Page 1426 – Must Read Alaska

Breakthrough: GCI going big with 5G

The 907

-

June 18, 2019

GCI is going where no Alaska telecom companies have gone before: It’s investing tens of millions of dollars into technology that delivers lightning-speed data, cutting download times in half.

It’s called 5G, and there aren’t all that many places in the world that have it.

Ron Duncan, CEO of GCI, made the announcement today, saying that a partnership with Ericsson, one of the world’s top providers of 5G technology, will making it possible for the homegrown Alaska company to bring a 5G network first to Anchorage, and later to other urban centers such as Fairbanks, Mat-Su and Juneau.

It’s a sign that the company has “cautious confidence” in Alaska’s economy, Duncan said. “I will say it’s an improving level of confidence. We are gradually becoming convinced that we are at the bottom (of the recession) and are slowly crawling out of it. We are comfortable that the state is on an improving trend.”

Starting this summer, the company will deploy Ericsson’s 5G New Radio hardware and software to 82 macro cell sites from Girdwood to Eklutna, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.

GCI’s metro fiber network will provide backhaul services to these sites, which include both towers and building locations. The project will be completed in 2020 with initial 5G service coming online in the first half of the year.

“We are committed to providing superior 5G wireless service to the residents of Anchorage just as we already provide the fastest internet service,” Duncan said. “We are bringing all our assets – fiber, spectrum, wireless footprint, Alaska expertise – to bear on that commitment.”

GCI’s 5G deployment will support local Anchorage’s efforts to grow the nation’s northernmost smart city. Anchorage already uses a “light grid” to improve efficiency for municipal street lights and is exploring programs that rely on automated systems and connectivity to deliver services more efficiently.

5G is new — so new that only large cities have it, at this point, according to HowtoGeek.com. In fact, Anchorage will be the smallest U.S. city to have those 5G bragging rights.

GCI controls more low/mid-band mobile radio spectrum than any other wireless provider in Anchorage and more macro cell sites in Anchorage than any other Alaska wireless provider.

“The combination of our assets and Ericsson’s industry-leading 5G solution will increase the capacity of our Anchorage wireless network by 10 times or more and also provide better coverage,” Duncan said. “All of our customers will benefit from this increase in capacity.”

The announcement was made at a joint press conference attended by Ericsson President and CEO Börje Ekholm and members of the company’s leadership team who traveled to Alaska to be present at the announcement.

“The result will be a wireless/wireline experience that will provide our customers nearly ubiquitous data connectivity. We are making these investments here in Anchorage because it’s our hometown, and we know how to deliver service to Alaskans better than any other provider. Anchorage will serve as the model for our network modernization efforts in other Alaska cities,” Duncan said.

For more information about GCI and its 5G network, visit https://www.gci.com/.

Historic run: Salmon strong at Russian River

Suzanne Downing

-

June 18, 2019

7

Historic run: Salmon strong at Russian River

Sockeye salmon are back in droves on the storied Russian River. So much so, that an emergency order has come from Alaska Department of Fish and Game last night: The Russian River/Upper Kenai bag limit has been increased to nine per day starting Wednesday at 12:01 am, with 18 in possession.

Folks in the region can’t remember a time when this happened in the past. It’s an historic run.

This is the first run of sockeye on the Kenai, and they are typically smaller fish, but these salmon are coming in at about 7 or 8 pounds, said Ben Mohr, executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association.

“This shows that if there is an abundance of fish, and opportunity, Alaskans will come and harvest those fish with hook and line,” he said. “It’s been busy down here, but this speaks to who we are as Alaskans, and the desire to provide for your family off of the abundance of the land.”

Reports to Must Read Alaska say fishers are catching their limits within just a few hours.

“I encourage people to carpool down, and give yourself plenty of time because there is construction on the highway, be a good neighbor with other Alaskans out there. And there are also bears, so follow recommendations they have there: Keep your fish on a stringer, and keep your backpack within reach,” Mohr advised.

