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Betsy Albecker

Betsy Albecker was born in Seattle, Washington in 1945 and was raised in Skagway, Alaska. She is the daughter of well-known Skagway photographer and entrepreneur, Barbara Dedman Kalen, and her ties to the community go back to her grandparents who arrived during the 1898 Gold Rush and ran a number of local businesses. After attending school in Washington and living in other places in Alaska, and coming back every summer to garden at the family homestead property at Nahku Bay, Betsy has been living in Skagway full-time since 2005. Following in her family's footsteps, Betsy has operated a number of local gift shops, including her current endeavor which is a combination gift shop and art gallery. Betsy is an avid gardener at her house in town and at Nahku Bay, and has been active outdoors since childhood, so is a keen observer of the environment and landscape around Skagway.

Betsy Albecker appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

Observing Change in Alaska's National Parks

Interview Title	Abstract	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Date of Interview
Betsy Albecker	Betsy Albecker was interviewed on October 9, 2018 by Karen Brewster at her home in Skagway, Alaska. In this interview, Betsy talks about the effects of environmental change that she has observed, including receding glaciers such as Laughton Glacier that she walked to when she was a kid, variation in plant species that succeed or fail in her garden, changes in the length of the growing season, warmer winters with less snow, and this summer’s hot and dry weather. She also talks about the successful growth of cedar trees that her mother planted at Nahku Bay, the effect of glacial rebound on the landscape, differences in insects, an increase in jellyfish, the disappearance of blue snails from the beaches, a decrease in birds, and changes in the frost, planting and harvesting seasons. On October 10, 2018, Betsy provided a tour of the Nahku Bay homestead and garden, including the cedar trees, apple trees, and her formerly productive garden space. Photos of this are included as the Betsy Albecker Slideshow.	2018-14-07	Observing Change in Alaska's National Parks	Oct 9, 2018