Watchable wildlife abounds in Alaska

You may take it for granted when you see a moose on a trip into Anchorage or an eagle soaring overhead.

But nearly 200,000 visitors will come to Alaska this year for the primary purpose of watching wildlife.

Wildlife recreation is larger than fishing and is expected to grow 100 percent between 2000 and 2020.

Not all visitors get to see all that they came to see. That is why the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation has published materials and created a website to make it easier to view wildlife in Alaska. They have identified viewing hints and listed viewing ethics to increase your chances of watching the most wildlife.

Hints such as: early morning and dusk are the best times to view, move slowly and quietly, and learn the feeding habits of animals will help you find them.

The Alaska Wildlife Viewing Guide, by Michelle Sydeman and Annabelle Lund is a 96-page softcover guide featuring 68 of the best places in Alaska to view wildlife.

The guide is divided into five viewing regions and each site is described in detail with directions, wildlife featured, ownership of the site with contact information, the approximate size of the site, and closest town. This guide is available at local bookstores or you can order it from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for $11 which includes shipping and handling. The department along with support from the Alaska Conservation Foundation printed an excellent resource in 2004 for local wildlife viewing titled Anchorage Wildlife Viewing Hot Spots, for areas in or near Alaska's largest city. It is available locally for $5.95 per copy. Checkout the website www.wildlifeviewing.alaska.gov for more information. The website also lists "Alaska's 10 Most Wanted." These are the top of the most-want-to-see list of visitors and it gives you information to best spot these top 10: Bald eagle, brown or black bear, caribou, dall sheep, humpback whale, moose, muskox, puffin: horned and tufted, sea otter and wolf.

Another great program is the "Wings Over Alaska" birding certificate program. Free brochures include a checklist of 471 birds known to occur in Alaska, plus some we're pretty sure are here. The 50 species Ptarmigan level certificate is attainable by just about any visitor or resident that pays attention and visits a couple regions in Alaska. The program encourages birders to explore and discover more of Alaska and to take their skills to a higher level. For more information you can visit the website www.birding.alaska.gov.

You can also subscribe to the Alaska Wildlife News, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game monthly e-magazine featuring articles about wildlife research, hunting, viewing, and other wildlife-related topics. View online and subscribe at www.wildlifenews.alaska.gov. A quote on the Watchable Wildlife website by geographer Henry Gannett in 1899 after returning from his first visit to Alaska sums it all up, "If you are old, go by all means, but if you are young, stay away … The scenery of Alaska is so much grander than anything else of the kind in the world … it is not well to dull one's capacity for such enjoyment by seeing the finest first."