Fish, Flowers, and Ice

Alaska is about man and nature living in harmony. In the 1970s, when the country started to understand the importance of protecting and saving the environment, the Alaskan commercial fisherman and the government joined together to save the salmon for themselves and future generations. Our last stop in Ketchikan is “The Salmon Capital of the World”. You can see clearly what’s being done on a visit to the Macaulay Hatchery in the capital of Juneau where they breed millions of salmon and release them into the bay. You can over look a tank with millions of tiny salmon as they start a life cycle that regenerates the population for future generations. Commercial fisherman will tell you they never want to catch all the salmon in these waters. They always want to come back for more.

Southeastern Alaska is in a temperate rainforest. The lush greenery and vibrant colors of the flowers can envelope you at the Glacier Gardens. After a disasterous landslide in 1984, a couple bought the land, and using environmentally sound landscaping saved a lush forest. You are driven up treacherous, hairpin turn road to the top of a mountain that overlooks views that take your breath away. Even trunks of dead trees are cut in about ten foot sections, and turned upside down. With the roots pointing to the sky, hanging flowers are planted among the roots and hang in a waterfall of yellows, reds, and purples.

This is Alaska, and that still does mean ice. Much of this land was covered by glaciers for thousands of years. A visit to the Mendenhall Glacier, one of 38 large glaciers that flow from 1,500 square miles of the Juneau Icefiled, shows you a mountainside of blue and white ice that’s slowly melting into Lake Mendenhall. It’s as if you are looking back to prehistoric times as it meets an uncertain future. The glacier is slowly melting. By 2050, it will much harder to see from the shores of the lake.

A visit to a place like this takes you away from your everyday life and worries. We know they will be there when we get back home. But we will have a better feeling and understanding about the world we sometimes take for granted. For those who doubt the importance of saving the planet, let them come to Alaska. If you can’t get here, go someplace that is a walk or a drive from your home. Watch the fish jumping, smell the flowers, and let the ice chill you.