He also recommends because of the historic nature of the run, the increased limits, and with so many Alaskans fishing for them right now, that fishers don’t fillet their fish on site. Instead, head and gut your catch, cut up the discards, and throw it into fast-moving water, then put your fish on ice and fillet it when you get home.

Over the past few days, between 5,000 and 8,000 fish a day have been seen crossing the sonar on the Lower Kenai River. This means fishing should be good on the Upper Kenai and Russian Rivers for at least the next week, he said.

Left-wing mega-funders target Alaska’s natural resources

Columns

Suzanne Downing

-

June 18, 2019

28

Left-wing mega-funders target Alaska’s natural resources

By HAYDEN LUDWIG
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

In recent years, an Alaska mining project has garnered intense scrutiny from the Lower 48 in the shape of the environmental Left, which is desperate to kill it in the cradle. Should they succeed the consequences for Alaska—and the rest of the country—are dire.

The target is Pebble Mine, a mineral exploration project in southwest Alaska that’s been locked in intense legal battles for nearly fifteen years. Pebble has the potential to supply as much as 25 percent of the United States’ copper needs over the next century—a critical metal used in everything from refrigerators and smart phones to the electric cars and wind turbines so beloved by environmentalists.

In fact, copper is essential to electric vehicles; according to the Copper Development Association, up to 49 pounds of copper are used in the construction of petroleum-powered cars, whereas electric cars can require as much as 183 pounds of copper to build. And copper is even more valuable in the construction of wind and solar power sources, which couldn’t exist without the metal. Wind turbines, for example, are each built using some 800 pounds of copper.

Considering its value to the construction of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, one might expect left-wing groups to be the loudest voices in support of the Pebble project. After all, many of the environmentalist groups targeting the project are vocal supporters of the Green New Deal—you know, the one that mandates 100 percent renewable energy in the U.S. over the next decade.

But there’s little consistency from the “keep-it-in-the-ground” crowd, which happily demands renewable energy production while protesting the means to generate it.

Washington, D.C.-based mega-lobbying groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Sierra Club, and Greenpeace, aided by front groups for D.C. “dark money” funders, are all aligned against the project.

As usual, hysterics rule the day. The NRDC has claimed the mine would pit an “eternal supply of food against an eternal supply of poison,” absurdly casting Pebble as a scheme by money-grubbing miners to pump toxics into Bristol Bay.

Bizarrely, the League of Conservation Voters even painted the mine as an insidious effort by “foreign mining companies” to intentionally pollute Alaskan waters. (Pebble’s primary backer is based in Canada, our friendly neighbors to the north).

The Left has coalesced its efforts to halt Pebble around the so-called “Save Bristol Bay” campaign, which alleges that Pebble will destroy the venerable salmon fishing industry. But Save Bristol Bay isn’t even headquartered in Alaska; it’s a front for Trout Unlimited, a D.C.-based group run by radical eco-activists masquerading as “conservationists.”

Trout Unlimited is a classic decoy funded by left-wing mega-foundations to fool viewers and the gullible media into thinking it’s a sportsmen’s group. The group was founded in the 1950s by conservation-minded fishermen, but it’s since been taken over by liberals closely connected to the professional Left. The group is led by Chris Wood, a member of President Barack Obama’s 2008 transition team.

Despite its outward appearance, Trout Unlimited is, in fact, little different from groups like the Environmental Defense Fund, pushing radical global warming policies such as an economy-wrecking carbon tax.

And little wonder. Trout Unlimited has received tens of millions of dollars from the Nature Conservancy and the Gates, Hewlett, and Wyss Foundations, which also fund the radicals pushing population control, abortion-on-demand, global warming, and anti-Trump causes.

As I recently wrote, the Save Bristol Bay campaign is being waged alongside SalmonState, another front for Beltway cash. SalmonState is a “pop-up” group—eco-activism in the form of a website made to look like a real nonprofit.

But SalmonState is just one of hundreds of phony “pop-up” groups run by the D.C. consulting firm Arabella Advisors through its network of shadowy “dark money” nonprofits.

