40 Years at Prudhoe Bay: Alaskans remember Prudhoe Bay — Vic Fischer

Nancy Pounds

An economic analysis in 1970 or 1971 — before construction of the pipeline — showed the possible financial strength of the work. Three economists from UAA’s ISER compiled the report, and their predictions were fulfilled and even eclipsed.

It was a first look at the “phenomenal amounts of money the state was about to get because of the pipeline,” remembered Vic Fischer, one of the report authors. He served in the territorial Legislature from 1957 to 1959 and was elected to the State Senate in 1980 and 1982.

The discovery at Prudhoe Bay was “a great day” for Alaska, he said in a recent interview

“The Prudhoe Bay discovery was very exciting event for everyone in Alaska,” Fischer said. “It proved we would have a new resource coming on line that would provide significant economic progress for the state.”

The most important aspect was the scale of development that occurred on the North Slope because of Prudhoe Bay. The pipeline report projected the future revenue stream the state would receive, but could not factor in the way oil prices soared in subsequent years, Fischer said.

Fischer had compiled a report in 1959, the year of statehood, concluding that state government services would exceed state income at then-current levels. “We became a state among great euphoria of great things going to happen,” he said.

The 1964 Good Friday earthquake in Anchorage brought a temporary surge of federal dollars, but state government budgets were strained.

As Prudhoe Bay was developed, Anchorage’s population grew, and political and demographical aspects changed, he said.

What would Alaska be like without oil today? The state would have a much smaller economy with fewer people, Fischer said.

“It would be a different Alaska,” he said.

There would be no Permanent Fund dividend, which plays a role in the economy and helps lower-income Alaskans, he said. Also, the dividend helps Alaskans psychologically — people get to share in the state’s oil wealth, he said.

Editor’s Note: Victor Fischer has studied and taken part in Alaska government and politics for over 50 years. Educated at the University of Wisconsin, MIT and Harvard University, Fischer was a territorial legislator, a delegate to Alaska’s constitutional convention, and later a state senator. A former director of the University of Alaska Institute for Social and Economic Research, he is currently engaged in state policy, local government, and Alaska-Russia issues.