In 1997, scientists at the Pacific Northwest Research Station initiated several social science studies in response to information gaps identified while developing the Tongass Land Management Plan. Results presented here summarize findings from studies of demographic trends and tourism trends in the region based on data available through 2002. Demographic trends suggest that despite having many unique geographic, climatic, and physical characteristics, southeast Alaska exhibits many social conditions and trends similar to those statewide, as well as in the greater United States and nonmetropolitan United States. Much variation exists at the community level, however, when measuring change in population and income in southeast Alaska. In the last decade, tourism has been one of the fastest growing components of Alaskas economy and an important source of export-based income. Natural resource management and use in Alaska will affect and will be affected by trends in tourism growth and activities.

This report focuses on economic trends since the 1970s in rural southeast Alaska. These trends are compared with those in the Nation and in nonmetropolitan areas of the country to determine the extent to which the economy in rural southeast Alaska is affected by regional activity and by larger market forces. Many of the economic changes occurring in rural southeast Alaska, such as the decline in the manufacturing sector, are reflections of broad-scale changes in the greater U.S. economy. Other changes, such as the increase in nonwage income as a percentage of total income, have been greater in rural southeast Alaska than at the larger scales of comparison. In chapter 1, Robertson describes these changes and their underlying causes and outlines some of their implications for the management of the Tongass National Forest. Providing forest-based recreational opportunities and aesthetic amenities is becoming increasingly important as tourism and residential activity compose a larger portion of the regions economy. In chapter 2, Crone provides a historical context for the economic changes in rural southeast Alaska. She also establishes the global context for these changes, concluding that forces at local, national, and international scales have shaped economic growth patterns in rural southeast Alaska.

The largest by far of the fifty states, Alaska is also the state of greatest mystery and diversity. And, as Claus-M. Naske and Herman E. Slotnick show in this comprehensive survey, the history of Alaska’s peoples and the development of its economy have matched the diversity of its land- and seascapes. Alaska: A History begins by examining the region’s geography and the Native peoples who inhabited it for thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived. The Russians claimed northern North America by right of discovery in 1741. During their occupation of “Russian America” the region was little more than an outpost for fur hunters and traders. When the czar sold the territory to the United States in 1867, nobody knew what to do with “Seward’s Folly.” Mainland America paid little attention to the new acquisition until a rush of gold seekers flooded into the Yukon Territory. In 1906 Congress granted Alaska Territory a voteless delegate and in 1912 gave it a territorial legislature. Not until 1959, however, was Alaska’s long-sought goal of statehood realized. During World War II, Alaska’s place along the great circle route from the United States to Asia firmly established its military importance, which was underscored during the Cold War. The developing military garrison brought federal money and many new residents. Then the discovery of huge oil and natural-gas deposits gave a measure of economic security to the state. Alaska: A History provides a full chronological survey of the region’s and state’s history, including the precedent-setting Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, which compensated Native Americans for their losses; the effect of the oil industry and the trans-Alaska pipeline on the economy; the Exxon Valdez oil spill; and Alaska politics through the early 2000s.