Kennicott River Service Bridge

WRANGELL ST. ELIAS NEWS JULY & AUGUST 2004 PAGE 1

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”Volume Thirteen Issue Four July & August 2004 Two Dollars

Wrangell St. Elias News

Kennicott River Service BridgeSome call it Freedom!

The Kennicott River valley has alwaysdrawn exceptional men—men of vi-sion and indomitable will. Michael

Heney, Stephen Birch, John Barrett—namesfrom Kennicott and McCarthy's not-too-dis-tant past, of men who saw the incredible po-tential of this far-flung, craggy wilderness,and defied conventional wisdom and the lawsof nature in order to make their vision a reali-ty. Some McCarthy residents of late are add-ing Keith Rowland to that list after he fundedand almost single-handedly built a 220-footvehicular bridge across the Kennicott River,performing the installation in an incrediblyshort 7 weeks. Now, if only the governmentwould get things done that fast…

Story page 6

Also in this issue:NPS Reg. Dir. Meets ROW page 5

Hoola on the mountain page 8

Before

Photo courtesy David Rowland

After

Photo courtesy Keith Rowland

McCarthy celebrates4th of July page 10

WRANGELL ST. ELIAS NEWS JULY & AUGUST 2004

Wrangell St. EliasNews

VOL. Thirteen, Issue Four, July &August 2004.

Published every two months atMcCarthy, Alaska. McCarthy, POBox MXY, Glennallen, AK 99588-8998. Phone (907) 554-4454. FAX(907) 554-4494E-mail: [email protected] “Copyright © 2004 by Wrangell

St. Elias News. No part of this pub-lication may be reproduced by anymeans without the express permis-sion of the publishers.”Contributors to this issue: Peggy

Guntis, Laurie Rowland, SusanSmith, Ron Simpson, George Ceb-ula, Robert King, Dorothy Adler,Kevin Smith, Lynn Welty and NeilDarish.Subscription price is $11 for one

year in the USA. Canada $12.50.Other countries $20. Advertisingrates upon request. Deadline forpublication in next issue is August15.PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID

AT GLENNALLEN, AK. 99588.

A note from the publisher

McCarthy area resi-dents cannot say theydid not experience a

genuine summer this year. In fact,McCarthy hit an all-time high of89 degrees on June 19. Many lo-cals dug out their shorts and wentbarefoot. Eleven days out of Junewere in the 80’s and 9 of thosedays were in the mid to high 80’s.According to the weather recordsfor this area the previous hightemperature was 87 and was set inJune 1969. (This is beginning tosound like George’s weather col-umn. I better let him fill you innext issue — this is his area ofexpertise!)

On June 26 smoke from a vari-ety of Alaskan forest fires blewinto the McCarthy area and forabout 5 days we lost sight of ourfavorite mountains. Eventually therains came and the smoke gradu-ally dissipated. We were glad!

With the summer seasoncomes new faces, either visitingour area for the first time or onesthat come to McCarthy/Kennicottevery summer to work for a localbusiness. Bryan McCully is a newface. He is a guide with St. EliasAlpine Guides. Skylar Kline, aguide for Kennicott WildernessGuides, has been coming to workhere for several years now. Both ofthese young men made severaltrips to the WSEN office to useour Internet service. Not only arethey both mountaineering guidesbut they are each taking collegeclasses online — complete withtaking tests. Bryan is studying an-thropology and Skylar, computerdesign. Starband services are cer-tainly changing the opportunitiesfor people in the McCarthy area. Afew more dishes have popped up

over the last couple of months -right in the nearby neighborhood!

Rick and I enjoyed meetingTroy Hvass’ mom and step dad.Sue and Ed Slater stayed in one ofour B&B cabins. They live in Van-couver, WA. but keep up on theMcCarthy news by subscribing toWSEN. Troy made sure the Slat-ers had plenty to do while theywere here; in fact, they stayed anextra day because Troy kept com-ing up with exciting activities suchas flightseeing, 4 wheeler trips,dinner parties and quality visitswith Troy’s friends and neighbors.The Slaters had a grand time inour town. They promised to re-turn, but next time Sue is deter-mined to make it in time for theJuly 4th festivities.

Speaking of July 4th, if you hadbeen passing by the east channelswimming hole on Sunday night at4 PM, you would have seen quitean interesting sight. Nearly 40people gathered for a water bap-tismal service. The church groupfrom Bethel Church of Fairbanksand their pastor Paul Holmeschose McCarthy for this very spe-cial occasion. Several of us fromthe McCarthy-Kennicott Commu-nity Church attended the serviceand rejoiced with the 5 candidatesand those who were celebratingthe greatest of all freedoms—their spiritual freedom. It’s verypossible this was the first time theswimming hole was used for sucha glorious event; I pray it won’t bethe last!

I know I have mentioned thisbefore but this page is normallythe last page that is written. Thisgives us one last opportunity tomention items that are very im-portant to us (and some of you!).Many of these items would have

appeared in an item of interest ora separate article, but there justwasn’t any more space. We justreceived news that Sally Kabisch,wife of WSEN subscriber Tom Kiz-zia, passed away on June 20. Ourdeepest sympathy goes to Tomand his family.

WSEN welcomes aboard thefollowing subscribers: Jack John-son, AK; Rose Cherrix, VA; DanielTalcott, WA; Sharon Getz, MT; R.Dennis and Cynthia Wiancko, OR;Patrick O’Donnell, VA; DavidFelts, NJ; Rob Wesson, CO; Her-man Kurth, WA; Craig Neill, TX;Richard and Elizabeth Barlow, AK;Virginia Phipps, PA; Ron andLoyce Krogel, OR; Dolan Collins,WA; Dale Merritt, WA.


Items of InterestHoward and Chris Haley:

There is terrific news out of theHaley household these days! How-ard has retired from the teamstersafter a long 30 years. He workedin Valdez at the Alyeska Oil Termi-nal and called Valdez home.Things are changing for the Haleysand they decided to celebrate witha trip – traveling to the beaches ofHomer, Whiskey Gulch and Ninil-chik to dig for butter and razorclams.

They are back home – mean-ing McCarthy now – and Howard isnot wasting any time in makingthe most of his retirement. He andChris are planning the new addi-tion to their cabin which will(eventually) include an enclosedporch, master bedroom on theground flour, a utility room and abathroom.

Another “new” addition is thearrival of Abby, a 10 month oldBlue Heeler lab mix. Abby was asurprise gift to Chris from HowardChristmas Eve.

It is apparent to all that theHaleys are looking good thesedays and wearing their retirementwell. Congratulations, Chris andHoward!

Barbara and John Rice: Theword retirement made me think ofBarbara and John. The Rices arelooking down the road and mak-ing their plans, too. John will beentering the retirement force inthe next couple of years, and heand Barbara are wasting no timein deciding where they want tospend some of their free time. Youguessed it. McCarthy!

Barbara drove up from St.Louis with a friend who kept hercompany on the long drive. Short-ly after she arrived, Barbara set upcamp at the West McCarthy Way-side. Because she and John hopeto have a small custom house (onthe pattern of a Kennicott cot-tage) built this summer on theirproperty west of the KennicottRiver, the decision was made forBarbara to stick around the area.Before long she landed a job atMountain Arts Gift Shop in down-town McCarthy. In her spare timeshe visits the property, makesplans for their home-away- fromhome and is talking with localcontractors – gleaning from theirexpertise. If all goes as planned,John will fly up in August and giveBarbara a hand with further deci-sion making and accompany Bar-bara back down the Alcan. By thetime the Rices leave the area, theyhope to see the start of theirdream come true.

Barbara and John, we wish youboth the very best!

Jim and Peggy Guntis: TheGuntis’ just arrived for the sum-mer. Although Peggy is busy un-packing, she took the time to hopon their 4 wheeler and come overfor a cup of tea! Jim and Peggyown and operate an electrical con-tracting business in Tucson andstay more than busy. Retirementmay be in the picture but, like theRices, it hasn’t quite become areality YET. However, I do see thesigns of that happening. For in-stance, Peggy is stocking up on alibrary of good reading materialand Jim continues to make lifeeasier for them with his continualupgrades to their (and daughter

Kim’s) home on the hill. That isone subject Peggy and I didn’tventure into today – Jim’s projectsfor this summer. I’m sure we willget there, however, as ourRummikub/chess games will be-gin this coming Thursday night.I’ll keep you informed!

Welcome back, Jim and Peg!Scott, Sally Wallin and daugh-

ter Anna: Writing about theGuntis’s brings me to the Wallinfamily. As most of you know, Sally isJim’s daughter. The Wallins also livein Tucson. Last fall they (Scott, Sal-ly and Anna) purchased a piece ofMcCarthy area property down theroad from Jim and Peggy. If you’vebeen reading WSEN for awhile, youwould have come across an item ortwo of interest about this specialfamily as they have made a variety oftrips to this area.

Scott and Sally drove the Alcanin their “glorified” bus (a schoolbus made over into an RV) and An-na in her pickup truck. They madeit here before Jim and Peggy. Short-ly after their arrival, Rick and Iwalked down to say hello. Sallygreeted us at the door of her“home” on wheels and invited us infor coffee.

Perhaps it is just a womanlything, but I really wanted to see in-side. I didn’t waste any time beforeinspecting Sally’s kitchen area andbathroom. Scott, with the help ofhis father-in-law Jim, outfitted thebus with all the amenities of home.I was impressed! Running water, abeautiful bathroom and Sally’skitchenette, complete with curtainsand small vases of freshly-pickedwildflowers.

Summer plans include a drive-way (that is already done as of presstime), a well, and a small cabin


where Anna, 23, will live throughthe winter months. This will be herfirst winter but certainly not herfirst visit to the area. Before Annaarrived she had acquired thereceptionist’s job at Ma Johnson’shotel. She loves meeting the guestsand seeing that they are comfort-able during their stay in McCarthy.

A big welcome to the Wallins!Trig Trigiano: Another familiar

face to McCarthy is Trig. Within afew years, the west side of the Ken-nicott may be referred to as the“retirement community.” AlthoughTrig enjoys his work with the Uni-versity of Alaska, I am convinced heis plotting and planning his futuredays of leisure. With each trip to hiscabin he brings in more buildingmaterials to make life easier. He hasbrought in so many supplies thatthe “old truck” just couldn’t takeanother heavy load. It died! Trig isnow sporting a new 1-ton Ford 350–his first truck with air-conditioning.(Works great for those dry summerdays driving the McCarthy Road!)

Trig planned his trip over the4th of July so he could take in theyearly McCarthy festivities. Wel-come back to the neighborhood!

Drew Southard: Another wel-come is in order for Drew Southard– official guide for Copper Oar. Lastyear he was running the rivers inOregon for Destination Wilderness,parent company of Copper Oar.Drew hails from Colorado but toldme he thinks Alaska is a great placeto see, at least for awhile. He plansto return to Colorado when the sea-son is over. In the meantime, he isstaying more than busy. In fact, hesays he arrived just in time to helpthe other guides move the CopperOar office and outbuildings to a newlocation. They had been situated onthe McCarthy Road near the foot-bridge but they are now on the newroad that leads to the KennicottRiver Service Bridge – informallydubbed “Freedom Lane.”

Drew says the new location is“functional and good.” Many longriver rafting trips are planned thisyear from McCarthy to Chitina andChitina to Cordova. A few day tripsare also in the making.

A 14-day river trip starting fromthe head of the Nizina Glacier andending at Cordova was expected tobe completed on July 4th.

In spite of all the work Drew fellinto on arrival to McCarthy, he final-ly was able to take some time off, hesays, and visit the surrounding area.That included a trip down the roadto see Mark Vail. He even squeezedin 5 or 6 river trips.

Welcome to the McCarthy area,Drew, and hope your season is full ofadventure – the fun kind, of course!

41st Annual Long Lake Memo-rial Day Fly-in Breakfast: I receiveda phone call from Phil Collins theother day. It was perfect timing. Iwas planning to call him and hiswife Carolyn for an update on thisspecial annual event at Long Lake.

Phil and Carolyn’s summerhome is on the hill and overlooksthe lake. As many of you know,Phil’s dad, Cliff, passed away lastyear. This year’s fly-in breakfast wasin celebration of Cliff’s life.

Good weather was of great im-portance to those who attended.The day before and the day after itrained but the day of the breakfast,the sun shone bright on the 143 inattendance. Truly an answer toprayer, says Phil.

Twenty-seven land planes, 1float plane and 1 helicopter madetheir landings on either the Collins’grass airstrip or the nearby lake.

Long-time family friend, SteveAlexander, and associate minister atChristian Love Center in Wasilla,led the memorial service. Phil andson, Mike, and daughter Karen Col-lins Strahan, all shared specialmemories of Cliff and the thingsthat he dearly loved doing eachsummer. The 70 swallow housesthat Cliff so faithfully monitored,

diligently keeping records, the fishweir that he tended for 27 years andkept a data base for and the yearlygarden that always produced extraproduce for neighbors and friends,will be carried on by the family, saysPhil.

A burial service was held later inthe day and attended by familymembers and close friends of thefamily. Cliff’s ashes were interred atthe family cemetery which “Ampa”– a nickname used by family andfriends – designed himself. Phil’sfirst wife, Judy, is also buried at thissite.