Arabella’s model is the ultimate form of “Astroturfing”—fake grassroots activism. And it’s huge; in 2017 alone, the Arabella empire brought in nearly $582 million which it used to push leftist policies in healthcare, gun control, and climate change. (My group, the Capital Research Center, recently mapped the reaches of the Arabella network in our exposé Big Money in Dark Shadows.)

And like Trout Unlimited, none of that activism would be possible without the steady stream of money coming from liberal foundations, almost all of which are headquartered in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago.

Does that sound like local “conservationism” to you?

Pebble Mine brings Alaska to an important crossroads. It’s an opportunity to tap into The Last Frontier’s vast abundance, bringing much-needed prosperity to the state as well as American mineral independence from countries like communist China. But it’s a decision Alaskans—not wealthy Beltway activists—need to make.

Hayden Ludwig is an investigative researcher at the Capital Research Center in Washington, D.C.

Trump launch watch parties in Fairbanks, Anchorage

The Social

Suzanne Downing

-

June 18, 2019

8

Trump launch watch parties in Fairbanks, Anchorage

Watch parties are the thing this evening around the nation, as President Donald Trump launches his campaign for reelection in Orlando, Fla., which will be live streamed starting at 4 pm Alaska time. Tens of thousands are planning to attend the event live, but elsewhere, Trump supporters will gather to watch on television.

In Alaska, we found two Trump launch watch parties:

Fairbanks: 4611 Maresh Avenue, the home of Ralph and Connie Seekins, 4 pm.

Anchorage: KOAN (radio)-sponsored party at Flattop Pizza, 600 West 6th, with host Eddie Burke, from 3:30-5:30 pm.

Both events are free.

Alaska Life Hack: A mosquito flies into a bar …

The 907

Suzanne Downing

-

June 17, 2019

2

Alaska Life Hack: A mosquito flies into a bar …

IT’S MID-JUNE. MOSQUITOES ARE ON A MISSION

A mosquito flies into a bar that has a cow, a goat, a pig, a human, a dog, a cats and a chicken sitting at the counter.

Which one is the mosquito going to target?

47.6 percent of the time, the blood-sucking mosquito is going for the cow, while humans are the target less than 5 percent of the time, according to a study conducted back in the 1940s.

There aren’t nearly enough cows in Alaska to feed our voracious mosquitoes, especially between mid-June through mid-July, when all 17 trillion of them in our state are at their most numerous and most voracious. A short breeding season and a short feeding season means they’re mosquitoes on a mission to reproduce.

The good news is that Alaska’s mosquitoes are not yet vectors for diseases like Zika or West Nile Virus. The bad news is, when we most want our arms to be bare, they are at their most determined.

Some facts about mosquitoes that you’ve been itching to know about:

Female mosquitoes have ovaries that need blood protein to produce the eggs that make more mosquitoes. They don’t get their own nourishment from blood — it’s strictly for the protein needed by the eggs. For their own energy needs, they sip flower nectar.

Male mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers; no blood for them.

Although numerous, Alaska mosquitoes are relatively small, especially compared to the 4-inch wingspan of the horror-movie-sized Holorusa mikado species, the largest mosquito family in the world.

Scents that attract mosquitoes include human sweat, limburger cheese, beer, carbon dioxide from breath, perfume, and feet.

What doesn’t seem to repel them? Eating garlic or ingesting vitamin B12. Studies show these have no effect.

To lessen the attraction to mosquitoes, it helps to bathe often and reduce body odors. Wear light-colored clothing; Insect Shield clothing is said to retain repellency for up to 70 washes. Use a DEET-infused repellant. Bring a net and gloves, like these hardy hikers in the Itkillik River did in this 2009 video:

Do electronic bug zappers work? Black light insect electrocution devices kill insects indiscriminately, unfortunately. One study showed that of all the insects killed, only .13 percent were female mosquitoes. There is no significant difference in the number of mosquitoes found in yards with bug zappers, vs. yards without them, according to the American Mosquito Control Association.

