Hidden Alaska: Bristol Bay and Beyond
FromHidden AlaskaClick on the images below to open larger versions.Clouds scrape by the snow-covered Iliamna Volcano, which last erupted before Europeans settled in the area. (p. 98)The wilderness of Chikuminuk Lake and Wood-Tikchik State Parkdisplays an untouched nature that has mostly vanished from the lower 48 states. (p. 100)Corporate interests have proposed a massive mining operationto unearth the rich deposits of gold, copper, and molybdenum under the land in this region. (p. 150)"We love our fish,"says Ina Bouker, a Yupik and teacher from Dillingham who opposes the mine. "The salmon always run. But if their habitat is destroyed, they will not come back." (p. 144)The eerily majestic northern lights, or aurora borealis, blaze above Twelvemile Summit on the Steese Highway. (p. 76)Commercial fishermen pull in a drift gill netat dusk on Bristol Bay. In an average year more than 40 million salmon travel through the bay to their spawning grounds. (p. 122)Although brown bears are normally solitary creatures, they congregate at places like Brooks Falls in the summer to catch and eat spawning salmon. (p. 127)A male salmon rests on his long voyageback to the waters of his birth. These migrating salmon die shortly after breeding. (p. 129)