Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Alaska/Yukon....and increasing human activity

Just wondering,

For those of you that have lived in these places for awhile, have you seen any major impacts on the wilderness there over the years in terms of development and human encroachment? Do you think humans will manage to mess these last true wilderness areas as well? Or, do you think it's remote and cold enough to deter major destruction?

A while back there were over 3000 people in the same stretch that now holds about 75. So if anything I think it is more wilderness now.

I've only had a 20+ year perspective on Alaska.

The only significant development I've seen in Alaska has been in the existing major population centers, and that is barely a percentage of the land mass of Alaska. In a large portion of the state you can wander off and have the same seclusion as 100 or 1000 years ago.

Not saying man can't screw things up on a large scale, but I don't fear for my kids and their kids being able to enjoy the wilds and beauty of Alaska.

I do see the glut of free loaders putting a strain on our economy, but that's for another rant.

The Sterling Hwy relocate is going to be a major cluster and impact.

DOT planning to put it right by Juneau falls.

NIMBY!

What do you attribute that to?

He's likely referring to a loss of whaling stations and fishing. Southeast was a busier place 100 years ago in many respects. These days you'd hardly know people were here in large numbers minus some old cannery pilings here and there. The rain forest just eats up signs of man. Look at a pic of Killisnoo from 100 years ago versus one now and you'll see what I mean.

For sure, but that's only part of it.

We are being overrun by liberals but hopefully the skeeters and [bleep] weather will run them off. lol

Why not invite a bunch of them bear hunting and make sure you wear your fastest sneakers?

There are lots of abandoned mining, fishing, fish processing, logging, and more sites all over AK.

Some of the cooler ones i have been to are Port Hobron, Lynx Creek, Pigot Bay, and there are a huge bunch more. This place was settled by a bunch of really tough SOBs!!!

Forgot AK's first oilfield at Katalla on the northern Gulf of AK. Would like to go back and spend some time looking around there.

...And it's about GD time.

That would be a cool sight to explore. Given how remote it is, likely mostly untouched.

Lots of wire-wrapped wood casing/pipe still lying around... saw no buildings standing, but it is right on the water.

Agreed, Chris. I certainly do not have an issue with improved roads and better safety. That's the #1 crash area in the winter down here.

And, it IS about time - been nearly 40 years of talk. It's just the route I don't like. They are all expensive (~$300 million), but the Juneau Falls route is by far the most invasive.

Yep. Lots of old junk around in the woods everywhere. We have some of that old wire wrapped wooden pipe laying around, I will see if I can get a picture of it tomorrow. I have found old dams build out of boards and logs in the middle of nowhere. People were a lot craftier and tougher back in the day.

around population centers as noted, more buildings going up even in the outlying areas. hasn't seemed to effect moose populations very much still see them and even right in downtown area.

but as Paul noted, lots of wide open spaces here, it's hard to envision it becoming crowded outside of pop centers.

spose it could happen but I'll be dead and gone before it does, that's worth something.

Here`s a better thought for Liberals take them snipe hunting with bags only by the river in a well known brown bear fishing area when salmon are running !

Alaska's population like the US and the world, has trebled in my lifetime. Of course
this will have some impact on wilderness but it's not just people numbers that impact
wilderness as mush as the advancement in ORVs, boats and aircraft.

I'm not as disturbed by numbers of people as I am by the lack of respect for the
wildlife and Mother Nature in general.

Just got back from driving the Denali Highway this weekend, it's been ~15 years since the last time we drove it. Observations

Still 135 miles of gravel road
No cell service the entire length (nice to know there are spots you can still get away from it all)
You can drive for an hour and see a handful of vehicles, and note this is the peak of tourist season though not hunting season.
Nice to have a place where you can pull off the side of the road and just set up camp, wherever you want along the road.











I can't imagine driving to Denali National Park from Anchorage before the Parks highway was opened!

Paul-
Did you see a string of horse trailers?

As a matter of fact I did, they were parked on the S side of the road, but my mind is sufficiently jumbled after all that gravel road to recall it what mile marker. I want to say somewhere about midway across First I saw the horse [bleep] in the middle of the road and mentioned to the boy it was odd to see horse crap up here. Then we spied the horse trailers.

The boy and I need Uncle Art to give us a tutorial on how to catch fish with fly rods as the fishing was great, but we got skunked on catching.

The surprising thing is we didn't see a single big game animal or predator. Quit a few snowshoe hares.

Funny thing... I bet I could take you to each of those photos sites blind-folded.

Grayling fishing should have been dynamite at about every creek and lake. The first photo is good spot to dredge a bigger minnow pattern for lake trout. I have actually caught many there and I believe Riley caught his first just about exactly there.

Good to hear the hares are back! We did not see any on the Richardson a couple weeks ago.

Musta been a big cartridge in that revolver! Spun his hat around and left him so goofy he never could get it straight again!

There was a guy that was slaying them on the creek that feeds into Tangle lake, but everyone else was getting skunked. John did say he wants to get better at flyfishing so if you have some time to learn a youngun it would be appreciated.

One of the hares almost committed suicide crossing in front of us.

He was goofy before firing a shot

Coulda stopped and asked my wife and the crew she was riding with for a cup of coffee!

That was a done deal before they put it out for "public input". Wife and I knew it then.

Packed on my first goat hunt on the south end of the Ragged Mountains at Katalla. Beautiful country from tidewater to alpine....

Yukons population has been stuck at 30k or just over for decades now, depending on how many mines are in operation at the time the census is taken. I read the other day that AK is now about 1 person per sq mile so it has grown a lot in recent years. More ppl is always bad imo.

This is why I visit THE Yukon frequently!

I've found our neighbors in the Yukon and NWT to be wonderful people.

Do they still have fishing license fee reciprocity?

Yes!.......$15 CAN....annual license.

Seems like a steal but far more Yukoners utilize reciprocity to fish Haines
for salmon and halibut.

Not sure what we'd have to do to hunt their Woods Bison.....maybe a guide is required.

Time for a Ted talk...

Friends have seen some Woods Bison in same altitudes as Dall's Sheep.
How'd ya like to pack one of those off the mountain?

Made the mistake of shooting a bull moose in the same sort of situation ONCE... only a bit dumber than a bison... and about 5 miles...

Vern, yes a guide is required for non residents to hunt wood bison. I think only one or two outfitters have them in their area. Tim Mervyn is one. Yes they do like it up high! I've killed 4 now, and all of them have been taken up high. Next time you're down ask Al for a steak, I keep him supplied!