hudson’s Bay Company builds trading post at Fort Yukon, weakening Russian control of Alaska |
1848 | Whalers Superior and Ocmulgee enter Arctic Ocean |
1865 | Western Union Telegraph Expedition prepares to connect North America and Europe by way of Siberia
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1866 | Commercial pelagic fur sealing begins, leading to international conflict over seals |
1867 | United States purchases Alaska |
1869 | Pribilof Islands designated first U.S. wildlife reserve to conserve fur seals |
1871 | U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries created to manage offshore and Alaska fisheries |
1872 | Henry W. Elliott assigned to Pribilofs as Treasury agent |
1877 | Edward W. Nelson assigned to St. Michael as meteorologist |
1878 | First salmon canneries opened at Sitka and Klawock |
1879 | George Bird Grinnell becomes publisher of Forest and Stream, a leading voice in the conservation movement |
1879 | John Muir first visits Alaska |
1880 | Gold discovered at Juneau sets off first major gold rush |
1884 | Organic Act ends military rule, installs appointed governors |
1885 | Forerunner of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created in USDA |
1886 | George Bird Grinnell organizes first national Audubon Society |
1887 | Boone and Crockett Club, of elite hunter-conservationists, organized |
1891 | Reindeer introduced by Sheldon Jackson to stabilize Eskimo economy |
1891 | Forest Reserves Act empowers president to protect public lands |
1892 | Afognak Forest and Fish Culture Reserve protects salmon and bears |
1892 | Sierra Club organized to promote hiking and conservation |
1896 | Gold discovered at Bonanza Creek, Yukon |
1897–1898 | Last reported muskoxen killed in Alaska |
1898 | Nome gold rush begins |
1899 | Harriman Alaska Expedition of scientists and wealthy easterners |
1900 | Game and Wild Birds Preservation (“Lacey”) Act bans interstate sale of game; first major federal wildlife protection law |
1902 | Gold discovered near Fairbanks, expands interior development |
1902 | First Alaska game law limits killing of game species |
1902 | First commercially viable oil discovery at Katalla |
1902–1909 | Roosevelt creates reserves including Chugach and Tongass national forests to conserve coal, timber, wildlife |
1905 | National Audubon Society organized for bird and nature protection |
1905 | U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, assumes control of forest reserves, emphasizes utilitarian conservation |
1906 | Roald Amundsen completes first navigation of Northwest Passage |
1906 | American Antiquities Act permits creation of national monuments
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1908 | Second Alaska game law further protects game, establishes wardens |
1910–1915 | Wolves and caribou exterminated on Kenai Peninsula |
1911 | Cordova Railway completed to Bonanza copper mine |
1911 | North Pacific Sealing Convention protects fur seals and sea otters |
1912 | Katmai volcano erupts, leading to national monument status |
1912 | Alaska a territory; legislature elected, governors appointed |
1913 | Taft creates reserves including Aleutian Islands |
1913 | Migratory Bird (McLean-Weeks) Act gives national government jurisdiction over all migratory birds |
1915 | Wolf bounty instituted by territorial legislature |
1916 | Migratory Bird Treaty ratified; coordinates U.S.-Canada policy |
1916 | National Park Service created for land and wildlife preservation |
1917 | Bald eagle bounty instituted by territorial legislature |
1917 | Mt. McKinley National Park created for game protection and tourism |
1918 | Migratory Bird Treaty Act gives enforcement power to Bureau of Biological Survey |
1918 | Katmai National Monument created |
1919 | National Parks and Conservation Association founded to support parks |
1920 | Olaus Murie assigned to Fairbanks to study caribou |
1923 | Alaska Railroad completed; intended to promote interior development |
1924 | White Act attempts to conserve salmon fisheries |
1924–1929 | National Conference on Outdoor Recreation, a successful federal-private effort to promote wildlife and habitat conservation |
1925 | Glacier Bay National Monument created for scientific study/tourism |
1925 | Alaska Game Law creates federal-local body to manage wildlife |
1929 | Migratory Bird Conservation Act authorizes national wildlife refuges |
1929 | Bob Marshall assigned to Brooks Range |
1930 | Muskoxen imported from Greenland to reestablish species in Alaska |
1934 | Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act provides funds for refuges |
1935 | Wilderness Society organized by Bob Marshall for land preservation |
1935 | Alaska Sportsman, voice for outdoor sportsmen, begins publication |
1936 | National Wildlife Federation organized |
1937 | Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration (Pittman-Robertson) Act funds wildland acquisition and research |
1939 | Last Alaskan whaling station closes at Akutan
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1940 | Fish and Wildlife Service created within Interior Department; formerly Bureau of Biological Survey, USDA |
1941 | Kenai National Moose Range and Kodiak National Wildlife Range created |
1942 | Japanese occupy Attu and Kiska |
1943 | Alcan (Alaska) Highway opened to military |
1946 | Bureau of Land Management created; promotes mining and oil |
1946 | Indian Claims Act permits Natives to sue United States for land claims |
1947 | Tongass Timber Sales Act authorizes large-scale logging contracts; sidesteps Native land claims |
1948 | Federal Predator Control Branch established in Alaska, primarily to control wolves and coyotes |
1948 | Alaska Highway opened to public; escalates tourism |
1949 | Territorial Department of Fisheries created to supplement and eventually replace federal management |
1953 | North Pacific Fisheries Convention regulates ocean salmon fishing by Japan, Canada, United States |
1954 | Ketchikan Pulp Company mill opens |
1954 | Alaska Sportsmen’s Council, most prominent in territory, organized |
1957 | Alaska Department of Fish and Game created |
1957 | Oil discovered on Kenai Peninsula; initiates oil era |
1958–1959 | Alaska Statehood Act; statehood; guarantees state 104 million acres |
1959 | Alaska Pulp Company mill opens at Sitka |
1960 | Alaska assumes control of fish and game |
1960 | Alaska Conservation Society organized; founds environmental movement |
1960 | Arctic, Izembek, and Kuskokwim national wildlife ranges created |
1971 | Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) allots 44 million acres to Native village and regional corporations |
1980 | Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) creates parks, refuges, national forests, BLM lands, wilderness areas |