By Petty Officer 1st Class Kurt Fredrickson – KODIAK, Alaska – In 1865 the first U.S. Light House Service tender reached the shores of Russian Alaska and sparked the beginning of what has been more than 145 years of Coast Guard history in the Bering Sea. While the wooden ships of the Light House and [...]
A valued guidebook for travelers in the north, the Milepost is a well known and respected resource for visitors to Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. 2009 is significant for Alaska, admitted into the Union on January 3, 1959; this year marks its 50th anniversary of statehood.
At more than 17 million acres in size, the Tongass National Forest located in Southeast Alaska is the largest forest administered in the overall national forest system. The Tongass is world renowned for its old growth temperate rain forests covered with enormous Sitka spruce, Hemlock fir, and Yellow cedar. These forests protect watersheds that support [...]
In closing hours of the Bush Administration, new National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directives were issued that address arctic region policy for the United States. A key statement found in the documents reinforces the notion that the United States is an Arctic nation.
On December 23, 2009, Crowley Maritime Corporation’s tugboat Pathfinder was serving as an ice scout vessel in Prince William Sound. At about 6:18 pm that evening, the 136-foot vessel ran aground on Bligh Reef, the same reef on which the Exxon Valdez grounded twenty years earlier. The Coast Guard’s official report on the Pathfinder incident, released in May of this year, lists a number of factors that contributed to the event. At the root of these factors lies a story of inattention and complacency on the part of the tug’s master and crew, resulting in their failure to follow standard procedures, poor communication between them, and a loss of situational awareness.
With the seasonal transit of the Northwest Passage becoming a reality, an increase in Arctic shipping traffic is inevitable. The energy, shipping and cruise industry all see opportunities for their operations in the Arctic Ocean.
With recent snow statewide, the agency is asking drivers to be on the lookout on snowplows and road graders. Part of DOT&PF’s concern is driven by three separate incidents in recent days where cars have ran into the back of snowplows.
A comprehensive survey of Arctic sea ice shows that shows there has been dramatic thinning between the years of 2004 to 2008. The once dominant and thicker multi-year ice is being supplanted by thinner seasonal ice.
