Videos
Bering River Coal Flyover
The series leaves from Cordova and heads east across the Copper River Delta over and around Scott Glacier, then over Sheridan Glacier (which is now Sheridan Lake because how fast Alaska’s Glaciers are receding).
There's a glimpse of the Copper River Highway, that was taken out by the Copper River at Mile-36.
There's Kushtaka Lake, with the island in the middle. You sweep around and see Cunningham Ridge, Kushtaka Mountain and Carbon Mountain and the magnificent roadless Copper River watershed.
The KADCO Bering River coalfields sub-surface fee title surrounds Kushtaka Lake and Kushtaka Mountain. Everything surrounding Kushtaka Lake, for 11,000-acres would be strip mined, mountain tops leveled and destroyed for its high quality 14,000-BTU bituminous coal. Prolific amounts of coal sits on surface as coal seams are clearly visible throughout the hillsides.
Heading south, across the Delta towards the Katalla valley and coastline and over Pt Martin, one of the last known documented Eyak / Tlingit Village sites, where the first productive oil well was drilled in Alaska, in 1902 (only 155,000 barrels of oil was recovered). Weather and fire wiped the port and refinery away in 1933. The remnants of the train rail tracks that were started, towards the Bering River Coalfields, are still seen, yet never came to be.
Then headed back west across the Copper River Delta wetlands over to Eyak Lake (with a glimpse of our Eyak Lake lodge and cottage), and a view of Eyak Mountain near Cordova; last frame with USFS Alaska Forest Service Chief David Schmid's powerful statement about the importance of this world-class wild salmon baseline habitat.