I was in Alaska last week with several hundred clever and patriotic National Review readers. It’s a wonderful place, Alaska. We saw whales and bears and bald eagles and sea otters; and I couldn’t help noticing that, despite the mandatory pessimism of the environmental movement, all these species are becoming more numerous.

Who’d have thought it? Alaska is the state with the lowest rate of personal taxation in the Union, a Republican redoubt, and a place synonymous with Big Oil. Yet it turns out to be a remarkably good steward of rare animals.