Kodiak

Kodiak (Alutiiq: Sun'aq, Russian:), formerly Paul's Harbor, is the main city and one of seven communities on Kodiak Island. All commercial transportation between the island's communities and the outside world goes through this city via ferryboat or airline. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city is 5,581, down from 6,130 in 2010. The city has experienced two natural disasters in the last century: a volcanic ashfall from the 1912 eruption of Novarupta and a tsunami from the 1964 Alaska earthquake. Kodiak became a commercial fishing center after the Alaska Purchase by the United States in 1867. Salmon, halibut, the unique Kodiak bear, elk, Sitka deer (black tail), and mountain goats attract hunting tourists as well as fishermen to the Kodiak Archipelago. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game maintains an office in the city and a website to help hunters and fishermen obtain the proper permits and learn about the laws specific to Kodiak area. In their language, qikertaq means "island". In the early 1750s the Russian fur trading merchant and explorer Stepan Glotov met a Kodiak islander in the Aleutian Islands, who told him about the island. The Russians called the island Kadyak, after the AlutIIq word qikERTaq. In 1778 the British captain James Cook explored the area and wrote of "kodiak" in his journals.

History

Kodiak is the primary city name, but also Akhiok, Chiniak are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is Kodiak. First Europeans to sight Kodiak Island were the explorers Vitus Bering and Aleksei Chirikov, during the 1741 Second Kamchatka Expedition. In 1792, the Russian Shelikhov-Golikov Company chief manager Alexander Baranov moved the post at Three Saints Bay to a new site in Paul's Harbor. By the mid-19th century, the sea otter was almost extinct and 85% of the First Native population had disappeared from exposure to European diseases and violence. The capital of Russian America was moved to Novoarkhangelsk (modern-day Sitka) in 1804. Kodiak developed as a center for commercial fishing, and canneries dotted the island in the early 20th century until global farm-raised salmon eliminated these businesses. In March 1964, a tectonic tsunami struck the city with 30-foot (9.1 m) waves that killed 15 and caused $11 million in damage. During the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, animals such as the mountain goat, Sitka deer (black tail), rabbits, muskrats, beavers, squirrels, and others were introduced to the island and the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge was created. When Alaska became a state in 1959, government assistance in housing, transportation, and education added additional benefits to Kodiak's residents. The Kodiak Archipelago has been home to the Alutiiq for at least 7,000 years. In their language, qikertaq means "island".

Geography

Kodiak has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with cold winters and mild summers. Precipitation is heavy year-round, though markedly less in the summer months, when the Aleutian Low is at its weakest. The city has a total area of 4.9 square miles (12.6 km²), divided into 3.5 sq mi (9.0 km²) of land and 1.4sq mi (3.6km²) (28.66%) of water. It is located on the eastern shore of Kodiak Island, on the Alaskan Aleut coast. The U.S. state of Alaska is in the Kodiak Archipelago, which is part of the Alaska Peninsula. Kodiak is home to Kodiak National Park, which was established in 1881. The park is on Kodiak's eastern shore, and was named after Kodiak, the first governor of the state. It has a population of 2,816. It was the site of the Battle of the Bulge, which took place in 1858. The Kodiak Peninsula was once the largest island in the Alaska Aleutians, and is now the state's second-largest city, after Alaska Springs. It lies on the southern edge of the Aleu River, which flows into the mainland from the Alaska mainland. The town is located in the Aleukan Sea, which runs north-south between Kodiak and Kodiak Bay. It also has an outlet on the Alaska Turnpike, which connects Kodiak to the mainland.

Demographics

Kodiak first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the village of Saint Paul (not to be confused with the city of St. Paul located in the Aleutian Islands) In 1890, it would report as "Kadiak" (the then-spelling) In 1900, it returned as " Kadiak Settlement" From 1910 onwards, it reported as Kodiak, and would formally incorporate in 1940. As of the census of 2000, there were 6,334 people, 1,996 households, and 1,361 families residing in the city. At the 2020 Census, the population had declined to 5,581. The city is located in Alaska's Kodiak Archipelago, which is part of the Alaska Peninsula. Kodiak is home to the Kodiak National Park and Preserve, which was established in the 1930s by the state of Alaska. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has been home to Alaska's Alaskan Alaskans for more than 100 years. It is also home to a National Park Service park, which dates back to the 17th century. The state's highest point is Kodiak Island, where it is located on Alaska's Aleut Peninsula. The highest point was Kodiak Point, where the U.N. World Heritage site is located, and is the highest point for the Alaska Range of Glaciers, with the highest elevation being Kodiak Mountain. The lowest point for elevation is Kodiaks Island, at 1,832.7 meters (4,831.7 feet).

Economy

Kodiak is an important environmental asset which affects the fishing industry, particularly salmon fishing. Its wild game is coveted by hunters worldwide for the Kodiak bear and other game animals. There are strict laws governing fishing and hunting activities as well as hiking near spawning streams. The United States Navy operates a small training base near the city called Naval Special Warfare Cold Weather Detachment Kodiak which trains U.S. Navy SEALs in cold weather survival and advanced tactics.The United States Coast Guard has a major presence in Kodiak, Alaska. The city is home to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which regulates fishing, hunting, and hiking in the area. Kodiak is also home to Koniag, Incorporated, which is one of the largest companies in the state, with more than 1,000 employees in the city. It also has a number of military installations, including an Air Station and a Fisheries Training Center, which are used by the Coast Guard to train fishermen and the Alaska National Guard. It is also the home of the Alaska Air National Guard, which uses Kodiak as a base for air refueling and airlift operations. The Kodiak Airport is a popular tourist attraction, with many hotels and businesses using it as a stop on their way to and from other parts of the state. It has a population of more than 100,000. It was the site of the World War II Battle of the Alaskan Aleutian Islands, which was the largest naval base at the time of the conflict.

