Kenai: tourism and progress strong on the Kenai Peninsula.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy
• Position: REGIONAL REVIEW

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The Kenai Peninsula extends majestically beyond Alaska's southern coast, stretching approximately 150 miles southwest from the Chugach Mountains south of Anchorage. Flanked by Cook Inlet on the west and Prince William Sound on the east, the Kenai Peninsula is an easy 30-minute flight or scenic three-hour drive from Anchorage. It offers residents and visitors spectacular scenery, an abundance of wildlife, some of the best sport fishing in Alaska and a wide variety of other recreational activities.

"We consider the Kenai Peninsula the playground of Alaska," says Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor John Williams.

Alaska's Kenai Peninsula is adorned with beautiful glaciers on its eastern side. It is home to the Sargent and Harding icefields, among many other glaciers. Along the southeastern stretch of the peninsula, sit the glacier-covered Kenai Mountains. Much of the range, with peaks reaching 5,000 feet, is within the Kenai Fjords National Park--which receives about 250,000 visitors per year.

Major rivers of the area include the Kenai, Russian, Kasilof and Anchor rivers. The Kenai River is a favorite sport fishing location for Anchorage residents and non-resident tourists and is famous for trophy king and silver salmon. Kachemak Bay, a small inlet off the larger Cook Inlet, extends into the peninsula's southwest end, much of which is part of Kachemak Bay State Park.

Interestingly, the exact meaning of the word "Kenai" isn't completely clear, and some say the name is derived from "Kenayskaya," the Russian name for the Cook Inlet. Historically, the Kenai Peninsula has been the home to Kenaitze Indians, and was developed by non-Natives for its fish, timber, oil and other resources. Russian navigator Gerasim Izmailov is credited with being the first to explore and map the peninsula in 1789.

KEY CITIES ON THE KENAI PENINSULA

The Kenai Peninsula constitutes the majority of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, which was incorporated in 1964. The borough spans almost 26,000 square miles--about 16,000 of which is landmass that equates to the size of Massachusetts and New Jersey combined. It stretches from Hope and Seward to Homer, Seldovia, Port Graham, Nanwalek and over to Tyonek and includes four Russian-speaking villages.

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The borough has a year-round population of about 50,000, according to Williams, but during the summer, the number of residents mushrooms. "Our regular population is 51,000 during the year, and in...