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Dues Membership renewal applications have been sent to all members, according to our records you: _____have renewed your membership. THANKS. _____have NOT renewed your membership. If you have mislaid your application form, contact IHTA for another copy by email or postal mail. New BLM Anchorage Field Office manager The Bureau of Land Management has appointed Alan Bittner manager of its Anchorage Field Office. Bittner previously served as assistant field manager of the BLM’s Carson City, Nevada office for four years. Prior to his Nevada service, he worked with the U. S. Forest Service and the BLM in Idaho. As Anchorage field manager, he oversees 17 million acres of BLM administered lands and resources in Western, Southcentral and Southeast Alaska.
The Anchorage Field Office has two primary responsibilities for the Iditarod National Historic Trail (1) management of the Historic Trail and associated resources on BLM lands and (2) as directed by Congress in the National Trails Acts, administration of the entire trail, mainly via coordination and facilitation of recommendations in the Comprehensive Management Plan for the Trail. Investors not members Unlike most of the trail stewardship organizations that serve the National Scenic and Historic Trails, the Lewis and Clark Trust is pursuing a business model that is not based on duespaying members Instead, those who wish to support the programs and activities of the Lewis and Clark Trust are considered investors, with returns based on programmatic results and developments.
Investors can choose to support The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance promotes public awareness of the Iditarod Trail and its gold rush and Alaska Native heritage by encouraging education programs and historical research, assisting in the protection, improvement, maintenance and marking of the trail, developing partnerships that foster stewardship commitments and support from land owners, local communities, organizations and others. The trail for all seasons Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance PO Box 2323, Seward AK 99664 IditarodHTA@gmail.com http://www.Iditarod100.org the Lewis and Clark Trust mission through investments in either the General Operating Fund or the Program Fund.
The organization is not to have any paid staff; instead trustees work on behalf of the organization at their own expense and are not reimbursed for any out-ofpocket costs incurred to guarantee that all investor funds are used for programs and activities. From the past… “Iditarod Pioneer” February 25, 1911 NO SEWARD TRAIL FOR THIS WINTER While Congress is bickering whether or not they will give Seward and Iditarod $50,000, a lone party of mushers goes over the proposed route and arrives with the statement that it don’t make any difference whether we get the money or not, there will be no Iditarod-Seward trail that can be practicable for even fair travel until the Alaska Northern railway is built to Susitna station and the winds of heaven are tempered by a kind and beneficent Providence. Bob Griffis, the well-known Nome musher has been over the trail twice in the last four months.
He left in November with a party, carrying out gold dust for the M & M Bank*of this city. He returned yesterday afternoon after one of the hardest journeys of his experience in Alaska. They were 41 days from Seward to the Innoko, and they snowshoed all the way, they traveled light and they traveled slow, and slept in their snowshoes for fear they would disappear in the night. Coming this way, Mr. Griffis said, they figured they would be over the worst of their journey after covering the 180 miles from Seward to Susitna, after rounding Turnagain Arm. As a matter of fact their troubles had just commenced, they bought all the dog feed there was in the town and started out, from that time on their journey was a weird dream of white, dotted now and then with little currant bushes which were in reality the tops of tall trees. According to Mr.
Griffis, it is almost idle to talk about a mail service between Seward and Iditarod until the extension of the Alaska Northern is built to Knik, cutting out the almost impossible going between that point and the present terminus of the railroad. This part of the trail goes over mountains and gorges, and is practically impassable for laden dogteams. From Kern creek, the present end of the track, they follow the railroad, dragging through the tunnels on dry ground. These are glaciered at the entrances so that it is necessary to cut one’s way in. Even were the road built to Susitna, the trail would not be practical at this time of year unless constantly traveled, for the heavy fall of snow and the constant winds of the Kuskokwim are a positive menace.
Later in the spring when the snow packs, it will be fair traveling from here to Susitna Station, but the balance of the journey to Seward will be even worse than it is now. Seward is boosting strenuously for the trail at the present time, but there is a danger that many a chechaco will be up against it if not properly prepared for this hard journey, which is at least 600 miles long. *M & M Bank = Miners and Merchants Bank Answer to last month’s question Last month we asked what the phrase “to frog” in the above advertisement from the “Iditarod Pioneer”meant. Dan Walker of Seward has provided a very reasonable answer: “to frog” means to bum or to sponge, which fits in very well with its use in the advertisement.