Southeast Alaska: the Ultimate Travel Destination
Southeast Alaska - The Ultimate Travel Destination
"Nowhere else on earth is there such an abundance and magnificence of mountain,
fjord, and glacier scenery... the Alaska coast is to become the show-place of the
earth, and pilgrims, not only from the United States, but from far beyond the seas,
will throng in endless procession to see it. Its grandeur is more valuable than the
gold or the fish or the timber, for it will never be exhausted."
-- Henry Gannett, Chief Geographer, Alaska-Harriman Expedition, 1899
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A visit to the Alaska Rainforest fulfills a lifetime dream for many travelers.
The coastal forest offers a combination of spectacular scenery, wilderness, and
unrivaled fishing and hunting.
Alaska is home to the world's largest remaining tracts of coastal temperate
rainforest, an ecosystem even rarer than the tropical rainforest. Stands of
ancient spruce, hemlock and cedar provide critical habitat for grizzly bears,
bald eagles, mountain goats, wolves and deer. Forest streams are the lifeblood
for millions of salmon and home to trophy trout and steelhead.
Offshore, the region's rich marine life includes whales, sea lions, sea otters
and seals complemented by a variety of seabirds, shorebirds and waterfowl. The
ancient, mist-shrouded forest is set in stark contrast to dramatic, glaciated peaks
rising up to 18,000 feet from the coast.
The growing attraction of Alaska's rainforest is reflected in the increasing number
of visitors who journey to explore it. Visitor options range from luxury cruises to
remote wilderness challenges. Tourism is far and away the fastest growing industry
in local communities. Spending by tourists in Southeast Alaska has more than doubled
since 1989 and averaged an annual growth rate of over 20 percent. But industrial,
clearcut logging threatens both the unique attractions of this coastal forest and
its tourism economy. Unless significant changes are made to reduce current logging
plans, the awesome experience of the Alaska rainforest will soon be relegated to the
past.
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Alaska Rainforest Fishing
The Alaska rainforest is an angler's dream come true. Forest streams offer the
chance to challenge heart-stopping runs of giant king salmon, rainbow trout the
length of your arm, and fighting steelhead. Fifty-pound king salmon are not uncommon,
though the record was a 126-pounder caught near Petersburg in the early 1900s. Off
the scenic coast, halibut are popular sport fish as well. Fishermen are served by a
variety of lodges and charter services which provide experiences unavailable
elsewhere in the world.
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Alaska Rainforest Hunting
Alaska still offers a rich variety of big game for hunters to pursue. Grizzly and
black bears browse on forest understory shrubs and gorge on summer salmon runs.
Rainforest grizzlies regularly reach over 1,400 pounds. Mountain goats guard the
forest's rocky peaks, taking cover in the high forest edge during the long winter.
The Alaska rainforest supports the world's densest concentrations of both grizzly
bears and mountain goats. Sitka black-tailed deer also rely on both the cover and
food found under ancient trees to survive heavy winter snows. These medium sized
deer are the mainstay for local hunters and also serve as a food source for
predators such as bears and wolves. With an abundance of game and adequate habitat
to support populations, Alaska is one of the last places where hunters can
experience the bounties of the frontier.
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Alaska Fish and Wildlife May Fall to Politics
Alaska's rare visitor opportunities may
be lost faster than most people realize. A recent study by state and
federal biologists concluded that the loss of forest habitat and
intrusion of logging roads under current logging plans would soon
eradicate Alaska brown bears, mountain goats, Alexander Archipelago
wolves and five other species from large regions of Southeast Alaska.
The biologists recommended that larger tracts of ancient forest,
designated as Habitat Conservation Areas (HCAs), be left intact to
prevent extinction of these species.
Some of the areas recommended for protection overlap with areas scheduled for
logging. Extreme political pressure has been exerted to squelch the biologist's
recommendations. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has made several attempts in Congress
to overrule the scientists' findings and has pledged to continue to do so until he
succeeds.
Salmon stocks may also be at risk. Salmon depend on old growth forests to maintain
the stream structure, water temperature and nutrients important to their survival.
In the Pacific Northwest, the federal government has mandated a 300-foot no-logging
buffer along streams to prevent further degradation of drastically declining stocks,
but in a favor to logging interests, Senator Stevens exempted Alaska from this
protective policy.
Instead, Congress requested a study to examine the health of salmon habitat in
Alaska's rainforest. The study released in April 1995, found that current logging
practices will lead to declines or loss of salmon stocks. Recently, the Forest
Service's leading fisheries biologist for the Tongass has reported declining water
quality associated with logging in an increasing number of watersheds and
characterized 12 percent of Tongass watersheds as showing stress comparable to that
found in the Pacific Northwest 20 years ago.
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Growing Tourism Industry Threatened by Clearcuts
The expanding patchwork of clearcuts in the Tongass National Forest has already
begun to threaten the economic viability of many tourism-dependent businesses.
Seventy-one percent of tourist operators in a state survey indicated that they
would avoid clearcuts or log storage areas and, in a visitors survey, tourists
regularly complained about clearcuts.
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Last modified
2005-03-01 21:05
