Alaska’s “Lost Coast” is one of the world’s wildest places.

This remote, forest coastline is located between the Tongass and Chugach National Forests. A lonesome, rugged reef juts into the sea at a place called Cape Yakataga. Here, golden beaches are backed by lush river valleys of old-growth spruce and hemlock. The precipitous ice-clad mountains of the St. Elias range lie just beyond. Nearest civilization is over 100 miles away.

Salmon, especially Coho, are the keystone of this ecosystem. The wild, glacial Yakataga river supports abundant wild Pacific Salmon. The salmon feed abundant black and brown bear and smaller predators like marten. Salmon also provide rich marine nutrients that enrich the rainforest of giant spruce and hemlock trees, and lush understory of blueberry, salmonberry, and Devils Club.

The forests provide shelter during incredibly harsh winters.  The forest is especially important in winter for mountain goat.

The humans who live here are rugged pioneers, themselves a literal part of the wilderness. The hearty half-dozen or so make their living in the Alaskan frontier tradition: as guides, trappers, gold miners, artists and subsistence hunters.

Sadly, the public, state-owned forests at the Lost Coast have been savagely clearcut by the University of Alaska Land Trust. The “Gulf Coast” timber sale covered nearly 12,000 acres, or 18 square miles.

This has been devastating to the entire ecosystem. Goats, the only animal anyone has bothered to count, have suffered an 80% population decline in clearcut areas. Loss of habitat for salmon and bear is significant.

Out of the public eye, and not subject to Federal environmental laws, the logging methods here have been particularly destructive. Miles of streams have been logged without buffers. Steep hillsides have been stripped bare, sending down landslides and impeding regeneration. Clearcuts span miles, severely fragmenting wildlife habitat.

This legendary clearcut swath extends along the Lost Coast for a distance of about 40 miles, from Icy Bay, all the way to the edge of the Duktoth River…

…and the doorstep to Jen-Ann Kirchmeier’s cabin.