Blog #5-Alaska home bound

I love to travel always have, when I was younger I always told my mom that I wanted to move down South I love hot weather.  First it was Florida, then it was Texas for a long time.  In a turn of events I ended up going the totally opposite way and moved out west to Wyoming.  After spending three years there I came back home to finish off my degree in Michigan, but I know once thats done i'll be once again back on the road looking for my next destionation to move to.  I've now turned my sights to the wonderous lands of Alaska, lot of people think Alaskas beautiful and a great place to visit for the hunting or to sight seeing but wouldn't really want to live there.  Me on the other hand, I love the thrill of adventure, and the since of doing something that most people don't want to. 

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area over twice the size of Texas the next largest state.  It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Artic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Straits. Approximately half of Alaska's 698,473 residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of 2009, Alaska remains the least densely populated state of the U.S. Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined.  approximately 65% of Alaska is owned and managed by the U.S federal government  as public lands, including a multitude of nation forests, national parks, and nation wildlife refuges. Of these, the Bureau of Land Management  manages 87 million acres (350,000 km²), or 23.8% of the state.

The Artic National Wildlife Refuge  is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife. It is the world's largest wildlife refuge, comprising 16 million acres   The climate of the interior of Alaska is subarctic. Some of the highest and lowest temperatures in Alaska occur around the area near Fairbanks.

The summers may have temperatures reaching into the 90s°F while in the winter, the temperature can fall below −60 °F, The lowest official Alaska temperature is −80 °. Snow is sparse in the Interior of Alaska, often less than 10 inches but what snow falls in the winter tends to stay the entire winter.

 

I find Alaskas history very intreguing begining in 1867 with the United States Secretary of State negotiated the Alaska Purchase with Russian.  It wasn't until 1890 that Alaska shined during the gold rush it brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was granted official territorial status in 1912. At this time the capital was moved to Juneau. The 1968 discovery of oil led to an oil boom and in 1977 completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. 

In addition, American Indians and Alaskan Natives or Esquimos are the largest minority group.  This makes for a great vibrant Native culture that is promoted and upheld by the locals.  The oil and gas industry dominates the Alaskan economy, with more than 80% of the state's revenues derived from petroleum extraction. Alaska's main export product besides oil and natural gas is seafood, primarily salmon, cod, Pollock and crab

 

My favorite part of Alaska is the unique hunting and fishing opportunities its provides.  Alaska offers some of the most spectacular fly-fishing, saltwater fishing, freshwater fishing and even ice fishing in the world.  Varity of grizzly bear and black bear, moose, caribou, sheep, wolf, deer, and elk brings in a good part of revenue for Alaska for hunting.  As for me going into the health field I think it would be amazing to work there because with such extreme conditions, and the vast amount of wildlife the types of problems you would come across in a hospital setting would be nothing similar to what would occur anywhere else.  It would make my job unique and it would never get old because it would have that "today is never going to be the same as tomorrow" feeling.     

 If you have more questions about Alaska or just want to see some great pictures and what it has to offer visit the states web site

Travel Alaska