Eric Keto, Alaska’s Energy Desk

The trans-Alaska pipeline was the largest privately-funded construction project in the world, built across the biggest U.S. state and faced with unprecedented natural obstacles.

National environmental groups fought hard to stop the pipeline. Ultimately they failed.

National environmental groups fought hard to stop the pipeline. Ultimately they failed.

Every day of the year, no matter the conditions, commercial truck drivers make the trip from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay.

When Alaska became a state, the federal government agreed to hand over more than 100 million acres. There was just one problem. Alaska Native people already claimed that land.

The Trans Alaska Pipeline would cut through land where Alaska Native people had lived for millennia. And they were formally claiming that land as their own.