Alaska Tourism By: C. Whittaker - PowerPoint Presentation

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Alaska Tourism

By:

C.

WhittakerSlide2

Denali National Park

In the northern part of the Alaska Range, Denali National Park is the one of the largest in the United States and encompasses North America's highest mountain. Denali is the 20,320-foot peak's traditional name, but modern explorers dubbed it Mount McKinley. The name is a strong point of local

contention. Names

aside, the six million acres of wide river valleys, tundra, high alpine ranges, and glacier-draped mountains are purely spectacular. A single road leads into the park, and only park-approved buses are permitted to travel beyond Savage River. Views of Denali can be enjoyed from the park road, weather permitting.Located midway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Denali is the home of grizzly bears, wolves, reindeer, elk, and other animals. More than 167 species of birds have been recorded in the park. Another favorite among the park's many things to do are the Sled Dog Kennels, which offer demonstrations and are home to dozens of energetic huskies.Admission: $10Address: Milepost 240, George Parks Hwy, Denali National ParkSlide3

Tracy Arm Fjord

A fjord edged with glaciers, Tracy Arm is located south of Juneau and is a popular destination for cruise ships and boat tours. Waterfalls tumble down the sharp rock walls and glaciers calve, creating small icebergs. The scenic setting lies within the bounds of the Tongass National Forest. At the head of the fjord sit the twin Sawyer Glaciers. Wildlife sightings are common on tours, whether it's a brown bear or moose on land, or the whales and seals that inhabit these waters.

Tracy Arm offers just a small slice of glacier viewing in Alaska. Other tourist favorites

include: Glacier Bay National Park - northwest of Juneau, and Prince William Sound - near Anchorage.Slide4

Kenai Fjords National Park

Protecting much of the fjord-riddled coastline of the Kenai Peninsula (south of Anchorage), this national park offers some of the best sightseeing in Alaska. Not only do panoramas take in the many glaciers of the Harding Icefield and an uninhabited coastline, but the national park is home to monstrously large brown bears that feed on the fat-rich salmon. Many tourist options converge in the surrounding areas, be it the end of Hwy 1 in Homer, or the terminus of the Alaska Railroad and access to the Exit Glacier, both in Seward.Slide5

Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway runs from Dawson Creek in British Columbia (Canada) through the Yukon Territory to Fairbanks, in the center of Alaska. It was built for military purposes in 1942, during WWII, in

record

time of only eight months. But since the end of the war, the route has been the most important means of access by land to the Yukon Territory and southern Alaska, and a favorite with recreational vehicle travelers. The highway passes through Whitehorse, Canada before crossing the international border into Alaska and ending in Fairbanks. Motels, shops, and gas stations lies at intervals of 30-50 miles.Slide6

University of Alaska Museum of the North

Located in Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Museum of the North offers well over one million historical artifacts and natural history pieces. The permanent collection includes ethnological items made and used by indigenous groups, a fine arts collection that focuses mainly on Alaskan art, archeological finds from prehistoric cultures, a bird collection, and paleontology specimens.

The building that houses the museum is also noteworthy. Designed by Joan

Soranno, the white structure features interesting lines and curves intended to resemble the Alaskan landscape.Hours: Open daily 9am-7pm (June-Aug), Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat and Sun 10am-5pm (Sept-May)Admission: Adults (15+) $12, Children (1-14) $7Address: 907 Yukon Drive, FairbanksSlide7

Inside Passage

The most popular way to visit the Inside Passage is to cruise through the fjords on large ships, charter boats, and private yachts, or to stop off the highway at Haines, Skagway, or Hyder. This section of southeast Alaska offers incredible scenery of glaciers, mountains, and ocean, and is home to an abundance of wildlife. The area is also inhabited by the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples.

