| Spanning 17 million acres along Alaska's Southeast border with Canada the Tongass Forest is the world's largest
and probably best example of a temperate rain forest. This forest has been created by the unique climatic conditions which exist
when moist air from the Pacific strikes the coastal mountain ranges of the Northwest and deposits a |
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| large amount of rain on the
narrow strip of land sandwiched between the ocean and the mountains. |
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This rain fall, as high as 12 feet per year creates an enviroment capable of producing 4 times as
much bio mass as the typical tropical rain forest. This, along with the complex interaction between the Pacific currents
and the forest watersheds has created an amazing abundance and variation of vegetation and land and marine wildlife. |
| Put this on top of glacial carved valleys, hundreds if not thousands
of islands, bays and sheltered waterways remote from large population centers and you have
the ideal conditions for fabulous fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing. |
| Click here for more photographs. |
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