Rails to Resources

American Senator Frank Murkowski is an anomaly in today’s political world. No, that is too timid a statement. The man is a marvel, if a bill introduced during the 106th Congress of the United States Senate this past June is any indication. We were bowled over when we read Rails to Resources: Bringing Alaska and the Yukon closer to the world, which calls for construction of railroads to access undeveloped resources in both regions in order to get their economies back on track.

“Alaska and the neighboring Yukon Territory in Canada are still North America’s last untapped storehouse of mineral and natural resource wealth,” Senator Murkowski writes in a backgrounder to his bill. “We now know where much of that treasure lies — economic transportation to get the materials to market being the chief impediment to its development.”

What’s more, the Senator is as knowledgable about this untapped storehouse of mineral wealth as any of our readers. He cites a mineral zone extending from Faro, Yukon to Fairbanks, Alaska, that hosts the Fort Knox gold mine and the the Pogo gold deposits, as well as large amounts of silver, tungsten, copper, lead, zinc and other minerals.

“On the Alaska side of the border, there are already more than 14 major hardrock deposits identified, while in the Yukon there are more than 10 major mineral deposits known,” the Senator notes.

The Senator also points out that a railroad could lead to development of high-quality coal deposits at Point Lay, along with mineral deposits in the Amber mining district to the southeast. He argues that a 90-mile line could carry this low-pollution coal to the Red Dog mine where an existing haul road would carry it to tidewater.

“Such a railroad could bring energy, in the form of coal, to the mine, where it could be used to power a new, electro-refining technology that would add tremendous value to the zinc-lead ore being shipped from Alaska and, most importantly, provide additional jobs to the region. It would also finally allow some of the North Slope’s 6 trillion tons of coal to be exported,” he adds.

Small wonder we rubbed our eyes and checked the date again. The missive was not penned by a senator with the same name in 1900 or 1920, or even 1960. It was written this year to explain S.2253, the Rails to Resources Act of 2000. And yet it was a document of its time — one that calls for values other than economic ones to be carefully considered before the first rail spike is driven.

The Senator admitted that while the economic need for transportation has not changed since 1915 (when President Woodrow Wilson decided to build a railroad into Alaska’s interior), attitudes toward resource development have changed. “We now know how to develop our mineral, energy and timber resources in an environmentally sensitive manner, so we can protect the beauty and the wildlife of the North, while producing jobs to sustain the region’s human inhabitants.”

Senator Murkowski’s bill proposes the creation of a bilateral commission to study the economic, environmental and engineering feasibility of completing the transcontinental railroad linking Canada with Alaska. This rail corridor might even encourage co-location of proposed oil and gas pipelines and power transmissions, thereby lowering environmental impacts.

A railroad initiative could provide enormous benefits to Northerners if done right. And it must be done right from the start, because there will be fierce opposition from vocal preservationists who view the North as their personal wilderness.

Despite the challenges, the fears of a few should not be allowed to overshadow healthy debate among resource developers, local governments and residents, aboriginal groups, fair-minded environmentalists and other stakeholders. Senator Murkowski’s proposal deserves an open and honest hearing.