362 



Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



floors and along the foothills. They 

 give way entirely to shrubs, grass, and 

 barren ground on the higher ridges and 

 mountains. 



The south coast covers about 10 per- 

 cent of the area of the Territory and 

 comprises the narrow, crescent-shaped 

 region fronting on the Pacific Ocean 

 from Portland Canal on the southeast 

 to Kodiak Island on the northwest, a 

 distance of 800 miles. Southeastern 

 Alaska, the almost-detached section 

 that extends southerly as a panhandle 

 along the western side of northern 

 British Columbia for 400 miles, makes 

 up almost two-thirds of it. The region 

 consists of a narrow strip of mainland 

 extending back to the summit of the 

 Coastal Range, numerous large and 

 small islands, and a maze of inter- 

 vening narrow waterways. The land 

 is mountainous throughout, and rises 

 abruptly from the water's edge to 

 heights commonly exceeding 4,000 feet 

 and, in many instances, 8,000 feet. 

 A few awe-inspiring peaks extend to 

 15,000 and 18,000 feet above the near- 

 by sea. The coast line of mainland and 

 islands is highly indented, and the 

 deep, narrow waterways, the fiords, 

 reach far inland toward the backbone 

 of the mountains, with the result that 

 most of the land area is within a few 

 miles of navigable tidewater. The lofty 

 summit of the mountain chain on the 

 mainland strip has great permanent 

 icefields, from which ice is drained off 

 by glaciers down hundreds of valleys. 



The voyager along the network of 

 narrow waterways here gains the im- 

 pression of a mountain country which 

 has been depressed about 1,000 feet, 

 thereby transforming the former 

 stream valleys into deep, narrow, navi- 

 gable sea channels, and the summits 

 of the high ridges into chains or elon- 

 gated islands. 



The south coast owes its well-tim- 

 bered condition to a moist and rather 

 warm, equable climate. A warm ocean 

 current of the north Pacific touches the 

 northwest coast of North America 

 from Kodiak Island to southern Ore- 

 gon along a distance of 1,800 miles and 



gives the intervening coastal area about 

 the same climate throughout. The visi- 

 tor from Portland feels at home in the 

 winters of Sitka. Winds moving land- 

 ward from this warm ocean water, 

 through a low barometric trough usu- 

 ally lying over a portion of the north 

 Pacific, greatly modify the winter 

 temperatures. They also produce a 

 heavy rainfall, as much of their abun- 

 dant moisture is dropped when they 

 strike the cold, high coastal mountains. 



The winters of the south-coast area 

 are long but not severely cold. The 

 average January temperature at sea 

 level is 32 F., about the same as that 

 of Washington, D. C., or Cincinnati, 

 Ohio. A reading of zero is a rarity. The 

 summers are cool, with an average July 

 temperature of about 55. The average 

 annual precipitation is heavy. It ranges 

 from 70 to 155 inches at sea level in 

 different parts of the region and rap- 

 idly increases with elevation on the 

 exposed westward slopes of the moun- 

 tains. The winter precipitation near 

 tidewater is largely in the form of rain, 

 and the ground may be clear or nearly 

 clear of snow for extended periods, but 

 at elevations above 600 feet the snow- 

 fall persists throughout the winter 

 months and accumulates to great 

 depths. Cloudy days are common in all 

 seasons and constitute two-thirds of the 

 days of the year. There is no pro- 

 nounced summer dry season. Harbors 

 are not icebound, and climatic condi- 

 tions at the lower elevations do not, as 

 a rule, seriously interfere with outdoor 

 winter activities, such as logging. 



A growing season of 150 days and 16 

 to 18 hours of daylight are highly fa- 

 vorable to the growth of vegetation, 

 especially coniferous forests, but heavy 

 rainfall, rough topography, and thin, 

 new soils in this part of Alaska prac- 

 tically rule out extensive agricultural 

 development. Many garden crops do 

 well if given good care. 



THE LAND OF ALASKA is still almost 

 entirely in Federal ownership. Not 

 more than 1 percent of its 586,400 

 square miles has been patented to date 



