A Wild Promise

Prince William Sound

Debbie S. Miller / photography by Hugh Rose

Nestled between the mountains of the Chugach National Forest in southcentral Alaska, Prince William Sound contains a priceless gem: the Nellie Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area. This wild expanse of over two million acres, home to a rich array of wildlife that thrives in and around the nutrient-rich Sound, has remained in limbo as a designated wilderness study area for more than three decades.

About the Author

A lover of wild places, Debbie Miller has explored and written about Alaska’s wilderness and wildlife for more than four decades. She is the author of Midnight Wilderness: Journeys in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Braided River, 2011), On Arctic Ground: Tracking Time Through Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (Braided River, 2012), and numerous award-winning children’s nature books about Alaska.

About the Photographer

Hugh Rose has spent the last twenty-five years exploring and photographing Alaska’s natural beauty, wildlife, birds, plants, and geology from his base in Fairbanks. As a freelance photographer and naturalist-guide, his focus is the Arctic and Prince William Sound, but he began his career in Denali. He has spent the last twenty years working with Dean Rand on the Discovery as a naturalist while also photographing the Nellie Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area.