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Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, PO Box 2323, Seward AK 99664 http://www.Iditarod100.org IditarodHTA@gmail.com The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance is an equal opportunity program provider and employer. The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance promotes 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 and developing partnerships that foster stewardship, commitments and support. Time to Renew Alliance membership dues for 2024 are due by the end of December. A renewal form is enclosed with this newsletter. This is a good time to upgrade your membership level and to recruit new members for the Alliance. Every member is an important part of our mission to preserve, protect and promote the Iditarod National Historic Trail.
From the Past… Iditarod Pioneer June 15, 1916 RUBY KENNEL CLUBS DERBY TO BE RUN ON MARCH 17 Ruby, Alaska, December 7, 1915 Iditarod Kennel Club, Iditarod, Alaska. Gentlemen we send you greetings and wish you a season’s success. Also, we beg to advise you and remind you that on March 17th, 1916, the annual Ruby Derby will be run between Ruby and Long and return. The distance is fifty-seven and a half miles and the record for the distance over the course is still held by your picked team driven by J. L. Jean in 1913. Our prizes this year are double any we have offered before, and are divided as follows $500 for first money, $300 for second and $200 for third. Entrance fee, $25. We hope to attract many entries. At present we understand that there will be two from Nulato and that Sture Stenberg will be here with a team, and there will be one from Tanana and two or three from Ruby and Long.
We also have invited Nome to send a team. We hope we may get Fairbanks to pick a team and send it, but of course it is not likely they will, as they are only beginners at this northern pastime. We enclose a card which shows in addition to the Derby, the other races we have planned for the following winter. We will be very glad to welcome any entry from Iditarod for any of the races, and especially the Derby. We know you are good sports, have good dogs, and we would like you to come and play with us. The caption says, " Coming to the 1916 Ruby Derby." Ruby Kennel Club, Basil Clement, Secretary 1 The Tripod October 2023 The above letter to the Iditarod Kennel Club was received by George Marsh in the last mail. While Mr. Clement speaks of Sture Sternberg taking part in the Ruby race, this is by no means assured. Mr.
Sternberg is now on the outside and it is not probable he will return in time for the race. Interest in the dog racing game in this camp has been at a low ebb for some time and no attempt has been made to pull off the customary races this year. The Iditarod Kennel Club appears to have just dropped into innocuous disquietude. New Executive Director Courtney Lyons-Garcia began her role as Executive Director for the Partnership for the National Trail System in September of 2023. She is a nonprofit professional with more than twenty-five years of experience in public lands.
Prior to joining PNTS, she served as the Executive Director of Big Bend Conservancy, the nonprofit fundraising partner of Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River, in the Development Department at National Parks Conservation Association, and most recently as the Executive Director of Public Lands Foundation, a partner of the Bureau of Land Management in the responsible use of America’s public lands. I Throughout her career, Lyons-Garcia has worked extensively on issues related to public land stewardship, trail development, coalition building, federal partnership, advocacy, fundraising and communications. She works to build and protect trails in her own community through the Great Springs Project and Comal Trails Alliance. Land Manager Forum Alaska Trails will be holding its annual Land Manager Forum on Tuesday, November 15.
The Forum brings land managers, trails groups, trail builders and trail enthusiasts together to highlight the many successes they have had and share what has worked and what has not. You can view the 2022 presentations at: https://www.alaska-trails.org/land-manager-forum. The Forum will be held at BP Energy Center in Anchorage. More details including agenda, speakers and more will be forthcoming.
If you have any questions or ideas for the forum, send an email to Steve Cleary: steve.cleary@alaska-trails.org The Gold Sheet To demonstrate the value of volunteer hours and private contributions to the 11 National Scenic Trails and the 19 National Historic Trails, the Partnership for The National Trails System compiles an annual report called the Gold Sheet, which summarizes the private dollars donated and hours of volunteer time contributed to build, interpret, and sustain the nation’s 30 scenic and historic trails. Using the yearly national rate for volunteer time calculated by the independent sector, the Gold Sheet transfers volunteer hours into monetary value. Combined, the value of volunteer work and private donation demonstrate the total private contributions to the National Trails System.
In 2022 money raised by the National Trails System’s 30 trails was: in private contributions $22,256,718 and the monetary value of volunteer hours was $21,474,988. The totals raised since 1995 are: in private donations $282,310,800 and in volunteer hours $474,912,393.