Comments were heard from sev-eral people, such as: “It was the nic-est fly-in in years” and “it was anideal service, one that really hon-ored Ampa.”

Kennecott Kid misses historictour: Nels Konnerup, 87, who livedand worked at Kennecott on theaerial tram and in the mine systemwas scheduled to accompany RonSimpson’s special historic tour onJune 4. Prior to the tour, Nels wasin an automobile accident that pre-vented him from attending and as-sisting Ron in a tour of Kennecott.He was greatly missed!

Inger Ricci, another KennecottKid, was in attendance and writes,“Ron surely had some great slides.We had a wonderful trip.” The onlydown side was Nels’ absence.

If anyone – Kennecott Kid orothers – who would like to drop Nelsa note of encouragement, you maywrite him in care of his sisterYvonne Lahti, 20420 Marine Drive,Apt. B6, Stanwood, WA 98292.

We are praying for a speedy re-covery, Nels!


Kennecott: – Approximate-ly 40 people gathered onJune 2 to meet with the

National Park Service’s (NPS) Alas-ka Regional Director Marcia Blaszakat the Kennecott Rec Hall in down-town Kennecott.

Ms. Blaszak offered an invita-tion to the Residents of theWrangells (ROW) in a June 18th

email: “I will be in theMcCarthy/Kennecott area on July 2and am interested in introducingmyself to Residents of theWrangells’ members... I hope tomeet as many of you as possible andshare some of the current activitiesunderway that I believe will helpmeet some of the objectives out-lined in your mission statement. Iwill share with you where we are inour search for a new superintendentfor Wrangell-St. Elias National Parkand Preserve. I am also coming tolisten.”

Grateful for the opportunity toease tensions between ROW andNPS, Chairperson Susan Smith re-sponded to the Director’s invitationwith a resounding “yes.”

First on the agenda was Direc-tor Blaszak’s request for input de-scribing desired traits for the nextsuperintendent of the Wrangell-St.Elias National Park/Preserve(WRST). With the June departure ofGary Candelaria, past superinten-dent, and, due to the mountain ofdissatisfaction that grew during hisadministration, ROW members wereglad to participate.

In a prepared speech, ROWmember Bonnie Kenyon addressedthe Director:

“Director Blaszak, first of allthank you for extending an invita-tion to the Residents of theWrangells to share several impor-tant traits that we would like to seein the next superintendent. It trulyis an honor.

“Speaking of honor, we find thistrait to be the most desired. We askfor a superintendent who is honor-able — one we can show honor to.One who is not a slanderer but onewho is upright, has integrity andmoral character. Our hearts, as Res-idents of the Wrangells, is to re-spect the badge, the office and theperson who sits in the position asSuperintendent.

“Of great importance to us is asuperintendent who respects andfollows the law—in particular ANIL-CA, the constitution for this park,even if his or her personal philoso-phy might differ from the law.

“We request this superinten-dent have an administrative, not lawenforcement background. A super-intendent who will use his law en-forcement rangers for legitimatelaw enforcement activities — not tointimidate and harass residents andvisitors.

“The Residents of the Wrangellsdesire to work with the new superin-tendent and we request one who iswilling to work with us and all resi-dents, not just the environmentalcommunity.

“Last, but certainly not least, isa superintendent who has the heartof a public servant. In 1980 Presi-dent Ronald Reagan told his newSecretary of the Interior that he

wanted the agencies under his con-trol, which includes the NationalPark Service, to do two things: One:put people first. Two: become goodneighbors. We would say the samethings to our new superintendentwhom you will choose.”

Other traits that came forthfrom those in the audience includ-ed: One who understands Alaskabush and subsistence lifestyle, an-swers questions clearly and quickly,stays out of the residents’ privatelives, honest, people and userfriendly, a local friend, uses fundswisely, has a vision for usage of thebackcountry and local businesses,respects and embraces the valuesand resources of the communitymembers and understands that thispark is a different park than thosein the lower 48 because of ANILCA.

The deadline for applicationswas midnight July 2. Both DirectorBlaszak and Deputy Director VicKnox will evaluate the applicationsand make their selection. They hopeto choose a new superintendent byOctober or November.

Knox, a 26-year veteran of theNPS, also addressed the group. Hehas been in Alaska for 2 years andhails from Salt Lake City where heserved as an assistant regional di-rector, a liaison between NPS, com-munities, the state, local and statedelegates. A civil engineer, Knoxalso supervised construction proj-ects.

According to Knox, because of arequest from Governor Murkowskithe NPS and the State are presentlyworking on a user’s guide for accessto inholdings, statewide, hoping tomake the process easier to under-stand. Taking a fresh look at theNPS regulations, Knox admittedthey were “somewhat confusing.” Itis hoped that the guide will be avail-able for public review sometime inDecember of this year.

NPS Regional Director meets with ROW

WSEN staff photo

Alaska Regional Director Marcia Blaszak

(continued on page 21)


MCCARTHY, AK— KeithRowland has a B.S. inEngineering and has

designed and built several vehicleand pedestrian bridges, all still inservice. Even so, the engineering,building, and installation of theKennicott River Service Bridge havebeen a logistical challenge of stag-gering proportions for one man anda small fleet of equipment.

For the bridge decking,two pre-engineered 90-footbridge spans were located incentral Washington. Thespans were trucked to the Se-attle waterfront where theywere loaded on a barge boundfor Valdez. Once they arrivedin Valdez, Keith picked themup and trucked them, one byone, to McCarthy, with hisfather, Ken Rowland, and Idriving the pilot cars. Eachspan was so wide, long, andheavy that the State of Alaskarequired special over-weight,over- length, and over-width permitsfor their transport, as well as thetwo pilot cars. Because of the nar-rowness and tight corners on the 60miles of brain cell scrambler knownas the McCarthy Road, the longesttrailer which Keith could use was 48feet long, leaving a 35-foot overhangof heavy steel weighing down therear axles of the trailer.

Once the bridge spans reachedour equipment yard in McCarthy,the in-house work began. Roughly10,000 pounds of structural rein-forcing was added to the bridge inaccordance with an engineer’s spec-ification to modify the spans for ourapplication. Over 2000 pounds ofwelding rod were consumed in theprocess of making structural modifi-cations on the bridge spans and

building the bridge piers.

The two piers which support thebridge spans were fabricated usingfour-foot diameter pipe with one-inch thick steel walls and an en-larged base. These piers were buried12 – 15 feet deep in the river bedand protected by meticulouslyplaced 6000 – 8000-pound armorrock.

Since 90 feet of steel decking ispretty heavy (55,000 pounds, or so),transporting just one of the spansthe roughly one mile from our yardto the bridge site was a big job.With the deck suspended by chainsbetween our loader and rock truck,Keith and his father, Ken, very slow-ly and carefully eased it along theroad leading to the bridge site. Itwas pretty tricky going—our heavy

earth-moving equip-ment seems so big andbeefy, but for this jobwhat we have is painful-ly inadequate. The ma-chines were maxed tothe limit. Our 10-year-old son, David, andGrandpa Ken in theloader had a tense mo-ment when the machinesuddenly tipped for-ward, rear wheels spin-ning in thin air andfront rigging gouginginto the road with abone-jarring crunch! It

took all day to carefully maneuverthe span into place, but by the endof the day, they had it lying neatlyacross the river between the twopiers.

The next chore—and one of thebiggest challenges—was lifting thecenter span into place without thebenefit of a crane. The following isan excerpt from a Rowland family

Kennicott River Service Bridge — ready to roll!


letter detailing the bridge buildingprocess:

“Question: How do you lift al-most half a bridge without an indus-trial crane? Answer: A little at atime. First, Keith made a temporaryramp out of a 40-ft flatbed, whichwill eventually be one of the bridgespans. Because he didn’t want theheavy flatbed to exert too much lat-eral pressure on the newly set pier,he hung the ramp on chains fromthe pier cap (below).

--Lifting the deck up… andup…

…and up… and up…

… and over the top!

Keith drove the loader up his“suspended ramp” and rigged up

two sets of chains—one set attach-ing the bridge to the loaderboom, and the other set at-taching the bridge to the

pier. Then he began lift-ing the bridge, only acouple feet at a time,resetting the pier an-chor chain, then lower-ing the loader boom,then resetting the load-er chain, lifting, reset-ting, lowering the boom,resetting, lifting… Itwas a l-o-o-o-n-g, tenseday!

The next day, the suspendedramp was transported to the west

pier, and the process began allover again…”

Between this stage of instal-lation and the next, there wereweeks’ worth of welding and fab-ricating to be done. Meanwhile,the Kennicott River was rapidlyrising. Soon, another logisticalchallenge began to presentitself—how to install the eastspan from the west side of theriver. To accomplish this feat,Keith used the “piggyback andsee-saw” method. From the westside of the river, he literallypushed that 28-ton chunk ofsteel across the west and centralspans, until it hung, precarious-ly balanced between river andsky, on the eastern end of thebridge. Then, using cables and

chains for stability, he slowly eased

the span past its ful-crum. Ever so gentlyand carefully, he setthe eastern end ofthe span on theground, and beforethe day was done,the east span wasproperly set andpinned in place.

Now, the bridgewas almost ready foruse. All that re-mained was to installhighway-grade guard

rails and new decking on the westspan. With help from some goodneighbors, this stage of construc-tion was accomplished in “no timeflat.”

Work still to be completed: asolar-powered keypad lock systemfor the gate (we’re currently using apadlock and handing out keys tothose who have bought passes touse the bridge); painting the bridgestructure; raising the approachesand east abutment approximatelyfour feet; and installing signage.

Some have asked, “Just howstrong is this bridge?” The answer:Very strong. The bridge has beenspecially engineered to support an80,000-pound load and to resist a25-year flood event occurring simul-taneously with a Hidden Lake out-burst.

The Kennicott River ServiceBridge project has been 100% pri-(continued on page 21)


The story behind our MayDenali climbing trip be-gins in Girdwood 10 days

prior to the climb. Bethany Barnesand Meghan Seifert are busy dehy-drating fruits, vegetables, tofu, sal-sa, tomato sauce, and homemadepower bars. I arrive in town just intime to help finish off the shopping,run around REI and AMH, and makea trip to Girdwood to help pack thefood. The food-packing day is a cha-otic 12-hour day with ashort break to visit Jimat Girdwood Ski andCycle. There we de-compress from thechore of packing for a21-day mountaineeringtrip—Jim has an arrayof hoola hoops in dif-ferent sizes and colors!We each pick up ahoola and Jim evenjoins in to show ussome tricks. He findsus a hoola, whichbreaks into three light-weight sections to car-ry with us on themountain. Meghan andBeth are hoola veter-ans; quite a scene to-gether as they pass the4-foot diameter hoolahoop back and forth.

Days later we arrive in Talkeet-na, where we register with NPS andcheck in with Talkeetna Air Taxi forour flight the following day. It hasbeen raining for days and the airtaxi is backed up. They hint that wemight not fly the next day. Becausetheir bunkhouse is filled for thenight, they give us girls the luxuri-ous shed that has just literally beenconstructed (they were putting theroof on while we weighed our gear).It was a modest little building, plen-ty big for the three of us and ourcombined 375 lbs of gear; however,

somewhere during the night wetook to duct taping the leaks in theroof. I finally took cover in mytruck.

The next morning was bustlingaround TAT. Climbers were gearingup to go and planes were alreadyflying. The weather was still improv-ing and we were on the list to fly outlater that day. After a big breakfastat The Roadhouse we did our lastminute packing and hauled our gearto the runway. After a 45-minute

flight in the Cessna 185 we landedat the 7200-ft. Kahiltna base camp.It was quite a scene. Now you proba-bly are under the impression thatthis is a climbing trip, meaning seri-ous business, right? The followingday becomes what is typical for uson the mountain—never start be-fore noon and always drink coffeeand giggle for a while before doinganything else. And to get the tripstarted on just the right note,Meghan participated in some ski-jumping events at base camp thatfully impressed onlookers, all ofwhom were of the opposite gender.So after a full morning of coffee,

hoola hooping, and ski jumps, wefinally left base camp in the earlyafternoon. After we were all ropedup with sleds rigged and packs load-ed, we debated for a good while overwhether to wait for it to cool off orjust go for it. Considering it was stillMay and cooling off a bit at night,we decided it was safe to travel andoff we went. We were also travelingon skis, which make it safer throughthe crevasse fields. The route de-scends a well-known slope appropri-

ately named“heartbreak hill” andthen climbs againslightly to a camp at7800’. Some of thelargest crevasses andsnow bridges of theentire route exist inthis area. We traveledcautiously and quick-ly, arriving at thisnext camp in aboutthree hours.

