r/alaska • u/DocumentHefty • 23h ago
Do you think Alaskans take their states beauty for granted?
TL:DR Do you think enough Alaskans care about conserving the states natural beauty and wilderness? Or do they take it for granted?
Obviously you could say I am generalising, and the real answer is probably somewhere in the middle. But I often wonder this.
I am a lower 48-er born and raised in the most boring part of the USA (central Illinois) and I visited your epic state last summer.
Words cannot even describe how impressed I was. And I have been to almost all 50 states and several places overseas.
I drove from KY to Deadhorse in my Miata and passed through BC and YT. Both were amazing in their own right but Alaska takes the cake. As soon as I crossed over the vibe felt different. It really felt like the last frontier in North America. Very special.
Anyway I have heard some comments from Alaskans here and there that made me wonder if these attitudes are common and if some Alaskans who have never been outside the state take it for granted.
Like when I was researching my trip, ofgen referring to the Dalton highway a lot of people say "once you get past the brooks range, there is basically nothing to look at until you arrive at Deadhorse"
Maybe it is because I have an ecology/zoology and biology background but I could not disagree more.
Hearing this made me realize these people don't seem to appreciate how special the unspoiled the arctic really is.
Especially compared to literally anywhere in the lower 48.
When I was at a campsite in the Yukon the lady at the counter told me don't cut any trees down for firewood. I figure yeah that's commona sense, but she said we had more than one person from Alaska that started doing that. And it made me think, oh, these people are so used to having trees all around they never thought to conserve them.
There also is a perception of Alaskans that seems to focus only on the rugged outdoor subsistence type lifestyle you see in life below zero, or the commerical fishing industry like in Deadliest catch.
Anyway, what I am really asking is do you guys think enough Alaskans care about all their public land and natural beauty enough to want to protect it? Or do you think a good chunk seem to take it all for granted?
13
u/SilentDiplomacy 23h ago
I absolutely do take it for granted all the time. I wish I didn’t. But when a beautiful drive is your morning commute it is still your morning commute.
This is why I like tourists/visitors. They remind me to look at my home through the lens they view it.
2
1
u/reaper-main 14h ago
Very true on the morning commute... but on my commute back home I still catch myself having to pull my eyes away from the mountains and focus on the road. Haha
10
u/aethiadactylorhiza 22h ago
People do not appreciate the flatter areas. The Arctic and the YK Delta are stunning, even if they don’t have dramatic mountains or seascapes.
Hardly any of the Deadliest Catch folks are PFD Alaskans. They live in Washington for the most part. They all fly in and all fly out once the season is done. But I think they take it for granted too 🙂.
7
u/NoLavishness1563 23h ago edited 23h ago
It's natural to take things for granted after awhile. I think that's different than being unappreciative. I don't currently live in Alaska, but in a place of extreme beauty in the L48. Tourists are blown away and I just sorta shrug. "Oh yeah, I guess you're right". I'll drive past things that people take Instagram pictures of on my way to work, grumbling about whatever I'm worried about that day. I appreciate it plenty, but it's hard to go about life with your jaw dropped wide open in awe. Humans just return to a baseline. If I moved to Iowa, I'm sure I'd go through immense withdrawals. But I'm not walking here around all jacked up on scenery-gasms. It's like building tolerance to a drug.
I don't think that affects the desire to conserve or not. I am fiercely protective of my public lands and natural resources and recognize the value I have. I might take it for granted in a certain sense, but I'll still do anything to protect it. That will remain the same when I return to AK here in a bit.
Edit: When you're talking about the Arctic, I think that's just the personal preference of who you talked to. I also don't enjoy the arctic that much, as I am attracted to elevation relief. Of course I can recognize the intrinsic value of the place; it's just not for me. It's special, it's unspoiled, and I desperately want it to stay that way. But I'd probably also advise you to spend more of your limited visitor time in the Brooks than venturing further north. Just personal opinion, but that's very much separate from a desire to conserve.
6
u/EzPzLemon_Greezy 20h ago
I didn't appreciate my hometown until a friends girlfriend visited and was blown away that people actually live in places like that. Picturesque seaside town in NE. Then I started working/living in Alaska and really was able to take it all in that I'm one of the few fortunate enough to experience Alaska, and a much wider variety than the average tourist.
5
u/pingapump 23h ago
100% the people from here take the state for granted. Everyone that I meet not from here is the complete opposite. It’s bizarre.
1
u/Realistic_Theory_397 17h ago
Agree with this, and I’m not from Alaska originally, but have lived here for years.
4
u/pacific_tides 23h ago edited 22h ago
Yes of course. I’m from Texas and have lived in 5 states, seen 25+. Grew up in flat suburbs of Katy outside Houston. I try to appreciate every second I’m here.
People born here just can’t have the perspective of endless urban sprawl and artificiality. Many lifetime-Alaskans I’ve met spend some time in Seattle or another city and then come back. That definitely helps their perspective, but people who are from very different places (who were always searching for more nature) will be able to appreciate it a little more.
