There are generally two kinds of people that live in this place we call Haines.

Ones that think the valley and its lifeforms are ripe for exploitation. It’s all here for our exclusive God-given right. Harvest the game. Rape and pillage the land. It’s all here for us. Go forth and multiply. Gorge on the resource party of today. Cut and ship away the timber. Mine the mountains. Tomorrow..errr. We’ll figure it out all then. There’s always more over the next green hill, isn’t there?

The others are those who believe somehow (perhaps unrealistically) that humans can somehow ecologically coexist with an environment and its interrelated web of creatures. (When you travel down south you will see that hasn’t really worked out so well.) They rejoice that amazingly enough, we still have a somewhat intact functioning ecosystem in these hallowed fjord walls.They fear that in their lifetime they will see it all come falling down. A paradise lost. Their lives a bit poorer each and every season; more industrialization, less wildlife, less fish, less wildness. A severely diminished quality of life for those who choose to stay.

Which are you? And perhaps more importantly, who has the numbers to capture the destiny of this place we call Haines?

Tom Faverty