The next morn-ing we had our typi-cal coffee routine andset off a bit earlier.Ski hill was the nextchallenge, a sectionof the West Buttressroute that many par-ties double-carry;meaning that climb-

ers will carry some gear to 9700'and dig a cache and return to it thefollowing day. We decided thatthere was no way we wanted to trav-el up this hill twice, so we singlecarried (125 lbs. each) with oursleds and packs. The conditions as-cending ski hill were practically whi-teout and quite windy, making arest stop for food and water veryshort and cold. Arriving at 9700' inthe early afternoon gave us time tostart digging out a camp—untilsomeone vacated, and we were ableto move right in to an establishedarea. Here is where we becameknown as the “hoola girls” and the

Fun and games at 17,200’

Photo courtesy Dorothy Adler

14,200-ft. camp with Mr. Foraker in background.


festivities began. The following daywe decided to rest—partly becausewe needed it, partly we had a mini-blizzard going on and didn't want totravel. Besides, Meg and Beth werehaving too much fun greeting otherclimbers with the hoola hoop andtrying to get those passing by tojoin in the fun. That nightwe had our first official din-ner party on the mountain.Those of you who know mewell know that I like dinnerparties. This continued totake place on the mountainall the way up to 14,200’with 12 people sometimesgetting cozy in the mega-mid (cook tent) for pot-lucks.

The next day's move to11,000’ was fairly mellow.We actually set our alarmsfor 5 AM, thinking wemight get an early startthat day, but didn't leavecamp until 8:30. That wasa record for us and I thinkthe only time we left be-fore noon. From 9,700’ to 11,000’ isa gradual slope, getting steeper justbefore reaching 11,000'. This is abeautiful camp and gives one thefeeling that you are finally gainingelevation and moving up the moun-tain. There were many people at thiscamp, international climbers as wellas friends from Alaska. We weregreeted as the “hoola girls” as soonas we rolled in. The next day thehoola hoop came out and peoplegathered to try their hand (I meanhips) at this collapsible party favorthat brought us so much notoriety.We didn't intend to try and carry itto the summit, but here is where webegan to formulate the idea to bethe first to hoola hoop on Denali's20,320-ft. summit.

After another rest day we werereally feeling like we were on vaca-tion and ready to carry a load ofgear to 13,500'. We ascended Mo-torcycle Hill and worked our way upSquirrel Hill. The next major obsta-cle was Windy Corner, a section of

the climb that has claimed lives inthe past. As the name indicates, itcan be tremendously windy and withthe exposure and potential icy con-ditions it can be necessary for theleader to place protection in caseone should fall. Fortunately, theconditions were perfect each time

we traveled this section of theroute. The Alaska Range saw a lot ofsnow this year, which made sectionsthat are often icy, quite perfect forus. We slept at 11,000’ again to bet-ter acclimatize and then moved to14,200’ the next day and picked upour cache along the way.

We were all beat when we ar-rived at 14,200’. I remember this asbeing one of the most tiring days ofthe entire trip. The altitude beginsto affect your breathing and you feellike you're moving incredibly slow,like you are walking through quick-sand. Fortunately, we had 5 days ofchillin' to get our bodies used to thealtitude. The weather was fairlygood at this elevation and we hadsome bluebird days where it reachedover 100 degrees inside our tent.There is a ranger station at thiscamp where climbers can check theweather and chat with the climbingrangers. It's a mini city with peoplefrom all over the world gathered forthe same reason. We stocked up on

chocolate at this camp, as climberscoming down from the 17,200-ft.camp are anxious to get rid of foodand fuel so they don't have to de-scend with it.

Once the megamid was erected,kitchen counters and seating forabout 12 sculpted from snow, the

dinner parties began. Wewould have several MSRstoves going at once and apotpourri of food to eat.The meals always beganwith melting snow for wa-ter and the making of hotdrinks. The cooking andeating of these meals last-ed several hours with thegrand finale being someno-bake desserts that wereout of this world.

So here we are at14,200’ feeling like we areon vacation. Yoga sessions,hoola hooping, and skiingby day and dinner partiesand card games by night.We had Jiffy Popcorn deliv-

ered to our tent at midnight byfriends looking for a card game andgot to hang tight with two other radwomen who were skiing some biglines from 18,000’. Then we decidedto make the move to 17,200’—andthe vacation became more like themountaineering trip that it was.

The day we moved up to 17,200’was absolutely stellar. We ascendedthe fixed lines between the 14,200-ft. camp and the 16,200-ft. ridge.We had made a cache two days priorand the day before we gorged onrich foods all day long. We broughtonly 3-4 days of food and fuel, think-ing the good weather might last andwe'd make a quick ascent and thenbe back to our big cache of food at14,200’ in no time. We also hadadded an interesting dynamic to ourall-girls team and I only mention itbecause it became in some ways,the greatest challenge of the trip.We called him “the hitchhiker,”someone we had befriended at theprevious camp whose partner be-

Photo courtesy the author

Bethany & Megan on the headwall above 14,000-ft. camp.



McCarthy: — Fourthof July celebrationsat McCarthy re-

ceived high marks from the ap-proximate 200 plus attendeesthis year. Jeremy Keller and De-nise Jantz were the Masters ofCeremony for this year’s festivi-ties. They did a fine job keepingthings moving and organized.Many participants are voting fortheir return next year.

Launching the annual event atnoon was the McCarthy MarchingBand leading the float processiondown McCarthy’s main street.

First place in the float competi-tion this year went to the team ofJim and Peggy Guntis, KimNorthrup and Scott Wallin. Thecoveted prize was 20 yards of graveldonated by Rowcon Services. TheWallin’s converted school bus (nolonger yellow but a deep green)made a perfect Giant Green Mos-quito, complete with moving wings(operated by Jim and Kim), hugeeyes and a long snout which con-stantly probed for a soft spot in itsdesired victim – Peggy who was outfront of this huge insect-lookingmonster. Outfitted from head totoe with mosquito netting pants,jacket and hat, Peggy was armedfor battle – a can of bug spray andthe weapon for the season, a bug

zapper! Her antics of fending offthe brute caused much laughterfrom the onlookers and (in myopinion) won the hearts of thejudges.

The stretch of road in down-town McCarthy soon cleared and avariety of contests and games wereset up for the enjoyment of all.Hungry folks lined up outside infront of the McCarthy Lodge tosample the food specially preparedfor the joyous occasion. Inside thelodge, long-time local resident JimEdwards entertained folks with hisstories of the early days when Mc-Carthy and Kennicott were more-or-less ghost towns.

The competitions included NailPounding and Doubles Horseshoeswhich were sponsored by McCarthyLodge; the Pie Eating Contest(congratulation to Kaylin Moffittwho won the kids’ first placeclass!); Jalapeno Eating Contest

sponsored by Meg Hunt and McCa-rthy Air; Spuddy’s Hot Potato spon-sored by (guess who?) The Potato;Potato Dump Relay; The HunkerHawser and the Monkey Log spon-sored by the Rowland family; JanetHegland’s card game on TheGreen; the Orange Relay sponsoredby Glacier View Campground andto end the celebration...The Histor-ic Egg Toss. The adult class win-ners of the egg toss were KeithRowland and brother-in-law DavePerson. Prize was lunch for two atKennicott Glacier Lodge. (I’m won-dering which two will get thelunch. Just in case you didn’t knowyour husband won, Laurie, youmight want to get in on this one!After all you are related to boththese gentlemen.)

To cap off the day’s festivities,the Pilgrim Family gave an outdoorconcert.

The smoke from northern Alas-kan forest fires that had hung inthe valley for the week precedingthe holiday lifted, the heavensopened and watered the drought-stricken forests – all in time forGlacier View Campground to addtheir final touch with a grand dis-play of fireworks.

Another year, another 4th ofJuly, another celebration – all Mc-Carthy style, of course!


Jason Harper was droppedoff on May 4 at 3,000 feetat Windy Ridge on the side

of Mount Sanford in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Pilot HarleyMcMahan of Gakona dropped Jasonoff alone with skis, five days of food,climbing and camping gear.

Jason's plan was to climb andski the heavily-crevassed Sheep Gla-cier route from the summit, if possi-ble, going fast and light.

Growing up in Idaho, Jason, 28,had done many impressive climbsand ski descents with friends as wellas solo in various places such asGirdwood, Valdez, Europe andSouth America.

The Sheep Glacier route hasmore than 10.000 feet of verticaldrop, making it one of the longestruns anywhere. It was first climbedin 1938 by Bradford Washburn andTerris Moore who also skied parts ofit. The first solo ascent was by leg-endary Japanese mountaineer Nao-mi Uemurg in 1968.

On May 9, Jason did not meetMcMahan for his scheduled pickup.McMahan searched on foot near theairstrip and in the air with hisplane. After a few days of not seeingany signs of Jason, he called the Na-tional Park Service (NPS).

On May 12 NPS pilots searchedthe Sheep Glacier route and otherpossible descent routes, but sawnothing.

An Air National Guard Black-hawk H-60 helicopter with forward-looking infrared radar joined the

search on the 13th. They flew theentire route up to the summit with-out seeing anything. Jason's father,Doug Harper, and his brother,Doug, Jr. also served as spotters inthe search.

In the early morning of the 14th,Kelly Bay of McCarthy-basedWrangell Mountain Air flew Matthewand Kevin Smith from McCarthy toGakona to meet up with Dan Van-dermeulen to help with the search.Dan requested them to do a groundsearch, which had not been doneyet, on the Sheep Glacier.

The high altitude Denali Lamahelicopter was brought in. IncidentCommander Pete Dalton of NPS,consulting with Rich Richotte, gavethe approval to fly Matthew and Kev-in, Dan and Doug Harper, Jr. toground search the heavily-crevassedice fall area between 7,500’ and8,000’.

After being dropped at 8500’ bythe Denali Lama, the team roped upand spent 5 hours skiing down theglacier searching into crevasses,calling and even using an avalanchebeacon search. Nothing was seen orheard of Jason's whereabouts.

Search and rescue dogs werealso used around the Windy Ridgeairstrip and farther up where a fewof Jason's tracks had been found. Allsearchers were safely flown back toGakona for the night.

The next day Denali climbingranger, Joe Reichert, with volun-teers Robb McLean, Rob Klimek,and Dexter Hale, along withMcCarthy’s Matthew and KevinSmith, were flown by the Denali La-

ma to 7,500’ with 5 days’ supplies.The team was divided into two par-ties with Joe leading one up the gla-cier while Matthew, Kevin and Robskied, roped together, down the gla-cier. At 7,000’ Matthew located anold snow cave that was thought tobe left behind by a previous climb-ing party in April. Upon probing, abag of food was uncovered as well asJason’s sleeping bag and wallet.

This proved Jason had been onthe Sheep Glacier and was probablyfarther up. Joe's group didn't findany evidence, however. The planthat night was to get the Denali La-ma to fly the group higher on theglacier. In the morning the summitwas covered in lenticular clouds aswas Mount Drum. This is always asign of very high winds.

The search could no longer con-tinue and everyone was safely flownback to Gakona – ending thesearch. Jason was never found.

Efforts between pilots, NPS per-sonnel, Alaska State Troopers, AirNational Guard, the dog team res-cue crew, and friends and family allworked together exceedingly welland made for a safe and thorough, ifunsuccessful, search.

Jason Harper will be missedgreatly by family and friends thathad come to know and love him.

Kevin Smith is a long-time guidefor Kennicott Wilderness Guides ofKennicott, Alaska. He and his wife,Dorothy Adler, are year round resi-dents of McCarthy.

Search for Missing Climber on Mount Sanford


As reported in the lastissue of WSEN, Gover-nor Murkowski wrote

to Secretary of the Interior GaleNorton on April 15, asking her tolaunch an investigation into allega-tions that the National Park Service(NPS) has shown “...various patternsof misbehavior and abuse, includingunreasonable right-of-way closuresand restrictions; undue delays in theissuance of permits; and intimida-tion, harassment, and selective lawenforcement...” in the Wrangell-St.Elias National Park (WRST). Hecalls for further direction to NPSpersonnel in administering the Alas-ka National Interest Lands Conser-vation Act (ANILCA) accessprovisions, stating, “If these reportsof arbitrary and sometimes abusivebehavior are accurate, they raiseserious questions about the ParkService’s implementation of ANIL-CA...”

Armed NPS rangers frequentlymake unannounced visits to localresidents and make low-level flightsover private property which tends toharass and intimidate targeted in-holders. Annual access fees are de-manded on rights-of-way clearedand continually used since long be-fore the park was established. Costlyfive-and six-figure NEPA EA’s andEIS’s are being performed on theseaccess routes, with residents oftenresponsible for all costs.

The governor has called forproper notification by NPS person-nel before visits onto private proper-ty or low-level flyovers, and forminimal or no fees associated withthe permits. He has also asked forthe NPS to devise a new, standard-ized, more relaxed procedure forinholder access. With respect toNEPA compliance, the governorcalls for DOI to specify cases whereno environmental study is neces-

sary, and to give a Categorical Ex-clusion to residents trying to reachtheir homes. These exclusions canbe granted for activities having min-imal impact to park resources. ThePark Service often uses them toallow NPS personnel to conducttheir duties without going throughassessment procedures. They used aCategorical Exclusion to cut a swathof trees nearly two miles longaround the Pilgrim property lastsummer.

