Alaska Wilderness League conducts an annual photography contest through which participants reveal the beauty and bounty of Alaska’s Hidden Gems. The contest features lands in Alaska under the management of the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which hold some of our nation’s greatest natural treasures: the world’s largest wild salmon fishery, the largest surging glacier in North America, millions of migratory and resident birds, the state’s largest caribou herd and longest River; the mighty Yukon.

Despite containing the superlatives of Alaska’s natural beauty, the unique history, cultures, and untouched beauty of these wild places are yet to be discovered by many Americans, in and out of Alaska. Our hope is that the photographs and stories from these places will inspire the public to learn more about them, to visit them and to push for lasting protections for them.

• Click here to download the 2010 contest entry form.

 

About BLM-managed Areas in Alaska

• The Bristol Bay area contains the world’s largest wild sockeye runs and salmon fishery, generates more than $420 million in revenues for the state and creates more than 12,000 jobs annually.
• East Alaska covers 7.6 million acres and holds the Bering Glacier, the largest glacier in North America and a world renowned glacial study site.
• Eastern Interior covers 10.5 million acres and is home to the Yukon River, Alaska’s longest river, which directly supports the subsistence needs of more than 45 rural communities.
• Kobuk-Seward covers 12 million acres and is home to the largest caribou herd in North America, the Northwest Arctic Caribou Herd.
• The Ring-of-Fire covers 1.3 million acres and encompasses Kodiak, the Aleutian Islands, South-Central and Southeast Alaska. This area contains more than 500 miles of salmon streams, three caribou herds, more than 10 million migratory birds, unparalleled moose and bear habitats, and the most productive commercial fisheries in the world.

Visit our BLM Program Page for more info on BLM-managed lands in Alaska.
 

Categories

Photos were accepted in the following categories:

Landscapes and Natural Features
Description: Photographs that capture or were inspired by natural landscapes, wildlife habitat, or iconic geologic features, including, but not limited to, mountain ranges, rivers, glaciers, valleys, sunsets.

Wildlife
Description: Photographs that capture or were inspired by characteristic wildlife and keystone species, including, but not limited to, caribou, bears, salmon, moose, waterfowl, wolves, herds, flocks.

Humans and the Environment
Description: Photographs that capture or were inspired by human activities and relationship with the health of the natural environment, including, but not limited to, Alaska Native subsistence, recreation, commercial fishing, sport, hunting and tourism.
 

2009 Winning Photos

Alaska Wilderness League and Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association teamed up in May 2009 on a national photography contest to highlight national park-quality public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Alaska. The Alaska’s Hidden Gems Photography Contest attracted 61 submissions from all over and had 50 that qualified for entry. These are the winners:

Sue Steinacher of Nome, Alaska; overall contest winner and first place winner in the Wildlife category. Sue has lived in Nome off and on since the mid-1980s and considers it one of Alaska’s best kept secrets. In September 2007, while camping with friends from Fairbanks in the Kigluaik Mountains, some 60 miles north of Nome on the Seward Peninsula, and watching the sun rise on the north face of the “Kigs,” she heard the gargling of the approaching cranes and grabbed her camera for the winning shot. “The opportunity to enjoy these magnificent mountains and the refuge they provide to the wildlife we value, are what sustains most of us who tough it out year after year in this distant northwest corner of Alaska,” says Sue. Photo of migrating Sand Hill Cranes taken September 2007 in the Kigluaik Mountains, 60 miles north of Nome on the Seward Peninsula.
 
 

Kathi Merchant of Chickaloon, Alaska; second place in overall contest, first place in the Humans and the Environment category. Along with her husband, Bill, Kathi runs a wilderness adventure guide business on public lands out of their 16′ by 24′ one-room cabin near Castle Mountain. They also organize the “Iditarod Trail Invitational,” a 1,100 mile race on the BLM-managed Iditarod Trail that is the world’s longest human powered ultra marathon. Her picture captures Bill, an eight-time finisher of the race, pushing a snow bike on the sea ice between Koyuk and Elim. “The winds blow the snow drifts over the trail and create terrible visibility. I was lucky to get the picture. The temperature that day was -30 deg F with 50 mph winds, or about -75 deg F with wind-chill. You don’t stop for drinks or food, you just push through, sometimes for 20 hours.” Photo of husband, Bill Merchant, pushing a snow bike on the sea ice between Koyuk and Elim taken March 2008.
 
 

Greg Gusse of Palmer, Alaska; third place in overall contest, first place in the Landscape category. Greg came to Alaska in 2000 and has visited public BLM lands across the state. Greg has driven nearly every stretch of road in Alaska looking for hidden gems. Some of his favorite BLM landscapes include those off the Denali Highway, Dalton Highway and Jim Creek. “For this picture, I was staying at one of the wonderful BLM cabins outside of Coldfoot and walking around just after the first frost when the colors were full, taking pictures of the brilliant autumn scenery. BLM lands represent some of the best but least-known places in Alaska.” Photo of Marion Creek off the Dalton Highway in the BLM’s Eastern Interior Planning Area, approximately 200 miles north of Fairbanks, taken Fall 2003.