Southeast Alaska
Lingít "People of the Tides" | |
---|---|
People | Tlingit |
Language | Lingít |
Country | Tlingit Aaní |
57°34′48″N 135°29′14″W / 57.58000°N 135.48722°W
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Southeast_Alaska_Map.png/280px-Southeast_Alaska_Map.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Alexander_archipelago.jpg/280px-Alexander_archipelago.jpg)
Southeast Alaska, often abbreviated to southeast or southeastern,
The largest cities in the region are
Geography
Southeast Alaska has a land area of 35,138 square miles (91,010 km2),
The archipelago is the northern terminus of the
Demographics
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Downtown_Juneau_and_Douglas_Island.jpg/250px-Downtown_Juneau_and_Douglas_Island.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Downtown_Ketchikan_-_panoramio_%281%29.jpg/250px-Downtown_Ketchikan_-_panoramio_%281%29.jpg)
Southeast Alaska includes seven entire
The
Boroughs
- Haines Borough
- Hoonah-Angoon Census Area
- Juneau Borough
- Ketchikan Gateway Borough
- Petersburg Borough
- Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area
- Sitka Borough
- Skagway Borough
- Wrangell Borough
- Yakutat Borough (the part east of 141° Wlongitude; 12,506.53 km2 (4,828.80 sq mi), or about 63.12 percent of the borough)
Major cities and towns
Populations are taken from the
- Juneau - 32,255 inhabitants
- Sitka - 8,458 inhabitants
- Ketchikan - 8,192 inhabitants
- Petersburg - 3,043 inhabitants
- Wrangell - 2,127 inhabitants
- Haines - 1,657 inhabitants
- Metlakatla - 1,454 inhabitants
- Skagway - 1,240 inhabitants
- Craig - 1,036 inhabitants
National protected areas
Southeast Alaska includes the
- Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
- Sitka National Historical Park
- Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve (part, the most southeastern section only)
- Admiralty Island National Monument
- Misty Fjords National Monument
Climate
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Southeast_Alaska_K%C3%B6ppen.png/250px-Southeast_Alaska_K%C3%B6ppen.png)
The climate of southeast Alaska is dominated by a mid-latitude
Ecology
Southeast Alaska is a
Wildlife includes brown bears, black bears, endemic Alexander Archipelago wolf packs, Sitka black-tailed deer, humpback whales, orcas, five species of salmon, bald eagles, harlequin ducks, scoters, and marbled murrelets.
The Ecological Atlas of Southeast Alaska, published by Audubon Alaska in 2016, offers an overview of the region's landscape, birds, wildlife, human uses, climate change, and more, synthesizing data from agencies and a variety of other sources.
Culture
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Raventotemsitka.jpg/250px-Raventotemsitka.jpg)
This area is the traditional homeland of the
Industry
Major industries in southeast Alaska include commercial fishing and tourism (primarily the cruise ship industry).
Logging
Logging has been an important industry in the past, but has been steadily declining with competition from other areas and the closure of the region's major pulp mills; the Alaska Forest Association described the situation as "desperate" in 2011.[4] Its members include Alcan Forest Products (owned by Canadian Transpac Group, one of the top 5 log exporters in North America[5]) and Viking Lumber, which is based in Craig, Alaska.[6] Debates over whether to expand logging in the federally owned Tongass are not uncommon.[7][8]
Mining
Mining remains important in the northern area with the Juneau mining district and Admiralty mining district hosting active mines as of 2015. Gold was discovered in 1880 and played an important part in the early history of the region.[9]
In the 2010s, mines increasingly began to be explored and eventually completed in neighboring British Columbia, upstream of important rivers such as the Unuk and the Stikine, which became known as the transboundary mining issue. In 2014, the dam breach at the Mount Polley mine focused attention on the issue, and an agreement between Canada and Alaska was drafted in 2015.[10]
The proposed Kerr Sulphurets Mitchell exploration is upstream of the Unuk. Mines upstream of the Stikine include the Red Chris, which is owned by the same company (Imperial Metals) as the Mount Polley mine.[11]
Healthcare
Major hospitals include Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau and PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center in Ketchikan. Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium,runs healthcare facilities across 27 communities as of 2022, including hospitals in Sitka and Wrangell;[12] although it originally served Native Americans only, it has expanded access and combined with other local facilities over time.[13][14]
Shipbuilding
Due to the fishing and ferries in the region, ship building and maintenance are economically significant.