Many inholders didn’t knowthey needed access permits. Forover twenty years, residents usedtheir traditional means and routesof travel without any NPS notifica-tion to let them know what was ex-pected. Now, by submitting a permitapplication, residents open up a bu-reaucratic snarl of red tape. Oncepermits are granted, short terms,continual renewals, possible revoca-tion, and sometimes impossiblestipulations accompany them. Thegovernor seeks to eliminate theseproblems by establishing an appealsprocess with an Alaskan oversightcommittee to make rulings on anyANILCA-related issues. He also callsfor NPS selection of the applicant’schosen route, and time limit restric-tions for the permitting process.

We were disappointed to receivea letter from the Inspector Generalfor the Department of the Interiorin late April. He wrote to Residentsof the Wrangells (ROW) saying hisdepartment would not review theallegations. Instead, he referred thematter back to NPS for “appropriateaction” on their part. We didn’t ex-actly expect them to be readily will-ing to conduct an investigation, butwe looked forward to their responseto the governor’s letter. This failureof the Department of the Interior to“police their own house” opens thedoor to an investigation by Con-gress, a matter which ROW is pursu-ing.

The state Republican Conven-tion was held on May 27 in Soldot-na. ROW was delighted to see that aresolution was adopted to call uponour state representatives to comeforward and help all Alaskans de-fend their ANILCA rights. Anotherimpressive resolution was passed tourge our representatives to blockpassage of the Get Outdoors Act(HR 4100) which would provide bil-lions of dollars annually for fifteenyears, in unappropriated funding, topurchase inholdings in conservationunits, sanction further condemna-tions of private property , and en-hance the powers of the EndangeredSpecies Act, all under the guise ofcuring obesity! For more informa-tion about this dangerous bill, go tothe American Land Rights Associa-tion website athttp://www.landrights.org. We en-courage you to write or e-mail ourCongressional delegation to voiceyour opposition to this legislation.Also, check out related issues in theMcCarthy area athttp://www.mccarthy-kennicott.com.

I had the opportunity to speakwith Senator Lisa Murkowski on theValdez public radio “Coffee Break”program at the end of May. She as-sured us that she stands behind ev-ery Alaskan’s right to access; heroffice has been in touch with ROWseveral times to keep abreast of re-cent developments. Senator TedStevens has asked his staff to con-tact NPS in an effort to resolvesome of our problems in the park.An aide from Congressman DonYoung’s office will be in the McCa-rthy area in August to hear ourgrievances.

Superintendent Gary Candelariawas transferred last month out ofWRST; Hunter Sharp is Acting Su-perintendent until the position isfilled. NPS Regional Director MarciaBlaszak invited ROW to meet with

Residents of the Wrangells update


her at the Kennecott Rec Hall onJuly 2, from 10 a.m. until noon, todiscuss what traits residents wouldlike to see in a new superintendent.She was accompanied by NPS Depu-ty Regional Director Vic Knox andTina Cunning from the Departmentof Fish and Game.

The Alaska Department of Natu-ral Resources has issued a permit tothe Pilgrim family to clear brushand do minimal maintenance of the14-mile state road to their home.(See story below.) Now, NPS willhave to decide whether they willhonor the DNR permit and allowwork to proceed on the controver-sial route.

In one year’s time, ROW hasachieved many of its goals. We haveestablished a substantial member-ship list and we have networkedwith many of you in the community.Our entire Congressional delegationand governor are aware of our situa-tion and speaking on our behalfwith the Department of the Interior.

Many trail postings have beenchanged to more clearly allow forsubsistence use. We have strongalliances with the American LandRights Association, Alaska LandRights Coalition, Pacific LegalFoundation, and Slana AlaskansUnite. The NPS has “promoted”Gary Candelaria from Superinten-dent of the Park to a Deputy Direc-tor position at Harpers FerryHistorical Park. Through the inter-net and press coverage, our storiesin the WRST are being read acrossthe country. Our collective voice isbeing heard!

Environmental groups are fight-ing even harder now to buy inhold-ings in our park and to force NPS torestrict or deny our access. The bat-tle is far from over. Advocates ofviewshed restrictions, light pollu-tion regulations, noise pollutionregulations, wilderness protection,national parks free of human habita-tion, and expansion of conservationunits through unlimited purchasesof private land are gaining momen-

tum, backed by vast financial re-sources. However, no nationalspecial interest group should be al-lowed to have the power to denyAlaskans what Congress insisted onprotecting by law in 1980; the pres-ervation of a truly unique Alaskanbush community which delights andamazes visitors to our area just asmuch as the landscape, flora, andfauna.

If you live or own property in ornear the Wrangell-St. Elias NationalPark, we encourage you to join theResidents of the Wrangells. Duesare only $10 per year which is usedto offset the cost of mailings. Con-tact Susan Smith, Chairperson, Res-idents of the Wrangells, McCarthy#63B, Box MXY, Glennallen AK99588 or [email protected].

In a letter dated June 9,2004, the Alaska Depart-ment of Natural Resources

(DNR) has granted approval to thePilgrim family’s request to do re-quired maintenance on the McCa-rthy-Green Butte Road, RST 135.

The letter, addressed to attor-ney J.P. Tangen, provides “any au-thorization needed from theDepartment for removing overbur-den and underbrush and performingother incidental improvements onthe state’s right-of-way to providefor reasonable access to yourclient’s property.”

Several cautions were given,such as notifying landowners ofproperty that the road passesthrough, including the NationalPark Service (NPS), who has theability to “reasonably regulate” themanner of access.

The definition of “reasonableregulation” has been the source ofmuch controversy since the NPSposted notices last year saying theroad was closed to all vehicular traf-fic. Acting Superintendent HunterSharp (then Chief Ranger) later saidthat the notice did not apply to sub-sistence activity, but that it was

merely intended to keep the Pil-grims from accessing their home byvehicle.

The Pilgrims have brought suitagainst the Park Service and thecase is now before the 9th CircuitCourt of Appeals. The Pacific LegalFoundation is handling the case.The state of Alaska has filed an am-icus curiae, or “friend of the court”brief on behalf of the Pilgrims litiga-tion.

DNR approves road work on McCarthy-Green Butte


The 1885 Allen Expedition alsoentailed exploration of unchartedterrain and resulted in many newdiscoveries. It was the first timewesterners traveled from the coastalregions of south-central Alaskanorthward through the AlaskaRange into the Yukon drainage.From there the expedition contin-ued westward to the Bering Sea —completing a total of 1,500 miles inless than 20 weeks. It was a remark-able achievement.

Allen’s distinguished careerHenry Tureman Allen, born in

1859 in Kentucky (11 years prior tothe death of the last member of theLewis and Clark Expedition), gradu-ated from West Point in 1882. Dur-ing the next 41 years, he wouldserve his country in various militarycapacities, ending his distinguishedcareer as commander of the Ameri-can Occupation Forces in Germanyduring 1919-1923 after World WarI. Yet arguably his most excitingassignment was one he received inhis mid-20s as a young lieutenantserving as an aide to veteran Indianfighter, Gen. Nelson A. Miles. In1880, Miles was put in charge of theU.S. Army’s operations in the Pacif-ic Northwest. This was after leadingnumerous campaigns against Indi-ans in the American West, includingthe Cheyenne, Comanche, Siouxtribes under Sitting Bull (who de-feated Gen. Custer in 1876), andChief Joseph and the Nez Perce in1877. However, Miles had other in-terests as well, including explora-tion. He was fascinated with reportsof Alaska Territory and in 1883 sentArmy Lt. Frederick Schwatka on anexpedition to explore the Yukon Riv-

er basin, an area only partly tra-versed earlier by the Russians,British and Americans. The trip wasa success.

A dangerous planWith the encouraging results of

the Schwatka Expedition, Miles sethis sites on a new and much moreambitious goal to explore an area ofAlaska where no westerner had suc-cessfully gone before — the CopperRiver country and points beyond.The plan was to send a party to as-cend the Copper River and find apassable route through the unex-plored Alaska Range to the Yukondrainage. If successful, it would be amajor achievement.

The trip was not without dangerand uncertainty. Earlier, at leastthree groups of Russian explorershad perished in the Copper Rivercountry, where the Ahtna Indians ofthe Copper River were known to befiercely territorial. Also, no Britishor Americans had successfully madethe formidable journey despite someattempts. To Miles and the military,it was a challenge with no guaranteeof success. It was in this less-thanoptimistic setting that the AllenExpedition was launched and itsstart clouded even further.

Lt. Allen was not Miles’ firstchoice to follow up on the successesof the more modest Schwatka Expe-dition. That assignment had gone toLt. William Abercrombie who left in1884. But as weeks passed with noword of his fate, Gen. Miles becameconcerned and sent Lt. Allen to in-vestigate. Accordingly, he sailednorth in late 1884, thereby gettinghis first taste of adventure in Alas-ka. While Abercrombie and his mendid return safely, they nonetheless

failed in their quest. Abercrombie’sreport painted a gloomy prospectfor further exploration in the re-gion. He concluded that the routethey had tried to pioneer was notpractical due to overwhelming ob-stacles of high mountains, glacier-filled valleys, and daunting riversbeset with swift rapids which hadforced the group to turn back. Thiswas certainly discouraging news.Had it not been for Gen. Miles’ con-tinuing interest in Alaska and Lt.Allen’s newly-found excitement forthe territory, it would have endedthere.

A second attemptInstead, Miles persisted and

soon was able to win support for onemore attempt to explore the CopperRiver country and beyond. But itwas to be a more modest expeditionof only three men. Lt. Allen was se-lected to lead it and he handpickedtwo other men to come along. Theywere Cavalry Sgt. Cady Robertson, afellow soldier from his own unit, andPvt. Frederick W. Fickett, a signalcorpsman, whom Allen had met inSitka during his trip to determineAbercrombie’s fate. Both turned outto be good choices.

The small party wasted littletime in starting north to Alaska. Lt.Allen received official orders on Jan.27, 1885 authorizing the trip. Twodays later the three men were on asteamer headed for Alaska. Theywould not return to Allen’s post atVancouver Barracks in WashingtonTerritory until later that year. Andwhat they did during their timeaway made history.

As expected, the primary pur-pose of the expedition was to learnabout and map unknown terrain

In 2004, as America celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition,Alaskans can take pride in our own state’s great journey of discovery, the Allen Expedi-

tion of 1885. Though it occurred eight decades later, it has sometimes been called

Alaska’s ‘Lewis and Clark Expedition’


including a pass through the AlaskaRange and beyond into the YukonBasin. But there was another rea-son, a military one. By the terms oftheir official orders, Allen and hismen were to report on the Nativepeople, including information onhow much of a future threat theymight pose to other westerners thatwould later venture into this region.Memories of the ill fated Russianexpeditions lingered. Also, this wasa time in America when conflictswith Native peoples elsewhere werestill occurring in some areas. AfterAllen returned, his commander,Gen. Miles, was sent on a specialmission to fight Geronimo.

Natives contribute to successThus, the military’s concern for

what they might face in Alaska wasunderstandable given the times.But, in view of Lt. Allen being au-thorized only two other men for hisexpedition, this order to assess Na-tives from a military standpoint wasa bit ironic. Later, it would becomeeven more ironic in light of how wellAllen and his men were treated bythe Natives they encountered. Hadit not been for the Alaska Nativepeople encountered, at times thesmall group of travelers might haveperished. Similar situations oc-curred during the Lewis and ClarkExpedition, some 80 years earlier.

With full knowledge of potentialproblems he might face, Lt. Allennonetheless saw this trip as a greatopportunity. The expedition eventu-ally succeeded where all others be-fore them had failed. Not only didAllen and his men record informa-tion on the people they encoun-tered, but they became trusted

enough by Ahtna Chief Nicolai thathe led them up the Chitina River toa secret outcropping of nearly purecopper. Allen’s record of this re-markable place helped inspire latersearches for copper in the regionleading to the later discovery of theKennecott Copper Mines, one of therichest deposits of high grade cop-per ever found in North America.

Among the other notable dis-coveries made by the men was Sus-lota Pass, a usable route from theCopper River County into the Ta-nana and Yukon Valleys. Most re-markable of all was their mappingfor the first time of the Copper, Ta-nana and Koyukuk Rivers. And allthis in less than 20 weeks while trav-eling overland for more than 1,500miles!

An invaluable reportTwo years after their return, Lt.

Allen completed an impressive 172-page report, accompanied by de-tailed maps. It was modestly titled“Report of An Expedition to theCopper, Tanana, and Koyukuk River,in the Territory of Alaska, in theYear 1885, for the Purpose of Ob-taining all Information Which willbe Valuable and Important, Espe-cially to the Military Branch of theGovernment.” While the documentcontained around 20 illustrations,including sketches of terrain theyencountered as well as depictions ofsome Natives, Allen and Fickettwere greatly disappointed by oneunfortunate event. They hadbrought along a camera, but thenumerous glass-plate photographsthey made with considerable effortwere later lost by a messenger.

Today, Allen’s well-written re-port remains an invaluable docu-ment for Alaska. It provided notonly a history of prior exploration inthe Copper, Tanana and KoyukukRiver areas including oral historyanecdotes, but a compelling narra-tive of their harrowing trip. It alsorecorded invaluable observationsabout the Natives encounteredalong the way and their cultures,which were already undergoingchanges due to contact with outsid-ers. Allen, not unlike early culturalanthropologists of the time, evenspeculated on connections betweenvarious peoples of Alaska and theirprehistoric movements based on“general appearance and manner.”

