Snow Trac & Tucker help reclaim original Iditarod Trail!

[Moose Guy]

We wanted to share a project where we reclaimed about 7 miles of the original Iditarod Trail out of Seward, Alaska. This was some real Alaskan history that we were a part of. The first photo is of our starting point which was the Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department out of Seward, Alaska. The Tucker obviously carried the driver and 1 cutter so the Snow Trac remains our typical support vehicle for hauling volunteers, emergency gear, parts and anything else that we need.

Some volunteer firefighters and other volunteers came out from Seward to help with the work. This photo was of the trailhead that came up out of the river.

The trail had grown over for many, many years since it was last worked over. It had become a sort of a tunnel that snowmachiners and XC skiers used yet, if you went down it with a snow cat, prepare to leave your paint and mirrors behind! This photo shows the typical condition where we would walk ahead and photo our Tucker working its way through the brush.

Here we are with chainsaws in hand reclaiming part of the original Iditarod Trail which is currently not part of the current race. This photo shows the Tucker just starting to peak out of the brush and into the clearing.

The volunteers are taking a break resting atop of 'Moose Force One' which all of our snow cats are commonly dubbed! We are also very thankful that we have Stihl chainsaws in hand rather than long saws or axes as the original trail makers must have had. There are so many examples of how tough those who came before us were. Don't get me wrong, a Stihl in your hands all day cutting overhead makes the shoulders feel wonderful too.

This photo was our view out in front of us where we spotted one of the trail markers nailed to a tree. We don't know if it was original but it sure was old. We took a close up and inserted it into the overall photo. There was about 7' of snow on the ground. In some years, it is nothing to see well over 10' of snow so we were obviously cutting as high as we could reach. We're about half way done with this particular section and, after it is knocked out, it will be added to our growing miles of trail which we groom for moose. There have been many times that our operator has been out grooming only to run into moose using the trail on his return trip back to his house. Better the moose are on our trails than out on the highway on the front of a car! Thank you again from the AMF for all the volunteers who help make these programs possible!

 

[muleman]

Cool project to bring back the trail!

 

[e2spear]

How many miles do you groom for moose?

 

[Melensdad]

How many miles do you groom for moose?

I'd like to know that too.

There was just a show on The DISCOVERY Channel that featured some footage and discussion of the Alaskan Moose Federation and they showed them grooming the moose trails. Honestly if they said how many miles they groom I didn't catch it. I was simply shocked to look up at the TV set and see a Snow Trac on TV.

 

[Moose Guy]

This winter was pretty light so we groomed probalby 75 miles but last winter had very deep snow and the Matanuska Susitna Borough (north of Anchorage which is where the snow cats have been running) saw 322 collisions with moose. We groomed about 400 miles last winter off of the Parks Highway. It actually takes awhile to photo them on the trails because they hear you a long ways away but we snapped some photos of this cow moose enjoying the trails out near Talkeetna.

These moose are no dummies! A little help and they'll take it from there!

The snow cat that groomed most of these trails is our 1994 BR 400. The snow trac helps haul fuel, people and also is an emergency vehicle in case the BR 400 runs into overflow or soft beaver ponds (thankfully hasn't happened yet!)

Now look closely at this picture. Where is this moose going to go?

The two cars actually ditched when the moose would not give up the road. Of course, if Fish & Game waits until these conditions happen, these moose are typically already dead because they cannot reach any food. When these moose use our trails, not only can they save energy, they can walk as if they were on the highway and they also can reach much farther into the trees by standing atop the packed trail. These moose are too important to too many people to waste like this!

Our Trackmaster is almost done and another snow trac appears to be being donated to us so our fleet is growing.

 

[Lia]

Amazing, beautiful pictures and that's an impressive piece of machinery!

 

[e2spear]

So in this said picture, what happens next to the moose? Do they have to wait until somebody comes out a puts it down? Or are you allowed to do it yourself?

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

So in this said picture, what happens next to the moose? Do they have to wait until somebody comes out a puts it down? Or are you allowed to do it yourself?

you are not alowed to do it your self fish and game will put the animal down than a nonprofit orginazation wil be called to salvage the meat this state is wierd you hit a moose and total your car and you cant keep the animal that did the damage.

 

[Moose Guy]

dds is right. The really wierd thing is the biologists have tended to say, "That's nature's way" except cars hitting moose because we build roads has little to do with nature the last time I checked. This is one of the reasons why the AMF is working as hard as it does because not only is it the right thing to do for the moose but cars keep getting smaller while moose are staying the same size. This makes snow cats look real good in the woods! This next winter, we're going to encourage folks, that have snow cats of their own, to come out and help!

Once the moose are hit, the AMF has another program that picks them up whole, collects data from the collision scene and then delivers the moose to the next charity all under State Trooper oversight. This is saving law enforcement an average of 2.5 hours per collision because they no longer have to wait for the charities to arrive at scene and butcher the moose on the road surface. Very scary in the middle of a blizzard!


Busy programs but we're making a difference. We'll have to see if we can have some Forums Forums events for folks to work with their snow cats on the moose programs. You've heard of people driving their Harleys to Sturgis right? How about snow cats to Alaska?

 

[bill w]

amf does fantastic work....i'm looking forward to helping them with a fairbanks team soon.i've been out of town for a couple weeks,but back in fbks now,give me a call gary...thanks Bill w