If you’re attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes, keep moving. They only fly about 1.5 miles an hour typically. If you can’t find shelter, try climbing a tall tree. A really tall tree. Mosquitoes don’t typically like to fly higher than 25 feet above ground.

If all else fails, take your cow hiking with you.

Alaska Life Hack: Alaska is ‘catfish’ capital for romance fraud

The 907

Suzanne Downing

-

June 17, 2019

1

Alaska Life Hack: Alaska is ‘catfish’ capital for romance fraud

ANCHORAGE RAPE-MURDER CRIMES LINKED TO ‘CATFISHER’ FROM INDIANA

Which state are you most likely to be scammed by online romancers?

Turns out, it’s Alaska, according HighSpeedInternet.com in its report “When Love Bites,” which identifies the 49th state as the Number 1 location where people are most likely to fall prey to romance fraud.

“Catfishing” is the term used for website bottom-feeders who create fake profiles and lure in their victims, often finding ways to extract or extort money from them, or even get them to commit crimes.

Such a scammer may be found in the Indiana man who is in federal custody after allegedly offering $9 million to an 18-year-old Anchorage woman, Denali Brehmer, to murder another Anchorage woman, Cynthia Hoffman, and to film it. Brehmer is accused now of murder for her role in that horrific incident at Thunderbird Falls in Chugiak.

[Read: Investigators: Indiana man offered $9 million for death of Cynthia Hoffman]

Darin Schilmiller, of New Salisbury, Indiana, was indicted in Alaska on Friday on multiple murder charges for his role in the killing of 19-year-old Hoffman. While he didn’t pull the trigger, investigators say he offered the money. His romance victim, Brehmer, is accused of organizing the execution of Hoffman.

[Read: Who is Darin Schilmiller and how is he connected with Cynthia Hoffman’s murder?]

Schilmiller is also under arrest for participating in child porn by encouraging Brehmer to film herself sexually abusing children. Evidence is found in text messages between the two.

Schilmiller posed as someone named “Tyler,” a millionaire from Kansas, and the texts between Brehmer and him indicate romantic attachment.

Two women who know Schilmiller have recounted their experiences that show it’s not the first time he’s posed with a fake identity online to lure women into sexual wrongdoing.

[Read that report here.]

HighSpeedInternet.com based its analysis on data from the 2018 FBI Internet Crime Report, and U.S. Census population estimates. While Alaska is Number 1, Nevada is Number 2, and Wisconsin is Number 3. Western states factor high for having victims of romance fraud.

Con artists use platforms such as Match.com, eHarmony.com, and Tinder.com, as well as lesser-known ones, such as Plenty of Fish. They move their conversations with their marks away from the dating app and over onto Facebook or Whats App to deepen their ability to discover useful things about their victims.

The Better Business Bureau has a complete primer on the ways that con men (and women) operate, how they gain the confidence of their prey, and some of the scripts they use to grow the relationships. You can report to the BBB any instances of this occurring to you at its Scam Tracker page.

Have you been a victim of catfishing romance fraud? You can comment below and keep your identify private.

Juneau property taxes: fair or foul?

Columns

Suzanne Downing

-

June 17, 2019

3

By WIN GRUENING
SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

Property tax management can be confusing for local taxpayers.

The mill rate is the amount of tax payable per dollar of the assessed value of a property. A “mill” represents one-tenth of a cent with the rate normally expressed as the amount per $1,000 of property value.

In recent CBJ Assembly action, the FY2020 mill rate was approved at last year’s level after an unusual split vote. Typically, this part of the municipal budgeting process rarely raises controversy.

Holding the mill rate stable over time is admirable but, as most people know, even if the mill rate remains unchanged, your property tax usually increases. That’s because our current mill rate, 10.66 mills (or 1.066% of your property value), is only part of the equation. The other part is the value of your property as assessed by the city – which tends to increase every year with inflation.

In other words, if the Assembly wanted to hold your property tax constant or even reduce it, it would have to lower the mill rate enough to compensate for the annual increase in assessed property values.