In addition, Allen’s report in-cluded observations on animals, ge-ology, volcanic activity, glaciers,minerals, and even the weather. Al-together, the Allen Expedition cre-ated the first written record formuch of interior Alaska, a remark-able accomplishment that places itamong the greatest journeys of dis-covery in American history. It wasindeed Alaska’s own Lewis and ClarkExpedition!

Footnote: While Robert King,BLM’s State Archaeologist for Alas-ka has great admiration for Lt. Hen-ry T. Allen and the remarkableachievements of his expedition, healso has a special interest in theLewis and Clark Expedition as he isa distant relative of Meriwether Lew-is.

(Reprinted from the BLM Alas-ka Frontiers Summer 2004.)

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What’s wrong with this picture?We keep hearing the NPS wants tobe our friends. Why can’t they actlike friends and treat residents with

respect? They have other optionsthat they choose not to take.

The area in question is purpose-ly left out of this account to protectthe privacy of the gentleman in-

volved. But the story speaks for it-self. It should outrage every one ofus.

Concerned Citizen

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR continued from page 35

Gary Candelaria hasstepped down from hisposition as superinten-

dent of Wrangell-St. Elias NationalPark (WRST) and taken a positionas Deputy Director for Harpers Fer-ry Center in West Virginia. There hewill direct a team of technicianswho provide audiovisual assistancethroughout the National Park Sys-tem.

Candelaria came to WRST in1999. During his first several yearshe kept a low profile, forging alli-ances with the local environmentalcommunity, the Wilderness Societyand the National Parks and Conser-vation Association, and quietlyworking to buy up land in andaround the park with the help ofvarious environmental land trusts.

Then began a spate of actionsagainst the community and localresidents, such as Candelaria's infa-mous McCarthy Green Butte Roadclosure, which outraged many Mc-Carthy citizens and brought nation-al attention to WRST. He alsoapproved a SWAT-style helicopterteam of heavily armed rangers andtechnicians that harassed the Pil-grim family for weeks while tryingto find “damage” to park lands thatcould be charged against the Pil-grims. At the same time, Candelariaapproved a damaging land survey,including a wide clear-cut swatharound the Pilgrim property so theNPS could “keep an eye on the fami-ly from the air.” In so doing, the

WRST destroyed more natural, un-disturbed vegetation and left morevisual impact in the McCarthyCreek valley then anyone likely hasin the last 50 years.

Candelaria wrote an incrediblyunprofessional and slanderous“Open Letter” in which containeduntrue charges against the Pilgrimsand ugly personal comments. ThenCandelaria ordered his staff at theKennicott Visitor Center to show itto tourists that asked questionsabout the Pilgrims.

Last year, while spending anadmitted half-million dollars at-tempting to bring a case against thePilgrim family, he authorized theclosure of the newly-constructedvisitor contact log cabin at the endof the McCarthy Road, supposedlybecause of “budget cuts.”

While Candelaria was superin-tendent of WRST, the park alsospent $420,000 building and reno-vating thirteen “public-use cabins,”only eight of which are listed in the2004 Superintendent’s Compendi-um. Some area residents havecharged that the four unlisted cab-ins were built for exclusive use ofNPS employees rather than the pub-lic.

On the north side of the park heoversaw a process where the WRSTcalled a public meeting and work-shop with citizens, ostensibly tocome up with ways to repair andprotect trails from ORV impacts.Slana resident Doug Frederick andother volunteers constructed an in-

novative trail protection demonstra-tion and sent photos of their workto the NPS. Instead of thankingFrederick, Candelaria had Frederickcharged as a criminal for building astructure in the park. InFrederick’s trial the NPS admittedit wasn't really interested in repair-ing or protecting the trails, it justwanted them closed and that the(undisclosed) purpose of the“citizen workshop” was to satisfy anANILCA requirement that the NPShave a public meeting before clos-ing trails.

All of these events as well asmany other abuses on Candelaria'swatch generated an unprecedentedgroundswell of local outrage andthe formation of a new organiza-tion, the Residents of the Wrangells,or ROW. ROW took public testimo-ny on NPS abuse in the WRST atseveral heated meetings and sub-mitted its findings to the congres-sional delegation and the governoras well as asking for a Departmentof the Interior Inspector GeneralInvestigation.

When asked why Candelaria hasleft WRST, NPS spokesperson JaneTranel said, “Gary took a promo-tion to take a position at the Harp-ers Ferry [NPS] Service Center.”Director Blaszak had this to say,“Gary’s with a soulmate that he’sgoing to marry this summer; nowthey’re both in the DC area and canbe together.”

WRST superintendent leaves under cloud


Karen Long continued herjourney into eternal lifeon May 21, 2004. She

had spent 47 years on earth andtouched many lives during thattime. She was a loving daughter andsister, a devoted wife and mother,but I knew her best as a caringteacher.

When our family moved out intothe bush of Alaska, education be-came our responsibility. There is nopublic or private school in McCarthyor Kennecott to send your childrento. There are many schools that willhelp bush families by providing acurriculum and a teacher to gradethe students’ work, make sure re-quired tests and classes are taken,and hand out the high school diplo-ma. We chose to go with theChugach Extension School out ofValdez and, hence, Karen walkedinto our lives.

Karen made two trips a year toour community in order to meetwith her students and their families.Chugach does not have one certaincurriculum all the students mustfollow, so Karen would spend timewith each student to see where theirinterest lay and how they learned.She also took into consideration theparents, the ones who would be do-ing the actual teaching. She spenttime with the parents, listening totheir thoughts of what is importantin the education of their children.She would see the families’ moralsand values by spending time with

them in their homes. Then shewould show them a choice of curric-ulums from which to set up theireducation according to their needsand abilities. If something didn’twork then we would stop and trysomething else. Her desire was forthe students to enjoy learning andto take an active part in their owneducation.

Karen spent time working togive the students opportunities tolearn new things. She set up a tech-nology camp so students could learnto do Power Point presentations ontheir computers. She set up Artists-in-the-Schools programs which al-lowed the students to work withprofessionals and learn how to paintwith water colors, carve nativemasks, work with ceramics, play mu-sical instruments, and perfect theirwriting skills. She encouraged stu-dents to take part in the Voyage toExcellence program run by theChugach School District. We will allmiss Karen and her group get-to-gethers that always included a sci-ence experiment or group projectand, of course, hot dogs ands’mores around the fire.

Karen continued to care aboutand help her students long afterthey graduated. She has helpedmany children reach their dreams.She was our helper, our advisor, andmost importantly, our friend.

When Karen knew her time onearth was soon to be over, sheshared with her family what shewanted included in her memorial

service which was held June 6 atHermon Hutchens ElementarySchool in Valdez. Even in passing,she comforted those who loved her.I will end with a Bible verse Karenchose to leave with us. The words ofJesus Christ:

“Let not your hearts be trou-bled; believe in God, believe also inme. In my Father’s house are manymansions; if it were not so, would Ihave told you that I go to prepare aplace for you? And if I go and pre-pare a place for you, I will comeagain and will take you to myself, sothat where I am, there you may bealso. And you know the way to theplace where I am going.” Thomassaid to him, “Lord, we do not knowwhere you are going. How can weknow the way?” Jesus said to him, “Iam the way, and the truth, and thelife. No ones comes to the Fatherexcept through me.” John 14: 1-6.

Karen is survived by her hus-band, Richard C., and sons Alexan-der W. and Justin W. Long, all ofValdez; mother Geraldine Woodruffof Concord, Ohio; brother RobertWoodruff of Sagamore Hills, Ohio;sisters-in-law Nancy Woodruff ofOhio; and Sandra Hawkins andbrother-in-law Edward Long, both ofAlaska and many nieces and neph-ews.

She was proceeded in death byher father Robert E. Woodruff.

In memory of Karen Woodruff Long 1957-2004

Al Swalling, who worked onthe CRNW Railway from1928 until 1938 and who

was also on “the last train out,”died July 3. He was one of the greatAlaskan pioneers who went on afterhis decade of work with the CR&NW

to become a major industrial con-tractor in Anchorage.Al Swalling’s company built thewalking bridges which cross theKennicott River, and it was alsoSwalling Construction which volun-tarily set the museum box car ontothe tracks in front of the McCarthy-

Kennicott Museum. Although hewas no longer wellknown locally, Alhimself was present at McCarthy onthe day the box car was set in place.He often referred to his railroadingdays as one of the best times of hislife.

Al Swalling 1910 - 2004


THE CHITINA LEADERJuly 1912 August

Reprinted from The Chitina Leader, July & August 1912 issues.

Strike Ore at KuskulanaGeorge Love is in re-

ceipt of a letter from OleBerg, in charge of the prop-erties of the Kuskulana Cop-per Company, stating thathe has broken into a largebody of the finest ore yetuncovered in that section. Anumber of eastern capital-ists interested in the proper-ties are now on their way outfrom Boston. – Valdez Pros-pector.

July 6NEW BALL PARK FOR

CHITINAChitina is going to have

the best baseball park inAlaska. No sooner was thematter mentioned than ev-erybody became interested.A good level plat of groundone half mile north of townhas been selected and goodprogress is being madeclearing it. In another weektrees, brush and stumps willbe gone. Two of Chitina’sleading women were out theother day swinging axes in amost enthusiastic manner.It is now proposed to have atract of forty acres includingthe ball park set aside by thegovernment as a park for thetown of Chitina. The ballgrounds will be finished intime for some good gamesthis summer.

The following letters re-main uncalled for in the Chi-tina post office: A. Berry,John Bergen, Tim Cronin,John S. Dorwin, Fredric Fre-

dricken, H. Sutherland, GustSwersten, Svenson, CharlesCkoftland, Warren Taylor,Louis Wick, Christ Wold, H.Wrarar.

The crew of men underFred Walters have coveredabout three miles of this endof the trail and are nowcamped at the old site at thesouthend of the third lake.The crew under Billy Camer-on are working at Tonsinaand have covered about fourmiles of the trail. The workconsists largely of ditchingand putting in small bridges.

Since Miller and Cham-berlain arrived in Chitinathe streets and hillsides havebeen so full of cows, horses,sheep and calves that thosepassing through here thinkthis is a ranching country. Itwill be some day.

The bridge crew now haseverything in shape on therailroad and will go to workon the reconstruction of thebig concentrator at Kenne-cott.

A WINTER WATERSUPPLY

Henry Gessner, propri-etor of the Chitina Bakery,has just finished digging awell on his property. Aftergoing down through fortyfeet of frost the water wasreached, which rose to with-in fifteen feet of the surface.

Chitina lies in a narrowvalley that was once a chan-nel for a part of the CopperRiver. The river gravel is now

covered with the slowly accu-mulated layer of partly de-cayed vegetation or “muck.”This water-tight covering offrozen muck varies in thick-ness from a few feet on thesides to nearly eighty feet inthe center of the valley. Sev-eral small streams at theupper end of the valley findtheir way under this frozenlayer and work downthrough the old river gravelto the Copper River whichhas cut its later channel 200feet below this old one.

Malcolm Nelson, whohad a contract to get water,thawed and dug through 27feet of frozen muck andpartly rotted stumps, thenthrough three feet of moss,which was only slightly de-cayed. Under the moss waseight feet of frozen bouldersand sand. When this layerwas punctured, the waterbubbled up in a fountain,and his assistant saved him-self from drowning only byclimbing out.

Henry has now enlargedthe holes in his doughnuts aquarter of an inch to pay forhis hole in the ground, buthis coffee and bread are asgood as ever.

MISS KEEN'S ASCENTOF MOUNT BLACKBURN

Miss Dora Keen, who isthe daughter of an eminentPhiladelphia surgeon, iswriting a series of articles onher recent successful con-quest of Mount Blackburn,Alaska, in Scribners.

In her most recent arti-cle she says:

Steep and badly brokenglaciers, steeper ridges allcrested with ice, and a fairlysmooth snow summit, suchwas the sight that MountBlackburn presented to ourview. It was the fifth day,with food for only eight daysmore, and every route look-ing hopelessly difficult anddangerous for men withheavy packs. The sled and allelse possible would have tobe left at this base camp andfrom here at 6,600 feet,food, fuel and shelter wouldhave to be carried by menand dogs nearly to the top.Progress would be so slowand the liability to blizzardsso great that it would neverbe safe to be far from shel-ter, and this very necessityfor heavy packs would com-pel the choice of route whichwould be neither too steepnor too difficult if we were toadvance at all. Nearly 10,000feet of snow and ice re-mained to be climbed withthe certainty of such fre-quent snowfall that the snowwould have no time to hard-en, would make the ascentlaborious and would slidewith the first hot sun. Toclimb at night was impossi-ble. Such routes could notbe attempted in the dark.Indeed one of the best gaug-es of the difficulty of amountain ascent is the ele-vation remaining to beclimbed above the snow line.


It is chiefly the 10,000 or15,000 feet that have to beclimbed above the snow linethat make the high moun-tains of Alaska the most dif-ficult to climb.

