Walter Bruce "Walt" Parker (August 11, 1926 – June 25, 2014) was an American civil servant, policy adviser, transportation adviser, academic and local politician. Parker's career focused on the development of natural resources, transportation and infrastructure in Alaska from the 1940s to the 2000s. In 1989, Alaska Governor Steve Cowper appointed Parker as the chairman of the Alaska Oil Spill Commission, which investigated the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He is credited with making important contributions to the fields of transportation, telecommunications, education, land use and urban planning within the state of Alaska. Parker was inducted into the Alaska Conservation Hall of Fame by the Alaska Conservation Foundation in 2002 for his contributions to state conservation.
Early and personal life
Walter Bruce Parker was born on August 11, 1926, in Spokane, Washington. His grandfather, who first arrived in the District of Alaska in the 1890s during the Nome Gold Rush, had helped to form to city of Nome, Alaska.
He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Parker married his wife, the former Patricia Isabelle Ertman, on January 28, 1946. A biologist with bachelor's and master's degrees from Alaska Methodist University, Patricia Parker became an adjunct professor at Alaska Methodist University and a biology teacher in the Anchorage School District. The couple had five children during their fifty-five year marriage: Sandra, Patrick, Jeffery, Douglas, and Lisa Parker.
In 1964, he received bachelor's degree in history and anthropology from the University of Alaska. Parker also studied at the University of Washington, completed a certificate in administrative management at Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and took graduate courses at the Sino-Soviet Institute at George Washington University. The University of Alaska awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Science in 1997.
Parker bred sled dogs for more than sixty years. His dogs were a mix of husky, Alaskan Malamute, and Samoyed breeds.
Career
Following the end of World War II, Parker was given the option of working for the federal government in either Alaska or China. He decided to transfer to a federal position in Alaska. In 1946, Parker and his wife moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, to take a position with the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). He also worked for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and enrolled in college courses while living in Fairbanks. The CAA transferred Parker and his family to a weather station located at Lake Minchumina in 1948. He and his wife operated Lake Michumina's weather station and post office. The family relocated to Anchorage in the late 1950s, building a four-acre estate in East Anchorage.
He continued to work for the U.S. federal government in Alaska from 1946 until 1971. His work included positions in the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Field Committee for Development Planning in Alaska. During his tenure with the federal government, Parker established air support services to Prudhoe Bay in preparation for the construction of the Dalton Highway and developed air transportation routes throughout Alaska. He also coordinated federal policy to comply with the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. He left the U.S. civil service in 1971.
Parker was elected to the Greater Anchorage Area Borough Assembly in 1971. He served on the Assembly from 1971 until 1974.
He also joined the faculty of the University of Alaska in 1971, where he taught urban planning, political science and regional planning until 1980. He also worked in the fields of transportation and international fisheries while at the University of Alaska.
He and his wife, Patricia, founded Parker Associates during the 1970s, a transportation and telecommunications consulting firm which included NASA's satellite program among its clients.
Parker represented Alaska as an official delegate to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1973. In 1974, Alaska Governor William A. Egan appointed Parker to as an environmental consultant to the Alaska State Pipeline Office, where he served as the director of the pipeline's technical staff. He also supervised the construction of the Dalton Highway while working at the pipeline office.