Community events

The Kodiak Crab Festival takes place over Memorial Day weekend. It includes a county fair-style main event, with carnival rides, food and game booths, and group activities. Other events include a kayak race, a marathon, an ultra-marathon, a 9.2-mile (14.8 km) mountain run called the Pillar Mountain Run and others. The official Pardoning of the Crab was added to The Kodiak crab Fest in 2019. A crab is given a crab themed name, and then saved from the crab pot by a special guest. It then goes to live at the Kodiak Fisheries Research Center Aquarium. In 2021, Lenny Crabitz, pardoned by Kodiak City Manager Mike Tvenge, will be the first person to be so pardoned in Kodiak. The event will take place over the three-day weekend on the island of Kodiak, Alaska, from May 31 to June 1. The cost of the event is $20 per person, or $50 for a family of four.

Education

The Kodiak Island Borough School District operates four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. A further 6 schools serve rural sites in the district and are operated as k-12 schools. The city is home to Kodiak College, a satellite campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage. Saint Herman's Orthodox Theological Seminary was founded in 1972 under the auspices of the Orthodox Church in America. Students from villages all over southern and southwestern Alaska study at St. Herman's in order to become readers or clergy in the Orthodox church. There are eight rural schools within the public school district, as well as a further six schools for students in the rural areas of the district. The Kodiak School District was established in the early 1900s. It is one of the oldest school districts in the state of Alaska. The school district has been in existence since the early 20th century. It was the first school district to be established in Kodiak, and the first in the Kodiak Islands. The district was also the first to open a high school, Kodiak High School, in the town of Kodiak. Kodiak is also home to a number of community colleges, including Kodiak State College and Kodiak Woman's College. There is also Kodiak University, which was founded as a satellite of Alaska State University in the 1970s. The University of Anchorage has its own satellite campus in the city of Anchorage, which opened in the late 1980s. There has been an increase in the number of students attending Kodiak-area colleges.

Transportation

Kodiak Airport attracts both local and regional airlines, air taxis, and charter floatplanes and helicopters. The Alaska Marine Highway provides further transportation via two ferries, MV Tustumena and MV Kennicott. Floatplane and bush plane companies regularly take tourists to remote areas and wilderness lodges both on the various islands of the Kodiak Archipelago and the Katmai coast for bear viewing, hunting, and hikes. The city business community also has a fleet of privately owned taxis as well as kayaks, mountain bikes, and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) for rent. The ferry system no longer takes passengers to Seward, although the ferry system No. 1 serves routes between Kodiak, Homer, and Whittier, and can carry 211 and 748 passengers, respectively. It is possible to fly from Kodiak to Alaska via Alaska Airlines, Alaska Air, and Alaska Air Cargo. It takes about an hour and a half by air to fly to Alaska. It can take an additional two hours to fly by air from Alaska Air to Alaska Air. It also takes about two hours and an hour to fly via Alaska Air and Alaska Airlines to Alaska's mainland. There are no direct flights to Alaska from the mainland, but there is a direct flight from Alaska to Kodiak on Alaska Air's main island of Kodiak. There is no direct flight between Alaska and Alaska on Alaska's major islands, such as the Aleutian Islands and the Alaskan mainland.

Health care

Kodiak is primarily served by Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center. Individuals located in the smaller surrounding communities are often airlifted into the hospital via helicopter or air ambulance due to remoteness and nonexistent or poor road connections. The city of Kodiak and these smaller communities are also served by volunteer EMT workers and local clinics. The hospital is the only true hospital medical center on Kodiak island. It is located on the east side of the island, near the town of Ketchikan. Kodiak is home to the Kodiak National Guard and the Alaska National Guard. The Kodiak Coast Guard is based in Kodiak, Alaska, and provides air and sea support to the island. The U.S. Coast Guard has a base on the island and operates a fleet of helicopters and air ambulances. It also has an air ambulance service, which is used to airlift patients to and from the hospital. The island is served by a volunteer fire department and a volunteer ambulance service. There are also local clinics, which are run by EMTs and other volunteer workers. The town has a population of about 2,000. It was founded in 1881. The first hospital was built in the early 1900s. The current hospital is located in downtown Kodiak on the west coast. It has a capacity of about 1,000 people. It's the only hospital medical Center in the island; it is also home to a number of other medical facilities, such as a cancer center and a rehabilitation center.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Kodiak, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska = 99. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 29. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 99. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Kodiak = 1.3 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 5,581 individuals with a median age of 36.4 age the population dropped by -1.23% in Kodiak, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,422.27 residents per square mile of area (549.11/km²). There are average 3.15 people per household in the 1,970 households with an average household income of $65,506 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.90% of the available work force and has growths 5.91% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 43.92%. The number of physicians in Kodiak per 100,000 population = 167.7.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Kodiak = 77.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 71.5 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 203. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 132. 60 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 26.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 94, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Kodiak, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska which are owned by the occupant = 40.20%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 32 years with median home cost = $273,930 and home appreciation of 5.13%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $8.92 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $7,218 per student. There are 21.1 students for each teacher in the school, 444 students for each Librarian and 591 students for each Counselor. 4.87% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 11.87% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 5.26% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).