Surviving Alone in Alaska: Heimo Korth
“Me and Edna are the last ones left to actually live out here. The rest live in Fairbanks and they just commute from Fairbanks out here, spend a month or two and then they go back. And, this is the only national wildlife refuge that has polar bears and wolves and caribou, and it’s got a lot of media attention because they want to drill for oil here. The vast majority of Americans are against it. Eventually, they just want to get the people out of the land here, that’s why this permit for us to be here is only good up until the death of our last child, and then after that, that’s it.” –Heimo Korth
Heimo and Edna Korth
Heimo Korth and his wife, Edna, have lived alone in the 19 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for more than 30 years. Their only neighbors are polar bears and caribou in the Alaskan wilderness. Heimo left suburban Wisconsin at the age of 19 to pursue a Davy Crockett lifestyle in the Alaskan bush. He endured numerous setbacks before learning how to master the terrain and provide for his wife and children in one of the most inhospitable environments in the world. Heimo met his wife Edna while living in an Eskimo Whaling Village on St Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. Eventually, he was able to persuade her to move north more than 150 miles above the Arctic Circle.
In 1980, US President Jimmy Carter established the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Alaskan Interior. The establishment of the refuge removed access to 19 million acres of boreal wilderness for fur trappers, oil tycoons and lodge owners. Only six families of white settlers were grandfathered in and allowed to keep their cabins in the refuge. The Korth family is one of those families. Their closest neighbour is more than 100 miles away.
West Coast Living Canada 
Wow…. an interesting story. Watching the whole video here. Thanks for posting it!
I thought so too. I saw his story last year and stumbled upon it again this morning while I was researching Alaska. Heimo and Edna are definitely remarkable people!
A lot land in the United States (and worldwide) is being reclassified as a Wildlife Refuge or Parkland, preventing people from growing food and living on the land.
Heimo reminds me a bit of Bill Murray.
Reblogged this on Silver Star Winery of Texas and commented:
This blog and its various beautiful postings both in video and moving pictures is one of my favorite followers on my WordPress Poetry site which is now nearing 40,000 hits. I visit the WordPress family daily. The blogs themselves represents the best of humans on the planet in my opinion. Take time to explore these wonderful individual’s lives. You will be amazed.
Thanks so much John, that is so very kind of you.
Congratulations on your wonderful poetry blog!
I was lucky enough to meet Heimo and Edna Korth several years ago at an Alaska Trappers Fling in Fairbanks. Very nice people and I enjoyed the evening conversing with them.
Wow, how lucky for you. You must have had an interesting conversation with them. Did they give you additional insight into what it is like to live alone in the north?
Heimo & Edna’s story never grows old for me..there’s such a small amount of info on the Web about their lives and I feel like I’ve been over all of it many times. If you ever stumble across any new material, I’d appreciate you alerting me! They are truly unique people in this day and age. I’m hoping for a copy of their book from Santa.
Great reading your bblog post