I was going to ask if the mosquitoes really are as big as B-25s, and if they really have been known to shrivel up small children. 
I’ve been looking for some land in Alaska. What I want is a minimum of 20 acres, with access by road. I would prefer to have power and phone service already available at the property, and it’s mandatory that it be close enough to a major city to easily commute. I would also dearly love to have cable or dsl internet access. I’ve been unable to find anything so far. Do you think such a property exists out there?
That’s a pretty tall order. Road access properties are expensive, and parcels that large with utilities are rare, unless you’re looking to buy a fishing lodge. Even so, most lodges are fly-in.
There is a lodge for sale up near Sheep Mountain (about 2-3 hours by road) with an absolutely spectacular view of the Matanuska Glacier and the surrounding mountains and valleys. It’s been on the market for some time now. It’s a restaurant and hunting lodge that gets a fair amount of business. The road is being improved along that area, so access to the place should be much better. You could easily close it as a business and just live there, but you’re going to pay for the privelege because it’s a business.
There is no truth to the rumor that mosquitoes resemble B-25s. The tail structure is completely different.
Old joke:
Two mosquitoes kill a moose:
1st M: Shall we eat it here or take it down by the river for a picnic?
2nd M: Let’s eat it here. If we take it down to the river, the big guys will take him away from us.
Forgot to address this point. My guess would be more than 1 in 10 adults with pilot’s licenses. This is home to the largest float plane base in the world. There is also a special airport in Anchorage just for small aircraft. Landing strips abound all over the state, and of course float planes can land on the literally millions of lakes, and ski planes can do the same in winter.
That said, piloting here is not for the unwary or faint-hearted. It can be very dangerous with the rapidly changing weather systems and the rugged terrain creating all manner of up- and downdrafts. But what a glorious place to fly!
Just for clarity, if I were to move to Alaska and establish permanent residence, I would then get a fund check every year for the rest of my life?
You get the check if you live in Alaska most of the year. If you are a college student you can maintain residency status and get your permanent fund check even if you are going to school out of state. But if you spend most of your time out of state you’ll lose your status, even if you maintain legal residency for voting purposes.
You get your permanent fund check every year, and one for every kid too. In the bush this can be a very large fraction of a family’s yearly income. Lots of people just blow the whole thing on motor vehicles and trips to Hawaii though.
Temperature: I grew up in Fairbanks. It can get to -60F. Luckily there is no wind at that temperature, the air is absolutely still. Icefog covers everything, very limited visability. And yes, you can throw up a cup of water and have it come down as ice crystals. Unless you have a heated garage your car isn’t going anywhere, even with a battery blanket, oil pan heater and battery charger. But it typically only gets to 60 below once or twice a winter, and then only for a week or so.
Typically the winter temperatures fluctuate between 40 below and zero, although sometimes you’ll have freak warming periods. The biggest problem is that the winter lasts from October to April. By October you have snow on the ground and temperatures are ususally below freezing. By April you’re getting some spikes above freezing, but the snow doesn’t melt completely until May. Again, the colder it gets the less wind there is, and by midwinter there is no snowfall at all, it’s way to dry. By the end of winter half the snowpack has sublimated away before it has a chance to melt.
And they announce the sunrise and sunset times on the radio with the weather, along with how much daylight you’ve gained or lost. The northern lights are out quite a bit, but often there is icefog and you can’t see anything. And it is usually freezing cold anyway, so you look up, glance at the lights and keep running for the inside. Fairbanks is below the arctic circle, so you never get 24 hour darkness in winter, you always have an hour or two of sunlight and several hours of dawn and dusk even in midwinter. In summer it never really gets dark, even when the sun goes down the sky is still light, and the sun is back up in a few hours. It seems perfectly normal to me, but some people have a hard time adjusting.
There is quite a bit of land in Alaska, but the trouble is that 99% of that land is public land. Federal lands, wildlife refuges, national forests, national parks, national monuments, state parks, state forests, native lands, military reservations, etc etc etc. None of this land is for sale, and you can’t homestead any more. So land prices aren’t as dirt cheap as you might think, you can’t buy thousands of acres of tundra on the cheap.