Ketchikan hosts a shipbuilding yard owned by Vigor Industrial.[15]
Tourism
Tourists visit southeast Alaska primarily in the summer, and most visit via cruise ships, which run from April 15 to October 30.[16] In 2019, around 1.3 million people visited Alaska by cruise ship.[17]
The northbound Inside Passage cruise commonly starts from either Seattle or Vancouver, Canada and stops in various ports including Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway.[18] One-way trips will end in Whittier or Seward.[18]
An alternative Gulf of Alaska cruise starts in Whittier (Anchorage) and also passes through southeast Alaska's Inside Passage.[19]
The cruise ship industry became prominent in the 1960s after cruise ship entrepreneur Stanley B. McDonald repurposed a transport ship named Princess Pat, founding Princess Cruises to do leisure cruises which expanded into southeast Alaska by 1969.[20] The TV series The Love Boat was set on a Princess cruise and featured episodes in Alaska;[21] it also helped to popularize cruising generally which helped it grow rapidly between 1977 and 1987.[20]
Prior to Princess cruises, Chuck West created a tourism agency in 1947 under the name Arctic Alaska Tours which was renamed Westours, which originally arranged trips for travelers on steamships.[22][21]
History
The border between Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia was the subject of the Alaska boundary dispute, where the United States and the United Kingdom claimed different borderlines at the Alaskan panhandle. While the British foreign affairs were in favor of support of the Canadian argument, the event resulted in what was thought of as a betrayal, leading to alienation of the British from the new nation of Canada.[citation needed]
Transportation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Alaska_Panhandle.png/250px-Alaska_Panhandle.png)
Due to the extremely rugged, mountainous nature of Southeastern Alaska, almost all communities (with the exception of
Air transportation
Marine transportation
Southeast Alaska is primarily served by the state-run
See also
- Alexander Archipelago
- Alexander Archipelago wolf
- Climate change in Alaska
- List of edible plants and mushrooms of Southeast Alaska
References
- ISBN 9780938737230.
- ^ "Land Area". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
- ^ Bureau, U. S. Census. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
- ^ "AK Forest Association: SE timber situation 'desperate'". The Alaska Journal of Commerce. November 3, 2011. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
- ^ "Our History - Trans-Pacific Energy Group". Trans-Pacific Energy Group. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
- ^ "Viking Lumber Company, Inc". TPM. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
- ^ SitNews. "SitNews: Murkowski Questions Forest Service Spending, Timber Sales;". www.sitnews.us. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
- ^ Wines, Michael (September 27, 2014). "In Alaska, a Battle to Keep Trees, or an Industry, Standing - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
- ^ Sisk, John. "The Southeastern Alaska Timber Industry: Historical Overview and Current Status" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 6, 2016.
- ^ Schoenfeld, Ed; Juneau, CoastAlaska- (November 19, 2015). "Alaska drafts transboundary mine agreement with BC". Alaska Public Media. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
- ^ "B.C. government approves permits for controversial Red Chris Mine". www.cbc.ca. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
- ^ "SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium" (PDF).
- ^ Stremple, Claire (November 3, 2021). "ICYMI: Southeast Alaska's tribal health provider has expanded its service in Juneau". KTOO. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- ^ KCAW, Robert Woolsey (June 2, 2017). "SEARHC takes on questions of ethnicity, access, and workplace values". KCAW. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- ^ Sentinel, Wrangell. "Ketchikan shipyard operator sold to international private equity firm". Wrangell Sentinel. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Cruise Season Underway in Seattle". www.portseattle.org. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "History of the Alaska cruise industry | CLIA Alaska". akcruise.org. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ a b "Which Departure Port?". ALASKA.ORG. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "Which Alaska Cruise Itinerary is Best? Find out now". Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ a b "SitNews: The 'King of Cruising' and the Princess Patricia By DAVE KIFFER". www.sitnews.us. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ a b "50 Years of Cruising in Alaska: The Game Changers". www.cruisecritic.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "HAL's roots date back to Westours | CLIA Alaska". akcruise.org. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
External links
- The regional economy of southeast Alaska: final report, 2007 / prepared for Alaska Conservation Foundation; prepared by Steve Colt, Darcy Dugan, Ginny Fay (EcoSystems). Hosted by Alaska State Publications Program.
- Southeast Alaska energy export study: final report, 2006 / prepared for The Southeast Conference; by D. Hittle & Associates, Inc., in association with Commonwealth Associates, Inc. Hosted by the Alaska State Publications Program.
- Swan - Tyee intertie economic analysis, 2006 / prepared for the Four Dam Pool Power Agency; prepared by Commonwealth Associates, Inc. Hosted by Alaska State Publications Program.
- The Economic Impacts of the Alaska Marine Highway System, January 2016 / Prepared for Alaska Marine Highway System; Prepared by McDowell Group