BLACK GOLD VS. RED GOLD
The Fight Over Chuitna’s Future
Beluga, Alaska, is the Cuba of the American frontier. Ushered by a bush plane into another era, the 40-minute flight from Anchorage serves as a journey back in time. As the tires grip the gravel of the tiny outpost runway, you are thrust into a world devoid of modernity.
Lining the runway, which conveniently doubles as Main Street, are a handful of cars. Riddled with decades of dirt, these vintage Silverados and AMC Eagles are throwbacks to another age. Behind windshields cracked courtesy of the town’s unpaved roads sit hardy frontiersmen, eagerly awaiting their guests and supplies. With Beluga only accessible by air, residents rely on Spernak Airways as their lifeline to the outside world...
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