Travels with Kenji — Koliganek

We dropped into Koliganek, on the lovely Nushagak River, so Kenji could download his permafrost temperature sensors and speak with students. Kenji said this small village was one of the most interesting in Alaska to him. Holes drilled by Alaska DOT guys in the 1990s showed the village had permafrost, but he's not finding it now. He thinks it's one of the first places to lose permafrost naturally. 

The Russian Orthodox church is the most striking structure in town.

Think you're paying a lot for gas?

This guy was trolling for conversation on his four-wheeler and came over to speak with Kenji and me. He has lived through two village moves for Koliganek (because of floods). His hat shows he doesn't like the idea of the giant Pebble mine proposed upstream of the village. The athletic students Kenji spoke to were also angry about the mine. If it happens, a mistake or two could pollute the waters of the Nushagak and Bristol Bay, home of the world's best salmon runs. But it's worth it for all those class rings the foreign companies would produce, right?