European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday april 2, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 19 life for a As cans May never be the same by Timothy Egan hew at times Valdez Alaska Chipping Oil stained ice from ijn.1 Bow of his boat. Russell Roetman seems the ultimate alaskan Jack of All trades he got Rich Dur ing the of Boom went broke in the Energy recession stayed alive As a Fisherman and now is planning in ride the last St growth business right out of Prince William sound. -.". I m a Slick Licker he says i m going to make As much Money As i can cleaning up this mess for Ennon. And then i m going to leave Alaska for Good and go someplace where there Ain t so much Snow and the Waters 49th stole one fifth the size of the lower 48 but with fewer people than might stroll through Cen trial Park on a sunday afternoon is full of such resiliency. Enlil the Exon Val Ducj scraped Over a shallow reef spilling nearly 11 million Gallons of crude Oil into print William sound and threatening tourism and fishing. Alaska could accommodate everybody of it. People come Here for the prodigious Salmon runs or softball games in the Midnight Sun or to live in towns with no roads going in or out. Most people in this slate depend on one of three things to May alive Oil Beauty. They have existed together for 12 years without raging new Init. But since the 987-foot supertanker went aground thai peace is gone and it May. Never be fully re . I the Oil pumped from beneath the ice crust of the Arctic coast provides the state with More than 80percent of its Revenue. Most every Village has a new civic Center even if it s Seldom used or a fresh paved Road to nowhere -7-the product of Oil Money. Alaska s permanent fund from which every Citi zen of the stale receives an annual dividend Check has grown to More than �10. Billion from Oil taxes and royalties. But Ever 1 citizen of Alaska is also entitled to a subsistence amount of Salmon. The Salmon thai re turn from the Ocean and fill the glacial streams arc considered an indigenous right just like Oil and free expression. Alaskans fill heir of rectors with free King Salmon a fish that can fetch 115 a Pound in the rest of the country. The spilt could Likely affect Salmon runs Well into the 1990s, according to slate and fed eral biologists where do i go Tor compensation Sard Joe Bai Ley a Valdez Mechanic who feeds his family in win Ter with halibut and Salmon taken from Prince Wil Liam sound in the summer. -.,. Ailcy lives within a few fee of one of the Sharp vertical Walls hat Rise from the sea. Lit a few weeks when some of the 370 inches of Snow thai fall on this port every year begins to melt those Mountain Walls will be a symphony of waterfalls. Across the Saltwater of Valdez Arm he can Sec supertanker loading Oil at the terminus of the 800-mile trans Alaska pipeline. On average Oil Worth $40 million leaves he port every Day. Providing one fourth of the nation s Domestic Oil Supply. Though fishing is a �150 million a year Industry in Prince William sound Llic numbers Tell nothing about the passion of the men and women who live through the Long Winters in order to spend a few months earning a jiving in what Many Here Call god s country. There arc few things in this world i enjoy More than silting on my boat and seeing my nets smoke with fish and cracking crab by my Side and Walch ing mama Bear with cubs ambling Down the Beach said Jim Brown a i Cather a cd fishermen from the town of finished his sentence while choking Bac tears. We had a Pristine environment he said. What we be got now Well it s a loss of tourism is a $500 million business in the Oil runs dry sometime Early in the next Century Many alaskans think tourism will be the future. Visitors come Hyrc to kayak among killer whales showing up about the same time As the first wave of returning Salmon or to stare at the Pink Summit of mount Mckinley the highest Point in North America. Cruise ships bring hordes to gasp at the expanse of the Columbia Glacier said Mankiller. I be been Able to draw strength from that terrible time incur history. She emphasized Hal when they were relocated the cherokees were a civilized self governing tribe
