- Southwest Alaska
Southwest Alaska is a region of the
U.S. state ofAlaska , part of theAlaska Bush .Geography
Like all regions of the state, it has no formal boundaries; one rough definition includes the Aleutians East, Bristol Bay, Kodiak Island, and Lake and Peninsula boroughs and the Aleutians West, Bethel, Dillingham, and Wade Hampton census areas, plus the portion of the Kenai Peninsula Borough west of
Cook Inlet . By this definition, Southwest Alaska has an area of 442,194 km² (170,732 mi²).This area, in turn, can be divided into six subregions: the
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta , theBristol Bay area, theAlaska Peninsula , theAleutian Islands , theKodiak Archipelago , and thePribilof Islands .Much of Southwest Alaska is part of the Aleutian volcanic arc, and the region contains most of Alaska's
volcano es, includingMount Katmai ,Novarupta and theValley of Ten Thousand Smokes , Mount Redoubt,Mount Iliamna , andAugustine Volcano .Protected areas
Southwest Alaska contains numerous state and federal
protected area s. These include:
*Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
*Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge
*Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve
*Becharof National Wildlife Refuge
*Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
*Katmai National Park and Preserve
*Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
*Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
*Togiak National Wildlife Refuge
*Wood-Tikchik State Park
*Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge Mountain ranges
*
Aleutian Range
*Chigmit Mountains
*Kuskokwim Mountains Rivers
*
Kuskokwim River
*Kvichak River
* Naknek River
*Newhalen River
*Nushagak River
*Yukon River Lakes
*
Becharof Lake
*Lake Clark
*Iliamna Lake
*Naknek Lake Demographics
Southwest Alaska had a population of 53,349 as of the 2000 census, less than one-tenth of Alaska's inhabitants. The largest cities were Kodiak (6,334), Bethel (5,471), Unalaska/Dutch Harbor (4,283), and Dillingham (2,466).
The population is in large part
Alaska Native , with 58.1% identifying as entirely or partly "Native American" in the 2000 census. Natives in Southwest Alaska are mainly CentralYupik in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and Bristol Bay areas,Alutiiq on the eastern Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island,Aleut in the Aleutians, Pribilofs, and the western Alaska Peninsula, and a fewDena'ina Athabaskans near the western shore of Cook Inlet.Economy
Most of the smaller settlements rely on
subsistence activities.Fishing , both commercial and recreational, is a mainstay of the economy, along withhunting andtourism . Kodiak and Unalaska are among the most productive fishing ports in the United States. Thesalmon ,trout ,king crab , andhalibut fisheries are extremely lucrative.Bristol Bay 's commercialsockeye salmon industry is the largest in the world.Southwest Alaska is currently embroiled in controversy over a number of proposed resource extraction projects. These include the proposed
Pebble Mine , which would put a large open pit gold and copper mine at the headwaters of the Nushagak River and Kvichak River rivers in theBristol Bay watershed. Also, the federal government is seeking to lift the moratorium onoil drilling leases inBristol Bay .Wildlife
Southwest Alaska is one of the richest
salmon areas in the world, with the world's largest commercial salmon fishery inBristol Bay . It also has one of the highest concentrations ofbrown bears , feeding on the salmon, as well as berries and other vegetation. Bear watching is a popular tourist attraction atKatmai National Park and Preserve . This area is also home to a number ofcaribou herds - the Mulchatna herd is the third largest in the state. The western limit for bothcaribou andbears is onUnimak Island , first in the Aleutian chain. More westernAleutian Islands have no mammals larger than afox . In the summer, many species of migratory birds nest on the tundra here, and there are many large seabird rookeries in theAleutian Islands .Transportation
There are no major road connections anywhere in Southwest Alaska, except occasionally between neighboring settlements. All transportation is by air or sea.
Alaska Airlines serves the larger population centers;PenAir and, formerly,Reeve Aleutian Airways provide more complete coverage.Alaska Marine Highway ferries connect coastal settlements to the ports ofSouthcentral Alaska , while riverbarge s are common in theYukon-Kuskokwim Delta .References
*cite web | url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/CTTable?_bm=y&-context=ct&-PANEL_ID=p_ct_geo_map&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_G001&-tree_id=4001&-redoLog=false&-errMsg=Click%20on%20a%20selectable%20geography.&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=05000US02013&-geo_id=05000US02016&-geo_id=05000US02050&-geo_id=05000US02060&-geo_id=05000US02070&-geo_id=05000US02150&-geo_id=05000US02164&-geo_id=05000US02270&-geo_id=14000US02122000100&-search_results=14000US02122000100&-dataitem=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001.P001001|DEC_2000_SF1_U_P003.P003005|DEC_2000_SF1_U_P003.P003012|DEC_2000_SF1_U_P003.P003016|DEC_2000_SF1_U_P003.P003020|DEC_2000_SF1_U_P003.P003021|DEC_2000_SF1_U_P003.P003022|DEC_2000_SF1_U_G001.AREALAND|DEC_2000_SF1_U_G001.AREAWATR&-format=&-_lang=en&-search_map_config=|b=50|l=en|t=4001|zf=0.0|ms=sel_00dec|dw=1.9557697048764706E7|dh=1.4455689123E7|dt=gov.census.aff.domain.map.LSRMapExtent|if=gif|cx=-1159354.4783500005|cy=7122022.5|zl=10|pz=10|bo=318:317:316:314:313:323:319|bl=362:393:358:357:356:355:354|ft=350:349:335:389:388:332:331|fl=381:403:204:380:369:379:368|g=01000US | title=Custom Table - American FactFinder | publisher=
United States Census Bureau | accessdate=2006-06-19External links
* [http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/county.cfm&id=2164 Lake & Peninsula Borough]
* [http://www.aktrekking.com/pebble/ Pebble Mine environmental information and photos]
* [http://www.ugashik.com/ Ugashik Area website]
* [http://www.swamc.org/ Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference]
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