Significance of the Collection: The Federal Power Withdrawal Site collection is a unique set of original documents regarding U.S. federal land withdrawals and reservations in Alaska covering the periods before statehood and during statehood. These records, owned by the Alaska State Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), document and substantiate important BLM statewide efforts, and represent an enormous body of work regarding the location, abundance, condition, and trend of aquatic and land resources. They may serve as back-up for future crucial BLM decisions regarding land withdrawals. This natural resource information and research also has value in illustrating real-time monitoring and assessment, designations, and decisions, especially in regard to federal power projects in Alaska, and preserves field work that cannot be duplicated. Additional information can be read in the Federal Power Act and Withdrawals presentation authored by Victor W. Lozano (originally posted at this BLM website).
Dates: Maps were produced between 1906 and 1985. Most cards were prepared between 1978 to 1985; however, a large number of the cards lack a preparation date).
Physical description of original materials: 820 maps (chiefly color ; 99 x 160 cm. or smaller) and 1028 index cards (both sides ; 13 x 21 cm.)
Summary of the Physical Collection: The Federal Power Withdrawal Site materials comprise some 819 maps and 1028 cards. The maps are topographic maps issued by the U.S. Geological Survey with handwritten annotations. The cards, handwritten or typed on front and recto sides, describe a particular map. Because of annotations, all these maps and records are unique and irreplaceable, and comprise an essential component of BLM’s statewide mandate in Alaska.
History of Repository: These unpublished materials have been stored for some time in BLM’s Anchorage Field Office warehouse. The handwritten cards had been fading. In order to preserve the historical record of natural resources for future use, the BLM Alaska State Office proposed in 2021 that Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) undertake a digitization project and act as permanent repository. Digitization took place in 2023. The original maps and cards are now permanently housed in ARLIS, but will not be available physically until archival storage arrangements are in place. Nevertheless, the electronic versions of the collection are available through the links below.