Iditarod Race Updates and Coverage--Ultimate Iditarod

Since I've been based in Nome I have been enjoying my discussions with Jake and Melissa, the staff from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), who are here to represent their agency. From them I have learned a lot about both the ancient and the modern Iditarod Trail, and I thought you might like to know a few of the facts I've discovered.

Many folks know that the Iditarod Trail was heavily used during the Alaska Gold Rush days by miners and the entrepreneurs who built up the mining communities to serve them. But long before this the native people who inhabited the region used exactly the same trails for purposes of hunting and traveling from village to village.

The Iditarod Trail was heavily used from about 1910, when gold was discovered along the Iditarod River, until 1924, when the airplane became reliable enough to become the preferred alternative to the dog sled, snowshoe, or ski. From the time of the serum relay to Nome in 1925, until 1973 when the first of the modern Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Races occurred, the trail was largely abandoned.

It is generally believed that the name "Iditarod" is derived from a native word meaning, "far away place".

The Iditarod Trail is actually much more than the trail used today by the "Last Great Race on Earth". It is even more than the combination of northern and southern routes, used in alternate years by the sled dog race. It is actually a complex of trails totaling about 2300 miles. In the interior of Alaska the trail extends to some inhabited, as well as some uninhabited places, such as Dishkakat, Dikeman, Poorman, Long, and Flat. Many of these old trails are now poorly marked, grown over, and therefore potentially difficult or impossible to use, but the BLM hopes that over the years, they can be developed for use.

The Trail crosses the land of various owners: private persons, multiple Native Corporations, the State of Alaska, municipalities, and a number of federal agencies-the BLM itself, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, The US Forest Service, the Department of Defense, and the Coast Guard (on the ocean). However, responsibility for managing the trail is given by the government to the Bureau of Land Management.

The BLM then coordinates with a variety of groups to help maintain the trail in ways like brushing out, marking, and making necessary improvements, for example, simple bridges over creeks. One such group is the Iditarod Trail Blazers, made up of volunteers. Also assisting the BLM is the Iditarod National Historic Trail Advisory Council, made up of members representing the various landowners and managers.

The famous sled dog race is not by any means the only activity which uses the trail. There are other athletic events, including the Iron Dog snowmobile race, and the Alaska Ultrasport: a human ultra-endurance event which includes bikers, skiers, and even runners. The trail is used by hunters, including those people lucky enough to get a permit to hunt the wild bison herd located in the country between the Rohn Checkpoint and the village of Nikolai. Some hunters travel and hunt on their own, others use guide services which are sanctioned by the BLM. And not all the mushers are associated with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Ty and I passed one musher, a woman from Trapper Creek, Alaska, who was on the Yukon River near Nulato, mushing her way to Nome, just out there on her own. And there were a number of snowmobilers who were following the Race, some associated with the media, and some just out to experience the trail.

Finally, there is a nonprofit corporation called the Iditarod National Historic Trail, Inc. Individuals or groups can become members for modest amount of money. The goals of this organization are to assist the BLM in implementing projects approved in the management plan, promote "appropriate multi-use recreational activities along the trail", and to "...establish, maintain, and preserve the trail system..."

Reporting from Iditarod Headquarters in Nome...
For Ultimate Iditarod....
Bill Gallea

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