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Pioneering Conservation in Alaska: Chronology

Pioneering Conservation in Alaska

Chronology

Chronology

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

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

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

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

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