Notes From Alaska - Sharing our Alaskan Stories
by Betsy Beardsley, Environmental Justice Program Director, Alaska Wilderness League
When I was in high school I spent the summer before my senior year as a tour guide on the Alaska Railroad. The Alaska Railroad begins in Seward, on the shores of Resurrection Bay near the Gulf of Alaska, and stretches 500 miles north through Anchorage to Fairbanks via Denali National Park. It takes two days to travel from one end of the track to the other. As much of the terrain is rugged, the average speed of the scenic journey is about 35 miles per hour.
Like any proud Alaskan, I enjoyed telling tourists about my home State. For most passengers, this was their first time to Alaska. Often, I’d have elderly couples rounding out their lives together with a dream vacation, or young adventurers heading into the backcountry of Denali. For most, their trip to Alaska was a once in a lifetime experience that I was happy to be a part of.
I don’t think I knew back then that my experience would shape into a career promoting Alaska. One twist is that now rather than bringing people to Alaska, I get to bring Alaska to them.
The great thing about Alaska is that much of it is public land. As land owned by the American public, everyone has a stake in its future, regardless of where they live.
The original caretakers of the land are Alaska’s indigenous people. This week I had the great honor and privilege to bring twelve people from remote Alaska Native communities to Washington, DC.
Subsistence whalers, chiefs, and elders, they came to tell their Alaskan story to the outside world in hope of gaining stronger protections for the land their ancestors had lived on for thousands of years.
Joined by forty others from communities across the US, many of whom had never even been to Alaska, these twelve met with Congressional leaders to educate them about the values of Alaska’s public lands and fragile Arctic Ocean.
What I’ve learned is that people love Alaska, regardless of whether they have been there or not. To be able to tell the story of Alaska, what makes it so special, is a gift in itself. Listening to others tell their unique Alaska stories is even better.
I like to think that we are all storytellers. This week proved just that. I’m thankful for the training I was given to be a guide today for Alaskans who want to tell their story. I’m even more grateful for the many stories shared and friendships made during Alaska Wilderness Week. Hopefully what we leave behind is a little piece of Alaska with all of those whom we touched.
March 27th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I agree that Alaskans love to tell their stories. I wonder if that comes from being inside for the long winters. I think it does come from living in a place that is unique from the rest of the U.S. Having all that public land is something that I always assumed everyone had in their backyard. Having also grown up in Alaska I assumed everyone could drive across town and have thousands of acres to play in. When I went to college in Montana I realized that not everyone has that. Most places have some public space but you have to drive a fair distance and/or around private land to get to it. I love having all that unfenced space and knowing that when I go hiking there I most likely won’t see anyone else.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I’m a dear fried on Lauris, and if you want to learn anything about the great state of Alaska, you just have to be in her company a very short time! She is a great historian! But she has to put her stories down in writing, Betsy, like you did…..or else they are lost forever! I live vicariously in Alaska through Lauris!
April 25th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I appreciate your efforts to make sure these voices are heard.
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I share with all of you the love for our last great frontier, Alaska. Although I have been there often, especially in the Winter as an Iditarod volunteer, it was my Sierra Club service trip to The Arctic Refuge that it really brought it home to me–some places simply must remain wild!!
I have a few stories that I could share about Alaska, but for now, I would simply like to share your energy to keep Alaska the unique place that it is. Keep the pressure on to foil all attemps to spoil it.