Alaska Answers

Q. What about Employment? Uncharted Lands? What to see and do? Cannery Jobs? Statehood? Weather? These were some of the questions sent in by Stephanie, Laurence, Selena, Barb, Desaray, Ron, Cody and Anglea.

A. Well, to all of you listed above I would like to remind you of my archives. I have fully answered these questions (sometimes in more than one place). I ‘could’ answer them again, of course, but in the interests of not repeating myself, I’d like you to just scan back thru the previous postings – a.k.a. ‘Archives’! I have probably 50 different categories, but tried to by helpful by assigning them concise, accurate titles. It doesn’t take that long to scan back thru, and who knows? Your eye just might catch something of additional interest to you. Which might spark a new question from you to feed my column’s voracious appetite! -BJ

Q. We’re coming up to Anchorage on June 9th to fly out of Merrill Field for a week of fishing. We’ll need an overnight there. It occurred to me you could probably suggest a bed and breakfast. Something close to Merrill Field would be great. Thanks, Mel

A. Sure, I can help you, Mel. It isn’t a Bed & Breakfast really, but there is a motel called the Merrill Field Inn and it is located right across from Merrill Field, so I can’t get you much closer than that! I’ve never stayed there myself; however, I did call the Anchorage Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to make sure it was on their list of approved places to stay. It was. They serve a continental breakfast in the lobby each morning. Here is their info:

Merrill Field Inn
420 Sitka Street
Telephone is (907) 276-4547
There is a # for out of state also – 1-800-898-4547 With tax, rooms are 128.80 a night, and I believe that is with a 10% discount if you tell them a local resident, Bonnie Jennings, at Wasilla, recommended them. You can check them out at www.merrillfieldinn.com

The other thing you can do, Mel, is to look up www.anchorage.net on the web. That is the convention and visitor’s bureau site. You can click on Anchorage lodging and get a list of bed and breakfasts. I believe some of them have site maps so you can pick something close to where you want to be.

Hope this helps and that you have a wonderful, wonderful time and catch a fish so big you’ll need proof to make the folks back home believe you! -Bonnie J.

Q. Alex wants to know, What is Alaska’s biggest resource?

A. Perhaps I should look this up, but I really think I know. It would be oil as first, probably, and then military spending, tourism and fishing. Not sure in which order those would be, but they are all big.

It was 1968 when the biggest oilfield in North America was discovered in Prudhoe Bay. The oil was found on state land, so that meant that overnight the state was very wealthy, and remains so to this day; although it’s unlikely that such a large strike will ever be found again. I said unlikely. Not impossible. Discovering oil meant the building of a 9 billion dollar pipeline, and that provided the means to affluent living for thousands of people.

Our military population figures largely in boosting our economy, even with the downsizing of some bases. Quite a few military families, upon completing their military service, opt to stay and live in the state, getting jobs in the private sector and continuing to input the economy.

In the summer, we host over a million and a half tourists. Many private citizens, as well as businesses, profit greatly from this influx of visitors. I have two friends with bed and breakfaats in their homes and they make enough in the summer to totally pay their mortgages for the year round. And one of them even added a nice motor home in which they tour the lower 48 in the winter.

Our bountiful waters produce over 6 billion pounds of seafood yearly, so that is a big thing. Especially after the studies showing the superiority of wild Alaska salmon over farmed salmon, our salmon sales, already great, really leaped upward.

Hope this helps, Alex. Take care, Bonnie J.

Q. I’ve heard that you sometimes see wildlife, even in the city. up there. Is this true? Thanks, Maureen.

A. Oh, yes, we certainly do. That’s because each of our cities sit basically on the edge of the wilderness. We have less population than other states, and so our cities are farther apart, and not strung together with a bunch of suburbs. Drive outside town a couple miles here, and you are in wild country. So, in the winter, for instance, you can’t blame a moose for coming in out of the back country, and walking where the going is easier.

You will sometimes see a big moose walking a downtown street; looking a bit bewildered of course. Usually, wild animals find their own way back to where they belong, but sometimes they have to be helped. Many an Anchorage-ite has found a curious black bear rattling around their garbage cans, or their dog food bowl, on the edge of the city. Sometimes one even makes it to the commercial district! Usually with a bear, the Department of Fish and Wildlife sedates them, and moves them back to the wild.

We have had our share of wildlife right in our yard…moose eating our new crab apple trees; a moose and her ‘teenager’ peering in our dining room window; moose licking the salt off the sides of our car back when they used a salty mixture to sand the roads. Believe me, nothing makes a car look sillier than moose slobbers all along its sides!