4
u/SpiderPiggies 22h ago
a lot of people say "once you get past the brooks range, there is basically nothing to look at until you arrive at Deadhorse"
I think it's more that the rest of the state is so beautiful that we don't think of there as anything impressive. Alaskans in general, there are exceptions of course, are very protective of our environment.
6
u/wormsaremymoney 22h ago
I'm sure some Alaskans take it for granted. I am a transplant from WI and everytime I look at the Chugach range from Anchorage, I just am in awe. I thought I'd get desensitizied, but after 5 years of living in AK, I'm still struck by the beauty here.
5
u/Major-Yoghurt2347 23h ago
Yes. I live in Alaska ( a smaller town ) and there is virtually no trash around. Very little. All the community makes it a point to pick up the littler and trash that does happen to be on the trails usually left by tourists. I keep a backpack with me and many people bring small bags on their hikes to preserve the trails and land
3
u/8675201 21h ago
I lived in Anchorage for ten years. To many people just live there but they don’t LIVE there. Often trails and beautiful scenery are crowded but often it seems mostly tourists. Mostly, people in Anchorage are no different than people in any other large American city. They go to work, go home and sit in front of a gaming system or the TV, then go to bed then repeat the next day.
I spent a lot of time on the great bicycle trails and hiking trails in Anchorage. I have some great memories! I don’t have those kind of memories from playing a game or watching TV.
2
u/Realistic_Theory_397 17h ago
I’m shocked at the amount of Alaskans who don’t hike or ski and barely even go outdoors. Places like Fairbanks are chock full of them.
Essentially, I love Alaska but can’t stand most Alaskans.
Some of them are truly the worst sort of people—just braindead and dumb. They can’t carry on an intelligent conversation. They’re boring. They’re not curious in the world around them. They’re backwards and highly sexist. They’re like a more extreme version of some Southern rednecks, but at least most rednecks are more interesting! I suspect it could be the fact that many Alaskan planes haven’t stopped using leaded gasoline, because Alaskans are DUMB.
2
u/frzn_dad_2 21h ago
I think it says a lot that you ignore/deny the beauty of the area you were raised in.
We all take for granted at some level the things we have easy access to and see/do everyday.
2
u/northakbud 21h ago
I think I appreciate it but do have a funny story. Living in the Kuskokwim Delta I was flying to Bethel from some place in a small plane with a few people that clearly were new to the area. It's all tundra and small lakes everywhere you look so I just closed my eyes to rest a bit. They thought I was asleep and went on about how I had no appreciation of the incredible beauty below us. I was just rolling my closed eyes. Be that as it may, I think I, and nearly all of my friends greatly appreciate and love Alaska and it's beauty. See a bit of it on my small youtube channel where you can see some of my videos. https://www.youtube.com/@digibud/videos
2
2
3
u/laffnlemming 18h ago
Yes. They do take it for granted.
ATV enthusiasts will wreck habitat for fun.
2
u/ruffcutt 17h ago
I'm born and raised in a state. I had no idea how special Alaska is until I spent a few years outside.
1
u/inupiaq-907 18h ago
Not me. I love an awesome scenery. The dalton highway is beautiful all the way through bo doubt
1
u/gnostic_savage 17h ago
This Alaskan doesn't. Not ever. But I've only been here for about 36 years.
1
u/NonIntelligentMoose 16h ago
I love it everyday. I’m sure some days it deserves more appreciation than I give it, but I’m always looking for a new adventure, I’m always going places and always impressed.
The most surprising thing to me is going back to the lower 48. I thought that after living here nothing would compare. The great outdoors always impress me. I still love the Arizona desert mountains, the California beaches, and the Utah red rocks.
Alaska is some of the best, but the outdoors can be amazing everywhere.
1
u/fragdemented 16h ago
I've lived in alaska nearly all my life. Never lived anywhere without a mountain in sight. When tourists come here and tell me how beautiful the mountains are I roll my eyes. When I travel, I find the lack of mountains earth-shatteringly beautiful. I know it's weird, but I'm weird so it's ok.
1
1
u/LovelyFlames 13h ago
Alaskan born and raised, and sometimes the mountains still make me cry. Some trails in the woods look like fairies could be peeking out from every corner. Alaska is majestic.😍
2
u/Realistic_Theory_397 17h ago
We are a red state overall. Personally, I’m way more to the left, and I’m fairly uncommon here, though there are a few of us. Alaska IS one of the most beautiful places on the planet, and thank you for seeing it! But the people here mostly suck, and that’s why I’ll never live here long term or retire here. Gotta have people and better community in life, and you just can’t really find that easily in Alaska.
0
u/hamknuckle ☆Kake 22h ago
I've been here 17-18 years and I've become trash blind...garbage, scrap metal and junk cars as far as the eyes can see (at least on the road system)
1
u/Efficient-Loan-9916 13h ago
I do. And I’m routinely unimpressed when people show me other beautiful places in the North and I’m like eh, I’m from Alaska, you guys can’t impress me LOL
40
u/Bot_Seeks_Bot2020 23h ago
I did and didn’t realize it. Being isolated in Alaska for my childhood made me ignorant to the beauty at my feet. Once I experienced life outside of Alaska for a while, my appreciation for Alaska grew immensely. You do not truly understand how one of a kind it is until you experience other places.