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Jim Scott, Part 1
Jim Scott was interviewed on August 27, 1991 by William Schneider in the quiet den of the Scott's home in Eagle, Alaska. Jim had expressed many of his views to Schneider in the past, but this interview provided an opportunity for him to explain his personal background in federal land management and to present the setting in 1971 when the Scotts began living in Eagle and the federal agencies were deciding how to manage the Yukon-Charley Rivers area. Jim had strong feelings about what he considered to be the over-spending and over-development by the National Park Service, and his views provide an important perspective. In this first part of a two part interview, Jim talks about his previous work history around Alaska in land use management, moving to Eagle, and some of the community's history. He also shares his thoughts on federal agency land management in the area and the National Park Service in particular.
See also:
Digital Asset Information
Archive #: Oral History 91-22-27
Project: Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
Date of Interview: Aug 27, 1991
Narrator(s): Jim Scott
Interviewer(s): Bill Schneider
Location of Interview:
Funding Partners:
National Park Service
Parts:
Alternate Transcripts
There is no alternate transcript for this interview.
Themes
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Bureau of Land Management, Canoeing, Coming to Alaska, Community Changes, Community Relationships, Construction, Elders/Pioneers, Federal Government, Historic Structures, History, House, Jobs, Land Ownership, Land Selection, Land Use, Life on the River, National Park Service, Native Land Ownership, Park Management Issues, Planning, Retirement, Subsistence, Travel
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Sections
1) Personal background and arrival in Alaska
2) Settling in Alaska with his family, and his early work experiences in the state
3) Working with the Bureau of Land Management, Division of Forestry
4) Working as District Manager of the Anchorage District, cooperation with the State of Alaska, and some of the things going on in the state at that time
5) Canoe trip down the Porcupine River in 1970 that precipitated the Scott's move to Eagle
6) Decision to move to Eagle, retirement, building a house, and their trip around the top of the world
7) Different agencies who had been in Eagle, some history of the town, and the Scott's visits to the area over the years
8) People in Eagle when they came to live there, and the subsequent influx of people into the area
9) National Park Service's competition with other agencies after passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971
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Transcript
Section 1: Appleton, Minnesota\ Bureau of Entomology\ Clearwater National Forest\ Scott, Jim\ Potlatch Forest Products\ U.S. Forest Service - wildlife studies\ Leopold, Aldo\ McDonald Logging - Ketchikan\ "Davis rafts"\ Ketchikan Spruce\ Annette Island - World War II\ Scott, Elva\ Alaska Steamship Company - longshoreman's strike\ Anchorage - 1940's|
Section 2: Scott, Jim\ Homer\ Schneider, Heinie\ Chamberlain, Henry\ Alaska Road Commission - Sterling Highway\ General Land Office - Alaskan Fire Control Service\ Glennallen\ Bureau of Land Management - Division of Forestry\ Denali Highway - reconnaissance survey|
Section 3: Homer - 1950's\ mail carriers - Homer\ Homer - lifestyle\ Bureau of Land Management - Division of Forestry\ Homer ranger station\ Scott, Jim - Fairbanks\ Scott, Jim - Anchorage|
Section 4: Bureau of Land Management - Anchorage District\ Scott, Jim\ homesteading - federal land\ oil exploration - Swanson Creek\ mineral leasing - federal lands\ statehood\ State of Alaska - Division of Lands\ lands - selection\ Omnibus Act\ Bell, Roscoe\ Holsworth, Phil\ Egan, Bill\ Herbert, Chuck\ [DeLeonardis, Sal\ state and federal agencies - competition\ Alaska Department of Fish and Game\ Society of American Foresters\ Ecological Society\ Scott, Elva\ Anchorage School District - school nurse program\ Scott, Jim\ Joint Board of Forestry Examiners\ public service - values|
Section 5: Scott, Jim\ Scott, Elva\ Porcupine River\ Old Crow Village - 1970's\ Dempster Highway\ Fort Yukon - N.C. Company\ The "Brainstorm"\ Eagle - 1970's\ Eagle Roadhouse - Merleys|
Section 6: Scott, Jim\ Scott, Elva\ Eagle - 1970's\ Iceland\ Lapland\ Finland\ Russia\ Siberia\ Nixon Administration - public policies\ bush living - attrition|
Section 7: Eagle - history\ FAA - Eagle\ Northway - airstrip\ Snag - airstrip\ Eagle - 1956\ Beck, George\ Beck, Nellie\ Eagle Village - 1956\ Bureau of Land Management - Eagle\ Scott, Jim\ American Forestry Association - Yukon trip\ Merley, Anton\ Merley\ lumber - supplies\ Trans-Alaska Pipeline - impact|
Section 8: Embry, Max\ Eagle - history\ Waugh, Julie\ Nelson, Elmer\ Alaskan Fire Control Service\ Eagle - attributes\ lifestyle - rural\ bush living - economy\ Eagle - subsistence aspects\ river people - values\ river people - music\ dog teams - river people\ river people - beliefs about\ public lands - trespass\ river people - attrition\ river people - significance|
Section 9: Bureau of Land Management - Native hire\ ANCSA\ Lands Act\ ANCSA - impact on Native economy\ federal agencies - competition\ land management - conflict between agencies\ D-2 lands - competition for\ Fish and Wildlife Service - expansion\ National Park Service - expansion\ U.S. Forest Service - expansion|