Most of Alaska isn’t part of Cascadia but the huge state still affects this region. Alaskans have a love-hate relationship with Seattle. That’s why it’s good to see a column in a Seattle paper celebrating the connection between the U.S. Northwest and the 49th state.

The columnist visits the Chamber-of-Commerce types in Anchorage with a delegation from Seattle and reaches some obvious, yet useful, conclusions:

For many people in Anchorage, Seattle is so familiar it blends into a single business card. Seattle’s strength and size influence Alaska every day. Without Alaska, the Puget Sound region would not be the megalopolis it has become.

Our history is intertwined and we remain connected by business and politics. We can agree on that and still vehemently oppose logging in Alaska’s national forests and oil drilling in the Arctic wildlife refuge.