Above 12,000 feet as-cent would be easy. This wasone reason why I had chosento try this mountain by thisside. Experience in the Alpsand the Andes had taughtme to avoid difficult workabove 15,000 feet. The mapsof the United States geologi-cal survey – made from nearour first camp – showed thecontour lines to be gradualabove 12,000 feet, that wasthe problem. With all theroutes alike looking hope-less, the shortest seemedthe best to try first.

July 16BOUNDARY SURVEY

PARTY ESCAPEDROWNING

Dan Creek, July 12.Asa C. Baldwin reached

here last evening with hisparty of boundary surveyworkers and proceeded to-ward the head waters of theChitina to co-operate withMr. Eaton’s party, now inthat field. Mr. Baldwin’swork on this trip was partic-ularly hazardous owing tolight but continuous falls ofsnow up to as late as July 10.

The high water in Scolaicreek and the upper Nizinacaused considerable delay,the ice backing up the waterand then coming down withlightning speed with thebreak-up of the jam. On oneoccasion an ice jam gave waywhile the entire party werecrossing the river and theyonly reached the shore withthe greatest difficulty.

Mr. Baldwin speaks inthe warmest terms of theundaunted courage of the

men of his party, who did alot of perilous mountainclimbing in the Scolai moun-tains without ever flinching.The foggy weather proved agreat drawback in taking ob-servations, and the party wasconsiderably later arrivinghere than they expected. Inthe upper Chitina it is ex-pected that the work will becompleted early in Septem-ber and that both parties willreach McCarthy about Sep-tember 11.

July 23LOCAL HAPPENINGS IN

AND AROUND TOWNNels McCrary, of Copper

Center, was in town thisweek. He found the trail ingood condition. TheMcCrary’s have 6 acres ofoats sown this year, whichare doing well and promiseto make a good yield.

July 23HAPPENINGS ABOUT

TOWNThe warm weather for

the last week has raised therivers and thirteen bents ofthe bridge were taken out,but were replaced in a fewdays. This bridge continuesto be an expensive nuisance.

TWO MAILS ARE DUETO ARRIVE MONDAY

The steamer Bertha willreach port early Mondaymorning and the steamerAlameda later in the day.Each vessel carries four daysaccumulation of mail fromSeattle, which will mean abusy day at the local postoffice.

July 30LOCAL JOTTINGS

ABOUT TOWNPete Schneider, the

Taslina rancher, came totown this week for a mowerand rake. He brought some

garden stuff he has raisedand which can't be beat any-where in the states. He sold$22 worth of lettuce the dayhe arrived. He expects to getthirty or forty tons of hay.Next year he will start hiscattle ranch.

The strike at Teikell hascaused a stampede in thatdirection and has renewedinterest in the territory be-tween that point and Mile109, in which several goodprospects were found lastsummer.

E. A. Patrick, who is do-ing development work atLong Lake was in Chitinathis week. He is well satisfiedwith what he is showing up.

Joe Feister of Cordovawill take the management ofthe store of M. Finkelstein.Jack Laurie will enter busi-ness at McCarthy.

Frank Iverson has re-corded eight claims thisweek.

August 6PRICES ARE

REASONABLE IN TOWNOF CHITINA

Business conditionshave been surprisingly goodthis summer. The ChitinaCash Store reports a bigtrade so far this month. Op-erators are beginning to re-alize that they can savenothing by sending to Cor-dova or the outside from theabove. The following pricesfrom the above firm willshow an average of Cordovaprices plus the railroadfreight from Cordova to Chi-tina:Article Cordova ChitinaFlour $3.50 $5.50Sugar 8.00 10.00Bacon .23 .26Milk 4.50 5.75Butter .40 .45

Eggs 14.00The railroad freight on

groceries runs 16 2/3 percent of their value. On cloth-ing 3 ½ per cent, which issold at Cordova prices. Com-petition has greatly reducedthe cost of living in Chitina.

CHITINA BREVITIESSeveral people have

been attacked by grouselately. Of course the grousegot the worst of it.

Harry Dean left Satur-day for the Dean's Basincountry, back of Taval,where he will do assessmentwork on his copper property.

Dick Gilneau broughtdown some good samples ofhis copper on the Kotsina,which are on exhibition atthe Chitina Hotel.

GOOD RANCH ATTASLINA

Mr. Kiltske, who runsthe Taslina road house, wasin town last week for sup-plies from the Chitina CashStore. He has a ranch atTaslina and has good pros-pects of a paying crop thisyear. Mrs. Book returnedwith him and will be engagedas cook for the road house.

August 13


Some area residents saythat an aggressive cam-paign to build another

visitor complex for the Wrangell-St.Elias National Park (WRST) is beinghandled in an unethical manner,and may be illegal.

Like the recently constructed$7.6 million Copper Center Com-plex, this one is also outside of thepark boundaries.

When Congress turned down arequest for $4.5 million to purchaseand refurbish the Hart D Ranchnear Slana, flyers began to appearsoliciting private funding throughthe Trust for Public Land, a groupthat has been working with formersuperintendent Gary Candelaria forseveral years to acquire additionalproperty for the nation’s largest na-tional park.

(Although Senator LisaMurkowski’s office told us that thePark Service has requested moneyfor the purchase, NPS Regional Di-rector Marcia Blaszak had a differ-ent story: “When Ms. DeHartapproached us we thought it mightbe nice but we told her she musteither find someone to purchaseand donate to the park, or find an-other buyer,” said Blaszak.)

“The Wrangell St. Elias NationalPark would like to refurbish theHart D Ranch Complex located onthe Nabesna Road so it could func-tion as this Visitors InterpretiveCenter / Campground / and verymuch needed employee housing,”says a beautiful full color posterthat is circulating in the area. Theposter asks for people to either do-nate funds for the project, or writethe Alaska Congressional delegationwith a “support letter showing im-mediate need.”

The National Park Service (NPS)has been quietly acquiring land inthe Slana area over the past fewyears. Much of that land lies outsidepark-preserve boundaries. SinceWRST, at 13.2 million acres alreadycomprises 16.3 percent of the en-

tire national park system, critics aresuggesting that no more additionalland be added.

Slana has had a visitor contactstation for many years, the SlanaRanger Station. But Ms. DeHart saysthat it is not easily accessible bylarge motor homes.

The Slana Ranger Station wasbuilt in 1993 after the existingRanger Station burned down. ThenSuperintendent Karen Wade hadbeen asking for funds to replace theaging structure, but Congressturned her down. After the fire, NPSwas able to get an immediate grantof $229,000 to build the beautifulnew structure. Park historian GeoffBleakly suggests the fire was thework of an arsonist in his book Con-tested Ground, but some locals tella different story. According to thebartender at Duffy’s Tavern, theRanger who was living at the stationwas sent home from the bar in theearly hours of the morning afterconsuming too much alcohol. Sever-al hours later the Ranger Station satin ashes. The official word at thetime was that it may have beencaused by an electrical fire.

Critics also say they believe thefund-raising effort violates NPS reg-ulations. They point to the NPSDirector’s Order #21, which statesthat “Donations of land, buildings,and other property must be withinthe boundaries of the park unit...”

NPS does not have Congressio-nal authority to solicit gifts. Theirpersonnel are restricted to educat-ing the public about their ability toaccept gifts, and specifying theirneeds. Congress has chartered cer-tain partner foundations which mayaccept and solicit funds for NPS,and certain funding sources are pro-hibited.

No public announcements offund-raising efforts are allowed untilfinal approval of a written agree-ment.

Campaigns should also not so-licit funds for projects included in

the Department of the Interior’sbudget request to Congress. NPS’srequest of Senator Murkowski tofast-track funds for the Slana proj-ect leads some to believe that theyhave already asked for an appropria-tion.

NPS Director Fran Mainellacame under fire at a House Appro-priations subcommittee hearing inMarch which was called to scruti-nize the agency’s spending. Her an-nouncement of plans to cut back onvisitor services due to lack of ade-quate funding were met with criti-cisms of mismanagement andmisplaced priorities. Partly as a re-sult of those concerns, House bill(HR 4578) was enacted on June 21to further regulate NPS expansionand construction spending. Underthis new bill, NPS may not acceptdonations or services for the plan-ning, design, or construction of newfacilities without advance writtenapproval of the House and SenateCommittees on Appropriations. Justthis past week, the Park Serviceturned down an offered $10 milliondonation from the Oneida IndianNation and canceled fund-raising forthe American Revolution Center atValley Forge.

The Residents of the Wrangells(ROW), a local citizens group, hasasked Senator Murkowski’s office tolook into the project.

Susan Smith, Chairperson ofROW said, “Going for the Hart D isan underhanded, aggressive move toenlarge even further this giganticpark and squeeze more private visi-tor services out of theSlana/Nabesna area. It’s an outragethat the NPS is attempting to cir-cumvent process by trying to slipthis by Congress and bloat theWRST with more maintenance costsat the same time it is constantlywhining about not having money tomaintain what they already have.”

Hart D Ranch controversy


vately funded (cost so far: over$250,000). In order to recoup someof this cost, the bridge is set up on afee-for-use basis. The first personaluse pass was sold on June 6 to Rickand Bonnie Kenyon, and the firstbusiness pass was sold to Doug Mill-er at McCarthy Ventures, LLC.

Keith and I are very thankful forall the practical help, input, ideas,and encouragement which havecome from the McCarthy communi-ty. We would like to express specialgratefulness to the following people:

To Rick and Bonnie Kenyon andothers in the Wednesday night prayergroup—for upholding in prayer thepermit process and workers’ safetyduring construction. Herein lies thesecret of our success!

To Ken Rowland—for expeditingmaterials, expertise in welding andfabrication, and assistance in bridgeconstruction.

To Doug Miller and Neil Darish atMcCarthy Ventures—for unrelentingenthusiasm.

To George Cebula—when Keithtook the final permit documents toour local public notary to be nota-rized, George stamped the papers,and then kindly refused payment.

To McCarthy Area Council—forfinding the owner of a key piece ofproperty needed to be acquired forlegal bridge access. Because the re-cords at the Chitina Recorder’s Officeare not complete, this required somedetective work. MAC hired an agentto investigate into the matter. Theagent eventually succeeded in locat-ing the owner of this key lot, a womanfrom New York named Tibby. We thencontacted Tibby with an offer to buyher land. As soon as she heard of ourplans to build a service bridge, thatpleasant little lady got on board! Shecheerfully agreed to sell us the prop-erty, with the stipulation that wewould pay for her round trip from An-chorage accommodations in

McCarthy—complete with a personalguided tour of the new bridge—afterthe project was finished.

To Ed LaChapelle—for all hishelp and research on the solar-pow-ered keypad lock system.

To Lane Moffitt—for all the grad-er work done on Freedom Lane whichleads to the bridge, for the proudly-waving Freedom Flag, and for comingto the bridge construction site nearlyevery day to check progress.

To Betty Adams—for beautifyingthe bridge with her cheery flowers.

The Kennicott River ServiceBridge has been well received in ourcommunity. Kennicott resident JamesSill summed it up best as he drovethrough the gate and across thebridge for the first time. “FREEDOMAT LAST!” he whooped exultantly.

(Bridge —continued from page 7)

Knox responded to a variety ofquestions from individuals on issuessuch as RS2477, ANILCA, and onhow he sees the present communi-ties of McCarthy and Kennicott. Ac-cording to Knox he is committed toANILCA’s 1110B’s access to inhold-ings, recognizes Alaska’s parks asdifferent because of ANILCA, and hevalues the present residents anddesires to build dialogue, workingwith the people and finding placeswhere they and NPS can agree.

Tina Cunning is Alaska Fish andGame’s “expert” on ANILCA. Shereported to the attendees that sheand Sally Gibert were diligentlystudying ANILCA’s 1110B. The de-sire is to bring clarification to thoseareas that are unclear and misun-derstood by many.

Of great importance to ROWmembers was the opportunity topresent the groups’ list of concernsand receive the feedback promisedby Director Blaszak. But, as the

meeting’s closing time approachedand Ms. Smith asked to read the listthe Director suggested the list begiven to her but not read. Ms. Smithsaid she would keep it brief. Onceagain Ms. Blaszak tried to discour-age the attempt.

Smith said she came away fromthe meeting confused. “Marciaknew we wanted to talk to her abouta number of concerns,” said Susan,“and she said in an email that, ‘Wewill also have a time for listening toconcerns from the group.’”

Many in ROW believe tensionscan be relieved; they have hopethings can be better between resi-dents and the National Park Service.They feel the meeting in Kennecottwas a step in the right direction,but several members have said theywere confused by Ms. Blaszak’s un-willingness to talk about allegationsof wrongdoing on the part of cur-rent and past WRST administration.

Others thought the Directorseemed unwilling to admit thatthere had been any problems atWRST.

Laurie Rowland, who is a mem-ber of the ROW Advisory Board, hadthis to say: “In essence, she told us,‘Let’s not go back to the past, butinstead press forward.’ What an out-rage! It would be impossible to ac-curately convey the changes wewould like to see in a future super-intendent without referring to mis-deeds of past personnel to expresswhat we do not want in a superin-tendent. This was, after all, the pri-mary purpose of the meeting!”

Ms. Blaszak has offered to holda meeting in the Slana/Nabesna ar-ea in the near future. The time andplace has not yet been decided.