The City Manager initially proposed lowering the mill rate from 10.66 to 10.56 mills for FY2020. The Assembly Finance Committee then recommended leaving the existing mill rate unchanged at 10.66. When the Assembly voted on it at their June 3 meeting, Assembly member Mary Becker moved to roll it back to 10.56 mills. She cited the urgency in lowering the cost of living and housing costs, specifically, as the reason for her concern. Others mentioned uncertainty about the amount of school bond debt reimbursement as a reason for the higher amount. The motion failed with a 4-4 tie vote.

But did the Assembly really “hold the line” on property taxes?

Here is where it gets complicated. Part of the mill rate is reserved for debt service. But because we have continued to pay off CBJ bonds, our mill rate for this portion was reduced. What the Assembly actually did was reduce the debt service mill rate and increase the operational mill rate an equal amount of 10 mills – a wash to the taxpayer. But, along with higher property values, this action effectively increases property tax receipts over $1.0 million for the city treasury next fiscal year.

And if budget fears don’t materialize, what happens with that extra tax money? Assembly member Rob Edwardson stated it best,” …are people going to get a rebate? I don’t think so.”

And indeed, recently the Legislature agreed on a compromise budget that preserved full funding for school debt reimbursement.

While that funding may be subject to the governor’s veto, the city has ample resources to bridge any fiscal gap until a long-term solution is crafted. The tax relief at stake would have been good news for seniors on fixed incomes and young families struggling to make ends meet and wouldn’t have made much difference in offsetting a large reduction in state funding.

The Assembly can be commended for considering the unpredictability surrounding state funding, but one can also argue that the city has accumulated sufficient savings that it is now taxing residents unnecessarily.

Has the city been over-collecting? According to CBJ financial statements, available general government fund balances and budget reserves now exceed $32 million which should allow Juneau to weather any short-term financial gaps.

The budget fears expressed seem at odds with on-going Assembly conversations regarding sizable municipal contributions toward a $26 million arts and cultural center and another $26 million for a new city hall. Further, discussions continue unabated about implementing a Juneau pre-K program that will eventually cost millions of dollars annually.

People will continue to debate the merits of these projects, but their economic benefits remain largely uncertain.

Here is what is certain.

According to 2018 Alaska Department of Labor reports, among urban areas of the state,

Juneau has the most expensive housing.
Juneau has the most expensive groceries.
Juneau has the highest medical costs.
Juneau has the highest transportation costs.

Instead of speculatively raising property taxes, perhaps the Assembly could raise its collective social consciousness and consider the most basic needs of Juneau residents first?

Win Gruening retired as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is active in community affairs as a 30-plus year member of Juneau Downtown Rotary Club and has been involved in local and statewide civic organizations.

MRAK Almanac: Anchorage Assembly to talk trash, homeless solutions

Almanac

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

-

June 17, 2019

0

MRAK Almanac: Anchorage Assembly to talk trash, homeless solutions

PRODUCED BY KOBE RIZK

The MRAK Almanac is your place for political, cultural, and civic events, events where you’ll meet political leaders or, if you are interested in getting to know your state, these are places to meet conservative- and moderate-leaning Alaskans.

POP QUIZ

Question: What is Alaska’s state insect?

Answer: While most Alaskans would likely answer with the mosquito, the state insect of Alaska actually consumes (in vast numbers) those whining winged invaders: the four-spotted skimmer dragonfly. Alaska adopted the dragonfly as its state insect in 1995 after a referendum among Alaska’s public school students. It bested the mosquito 3,914 votes to 3,035. From our science desk, we’re happy to report that dragonflies eat mosquitoes, and mosquito season is upon us.

THIS WEEK

6/17: Copper River personal use dip-netting fishery will be open for a 168-hour period from Monday June 17 through Sunday June 23. This unique fishery is open only to Alaska residents, and the annual limit is 25 salmon for the head of household and 10 salmon for each dependent of the permit holder.

6/17: Alaska State Commission for Human Rights will meet in Anchorage at 9 am. There will be no public comment period at this meeting, and most of the meeting will take place in executive session to discuss the hire of a new executive director. Read the agenda here.

