THE LINK: JULY 2023 28 EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was produced in partnership with Alaska’s Energy Desk, a public media collaboration focused on energy and the environment, as part of a new podcast, Midnight Oil. The eight-episode podcast explores the trans-Alaska pipeline’s 40-year history, how the pipeline reshaped Alaska’s economy and asks if Alaska will always be an oil state. Tom Marshall died in Anchorage in 2020. By Elizabeth Harball/ Alaska Public Radio You could argue — and a lot of people do — that Prudhoe Bay’s billions of barrels of oil might still be hidden under the tundra today if it weren’t for Tom Marshall, who’s now 91 years old, and lives in a little brown house in Anchorage. Tom Marshall, a petroleum geologist, suggested that the state select Prudhoe Bay. It reminded him of big oil basins he’d seen in Wyoming. Marshall won’t bring it up himself, but for many Alaskans, he’s a hero. There’s an award tucked between the photos lining his living room wall. It’s for “professional discernment and courageous foresight.” Marshall earned this award for something he did in the early 1960s, when he worked for the brand-new state of Alaska. Then, the state depended on federal dollars and a few resource industries, like salmon fishing. Marshall remembers it as a tense time — with a tiny economy and population, it was a real question whether Alaska could support itself. “There was a great deal of anxiety of just how we were going to accomplish this,” said Marshall. But under the statehood act, Congress handed Alaska something like a scratch off lottery ticket. While the federal government still controlled much of Alaska’s 375 million acres, the state could select over 100 million acres to develop as it pleased. If Alaska picked land with valuable resources, it would have a winning ticket. “This land would put us in a position to pay our bills,” said Marshall. That’s when Marshall, a petroleum geologist, quietly became Alaska’s most important employee. He was tasked with picking the land. A ragged chunk of Arctic coast called Prudhoe Bay caught his eye. The geology reminded Marshall of big oil basins he’d seen in Wyoming. Marshall thought this could be the jackpot Alaska needed. But when he suggested selecting a remote chunk of tundra on the icy ocean, Alaska’s first governor, Bill Egan, wasn’t impressed. “Gov. Egan’s comment was, ‘doesn’t he know it’s frozen?’” said Marshall. Still, Marshall kept pressing Egan to select Prudhoe Bay. Some people thought Marshall was onto something. A handful of oil companies were intrigued with Alaska’s northernmost edge, a region known as the North Slope. This vast, remote area stretches from the Brooks Mountain Range north to the Arctic Ocean and includes Prudhoe Bay. The federal government had started leasing land on the North Slope in 1958, and a few gutsy companies were laying plans to drill there. Marshall’s Folly: One man’s vision set the future for Prudhoe Bay … and Alaska Snapshot Into Alaska’s Oil and Gas History CONTINUED on PAGE 30
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