The real southeast: Wrangell's pioneering tourism entrepreneurs.

• Author: Dobbyn, Paula
• Position: VISITOR INDUSTRY

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Sylvia Ettefagh made her living as a drift gillnetter, fishing the waters near her home in Wrangell for many years. When prices for Alaska wild salmon tanked in the 1990s following the rise of Chilean farmed salmon, Ettefagh knew she needed to switch gears.

She and her husband, John Verhey, took a look around. It was 1995 and Wrangell's main employer, a sawmill, had just closed, leaving more than 250 people jobless. Between the mill closure and the depressed salmon prices, Wrangell's economy was dire. But amid the gloom and hardship, Ettefagh and Verhey saw potential in the town's location. Wrangell sits on a mountainous coastal island in the heart of the Tongass National Forest. A massive rainforest of nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass hosts thousands of miles of salmon and trout-filled rivers and lakes, picturesque stands of ancient trees, and a plethora of wildlife including whales, bears, moose, and eagles, as well as stunning glaciers, emerald fjords, and snow-capped mountains.

"It looked to us like tourism could be an option," says Ettefagh.

She and Verhey launched Alaska Vistas that year, becoming one of Wrangell's pioneering tourism companies. Until then, tourism was in its infancy in Wrangell, a blue-collar town with a history of boom-and-bust cycles in fur, fishing, mining, and more recently, timber. Ettefagh was not alone in sensing that Wrangell's natural beauty could attract tourists. Several timber industry veterans moved in that direction as well. There are now at least seven jet boat tour operators, a slew of hunting and fishing outfitters, a glistening convention and visitors' center, and no shortage of operators offering kayaking, guided hiking, cultural tours, and other options.

While Wrangell remains a sleepy, off-the-beaten-track town still trying to secure its economic footing, tourism has evolved into a growing sector that adds diversity to what had been a one-industry town. Tourism in Wrangell is largely built around the area's wild landscape. Some of the main Wrangell-area highlights include the Stikine River, the LeConte Glacier, and the Anan Wildlife Observatory, one of the world's best places to view black and brown bears feasting on salmon.

"There's nothing in Alaska, hands down, that beats Anan," says Ettefagh.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Although it lacks the name recognition of some of Alaska's top tourist attractions such as Denali, Glacier Bay National Parks, or the McNeill River State...