6/17: Mat-Su Miners play the Glacier Pilots at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer, 7 pm. It’s Military Appreciation night. Schedule for other games this week here.

6/17: Elephant (Spirit) Lake near Kenai will be stocked with approximately 5,000 catchable arctic char this morning. Here’s to bent rods and wet lines.

6/17: Gazebo Night Summer Performance at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. Come to enjoy live music at 7 pm. Free.

6/17: Deadline to submit public comments to the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority regarding the upcoming competitive lease of 24 land parcels across the state. The authority owns and manages almost one million acres of land. Read more here.

6/17: The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly will hold a regular meeting at 5:30 pm. On tap for this evening is approval of a state lobbying contract for $48,000 as well as discussion of an increase on the tobacco excise tax. Read the full agenda here.

6/17: The Anchorage Chamber of Commerce will host the regional director of the U.S. Small Business Administration to speak about rural small business initiatives and technical assistance offered from the federal government. Registration is required, Facebook link here.

6/17: HooDoo Beer Night at Growden baseball fields in Fairbanks. Facebook link here.

6/18: The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a public hearing to discuss deferred maintenance needs on federal lands managed by the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is chair. The hearing can be viewed live here.

6/18: The Anchorage Assembly will hold a regular meeting at 5 pm. There will be various ordinances up for public comment, including new regulations for bear-proof trash cans and new homeless shelter rules. Access the full agenda here.

6/18: Alaska State Fair Royalty informational meeting in Eagle River. Come to learn more about being a royalty contestant at the state fair in late August. Read more here.

6/18: Regular meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. Will begin at 6 pm at the assembly chambers in Soldotna. Read the agenda at this link.

6/18: The Fairbanks Borough Assembly will be interviewing five candidates for vacant assembly Seat E. Read their names here.

6/18: Monthly board meeting of the Denali Chamber of Commerce in Healy. Begins at 6:30 pm at the Healy Visitors Center.

6/18: Re-elect Fairbanks Mayor Jim Matherly kick-off fundraiser and reception at the home of Ralph and Connie Seekins. Begins at 5:30 pm. Can’t go? Info at www.jimmatherly.com

6/20: KTOO has an electronics garage sale at 360 Egan Drive in Juneau. Obsolete computer and broadcast gear and some of it will be free to a good home.

6/20-23: International Food Blogger Conference comes to Juneau. Approximately 250 bloggers, writers, foodies, influencers, social media gurus, food company representatives, and others will gather to talk, eat, and learn. More info here.

6/21: Summer solstice.

ALASKA HISTORY ARCHIVE

June 17, 1925: On President Calvin Coolidge’s recommendation, George Alexander Parks took the oath of office as the 5th Governor of the Alaska Territory. A mining engineer, Parks spent most of his life in Alaska serving in various government positions regulating land use and permitting. After hearing of Parks’ extensive knowledge of the territory, President Coolidge nominated him to serve as territorial governor. The 323-mile George Parks Highway, connecting the city of Fairbanks with the Glenn Highway north of Anchorage, is named in honor of Gov. Parks.

June 18, 1945: General Simon Buckner Jr., commander of the U.S. Army’s Alaska Defense Command during World War II, was killed by Japanese artillery fire in in the Battle of Okinawa. General Buckner was promoted to brigadier general and assigned to oversee army operations in Alaska in 1940. He also supervised military response to both the attack on Dutch Harbor in 1942 and the famed Battle of Attu in 1943. The general was the highest-ranking U.S. military officer killed by enemy fire during World War II.

Alaska Raw: Dad, this story is for you

The Social

Suzanne Downing

-

June 16, 2019

2

As you may remember from our last installment, while flying down the beach Bob had just spotted a walrus carcass with a large brown bear eating on it. The walrus had one long ivory tusk that was just too attractive to pass up. The negotiations are…tense.

