Juneau, Alaska has continued as the capital. In the 1970s, voters passed a plan to move the capital to Willow, a town north of Anchorage. But pro-Juneau people there and in Fairbanks persuaded voters also to approve a measure (the FRANK Initiative) requiring voter approval of all bondable construction costs before building could begin. Alaskans later voted against spending the estimated $900 million. A 1984 "ultimate" capital-move vote also failed, as did a 1996 vote. Juneau remains the capital. Once Alaska was granted statehood in 1959, Juneau's population increased along with the growth of state government. After construction of the Alaska Pipeline
Juneau, Alaska state legislature and the offices of the governor and lieutenant governor. Some other executive branch offices have moved elsewhere in the state. Recent discussion has been focused between relocating the seat of state government outside Juneau and building a new capitol building in Juneau; neither position has led efforts to keep the capital in Juneau. Long before European settlement in the Americas, the Gastineau Channel was a favorite fishing ground for the Auke ("A'akw Kwáan") and Taku tribes, who had inhabited the surrounding area for thousands of years. The "A'akw Kwáan" had a village and burying ground here. In the