Along the coastal passage, the Tongass National Forest covers 17 million acres and includes islands, mountains, glaciers, ice fields, fjords, and waterfalls. Included in the forest is Prince of Wales Island, one of the largest islands in the US. Major towns along the route

include: Skagway with its Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, the once-chief town of Russian America Sitka, and Ketchikan, where stoic totems are on display at both Totem Bight State Historic Park and the Totem Heritage Center.Slide8

Northern Lights

One of the up-sides to Alaska's long dark winters are the glowing Northern Lights that appear on many nights from September to mid-April. Some of the best aurora borealis viewing happens in the Fairbanks area. The peak time to watch for solar particles in the earth's magnetic field is after midnight. Joining an aurora tour can help keep sightseers warm in this frigid

season.Slide9

Alaska Native Heritage Center

Traditional dwellings of some of Alaska's native peoples surround a lake at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. Cultural guides demonstrate crafts and artworks and perform dances and songs. Though the sightseeing attraction is located out of downtown, there is a summer-season shuttle

from

modern Anchorage to the Museum at Rasmuson Center.Hours: Open daily, 9am-5pm (mid-May to early Sept)Admission: Adults $24.95, Children (ages 7-16) $16.95Address: 8800 Heritage Center Dr, AnchorageSlide10

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the largest and most magnificent of Alaska's sprawling national parks, with

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of the 16 highest peaks in the United States. This grandiose mountain region on the frontier with Canada contains numerous glaciers, lakes, and mountain streams and is home to a rich variety of wildlife. It is superb country for climbers, walkers, and water sports enthusiasts. The park's Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark gives insight into the one-time mill town with barely preserved heritage buildings and abandoned mines.Address: Mile 106.8 Old Richardson Hwy, Copper CenterSlide11

Facts about Alaska

Outsiders first discovered Alaska in 1741 when Danish explorer Vitus

Jonassen

Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.Russian whalers and fur traders on Kodiak Island established the first settlement in Alaska in 1784.In 1867 United States Secretary of State William H. Seward offered Russia $7,200,000, or two cents per acre, for Alaska.On October 18, 1867 Alaska officially became the property of the United States. Many Americans called the purchase "Seward's Folly."Joe Juneau's 1880 discovery of gold ushered in the gold rush era.In 1943 Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands, which started the One Thousand Mile War, the first battle fought on American soil since the Civil War.Alaska officially became the 49th state on January 3, 1959.Alaska's most important revenue source is the oil and natural gas industry.Alaska accounts for 25% of the oil produced in the United States.

The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times.Slide12

“ The Birdman of Alcatraz"

Born in Seattle, Washington Stroud ran away from his

abusive father at the age of 13. By the time he was 18, he lived in Alaska. In January 1909, he shot and killed a barman

for which he was sentenced to 12 years in the federal penitentiary on Puget Sound's McNeil Island. Stroud gained a reputation as an extremely dangerous inmate who frequently had confrontations with fellow inmates and staff, and in 1916 he killed a guard. Convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to hang, after several trials Stroud's sentence was eventually commuted to life imprisonment.Stroud began serving life in solitary confinement at Leavenworth, where in 1920, after discovering a nest with three injured sparrows in the prison yard, he began raising them, and within a few years had acquired a collection of some 300 canaries. He began extensive research into them after being granted equipment by a radical prison-reforming warden, publishing Diseases of Canaries in 1933, which was smuggled out of Leavenworth and sold en masse,[4][clarification needed] as well as a later edition (1943). He made important contributions to avian pathology, most notably a cure for the hemorrhagic septicemia family of diseases, gaining much respect and some level of sympathy among ornithologists and farmers. Stroud ran a successful business from inside prison, but his activities infuriated the prison staff, and he was eventually transferred to Alcatraz in 1942 after it was discovered that Stroud had been secretly making alcohol using some of the equipment in his cell.

Stroud began serving a 17-year term at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on 19 December 1942, and became inmate #594. In 1943, he was assessed by psychiatrist Romney M. Ritchey, who diagnosed him as a psychopath, but with an I.Q. of 134. Stripped of his birds and equipment, he wrote a history of the penal system.

In 1959, with his health failing, Stroud was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, where he stayed until his death on 21 November 1963, having been incarcerated for the last 54 years of his life, of which 42 were in solitary confinement. He had been studying French near the end of his life. Robert Stroud is buried in Metropolis, Illinois. Author Carl

Sifakis

considers Stroud to have been "possibly the best-known example of self-improvement and rehabilitation in the U.S. prison."Slide13

Flag of Alaska

The flag of Alaska consists of eight gold stars, forming the Big Dipper and the North Star, on a dark blue field. The Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation

Ursa

Major which symbolizes a bear, an animal indigenous to Alaska.