By BOB LACHER

Since both airplanes had been flying fairly low coming down the beach, I expected to look back and see the bear shagging off in a hurry. Instead, the intrusion appeared to have made him more possessive. The hulking bear took up a guarded position hunched over top the walrus and snapping and popping its jaws.

The whole deal was starting to look challenging, fitting my style perfectly. I thought the ivory should be negotiable. My generous offer would be the bear could have the entire carcass but he needed to make room for me at the table for just an hour or so. But he didn’t see it that way.

With time short and the bear uncooperative, I needed a plan B. I decided to land just down the beach and taxi up nearer to it and see what would happen. As I taxied up I would keep my spinning prop between me and the bear and see how big its balls were. Once I landed the game of chicken began. As the airplane got within 100 feet, the bear started to move off, but only retreated 50 feet before stopping. That seemed like progress so I moved a little closer, spooling up the engine to taxi ahead.

The bear was not small. In the high eight foot or low nine range, it probably weighed 700 pounds.

He paced around just 50 feet away from the carcass, moving out then back, lurking, not wanting to give it up. I kept easing the airplane forward and slowly closing the distance. With 100 feet between us and a walrus directly in the middle, we were at a standoff. He was not eager to move all the way off the carcass and I was reluctant to get the airplane fully into a shutdown position where he could charge it.

There was no telling what might happen, he could have enough sense to avoid the prop and attack the fuselage or tail. I did not want him to charge the propeller either, of course. If that happened there would be no winners. With the bear seriously hoarding his kill, I thought hard about the next move. I inched the plane ahead slowly and gunned the engine a few times trying to establish some dominance.

The bear finally decided he was out matched and moved off further, heading up the incline of the beach to the cut bank…but he was still only 150 yards away. He initially sat down and stared at the idling plane, then within a minute had rose again and started pacing back and forth, but at a distance. I stayed put in the front seat and stared back, hoping he would entirely abandon the kill. My father and Frank were still circling above and no doubt shaking their heads.

It was getting darker by the minute. This was obviously not developing into a situation where I could take an hour or more to debone and cleanly cut the head off the walrus. If I wanted the tusk I had to get innovative and whatever I did would have to be quick.

The bear was still watching, swinging his head from side to side in an agitated, aggressive posture but never getting any closer than 150 yards. I let a couple of minutes pass and remained sitting in my cockpit, engine running, hoping his pacing and nervousness would chill out a little. But it didn’t.

At this point, seeing nothing was changing, I was close to calling the whole thing off. I could not be sure what would happen once I jumped out of the airplane and physically exposed myself…and provoked the bear by taking over the carcass. But it was now or never. The plane was still running and was by then about 20 feet from the carcass.

Remembering that I had a .44 mag revolver stashed behind the seat, I reached for it and put it in my lap thinking about how I might be able to use it as a dental extraction device. I left the engine running at idle, locking the parking brakes so it wouldn’t pull itself ahead. I opened the door and jumped out, revolver in hand, and never taking my eyes off the bear. If he decided to challenge me I thought I would fire a few rounds into the air and dive back in the airplane.

Stepping carefully around the spinning prop, I took several big and rapid strides to the walrus and pulled his single tusk upward, freeing its half buried skull from the sand. My genius plan was to fire a .44 mag round (or rounds) into the gum line and hopefully dislodge the three foot long chunk of ivory. I knew that when I fired the gun I wanted to be several feet away at minimum, and with my head turned away to help avoid any bone and flesh blowback.

Crouching to my knees and aiming first from a distance of five feet, I could not seem to hold a point of aim steady enough in the exact spot I needed to be certain to hit the root cavity. It needed to be perfect. All the while I’m keeping my eye peeled for the bear to come charging in. I’m a ball of nerves and sweating buckets. I could see the problem with my set up from five feet was that my aim deteriorated the instant I tried to turn my head sideways and shut my eyes before pulling the trigger. It was not going to work. To make sure to hit the sweet spot I really had to do this execution style. I had to be much closer. I had to be point blank.

