Alaska's history is replete with supersized ideas and achievements. With impending state capital budget cuts, we've shelved some of our grand schemes. But that doesn't mean we should stop thinking creatively, with big ideas as part of the mix.
Granted, a lot of Alaska's big ideas didn't get very far.
We've expressed a desire to move our state capitol for more than half a century, and even voted three times to do so. In the 1980s, the small community of Willow was fully prepared to receive the official state seal after a voter referendum approved moving the capitol there -- but another referendum listing the relocation's cost fell to defeat. We wanted it, but we didn't want to pay for it.
How many folks remember Rampart Dam, the 1960s proposal to dam the Yukon River and create a vast inland sea covering hundreds of square miles that would provide hydroelectric power for Alaska, with some to spare for the Lower 48?
Or how about the alternative that came on its heels -- to dam the upper Susitna River near Devil's Canyon and create hydroelectric power for Interior and Southcentral Alaska? That one's now simmering on the back burner at very low heat.
Ideas for domed cities have surfaced occasionally. I recall one by former Alaska U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel, who wanted to create a domed resort on the south side of Denali National Park (then called Mt. McKinley National Park). Other plans included a domed residential development on the western side of Cook Inlet, and a massive dome over downtown Fairbanks.
A passenger rail into Denali Park has been proposed for years. As a low-impact form of visitor access, I'm surprised the idea hasn't received more attention over the years.
Alaskans have talked about a Knik Arm causeway for several decades, including a proposal in the 1970s by Europe-based Rothschild group to harness Cook Inlet's tidal power. On several occasions Rothschild breezed into town, got everyone excited about tidal power, and quickly departed. The excitement ebbed quicker than the tide itself.
The Knik Arm causeway project is another one of those ideas that we'll continue studying, as well as the Pebble Mine. I think we've become a world leader in "studying" things.
One proposal I recall from the 1960s came from our beloved late Gov. Bill Egan, who in response to heavy high-seas catches of Alaska salmon, proposed damming our major salmon streams to "create a vast, inland fishery." This would protect our salmon stocks from foreign fishing fleets. It was apparent that no one with the Fish and Game department had reminded the venerable governor that the abundant food supply in the Pacific Ocean provides about 90 percent of the salmon's lifetime growth -- that his "inland fishery" would propagate some pathetically puny salmon.
A lot of people wonder what ever happened to the Delta barley project. This was a state-funded agricultural project hatched during the Jay Hammond administration in the 1970s. It provided low-interest loans for grain farmers in the Delta area, and called for major grain harvests to be shipped overseas. While there are still some barley farmers in Big Delta, the grand scheme never seemed to materialize. A grain silo built privately in Valdez was never used, and has rusted with age. Today I believe it serves as a cell phone tower.
There are many other dreams that have been beat around for about 35 years: extending the Alaska Railroad west to Nome; tying our railroad into the Lower 48 rail system via Canada; building roads to Juneau and Cordova; and of course, commercializing North Slope natural gas, which is once again illuminated on people's radar screens, and this time quite brightly.
There have been proposals to pipe our abundant water supplies to the parched Lower 48. Another is to tunnel under the Bering Sea to connect the U.S. with Asia with a road or railroad.
Some call these ideas grandiose, "pie in the sky." But I contend we need big, radical dreams to move us forward ... to expand our vision beyond old horizons.
The 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline, for example, was a project that many said "couldn't be done." Among Alaska's grand ideas, it is certainly the most successful -- with North Slope oil development becoming the state's primary economic engine for more than three decades.
Progress comes in small steps rather than bounding leaps. But it takes Leonardo Da Vinci, Buckminster Fuller or Steve Jobs-style leaps of thought to move us to a place where we can take those steps.
When I see young people testing the limits of their imaginations in school classrooms, science fairs or science olympiads, or when I see scientists pushing technology's envelope by landing probes on Mars or mapping the human genome, I gain confidence in humanity's ability to think on its feet. We must continue to nurture our visionaries, both young and old. What will be needed in the future -- perhaps one of the most important things of all -- is that we listen to our dreamers with an open mind, even when budgets are lean.
Frank E. Baker is a freelance writer who lives in Eagle River. Contact him at frankedwardbaker@gmail.com
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.