Show U S navy plans large air base on kodiak island coast guard may alay join in developing project near alaska y by national geographic society washington ash angton D C service kodiak island which is soon to become the site of a large united states naval base and air station and possibly a coast guard base and air station adjoining is the largest of the alaskan islands about a hundred miles long and 50 miles wide kodiak was discovered by russian fur hunters in 1763 when the sea otter was plentiful but its fame more recently lies in the fact that it is the native heath of the kodiak bear the worlds largest carnivorous carni verous animal the bears roam in 30 to 40 thousand acres of spruce on the island and in the mountains which rise to nearly feet much of the interior has been little explored and the few miles of highway do not penetrate the game preserves fishing chief industry the chief industry of the island 1 is S on the coast fishing for salmon herring and halibut one whaling station handles two hundred whales annually vast areas in luxuriant grass would seem capable of supporting large herds of cattle but there are probably not more than head on the island most inhabitants have small truck gardens but climatic conditions do not favor extensive agricultural development A united states agricultural experiment station was abandoned there a few years ago kodiak was prominent in the news of the eruption of gatmai in 1912 though about 90 miles distant from the volcano the clouds of volcanic ASIA arctic ocean AL KA CANADA bodia k island BEARS HOME kodiak island home of the kodiak bear the worlds world s largest carni carnivorous verous animal is to become a U V S naval base and air station the island s history is is rich in stories of fur traders adventures ash then enveloped the island in darkness for 60 hours A foot or more of ash covered the island driving the bears to the coast for food mild climate the aleutian islands which trickle off kofl the alaska peninsula towards divert the warm japanese currents to the east greatly altering Ko diaks temperature despite its latitude ti th g islands winters are much mild than boston and more nearly ap dimate pi mate the climate of washington D C the inhabitants are still mostly descendants of russians the capital of the early russian settlement kodiak is still the largest town on the island |