Produced by Joseph Yolo and narrated by Tom Bostic, Southeast Alaska: Our Magnificent Northland is a short film promoting Southeast Alaska. Despite the end of the gold rush era, Alaska still has a special allure to it. Unlike much of the rest of the state—and countries with a similar latitude—Southeast Alaska has a mild climate, tempered by a warm water current. Covering much of Southeast Alaska is the Tongass National Forest (02:31), home to millions of hemlock and spruce, totem poles, and abundant wildlife. Southeast Alaska’s principle towns are Skagway, Juneau, Sitka, Wrangell, and Ketchikan. Ketchikan (03:45) is the “salmon capital of the world.” Commercial fishing and fishing tourism dominate the region, thanks to large populations of salmon and Alaskan Black Cod (04:20). Pontoon planes (04:33) are a common mode of transportation: Alaska has seventy times the per-capita use of airplanes than the rest of the U.S. Juneau, Alaska’s capital, now has a modern airport to service airline jets (04:55), making travel to Southeast Alaska easier and more affordable. Another major attraction of Southeast Alaska is the totem poles (06:25) that dot the landscape. Residents and tourists alike enjoy all that Southeast Alaska has to offer, including Tongass National Forest (07:48), playing on sandy beaches (08:00), and dog-powered transportation (08:16). Mendenhall Glacier and Mendenhall Lake (08:33; 09:50) are not only major tourist attractions, but they also provide jobs to those willing to harvest the pure ice (08:54). North and South Sawyer Glaciers (09:19) at the end of Tracy Arm, producing tons of icebergs, are another highlight of the region. The glaciers are receding, and the receding Mendenhall glacier left an ancient fertile bed that is now used for agriculture (10:08). The U.S. Forest Service is developing the Tongass National Forest (10:34) so that it can help build and support Alaskan communities. Logging in Tongass National Forest (10:56) is a major industry, and portable mills (11:05) are brought in to saw spruce needed for packing cases, which are used to ship the thousands and thousands of pounds of frozen fish. Wildlife, like bears (12:42), also enjoy the region’s abundance of fish. A popular annual event is the Golden North Salmon Derby (13:10) in Juneau, held in July at Auke Bay and Tee Harbor. Sponsored by the Territorial Sportsmen, fishermen from all over come to the derby to fish the 3-day event. Requirements stipulate that there must be at least two people on each boat, and fishermen must bring salmon to the boat unaided. Participants head to the Tea Harbor weighing station (15:10) to compare catches. All catches become property of the Territorial Sportsmen, and the proceeds go to fund scholarships. Commercial fishing is the biggest industry, and it provides employment for 20,000 people each year (16:05). Traps are used in salmon passage ways to catch fish for canning in an operation called brailing. The protection of Alaskan salmon is critical in order to preserve this natural resource that is the backbone of Southeastern Alaska’s economy: commercial fishermen must release at least as many salmon as they catch.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
