Episode 1: Duck Hess; How A Bear Attack, A Business Battle, And A River Built A Legacy

 A brown bear mauling, a river business built from nothing, and a small Alaska town trying to find its future—our conversation with longtime Haines, AK resident and entrepreneur Duck Hess is a study in grit, ingenuity, and community. We trace Duck’s path from Oregon logging camps and Air Force intelligence to family logging in Southeast Alaska, the realities of owning bars in a boom‑bust town, and the spark that led him to launch Chilkat River Adventures with one boat and a van.
 
 The story lifts when a chance meeting lands a Royal Caribbean deal that transforms a scrappy tour into a regional anchor. Duck explains how he redesigned boats for shallow water and salmon habitat—moving from inboard jets to wide, flat hulls with twin outboards and twin tunnels—reducing suction, pushing through five inches of water, and setting a standard other operators now follow. Not everything came easy. He opens up about conservation fights, expensive wake studies, and the unglamorous truth of entrepreneurship: legal bills, training captains on a living river, and making it right for guests when things go wrong.
 
 Through it all runs a love for Haines that never fades. Duck shares why local storytelling beats scripts, how he tailors Duck’s Dynasty Tour for accessibility and weather, and what steady, predictable tourism—one large ship at a time, four to five days a week—could do for restaurants, year‑round jobs, and young families. The memories of his late friend Ron Martin add warmth, mischief, and heart, reminding us that community is the real safety net in remote places.
 
 If you care about Alaska, small‑town economies, responsible tourism, and the craft of building something that lasts, this one will stay with you. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves Alaska stories, and leave a review telling us where you land on the big question: how should Haines balance growth and wildness?