We live in a neighborhood, in the town of Wasilla, but right on the banks of a nice creek. There are fresh water otters living somewhere in the creek banks because one evening in the fall we saw one pull a spawning salmon from the water and stand on the bank enjoying his supper! Another time, in the winter, I happened to glance out the window and saw movement up by the culvert that passes under our road and here came 4 otters, having fun on the ice of the creek. I watched them traverse the whole length of the creek, sliding on the ice like happy children. They would run a few feet, then flop onto their bellies, legs spread out and would sliide as far as they could. Then they would scramble to their feet and run a few feet and flop down and slide again. It was hilarious and I loved watching them disappear out of sight downstream.

More recent, in fact yesterday, there was a big bald eagle roosting in a cottonwood tree above the creek, intently looking down. I thought to myself, I bet he is fishing! So I watched. Suddenly he dived to the creek and came up with a wiggling trout. He sat on the tree limb and energetically tore the poor trout apart, and hungrily ate it down. You couldn’t wish for a more up close and personal example of the old food chain. Then, almost daintily, he turned and cleaned his beak off on the tree trunk, swiping first one side of the beak and then the other against the rough wood.

So, yes, we do indeed live alongside the wild up here! (and then of course there is Uncle Joe, but that’s a story for another day!)-BJ

Q. Is there a black fly season in Alaska, and when is it? I have heard that when the thaw starts in the spring they are awful. -Mary

A. Good news, Mary! I have lived up here since 1971 and I’ve never seen a black fly. So I got to wondering, where did this vicious rumor start? I both ‘googled’ it and called the Department of Fish and Game (because I didn’t know who else to call!) Talked to a nice man named Nick, who was quite informative.

There are black flies here but they are certainly no problem and not widespread. Mostly you would find them along the rivers or coastal areas of S. E. Alaska and he has lived there and says they are not a bad problem. It really varies a lot from year to year depending on environmental conditions. One day they might be bothersome, and the next day there is not a one to be found. In S. E. Alaska they are called ‘white socks’ which are a sub-species of black flies found in other parts of the U. S. Minnesota is a hotbed of black flies for instance. They have them off and on all summer long.

We are well known for our mosquitoes, of course, but I don’t consider them any reason to put off visiting our state. A friend, Dean Wilson, who lives on the edge of the wilderness, where some years they are bad, says: “Mosquitoes are just a question of mind over matter, anyway. If you don’t mind, they don’t matter!” We would do well to apply that thinking to lots of life’s troubles, eh?

When we used to live out in the Copper River Basin, I remember one other insect. After mosquito season, there seemed to be what we called ‘No-See-Ums’. They were little bitty, hard to see, mean devils, who seemed to bite wrists and ankles mostly, but they didn’t last long.

We have found the good far outweighs the bad here in Alaska. And while we’re on the subject of creepy crawlies, just remember we have no snakes up here! I consider that in itself a good reason to move here! -Bonnie J.

Q. Claudia wants to know: Do you have a favorite way to fix halibut? Do you get halibut very often?

A. In answer to both questions: Oh, you bet we do! This whole past year we’ve had a freezer full of halibut because some friends took two of our grandchildren on a halibut charter. They all caught their limit, and my granddaughter’s fish weighed in at a hundred pounds!! Heidi’s mom, our daughter Lianne, likes to cut it into chunks, then dip in a batter made with stale beer, and deep fry it in hot oil. Here is my personal favorite way:

You lay halibut ’steaks’ (slice the fish into pieces about 1″ thick) on a lightly oiled baking sheet. On top the fish put a nice layer of sliced Vidalia or Walla Walla Sweet onions. On top of that, put a fairly thick layer of sour cream. On top that, put a nice layer of grated Pepper Jack cheese. Slide it into a pre heated 350 degree oven for about 30-35 minutes. Yum! If I were a betting lady, I’d bet this will be your most favorite way to have halibut. It is even tasty the next day, cold! (that is if there is any left) -Bonnie

Q. How is the hunting and the fishing? -Dose

A. Hi Dose! Well, what is one degree up from wonderful? That is how it is. Although I did hear one horror story this summer.

My pastor took a month off to guide some hunts and the outfitter he worked for, who shall be nameless (actually I don’t even know his name) – anyway, he had the bush pilot set them down in this area, where they never should have been, and left them. He would fly back in and pick them up when the hunt was over. Well, first of all, he set them down in an area that was having smoke from some wild fires. They weren’t in any personal danger there, but animals don’t like smoky areas, and quickly flee. So there were practically no animals. Did get a bear I think. Then, the weather turned ugly, and the plane couldn’t return until about a week late and they were virtually out of food!

On a brighter note though, most hunts go well. You just need to use a reputable, guide and outfitter and they can put you right where the animals are. Most hunts are successful.