As far as prices, there is a huge difference between prices in the cities and prices in the bush. In Anchorage or Fairbanks, most prices are only 10-20% higher. But in the bush everything has to be barged in by river, or flown in by air. Supply and demand. Any fresh vegetables are going to be really expensive if you have to charter a plane to get them. But canned goods and powdered milk can be barged in, and are only really expensive, instead of hideously expensive. But if you live in Fairbanks you won’t notice much price differences.
Hunting is just like any other state…you need a hunting license, there are seasons, etc. Yes, there is a lot more hunting available. But you can’t just go out and shoot anything that moves. Commercial fishing licenses are impossible to get, but you can do lots of subsistence or sport fishing. Of course, only Alaska natives are allowed to hunt marine mammals and such.
And yes, the mosquitos are hideous. 90% of Alaska is wetland, and every drop of water has a mosquito larvae lurking in it.
Thanks for the info!
Know anything about the financial services sector up there? Banks, investment houses, etc? Think it would be easy to get a job?
Are there a lot of ‘hermit’ types? People who live in the woods year-round? Is there a large population shift between winter and summer? As in everybody flies south for the winter…
-Tcat
Tell me about the Alaskan Independence Party.
Is there much evidence remaining of the Russian ownership of Alaska?
I don’t imagine there’s much physical evidence left, so I mean cultural hold-overs, etc.?
Is there any trade with, or flights to, Siberia these days?
Ah…my question just asked.
Husband and I are wanting to take a Bellingham (home)/Alaska/Siberia trip for hiking and camping next year. We haven’t delved into travel arrangements yet, and I’m starting to wonder how difficult it might be.
Do you prefer to be referred to collectively as Alaskans or German Shepherds?
No but really, is it possible to walk to Russia from Alaska?
No.
You would get a check every year that there is money to pay out. If the market does badly, the amount goes down. Eventually, the money will go away entirely and the checks will stop, but probably not all that soon. You must maintain residency and you must remain in the state unless you fall under the student exception, etc.
That said, we have a lot of out-of-state oil workers up here who are not residents. They buy a shack out in the boonies to establish a residence, have their checks mailed there and never live in it. It’s a difficult scam to beat.
At least they stopped paying out to criminals incarcerated in Arizona.
Not a lot. Wells Fargo is here. We have Key Bank, a few local banks and some credit unions. Scottrades has an office here and several of the investment houses. I’m not in touch with the job market in that sector, however. If you look at the classifieds in the local newspaper online, you can get some idea of job opportunities. I would seriously discourage moving up here without a job offer in hand.
We have a lot of ahem individualists here. There are folks who live out in the middle of nowhere, but you really have to be dedicated to that lifestyle in order to succeed at it, or even survive. Winters are harsh, game can be scarce, and if you’re not willing to spend each and every day working goddamn hard to keep the place running, you will fail at it.
Most people are year-round residents, if for nothing else than to qualify for the dividend checks. There is a ‘snowbird’ contingent, of course, usually retirees. And of course we have a huge influx of tourists every year. The Wal-Mart lots are always jammed with giant RVs.
What does caribou taste like? What would be an acceptable bribe to get some really good salmon?
From what I’ve seen on debates, it seems to be largely a group with some wacko ideas mixed in with some ideas that are merely screwy. This site should tell you all you want to know.
Southeast Alaska is pretty rich in Russian heritage. Some of the old churches still stand and are protected historical buildings. The Russian Orthodox religion is still practiced in many areas, primarily by Natives. Many of the Native families have Russian surnames and are descended from the explorers (one of our board members, for instance, has a last name of ‘Shuravloff’).
Anchorage has a sister city in Siberia. A couple of years ago, they were in pretty bad shape and Anchorage-ites donated a huge amount of warm clothing and other goods to be airshipped over.
I believe there are flights to Siberia now, though I haven’t looked into them.
I’m not a fan of caribou unless it is in the form of pepperoni or jerky, or mixed with ground pork as a sausage. Other folks like it just fine. It’s a subsistence food for Eskimoes, of course.
Much as I would like to make a profit out of selling salmon to Dopers, unless you come to my house for dinner, you ain’t gettin’ any of my reds. ::racks shotgun:: So just keep movin’.
However, you can order your own salmon from Prime Select Seafoods in Cordova. They make the best smoked salmon on the market, in my opinion, at about $13 a jar, delivered. They also ship frozen fish.
Don’t know about the Siberia end of it. I know there are some flights there, but have never checked into it. Arrangements to Alaska are as simple as to anywhere else.