The bear was now intently focused on the fact that I was out of the plane and that I no longer looked so big and threatening. I could feel his eyes on me and knew he could be on me in just a couple of seconds. All of my senses told me that time had run out. I quickly stepped in close to the walrus and put the nose of the Smith and Wesson .44 revolver three inches from its head, aiming for a spot about four inches up the gum line precisely above the top of the tusk. Turning my head hard left to try to avoid any flack, I closed my eyes and let loose the carnage.

Kaboom! Bits of hide, goo and bone flew everywhere. The right side of my cheek and ear and a couple of knuckles were immediately on fire with little slivers of bone embedded in my skin in several places. My right hand and coat sleeve were spattered to the shoulder with bloody chunks of rotten walrus gums and dental cavity bits.

The hydraulic shock and bone busting power of the .44 round loosened and partially ejected the tusk out of its socket. It was loosened well enough that a couple rapid ninja kicks fully freed it. Surprisingly the bear never reacted to the gunshot but stood staring, head hung low, body crouched and looking for his opening to lurch. In seconds I salvaged the tusk and hustled the few steps back to the running airplane, jumped into the front seat, slapped shut the door, throttled up and took off. Making one more circle over the carcass in the shrinking light I saw the bear was already back feeding on it

We had our caribou, we had our ivory. We had slipped in and out of a part of the world almost no one gets to see. And we did it without breaking too much hardware. The flight back was indeed made in the dark and not at all comfortable. Lake Clark Pass is nothing to be toyed with on a heavily overcast evening late in September. But it worked out.

By the way Dad, this story is for you. I will always remember how good it felt to have you along to share some raw Alaskan adventure. And thanks for never second guessing your guide. I’m amazed that you always trust me 110 percent even in some really sketchy circumstances. It occurred to me, old man, that you must mistake my commanding self confidence in the field with actual capability. Don’t be fooled. I’m never too far away from shitting my own pants over something going sideways… I just hide it well.

A FINAL WORD

We all ask ourselves from time to time, what acts of ours should, in the end, accumulate to some satisfactory finish that memorializes the high water mark of our time here. What body of striving or accomplishment or just earned sense of peace will we reflect on when we are all alone and mentally ticking down the list of missed opportunities, hoping to leave here with as few regrets as possible?

A summit bagged or some expanse conquered perhaps? Sure. That all works. Big, bright, tangible.

Maybe the mark is no mark at all but only the satisfaction of rejecting a life lived looking through a keyhole constructed by the myths and memes of our time, a keyhole that divines order out of disorder in the minds of those who cannot live without it. Maybe it’s not about any high mark but all the white space in between, savoring the moments we live that are scrubbed of all pretense and insincerity. Among such moments are our experiences in the wilderness.

There is something spiritual about looking behind you after just laying a single mark on crystalline untracked snow that reaches upwards through the frozen hills and canyons for thousands of feet. The landscape is your canvas but the picture you drew will soon be gone, as will its artist. It is the canvas that lives on forever, waiting to temporarily accept the handiwork of another spiritual voyager.

Right there among the gods and angels of our vivid imagination, another picture will emerge, laid down a piece at a time like a painter drawing color from his brush, and again it will disappear leaving nothing at all. In a life well lived we should craft many beautiful things, songs from nothing that we sing into the wind without a care if they are ever heard again.

[Read: Alaska Raw Parts 1-7]

Find this book at Barnes & Noble, Todd Communications, Title Wave Books, Once in a Blue Moose, and Amazon.

Breakthrough: GCI going big with 5G

Historic run: Salmon strong at Russian River

Left-wing mega-funders target Alaska’s natural resources

Alaska Life Hack: A mosquito flies into a bar …

Alaska Life Hack: Alaska is ‘catfish’ capital for romance fraud

Juneau property taxes: fair or foul?

MRAK Almanac: Anchorage Assembly to talk trash, homeless solutions

About us

The latest

Public Comment Requested Regarding Establishment of New Kenai Peninsula State Forest

All I Want for Christmas is… Constitutional Fidelity!

Mat-Su Residents Impacted by Disastrous Windstorm Can Apply for Assistance