Ted Stevens Outlines the Alaska Statehood Act and Federal Land, Defense, and Resource Issues (1958)

Date: July 4, 1958

Created By: Ted Stevens

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Presidency, Alaska & Hawaii Statehood

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 630, OF-147-D Alaska (4); NAID #12012403

This July 4, 1958 memorandum from Ted Stevens of the Department of the Interior to presidential assistant Sherman Adams summarizes key provisions of the recently passed Alaska Statehood Act and examines issues surrounding federal lands in Alaska. Stevens explains the process required before Alaska could formally enter the Union, including elections for state officials, voter approval of several propositions, and a final presidential proclamation. The Act also granted Alaska the right to select approximately 28 percent of federal public lands within the territory while preserving certain federal responsibilities.

Much of the memorandum focuses on an enormous area of northern and western Alaska where the president could establish special national defense withdrawals. Stevens describes existing federal reservations, military installations, Native claims, wildlife lands, and proposed withdrawals by the Atomic Energy Commission. He also emphasizes the region’s valuable natural resources, including significant deposits of natural gas, oil, and minerals. The memorandum notes that approximately 24,000 people lived in the affected area, including about 14,000 Alaska Natives and 5,000 military personnel or dependents. The document demonstrates the complicated questions involving national defense, natural resources, federal authority, Native lands, and public lands that accompanied Alaska’s transition from territory to state.