The Tripod, March 2014

Hike the Hill Alliance President Judy Bittner reported to the Board at the monthly teleconference on the 18th of February that her participation in the Hike the Hill program was very productive, although meetings on one day were canceled because government offices shut down due to snow. She discussed Iditarod Trail needs and goals with representatives of the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Park Service and appropriations staff from both the House and Senate. Alaska Trails Statewide Trails Conference The 2014 Alaska Statewide Trails Conference will be held in Anchorage April 24-26. The conference will largely be held at Alaska Pacific University and will bring together a diverse array of trail users from across the state to teach and learn the latest in sustainable trail building and maintenance, trail advocacy and many other trail topics.

Before the conference starts there will be two pre-conference workshops offered on the 22nd and 23rd: Fundamentals of Trail Management and Trail Contracting. For registration information, the full conference schedule and list of speakers go to www.alaska-trails.org The organizer of the conference is Alaska Trails a non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance the Alaska trails experience by supporting sustainable trails through advocacy and education. Its goals are: to promote the health, social and economic benefits of trails, to preserve and improve public trail access and to promote sustainable trail systems for all users. Update on Serum Run film According to the “Calgary Herald” the producers of the film “The Race to Save Nome,” the story of the efforts to save Nome from a diphtheria epidemic in 1925, scouted new locations for their film in Utah in December 2013.

The film’s producers, Freedom Films, set up an office in Calgary in November 2012 and began preproduction work for the film in Morley, which included building sets. They left town for a “three week hiatus” in December 2012 and never returned. This left crew members, including carpenters, props people and set decorators unpaid for work they had done. Alberta Employment Standards The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance mission is to bring people together to preserve, protect, maintain, enhance and enjoy the historic, educational, cultural and recreational values of the Iditarod National Historic Trail and to assist, support and coordinate the cooperative development, maintenance and operation of the Trail across multiple land ownerships and among multiple parties to provide a quality recreational experience and visitor enjoyment. The trail for all seasons.

Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance PO Box 2323, Seward AK 99664 IditarodHTA@gmail.com http://www.Iditarod100.org has ordered Freedom Films to pay nearly $800,000 in wages to more than 100 crew members who worked on the film. The website for the company no longer contains contact information and Freedom Films CEO Brian Presley was not available for comment when the “Calgary Herald” tried to reach him. Marshall Moore, director of the Utah Film Commission, said he has not heard from the production since the scouting took place and that to receive any incentives in Utah the producers would have to prove that all their bills have been paid in other jurisdictions.

From the past… “Iditarod Pioneer” March 21, 1914 MAIL CONTRACTOR VISITS IDITAROD Colonel Revell who has been awarded the contract for the weekly mail service between Seward and Iditarod, to go into effect on November 1 next, arrived in Iditarod last Monday, and has been looking over the district and arranging details for the installation of the mail service next fall. He will leave on the return trip to Seward on Monday. It is possible that he may make another trip to Iditarod during the summer and he will come through from the coast with the first mail under the new contract. Colonel Revell told the Pioneer that his contract provides for a 25 day service between Seward and Iditarod, but that his schedule will enable him to make the trip in twenty days in all kinds of weather.

The trail from Knik he says, is one of the best in Alaska, and he is confident that with sufficient traffic over it he would be able to maintain a schedule of fourteen days, and even less. Coming to Iditarod he made the trip from Knik to Iditarod in nine days actual traveling time. From Iditarod to French Joe’s a distance of 200 miles, horses will be used. Colonel Revell says that he sees no reason why this portion of the route cannot be served in this manner as it is a better trail than the route from Valdez to Fairbanks. The problem of feed for the stock is solved by water transportation along both the Kuskokwim and Iditarod rivers. Thomas Boyd will have charge of this 200 miles of the route.

Colonel Revell does not expect that his contract will be a paying one the first year or two, but hopes to demonstrate to the postoffice department that the route from Seward to Iditarod and thence to Kaltag is the most feasible one for the Nome mail. He says by following this route two weeks can be saved over the present route from Cordova to Fairbanks, and thence to Kaltag and Unalakleet. The Nome mail consists of 800 pounds a week, and this added to the 400 pounds weekly for Iditarod would mean that the trail would be kept in excellent condition, and mail could be brought from Seward to Iditarod in ten days. With this object in view, it is certain that tremendous efforts will be made to keep the trail open and to rush the mail through from the start.

It is the intention of Colonel Revell also to establish an express service in connection with the mail route, and possibly a passenger service as well. Upcoming book Harnessed to the Pole, Sledge Dogs in Service to American Explorers of the Arctic 1853-1909 by Sheila Nickerson, to be published by University of Alaska Press in May, 320 pages, 60 photos, 15 maps. Harnessed to the Pole follows the adventures of eight American explorers and their dog teams, starting with Elisa Kent Kane and ending with Robert Perry. Nickerson reveals how critical dogs were to arctic exploration. Besides providing transportation in extreme conditions, sledge dogs protected against wolves and polar bears, helped in hunting, found their way through storms and provided warmth in extreme cold.

They also faced tough handling, starvation, the possibility of being eaten or being left behind as expeditions plunged ahead. iTREC! recruiting for teachers It is time for teachers interested in participating in the Iditarod Trail to Every Classroom (iTREC!) Program to apply for the upcoming year. iTREC! is a place based service learning program connecting young people and communities along the Iditarod National Historic Trail. Teachers can apply individually or as a team. Teachers accepted will attend a summer institute and fall and spring workshops and create curriculum using the state’s educational standards and the resources of communities along the trail. Now in its fifth year, 56 teachers are participating in the program, eight communities along the Iditarod Trail are active and curricula have been developed in eleven subject areas. Applications are due by March 28, 2014.

For more information and an application contact Annette Heckart, Chugach National Forest, 907-7439502 or aheckart@fs.fed.us