The fishing is good. You will be jealous to know we live right on a trout stream. The salmon also come up to spawn each fall and that is fun to watch. In fact, I can easily see Cottonwood Creek right from where I am sitting since it bisects our two acres, and flows very close to my kitchen door. Incredibly, though, we are not ‘fishermen’ really. We do fish at times, but we’d rather watch them, but if someone else catches them, I’m happy to cook them up! I have some wonderful recipes. The best fishing trip (in quantity) was when we were first up here. We decided to go ice fishing. Went to Strelna Lake out by Chitina. We used an ice auger to make a hole in the ice. Put our lines down and immediately began catching fish. We got to laughing and wondering if they would bite on marshmallows we had with us? They did. Then we took it further and wondered if they would bite on bare hooks? They did! We caught 38 nice trout in 45 minutes! Returned home so triumphantly and began bragging to a neighbor, who was familiar with the ‘rules’. Turned out we were only allowed 15 a day! Oops! Well, we couldn’t put them back, could we? So we did the only sensible thing – had one whale of a fish fry!

Just be sure you pick up a book of regulations and you’ll have a wonderful time.

Q. I would like to see a chart describing the severity of mosquitoes in different areas, and the approximate length of time they are active (starting and ending dates). This chart should cover as many towns, or areas, as possible. Future residents could really use this type of info to help narrow the # of choices of towns when deciding where they would like to live. Mosquitoes do matter! -Steve

A. Yes, Steve, they do matter, at least to some people. We have a friend, named Dean Wilson who has a good outlook, however. He laughs and says it is just a case of mind over matter. He doesn’t mind, so they don’t matter! Not all of us can reach that state of mind though.

Your question is a bit hard to answer and I don’t believe such a chart is even feasible. It would be nice if it were, but each year would find it out of date since no two years are the same. Some years see hardly any, and then will come a year where you swear the little devils are twin engined! It depends, among other things, on how wet, how long, or how severe a winter we have had.

Mosquitoes are really only bad – on years when they are bad – for about 6 weeks. That is typically from about last week in May to first week in July. At least that is how it was this year.

Troublesome as they are, they do serve a purpose believe it or not. Some birds depend on them for food; also, the plentitude of mosquitoes even affects the # of fish available!

There are ways to fight mosquitoes. Some people claim leaving all sugar out of your diet for about 6 weeks before they land helps. Others swear by eating lots of garlic. If that works on mosquitoes, it probably works on getting rid of your friends too! You might want to think that one over. One year when we lived out in the bush (think ‘toolies’ ) we read that having lots of dragon flies around made a big difference. So we ordered dragonfly egg cases from an organic type gardening catalog. We floated them in tubs of water, since we didn’t live by a stream like we do now. When they hatched out, our property was flooded with darting beautiful dragonflies. Since they are reported to eat something like a couple thousand mosquitoes each every day – we had a wonderful almost-mosquito-free summer.

Now they have a wonderful gadget on the market. Kind of pricey, but boy do they work! It is a propane/electric machine called a Mosquito Magnet. It lures the little suckers into its belly by putting out the pheromones of a mosquito. They range in price from $200. to $600. We saw how magically (practically) they cleared the property of our friends Mary and Larry. Larry had fun collecting the hapless critters each day and dumping them into a gallon ziplock bag he kept in his freezer. He proudly showed me his stash of freeze dried mosquitoes one day. He had a bagful. We laughed about what to do with them. Bake them into brownies for tourists? Decorate stationery? Use them for a contest? (Guess how many in a gallon jar?) Use them to feed the chickens? See….mosquitoes can indeed serve a purpose.

If I ever see such a chart as you mentioned, Steve, I’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, don’t let a few mosquitoes cheat you out of a trip to the Great Land. -Bonnie J.

Q. I have been in the fishing charter all my life. I hold a USCG captain’s license. Would there be jobs for me in the fishing industry? -Kelly

A. Of course you could, Kelly. After all, Alaska has more coastline than any other state; therefore, more water related businesses. A good place to look is on the state jobs website and just click on the seafood industry part. Go to www.jobs.state.ak.us It should take you right to where you want to go. I was talking to someone in the department of Fish and Wildlife and he said that fishing in general has declined a bit due to the influx of farm raised fish into the world markets; as well as the U. S. in general not eating as much fish, but it is still big business.

Since you want to get into the fishing industry, I’m guessing you like to eat fish. I know the most wonderful recipe for halibut. Believe it or not, it came with our electric bill from Matanuska Electric Assoc. It has a rather unappetizing name I think (Sour Jack Halibut) but it is world class in flavor and appearance. So simple too. Just lay some slices of halibut on a baking pan (mine were about 3/4″- 1″ thick). Cover them with a nice thick layer of sour cream, then a good layer of sliced Vidalia or Walla Walla sweet onions, then a thick layer of shredded pepper jack cheese. Bake uncovered for about 20-30 min. (depending on thickness of the halibut).

I’m wondering, Kelly, with your license, maybe you would want to think about getting into the tourism business. That is big in this state and is a lot of fun as you meet people from all over the world. You should be able to find links to the tourism industry on the state website also. Good luck!