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ArcticOcean,andI tooksidetrips
alongthewayaswell,soI spenta lot
oftimeinCanada.
HS You’vehadtheopportunity
tovisittheparkovermany
years.Haveyouseenanychanges?
JW
Asa volunteerforthe
National Park Service, we’re
checking on animal migration.
We’re checking on the flow of the
water: How high or how low is
the water? We call back and give
weather reports. We check on the
status of the glaciers: How much are
they melting, or are they changing?
We check on the status of the boreal
forest: Is it healthy? Are there any
forest fires around?
I think everything is under threat
right now. The Gates of the Arctic
is surrounded by one of the largest
wilderness areas in the world. There
are about half a dozen areas that are
protected, but now some of these
protections are being eroded with
the possibility of oil drilling. It’s a
really rugged area and it can be very
unforgiving. But it’s also fragile.
If someone drives across an area, it
can do damage. Those tracks can
last hundreds of years. Yes, there
is a threat here.
I’ve been going up there since
1966, so I’ve had half a century
of seeing how things change, and
things are, in fact, changing very
dramatically. It is warming up. The
glaciers are melting. There’s still
about a hundred thousand glaciers in
Alaska, but in a very few years, there
won’t be any in the Lower 48 of the
United States. And it’s dangerous.
The polar bears in northern Alaska
will be going extinct, I suspect, in
very few years. The ice pack goes out
a hundred miles from the coastline of
northern Alaska. Polar bears never
hibernate and they’re carnivorous—
they live off of meat. The meat they
live off of is walrus and seal. For
them to hunt those, they need to be
out on the ice pack. So, they’re faced
with a situation where they have to
swim a hundred miles just to begin
hunting. And if it’s a mother polarbear, that’s just not going to happen.
In the Hudson Bay area, they’re going
to be around awhile. But in northern
Alaska, I don’t think they will be
aroundtoolong.HS What brings you to the
Arctic,yearafteryear?JW
ThebeautyoftheArctic
wilderness is simply incredible.
It’s a wild place that fundamentally
alters everyone who takes time to
experience it. One visit can change a
person’s life forever. It’s the ultimate
wilderness that’s left anywhere in
the world. It’s rugged, it is wild, it is
remote. It is magnificent. When a
person has the opportunity to spend
time out there, especially alone, in the
vastness of this Arctic wilderness,
your senses literally tingle. Each
day is new—it’s exciting. When you
have a chance to climb mountains or
challenge rocky cliffs or go down the
wild whitewater rivers, it’s exciting.
For months on end, you’re in 24-hour
illumination by the sun. Then you
have 24 hours of darkness. JOE WILKINS