That Daylight Savings Time might be terminated in Alaska is devastating news. Haines is east of Anchorage by about 16 degrees, and the sun time is an hour ahead: for Ketchikan it is about 1.5 hours ahead. Alaska Time would be two hours between us and Whitehorse and Seattle (and five hours with the East Coast). The border crossing would be closed at 10 p.m. (unless prior arrangement can be made between the U.S. and Canada), and the Kluane-Chilkat International Bike Relay and other races would be made more difficult because there is a time lag between us and the Yukon Territory. We will lose the evening hours during the shoulder season, so forget barbecues on the beach.
In pre-Gov. Sheffield days, Southeast Alaska was on Pacific Standard Time. If we eliminate Alaska Daylight Savings Time now we will lose those two hours of evening sunlight, and our close ties with the territories surrounding us. Perhaps we could go back to Pacific time in the summer by not turning clocks back in the fall. It would relieve the constant pressure of Anchorage and the Railbelt eliminating Daylight Savings Time for “health reasons.” I, for one, look forward to summertime because of the daylight and the evening hiking.
Margaret H. Piggott