Web Changes Are Welcome

I have been a subscriber to Alaska magazine for a long time and the recent improvements to your Web site are very welcome. It is more interactive than ever. With frequent visits to alaskamagazine.com, I have been lucky enough to win the monthly prize drawing four times. I am going back to the great state of Alaska for my third time soon and taking my two girls with me. I truly enjoy your magazine and the pictures are breathtaking, keep up the good work.

—Ron Meyrick
Springfield, Mass.

Lovely Island Lodge

The article and pictures of Afognak Wilderness Lodge (“Enchanted Isle,” April, Page 24) do not even begin to do it justice. My husband, son and I spent four of the most glorious, memorable and exciting days of our lives at the lodge last summer. The Randall family’s hospitality is extraordinary and brothers Josh and Luke are consummate guides, representing Alaska’s best. This was our second trip to Alaska, but by far the most rewarding and most unforgettable. If there were one journey in our lives we could live over, this would be it.

—Lori Crowe
Billerica, Mass.

Give Wildlife a Break

I was disappointed to read Rebecca Luczycki’s account of wildlife viewing in her article about Afognak Wilderness Lodge. She unabashedly describes how her hosts at the lodge, with impunity, disturb wildlife to provide viewing opportunities, piloting their boat so close to sea lions and seals that the animals flush into the water, causing the animals to expend energy otherwise used for survival. A photo of a young boy far too close to a brown bear is another example of irresponsible wildlife viewing. This signals to me that your magazine sanctions and promotes unethical wildlife viewing. Alaska is fortunate to have many wildlife populations intact, but without more care on the part of humans, the wildlife will suffer. Any human behavior that alters wildlife behavior is illegal in many locations and should be avoided at all times.

—Susan Bechtel
Santa Rosa, Calif.

Too Close to Sea Lions

After reading Rebecca Luczycki’s story “Enchanted Isle,” I checked out Afognak Wilderness Lodge’s Web site and saw they list themselves as an ecotour. However, guide Luke Randall’s actions read like a how-not-to-view-wildlife guide. He maneuvered his boat “within feet of the island … almost close enough to touch them.” A visit to a seal rookery “sent several hundred seals on the sheltered beach hopping and flopping to the safety of the water.” Federal guidelines prohibit approaching closer than 100 yards of a sea lion rookery, and any time you spook several hundred animals, you are too close. Both these actions are legally considered harassment of a protected marine mammal. Steller sea lions have had a dramatic decrease in population in recent years and do not need any additional stress, wasted energy, or risk of injury from irresponsible behavior from “eco” guides.

—Rick Fleischman
Sitka

Trust Science, Not Politics

I worked as an exploration geologist in Alaska between 1974 and 1987, and now work as a environmental hydrogeoloist in Idaho. I have watched the Pebble debate explode. Mr. Gillam is right about his concern about copper pollution of surface waters from uncontrolled mine discharge. After studying mineralization systems throughout North America, I would anticipate that the Pebble Deposit has a large natural elevated pollution footprint in both water and solid media that has been migrating off site for millions of years. Define this pollution footprint and do not allow it to be expanded. Demand a cash bond sufficient to fund all reclamation-closure efforts off the interest and leave the principle untouched. Allow the various state and federal agencies unfettered access to oversee and investigate mining operations. Keep the politics out of this and allow the science to make decisions.

—Elton R. Modroo
Idaho Falls, Idaho