Central Yukon Field Office Park Ranger Interpreter Lisa Shon Jodwalis was recognized for her leadership in the creation of a 30-minute high-definition film, Arctic Visions & Voices: a Journey through Northern Alaska, which centers on the 414-mile Dalton Highway. With few people having the time and resources to drive the remote and challenging thoroughfare, Arctic Visions & Voices provides one of the few opportunities for the public to experience the Dalton Highway. The film is part of an integrated program of interpretive services including website www.blm.gov/ak/dalton, the Dalton Highway Visitor Guide, wayside exhibits, and exhibits and interpretive programs at the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center. ]]>
ANCHORAGE – Steve Cohn has been named the new Deputy State Director for Resources for the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska. Cohn arrived in Alaska on May 30.
A map showing available areas is available on the BLM Alaska home page www.blm.gov/ak, and the BLM NPR-A Lease Sale Documents webpage: http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/energy/oil_gas/npra/npr-a_lease_sales-maps.html. ]]>
Campgrounds in the Glennallen Field Office area report the following conditions: ]]>
Linda and Ray Panter, Central Yukon Field Office, AK: Over the past two years, Linda and Ray Panter have greeted nearly 10,000 summer visitors annually at the BLM’s Yukon Crossing Contact Station, located beside the Yukon River along Alaska’s remote 414-mile Dalton Highway. This important BLM visitor station provides valuable services to travelers from around the world as they venture north to the Arctic Circle and beyond. Linda and Ray answer thousands of questions, distribute brochures, track visitation, provide critical safety and travel information, maintain the contact station itself, and monitor the nearby rustic campground. Their record sales of books and merchandise have strengthened BLM’s partnership with the Alaska Geographic Association, the local non-profit cooperating association. Linda and Ray have also initiated projects and programs to enhance visitor experiences, including short programs on Arctic tree growth, during which they compare tree rings from Alaskan species to those of trees from their native Oregon. They lead walking tours for visitors interested in the local fauna and flora, have produced a stunning photo program based on their discoveries, and planted a small garden to demonstrate the speed with which plants must develop during the short Arctic growing season. Ray even hauls in local spring water each day so that visitors can literally "get a taste of the Arctic." Linda and Ray staff the contact station every day of the week, working long hours amidst such luxuries as a satellite phone and an outhouse. These special hosts obviously love what they do, happy to welcome Yukon Crossing visitors with warmth and hospitality. ]]>