[originaltext] Good afternoon. I want to thank Professor Jones for giving me

Good afternoon. I want to thank Professor Jones for giving me the opportunity to talk to you students today about Alaska. One of the things that concerns me most is the future of Alaska environment. About 20 yearn ago before going on a wilderness research expedition, I visited Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. It was then a small city of 40,000 inhabitants, surrounded by a quiet wilderness. When I made a recent trip to update my early work, I found amazing changes. Anchorage now has 180,000 people, more than four times as many as in 1960. Those skyscrapers, shopping centres and all the accompanying crowds and traffic jams. The forests and mountains are still nearby, but they seem diminished by the city’s great size. The discovery of oil in 1968 on the north slope of Alaska caused many of these changes. The construction of the oil pipeline brought increased wealth to the state. However, them have been too many people moving to Alaska in a short period to work on the pipeline. There was not enough housing and transportation. I think Alaska must make important decisions soon. Alaska needs to decide how to develop their natural resources and mineral wealth without destroying the wilderness and harming the wild life. What is decided on now will affect generations to come.