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Thank you for your renewed membership. Your support is appreciated and will enable the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance to continue its programs. Upcoming events April 12-14: Spring workshop for the iTREC program teachers at Nome April 26-27: Spring meeting of the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance Board at Wasilla Annual Hike the Hill This advocacy event is a Joint effort of the American Hiking Society and the Partnership for the National Trails System. This year’s Hike the Hill took place February 11-15 in Washington D. C. During the week representatives of hiking and trail groups from around the country meet with federal agencies and their congressional members to talk about trails. The Alliance was represented by our President Judy Bittner.
She meet with representatives from the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Landscape Conservation System, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Energy and the staffs of our U. S. Senators and Representative. She discussed with each the goals, accomplishments and needs of the Alliance. 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 Seavey in Iditarod Hall of Fame Alliance Board member Dan Seavey has been inducted into the “Anchorage Daily News” Iditarod Hall of Fame. Dan ran the first two Iditarod Sled Dog Races in 1973 and 74, in the 25th anniversary Race in 1997 and in 2001 with his son Mitch and grandson Danny, the first time three generations had run the race together. In 2012 he ran the Race, sponsored by the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, as the Centennial Musher to publicize the Centennial of the Iditarod Trail. He served on the board of the Iditarod Trail Committee for several years representing the mushers. Dan Seavey with his Centennial Musher bib. In 1982 he organized the Seward Iditarod Trail Blazers to reestablish the Iditarod Trail between Seward and Girdwood.
Over the years he and other Trail Blazers have put in thousands of hours locating, marking and clearing the trail between Seward and Girdwood. He received the Citizen of the Year award in 1990 from the “Seward Phoenix Log” for spearheading the building of a bike path from downtown Seward, Mile Zero of the Iditarod National Historic Trail, to the Small Boat Harbor, since expanded to Mile 5 on the Seward Highway. When the Iditarod National Historic Trail was established in 1978 he served on the Advisory Board established by that Act. When the Advisory board was replaced by the nonprofit Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance in 1998 he was elected to the new board and has served on it ever since. As a Seward Iditarod Centennial Trail project, he suggested to the Seward Iditarod Trail Blazers the erection of a stature in Seward of a prospector and his dog setting off for Iditarod.
The Trail Blazers agreed and the statue, sculpted and cast in Alaska, was dedicated in May of 2012. Chugach Forest plan revision The Chugach National Forest is beginning a three year planning process to revise the 2002 Forest Plan, which provides direction for managing resources and activities. During phrase one the Forest Service will identify and evaluate existing information about ecological, economic and social conditions and trends related to the forest and southcentral Alaska. The resulting assessment will provide a base of current information for phases two, drafting the revised plan and developing an environmental impact statement, and three, developing a monitoring strategy.
In February the Service held public meetings in Anchorage, Cordova, Seward, Valdez, Girdwood, Soldotna, Cooper Landing and Moose Pass to find out: (1) How the public uses the forest now, and how that might change over the next 15 years (2) What the public sees as emerging issues and trends. (3) How the public can best be involved in the revision process. This revision is important to the Alliance, since most of the Iditarod National Historic Trail on the Kenai Peninsula is in the Chugach Forest. Members of the Seward Iditarod Trail Blazers attended the Seward public meeting and advocated for the completion and protection of the southern section of the Iditarod National Historic Trail. For more information go to Chugach Forest plan revision “Spotlight” at: www.fs.usda.gov/ Chugach.
To sign up for the mailing list, email: chugachplanrevision@fs.fed.us From the past… From “Iditarod Pioneer” March 8, 1913 TO TEST THE SEWARD ROUTE Postmaster T. L. Thurston is experimenting with a view to securing government action in having Iditarod, Innoko and Seward Peninsula mail routed via Seward next winter if possible. The test is being made in the following manner: duplicate letters dealing with the proposed change have been sent to the postmaster general and to Delegate Wickersham. Of these one set was forwarded by the regular mail route, while the duplicates were given into the care of H.H. Porter, who left for the Outside over the Seward trail last Saturday morning. Mr. Porter will post the letters when he reaches Seattle. We are pleased to offer you the opportunity to receive your copy of “The Tripod” by electronic (PDF) form via e-mail.
If you would like to receive “The Tripod” by e-mail contact the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance at IditarodHTA@gmail.com