And he sees an international market hungry for bargeloads of humus, the naturally composting material commonly found in shallow wetland areas in the Northern Hemisphere, otherwise known as peat.

Strahl is convinced Alaska has the most pristine, pollution-free humus to be found anywhere.

"There are very few places on the earth where you can get this stuff," Strahl said. "It's virgin soil."

"Number one, it's a waste product, so the cost is low. And number two, it's the best stuff around," he said. "Outside, and all over the world, the soil has been farmed, depleted, or it has pesticides and chemicals in it. The demand is there for this."

Strahl and two business partners formed APC Export Inc. in 1999. The enterprise is currently using 10 acres of property that Strahl is developing in east Anchorage as a source for the material and a site for processing and packaging the product.

He said the company so far has dug up a niche market, selling one-cubic-yard boxes of his Alaska humus to an eclectic mix of customers.

"We're supplying soil to the casinos in Las Vegas," he said. "The Bellagio, The Mirage, Treasure Island. The Bellagio just took 38 yards for top cover on everything they grow down there. The guy called me and said the landscaping has never looked so good and healthy."

He said another client is Territorial Seed Company in Oregon, which uses the Alaska soil for its organic starter plant trays for shipments to greenhouses and stores in the Lower 48.

"We've also shipped humus to Japan, Thailand, and about 40 wineries in California," he said. "Oh, and we've sent some to Saudi Arabia."

A local market exists as well. Strahl said he has supplied a few nurseries and master gardeners in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley with his product.

The business plan is in place, the product is sound and the market exists for exponential growth, Strahl said. There's just one nettlesome problem.

"I'm not making any money at it," he chuckled.

"It's a transportation deal, that's all it is," he said. "We need to find financing to build a facility to process it, bag it up, and ship it out of here in a cost-efficient way. We have a marketing company Outside ready to work with us once we get the financing."

He said he is hoping to make arrangements with shipping lines to use southbound, mostly empty freighters to supply West Coast distributors, and eventually tap into the larger, Pacific Rim markets.

For example, the "designer soil" horticultural market in Japan now imports most of its humus supplies from Canada. Strahl is convinced his company can provide the goods at a more competitive price.

Strahl said he has a pending agreement with Tyonek Native Corporation to obtain a steady, bulk supply of humus from the corporation's land holdings along the east side of Cook Inlet, and he is looking into obtaining more supply from developments near Port MacKenzie north of Anchorage.

Shipping dirt from Alaska may seem like a long shot venture, but Strahl is betting that the business will put down roots.

"It's very close to happening," he said. "It won't be long. Alaska needs exports, and this is a natural resource. It would benefit the economy, the people who work at it will live here and the profits would stay right here in Alaska."

He said the main selling point for Alaska soil is simple. It exemplifies the term "organic."

"You can go to the store right now and buy a bottle of that green chemical miracle stuff, and pour it on your plants and it will work, but it's no good," he said. "And when you buy fruits and produce these days at the supermarket, you better wash them off before you eat them, who knows what's on it. With this soil . . . it has just what nature has intended, it all starts in the soil."