(Director Blaszak meets ROW continued from page 5)


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came ill and descended. He asked usif he could join our team and wealmost instantly all agreed, realizingnot too much later that we had tak-en on too much. It didn't take longfor him to move into our three-per-son tent and join ourteam. We moved up to17,200’ with him at-tached to our rope,changing the dynamic ofthe entire climb. Theridge between 16,200’and 17,200' is the mostmagnificent part of theWest Buttress route.Meghan and I were flip-ping coins for that leadbefore the trip even be-gan. It just so happenedthat on that day Meghanwas suffering a bit froman altitude headache andgave up her lead to me. Iwas recovering fromsome nausea that I expe-rienced all the way upthe fixed lines earlier inthe day, but was startingto feel good again andtook the lead. The ridge can bethreatening in bad weather. In someplaces it is not much more thanthree feet wide and drops off 2,000’on one side and slightly more on theother. Climbers have been blown offthis ridge. There was no wind thatday until we rounded the corner to17,200-ft. camp, then the wind blewmighty cold and I remember think-ing my hands might get frostnipbefore reaching camp. They didn't,but it was that painful feeling ofyour hands rewarming after they'vebeen so cold. The weather on Denaliis the primary factor in what makesit a mountaineering trip vs. a vaca-tion. So far we had been on vaca-tion.

The first night at 17,200’ wasstill clear, but cold and windy. Fourof us squeezed like sardines in thetent warmed things up a bit, al-though it was almost too tight tosleep at all. That combined with thealtitude and we barely slept at all

while at this elevation. This was thefirst of 7 nights that we would spendhere. We were all still fairly chipperand spent hours late that night gig-gling, melting snow, and cookingdinner. The next day the weather

made an appearance and reallydidn't let up at all while we were uphigh. We managed to acquire anextra tent for one night, which gaveus all some elbow room and I thinksome of us might have even slept alittle. By now it has become appar-ent that “the hitchhiker” is drainingus all and we need to address thesituation with him. Privately thethree of us girls talk and decide wewant our original team back, thusmeaning that we need to find a dif-ferent situation for our hitchhiker,which we don't feel so good about.The vibe between the three of us ischanging a bit from being real light-hearted to more serious and there issome grouchiness between us. Ah,morals and values on themountain—what is the right thingto do here? The situation begins toresolve itself. The four of us sitdown and talk real honestly andgently. The hitchhiker is aware thatwe want our trip back and realizes

that it isn't an ideal situation to bestuck in a storm at 17,200’ withfour of us in a three-person tent. Hedecides to descend with some rang-ers going down. We learn that it isOK to say “no,” and we should have

done so at 14,200’instead of trying tobe nice.

So, back to theclimbing. The stormpicks up some force.Winds are blowing atleast 60 mphthrough camp; snowis falling upwards of3-feet during thetime we spend uphigh. We spend timeeveryday doing some-thing physical so thatwe don't lose our fit-ness. We build snowwalls, bomber snowwalls. We hoola hoopand take walks. Butsometimes we don’tget out of the tentfor more than 3hours a day. Food

and fuel are running low, but we areable to acquire both from partiesgoing down. Some were strange,unidentifiable dehydrated thingsthat we wouldn't normally eat. Myfavorite was the chicken noodlesoup we had for dinner one night.

I should also mention where theidea for this trip originated. Lastyear Meghan’s boyfriend died in atragic accident in McCarthy. Sheput this trip together in his memoryand carried some of Chris' ashes toscatter at our highest point on themountain. We also lived in Chris'tent while on the mountain, spoke alot about him, and shed some tearsthinking of him. This is importantbecause the first day the weathercleared where we could make a po-tential summit push from 17,200’was the year anniversary of his acci-dent, June 12th. This was always theday we had in our minds for oursummit attempt and it just so hap-pened that the weather was offering


Dorothy (front) Beth and Megan with the hoola hoop at the17,200-ft. camp.


us a window. However, the windswere still raging up high and al-though others made summit pushesthat day, after spending hourswatching the wind tear up the uppermountain, we opted to wait onemore day because the winds wereforecasted to die down some.

The next day was day 7 up high.This is quite some time to be spend-ing at this altitude. In fact the aver-age time spent at 17,200-ft. camp is5 days. We woke at 6 AM and pre-pared for a summit bid. We leftcamp a bit after 12 noon with thehoola hoop and all of our warmclothes. Meghan led up the auto-bahn, a traverse protectedwith 12 snow pickets, alsoanother potentially danger-ous section of the route. Weall felt strong, consideringthe amount of time wespent at altitude and beingtent bound for so long. De-spite the lack of oxygen andthe shortness of breath youexperience, I remember lis-tening to Beth sing as wereached 18,000’ and think-ing “how sweet is that.”

The weather was beauti-ful at first and the wind re-ally seemed like it hadslowed down. Then wereached Denali Pass and thewind began to rage. Leaningover my pack to pull out my warmmittens and goggles I was almostblown over. There was a party ofthree just ahead of us and theyweren't turning back so we decidedto continue on. We had reached18,200’ and had only a bit morethan 2,000’ to go. We stopped atone point to hydrate and eat a pow-er bar, and we were all in our ownworlds fighting to stay warm andwanting to hide from the wind. Wecouldn't carry on a conversation be-cause it was so windy. At about19,000' the wind progressed a bit.We kept expecting it to let up, butit never did. We could see the sum-mit ridge and the summit and then

suddenly it was a whiteout andthose images were gone. Our maingoal of the trip was to have fun.Beth reminded us that it wasn't funanymore and we made the call toturn around. By that point itseemed like go on and risk frostbite,or turn back. We made the rightcall. Descending was a bit crazy andthe trip continued to border on al-most being an epic.

Day 8 at 17,200’ we packedcamp and began descending to14,200’ just after 1 PM. I forgot tomention that we ran out of goodcoffee and were drinking instantFolgers by this time, combined with

hot cocoa. Ghetto mochas got usthrough, but I couldn't wait for areal cup of joe at 14 camp. Beforewe left camp we scattered some ofChris' ashes at the edge of campoverlooking the Alaska Range andlooking down towards the 14 camp.It was a special moment for all threeof us that I felt honored to be a partof.

As soon as I turned the cornerto gain the ridge, the wind blew meback and I walked back to the othergirls thinking "there's no way we candescend in this wind." But we waitedfor a lull and rounded the corneronto the ridge to experience aheart-pounding descent to 14 camp.

The wind would come up like afreight train and we would hit thedeck, hiding and holding ontorocks. I would sling the rope aroundrocks so that if one of us were blownoff the ridge, the rope would hope-fully catch us. We belayed each oth-er from one safety zone to the nextuntil we were out of the narrowestpart of the ridge and into a morecomfortable place. Then we gotstuck for an hour behind a guidedgroup on one of the fixed lines,meanwhile the wind is howling andwe are marching in place to keepthe feet warm. We finally made it to14 camp many hours later, dug up

our cache, brewed somecoffee, and ate an amaz-ing dinner. Then we bee-lined it for base camp at7,200’ in one long push totry and beat some weatherthat was approaching. Wemade it to base camp ear-ly the next morning andflew out on one of the lastflights before the weatherclosed in.

We were greeted bysummertime in Talkeetna.Flowers and trees and lifeand colors and all thosebright things you misswhen you are living in thesnow and ice world forsome time. We ate choco-

late cake, walked along the river,and reunited with our family andfriends. It’s good to go out, but itsure is sweet to come back.

Look for our Denali slideshowsometime this summer in theMcCarthy/Kennicott community.Details will be posted.


16,000-ft. ridge as seen from 17,200-ft. camp.


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Photo courtesy Craig Neill

Left to right: Kaylin Moffitt, Matthew Shidner, CarterNeill (mudface), Conner Truskowski, John Paul Syren.Photo taken June 16 at the glacier mud “swimminghole.”

WSEN staff photo

Kennicott-McCarthy Museum is getting a workover from topto bottom. Folks from St. Elias Alpine Guides and theWrangell Mtn. Center helped lighten the building by movingheavy objects prior to Rowcon Services raising the buildingand putting in a new foundation. John Adams and CarmenRusso of McCarthy Building Services repaired the roof andare in the process of crowning the building with a new met-al roof. WSEN staff photo

Right — Alaska Department of Natural Resourc-es Forestry division is constructing an informa-tional kiosk near mile 56 On the McCarthyRoad. They have made a nice pull-out area andare seeking funding to install vault toilets.


Cooking with Peggy

I tried to plan this month’srecipes around one mainingredient but first I had to

choose it! I wanted something mostpeople like, something that was inseason all year and something thatcould be an ingredient in breakfast,lunch, dinner, etc. Guess what Icame up with – CHOCOLATECHIPS! I tried hard to come up withrecipes that were a little differentafter reading literally hundreds ofthem for chocolate chip cookies.

Now for breakfast. How aboutChocolate Chip Pancakes with honeysyrup? I found this one on the Inter-net. This makes about 3 servings.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes1 cup all-purpose flour2 tablespoons sugar1 tablespoon baking powder½ teaspoon salt1 egg3/4 cup milk2 tablespoons canola oil1/4 cup miniature chocolate chip

baking bits½ cup honey1/4 cup butter or margarine½ to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In one bowl, combine the flour,sugar, baking powder, and salt. In aseparate bowl, combine the egg,milk and oil.

Add the combined wet ingredi-ents to the bowl of dry ingredients.Mix well and stir in chocolate chips.

Pour the batter by 1/4 cupfulsonto a lightly greased hot griddle.Turn when bubbles form on top;cook until second side is goldenbrown. Keep warm.

Now, combine honey, butterand cinnamon in a small microwave-able bowl. Microwave, uncovered,until butter is melted and syrup ishot. Serve with pancakes.

Or for brunch, how about a reci-pe for Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake I

found in an old Taste of Home maga-zine.

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake1 cup butter or margarine, softened1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese,

softened1 ½ cups sugar, divided2 eggs1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 cups all-purpose flour1 teaspoon baking powder½ teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt1/4 cup milk1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet choco-

late chips1/4 cup chopped pecans1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a mixing bowl, cream thebutter, cream cheese and 1 1/4cups of sugar. Beat in eggs and va-nilla. Combine the flour, bakingpowder, baking soda and salt; add tocreamed mixture alternately withmilk. Stir in chocolate chips. Pourinto a greased 9-in. Springform pan.Combine the pecans, cinnamon andremaining sugar; sprinkle over bat-ter. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55minutes or until a toothpick insert-ed near the center comes out clean.Cool for 15 minutes. Carefully run aknife around edge of pan to loosen.Remove sides of pan. Cool com-pletely before cutting. Yield: 10-12servings.

For lunch, short of one of youcoming up with a chocolate chipsoup or something, how about serv-ing Giant Chocolate Chip BananaMuffins with a salad. (If you don’thave the giant muffin pan, figure youwill get about 18 large ones in yourregular muffin pans instead of thenine 3” ones in the giant ones.)

Giant Chocolate Chip BananaMuffins

3 cups all-purpose flour1 cup sugar4 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt2 cups milk1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3

bananas depending on the size,of course)

½ cup butter, melted2 eggs1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels3/4 cup nuts or 1 cup raisins (I used

the nuts.)In a large bowl, combine flour,

sugar, baking powder, cinnamonand salt. Make a well in the center.

In a small bowl, combine milk,mashed bananas, butter and eggs.Add to well in flour mixture. Addsemi-sweet morsels and ½ cup nuts(or raisins); stir well until dry ingre-dients are just moistened. Spoonmixture into greased or paper-linedmuffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.Sprinkle abut 1 teaspoon nuts overeach muffin. Bake at 400 degreesfor 18-20 minutes. Cool 5 minutesin pans, then remove and cool onwire rack.

For dessert after dinner, I wantyou to try the Double DecadentBrownie Torte with Chocolate Glazethat is served by the Alaska WolfHouse B & B in Juneau. It’s so goodthat I decided if their rooms are evenhalf as good as dessert, I’m going tosell my house and move in at the B& B! Try it, you’ll like it!

Double Decadent BrownieTorte

½ cup butter½ cup light corn syrup1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips½ cup granulated sugar3 eggs1 teaspoon vanilla1 cup all-purpose flour1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Butter and flour a 9" round cakepan. In a sauce pan, heat butter andcorn syrup until butter is melted.Add chocolate chips and stir untilmelted. Remove from heat. Add sug-ar and eggs. Stir until well blended.


A LOOK AT THE WEATHER

Stir in vanilla, flour, and nuts. Pourbatter into pan. Bake at 350 de-grees for 30 minutes, until centersprings back when touched. Cool inpan for 10 minutes. Turn out of panonto rack. Frost top and sides withChocolate Glaze. Chill until set.Garnish with sliced strawberries.Cut into wedges and serve withwhipped cream.

Glaze½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips2 tablespoons butter1 tablespoon corn syrup1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine chocolate chips, but-ter, and corn syrup in saucepan. Stirover low heat until chocolate ismelted. Remove from heat and addvanilla. Frost top and sides of torte.Chill and garnish.

What I don’t do for you folks! IHAD to make and eat all these reci-pes AND all the calories! Next issueyou will get lighter ideas.

