The Arctic Tag

Destinations, Diversity, Essays, Latino Conservation Week, Latino Outdoors, National Geographic, National Parks, Public Land, The Arctic, The Joy Trip Reading Project / 19.07.2023

After several days of exploring Alaska’s Denali National Park, we’re heading south toward Kenai Fjords. As the resident National Park Expert, I have the great privilege of accompanying a group of environmentally conscious travelers for National Geographic Expeditions. Over the last decade, I’ve enjoyed many other trips to this remarkable place in hopes of encouraging others to follow. By sharing ourtransformational experiences in nature, we aim to build a more diverse constituency of park advocates. Throughout this same period, a wonderful organization called Latino Outdoors has proven to...

Alaska, Commentary, Destinations, New Century Vision, Public Land / 20.07.2016

[caption id="attachment_2063930" align="aligncenter" width="641"] Photo by Carly Harmon[/caption] Ahead in the distance I saw seagulls. The birds swooped and dived over the remains of a butchered whale as we walked along a narrow gravel trail lined with ancient gasoline barrels that rimmed the landing trip. On Barter Island with time to kill before our flight back to Fairbanks, photographer Carly Harmon and I went in search of a rumor near the Inupiat village of Kaktovic at the edge of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. “There was a polar bear sighting...

Alaska, National Parks, New Century Vision, Short Story, Sierra Club, We are the Arctic / 04.07.2016

There on the Arctic tundra I searched my tent frantically for a lighter. Years of wilderness training had taught me the importance of fire, but never before had the need been greater than it was at that moment. Even as the glacial ice melted around me in the heat of an Alaskan summer I shivered in desperate need to turn spark to flame and provide the relief these dire circumstances demanded. Just the day before I had mused without irony how seldom, if ever, I had lit a fire...

Commentary, New Century Vision, We are the Arctic / 21.06.2016

When you think of the Arctic it’s hard to imagine what that really means. The first images that come to mind likely include vast tracts of ice and snow expanding far out into an infinite horizon full of emptiness. Seemingly hostile to all forms life this northernmost sector of our country conjures up thoughts of a desolate wasteland meant to be avoided, even feared. But contrary to popular belief the region along the Alaskan coast of the Arctic Ocean is a diverse and thriving ecosystem. Rich with a wide variety...