CORRECTION FROM BONNIE:In the May/June issue, Peggy in-cluded a Banana Nut Bread recipe.When I typed it in on my computer,I made two mistakes! I omitted the

sugar and gave the wrong amount ofsour cream. Susan Getz, daughterof WSEN subscriber Rusty Imlach,called my attention to the error.Thank you, Susan! The amount ofsugar (I mistakenly omitted) is 1 ½cups of sugar and the correctamount of sour cream is ½ cup. Bythe way, Rusty is related to JohnO’Neill of historic McCarthy days’fame.

As in the past, April saw the lastof a long winter and the end of thesnow. April ‘04 had both normaltemperatures and precipitation. Thehigh temperature for the month was60 on the 30th (71 on Apr. 27, ‘03and 61 on Apr. 29, ‘02). The low was-14 on the 1st (-18 on Apr. 2, ‘03 and-17 on Apr. 1, ‘02). The average tem-perature for April was 36.1, comparedto 32.8 in ‘03 and 24.9 in ‘02. Thelowest average temperatures for Aprilwere 22.4 in 1972 and 24.7 in 1986.

Silver Lake had a high of 54 on30th (71 on Apr. 28, ‘03 and 60 onApr. 29, ‘02) and a low of -14 on the1st (-12 on Apr 2, ‘03 and -18 onApr. 1, ‘02). The April average tem-perature at Silver Lake was 32.7(31.7 in ‘03 and 22.8 in ‘02).

The precipitation for April wasabout average with 0.77 inches(trace in ‘03 and 0.39 in ‘02). Therewas also 8.7 inches of snow (trace in‘03 and 7.1 inches ‘02). Silver Lakehad 0.43 inches of precipitation inApril (none in ‘03 and trace in ‘02 )and 4.5 inches of snow (none in ‘03and ‘02).

Again the total snowfall at McCa-rthy for ‘03- ‘04 was 110.6 incheswhich is a new record (46.0 in ‘02-‘03, 74.2 in ‘01-‘02, 85.2 in ‘00- ‘01,65.8 in ‘99- ‘00 and 38.9 in ‘98- ‘99).Silver Lake’s snowfall for ‘03- ‘04 was55.5 inches (51.0 in 02'-‘03 and 57.5in ‘01- ‘02).

McCarthy started the month with34 inches of snow on the ground,increased to 42 inches on April 2nd

and ended April with 7 inches stillaround. Silver Lake had 11 inches ofsnow on the ground as April arrived,increased to 15 on the 2nd and wasclear of snow on April 22nd.

The temperatures were aboveaverage for May. The high tempera-ture for May was 73 on the 15th, 21st

and 22nd (70 on May 29, ‘03 and 80on May 25, ‘02). The low temperaturewas 25 on the 4th (21 on May 6, ‘03and 15 on May 5, ‘02). The May aver-age temperature was 49.3. This com-pares with 44.4 in ‘03, 45.9 in ‘02and 41.8 in ‘01. There were 8 dayswith a high of 70 or above. SilverLake had a high of 72 on the 22nd (67on May 29, ‘03 and 80 on May 26,‘02), a low of 26 on the 3rd (25 onMay 19, ‘03 and 14 on May 5, ‘02)and an average temperature of 49.3(44.0 in ‘03, 45.0 in ‘02 and 42.0 in‘01).

The May precipitation at McCa-rthy was below normal with 1.05 inch-es of liquid. This compares with 1.42inches in ‘03 and 1.79 inches in ‘02.There was no snow recorded in May ateither McCarthy or Silver Lake. Mc-Carthy had 5 inches of snow on theground on May 1st and it was gone bythe 5th. Silver Lake recorded 0.95inches of liquid (0.62 inches in ‘03and 0.96 inches in ‘02). Their snowwas gone by May 1st .

The ice on the West Fork of theKennicott River began to break apartaround April 15th and water was mov-ing over the top. The river was clearof moving ice by April 28th and all theshore ice was gone by May 8th. The iceon Silver Lake was too soft for travelin late April and it was completelygone the morning of May 14th (May 5,‘03 and Ma y 21, ‘02).

The first half of June was warmand dry with highs in the high 70’s tolow 80’s. The lows were in the mid30’s to low 40’s. Summer should bein full swing by late June. June andJuly are the warmest months with thehighs usually in the low 80’s. Thetemperature begins to cool in Augustwith highs only getting into the low70’s. The all time high recorded atMcCarthy (until this year) was 87 onJune 21, 1991. Freezing tempera-tures should be back by the end ofAugust, although they can be ob-served at any time. Average monthlyrainfall is about 2 inches (June-Au-gust). Hidden Lake should emptysometime in July, with a rapid rise ofthe water level in the Kennicott Riverand some possible flooding. The firstsnow usually arrives sometime in lateSeptember.

ENJOY THE SUMMER WHATEV-ER THE WEATHER!


FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

(Published: May 8, 2004)Many people dream of living in

the wilderness. Residents insideWrangell-St. Elias National Park areexamples of “self-reliant living”made real. The National Park Ser-vice is mandated to preserve notonly wilderness but also heritageand culture. Wrangell-St. Elias Na-tional Park contains a remote wil-derness culture, deep withinAmerica's largest national park.Should this community be allowedto continue?

In the 1960s, conservationistsconsidered man a threat to the wil-derness. Old Park Service manage-ment philosophy marginalized oreliminated locals. New Park Servicemanagement ideas incorporate cul-tural assets, and some parks are“run with, for and, in some cases, bylocal people.” Management by ParkService is changing to better realizethe value of indigenous cultures andlocal residents as stewards. Man isnot always a threat to preservation,especially when communities arepart of the landscape.

The George Wright Forum is aPark Service institution. It acts as athink tank, a place where ideasabout conservation and managingnational parks are developed. Bypublishing studies on “evolving liv-ing landscapes” where residents are“inclusive and constructive ele-ments” to protected areas, theyhelp mold the future of our NationalPark Service. In Europe and muchof the developing world, “livinglandscapes” and residents are em-braced as an essential part of theirnational parks; and it has been thatway for the last 50 years. America’sPark Service still struggles with

thriving cultures as a resource wor-thy of preservation.

In the Cuyahoga Valley NationalPark in Ohio, there is fresh thinkingabout the notion of a “lived-in”park. The superintendent, John De-bo, views continued occupancy, incertain circumstances, to contrib-ute to the purposes for which thepark was created. He uses the termi-nology “residents” and “partners”rather than “in-holders,” the latterimplying something to be eliminat-ed. Debo emphasizes that each parkmust carefully evaluate how the nat-ural and cultural resource protec-tion mission of that park can bestbe accomplished, and that a “onesize fits all” approach is the antithe-sis of good park management. Bythe 1980s Cuyahoga had eliminatedmost of its residents, condemningand burning down their houses tobring the land back to wilderness.Today the Park Service regretsthose actions.

The Alaska National InterestLands Conservation Act (ANILCA)enshrines Alaska's preservation ofthe cultural elements of remote liv-ing. The Park Service did not wel-come private property in parkswhen Wrangell-St. Elias was formed.Congress created ANILCA to pro-tect against the old Park Servicemanagement objective of eliminat-ing all private land. Alaska, with itshuge distances and lack of pavedroads, has a flourishing remote cul-ture, dependent on motorized vehi-cle trails like any other communityon Earth. Locals aren't asking fornew land or roads, just continueduse of private land, roads and trailspre-dating the park, thus safeguard-ing a uniquely Alaska lifestyle. For100 years residents have broken

trail, and “subsistence” has re-quired driving funky vehicles some-where unpopulated. Today thesesame trails and access seem linedwith unbreakable red-tape.

Park Service rangers share withlocal residents the love of nature,local history, the appeal of self-reli-ant living and the importance ofpreserving this for future genera-tions. The Park Service can becomeour hero if we as resident stewardsare treated with respect by the ParkService — here and in Washington,D.C.

Nature and thriving pre-existingcommunities are not mutually ex-clusive concepts. Around the world,administrators of protected areashave proven this. Current accessissues, visitor kiosk closures andlawsuits reflect a need for a moreinclusive agenda. Management ac-tions reflecting the 1960s philoso-phy of “man is a threat to thewilderness” instead of the worldwidestandard that “the residents are aresource” are counterproductive.Marcia Blaszak, the new Alaska re-gional director for the National ParkService, could set the tone for bet-ter cooperation between local resi-dents and managers of Wrangell-St.Elias. Why move to Alaska if not forthe love of nature? Who better topartner with than those who chooseto live a wilderness lifestyle?

What is needed is a clear state-ment from our Park Service Alaskaregional director that her philoso-phy allows the residents in this parkto thrive.

(Originally appeared in the An-chorage Daily News May 8, 2004)

Let national park residents thrive


LETTERS TO THE EDITORJune 9, 2004WSEN,What an interesting sword you

wield. The News may be a humbleinstrument, but hopefully it reachesa few in powerful places who mightbe interested in the citizen’s side ofissues hidden in the shadow of“giants in the land.” Caleb andJoshua would be approving and veryproud of your report.

There are articles not only ofmany contentious struggles, butthen the view is lifted to include apanorama of this wonderful place intime and the very common men andwomen who wish to call it home.This all works very well together,and I wish to commend your efforts.

As a separate page to this briefletter, you will find comments re-garding a recent article found in theMay & June issue of WSEN.

Yours Truly,Dan Renshaw

Alpine KameroffThirty-six years ago I stopped at

the old Alpine Inn at Sutton forbreakfast. I was acquainted withmany cafe regulars who worked atthe Evan Jones Coal Mine, and I no-ticed their conversation was morelively than normal for that earlymorning hour. I listened for the rea-son. It seems that but a few hoursprevious, the Alpine Inn had wit-nessed an unusual event. A couplefrom the Copper River Valley hadlost a race against time and thestork. Their son was born on thepool table right here at the AlpineInn.

Over breakfast and additionalcoffee, I was appraised of all the de-tails: this couple had driven formany miles down the Glenn High-

way hoping to reach a hospital, thenew mother just could not delay thedelivery process any longer, the Al-pine Inn had become delivery roomof last resort. The finale of the storywas a parting comment made by thenew mother. Her boy would benamed “Alpine.”

A friend listening to the storythen turned to me in typical dry hu-mor, “sure a good thing they hadn'tstopped at the Moos-abou Lodge.”Some readers of the News will re-member, many years ago there wassuch a place. But Alpine was hisname. Having no knowledge of a lastname, I always hoped one day tomeet a man named Alpine, that Imight ask how he had obtained suchan unusual first name.

I was saddened to learn of thepassing of Alpine Kameroff on April18th. The article on page 16 of theNews for May and June of 2004 toldme a little about this man of suchauspicious beginning. From thatarticle I now understand I am thepoorer for never have met AlpineKameroff in person. Because of thearticle he now seems an acquain-tance of long standing, just not seenor heard from in recent years.

WSENMost of us look forward to our

golden years. Here in the WRST, bythe time we’re in our late sixties, wehave to live a careful balance be-tween our Social Security stipendsand the costs of running a home-stead. It’s not easy in our world ofrising fuel costs to keep generatorsrunning and vehicles roadworthy.

Well, the NPS just made lifequite a bit harder for one of ourneighbors in the park. At the age of68, he has been living in a cabin onwhat he thought was a native allot-

ment, with the permission of theowner, for 17 years. She wanted norent from him, but was happy tohave him there caretaking the prop-erty.

Apparently, while investigatinga recent number of land sales onthe McCarthy Road, NPS found outthat the native allotment was de-nied by BLM in 1994. The womanfailed to tell our friend that the landwas never conveyed to her. It didn’ttake long for Tom Betts, ChitinaDistrict Ranger, and Richard Larra-bee, NPS Criminal Investigator fromAnchorage to come out and advisehim that he had until October 1st tovacate the premises. They were kindenough to mention that theyweren’t going to prosecute him forbeing there!

Now, this kind and generousman must come up with the finan-cial resources to set himself upsomewhere else before winter. Hemust find either a rental in the areaor try to purchase a piece of land ofhis own. His quiet life of solitudeand enjoyment of his simple plea-sures and animals has been turnedupside down. No mention of a leaseagreement was even suggested. Justa demand to leave. So much for hisgolden years.

This same native allotment de-nial is wreaking havoc with otherlocal residents. They are being toldthat since their access road crossesa portion of the newly-recognizedfederal land, they must all pay annu-al access fees to NPS reach theirhomes. The road could easily bemoved to avoid the 100 yards of fed-eral land. I imagine a simple requestfrom NPS would have probably donethat. But instead, the steamrollertactic is used again. More fees toreach our homes.



Wrangell St. E

lias New

sM

cCarthy #

42PO

Box M

XY

Glennallen, A

K 99588

w Private cabins for 2 to 4.w Convenient access by automobile.w Historic homestead setting. Enjoy Alaskan bush living.w Quiet location away from the crowds!Phone (907)554-4454 or Email [email protected] us on the WEB at http://mccarthy-kennicott.com/WSENBB.htm

Your hosts, long-time residents Rick & Bonnie Kenyon.

“Mom’s Place” with private bath!

Kennicott River Service Bridge

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