Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance

06/01/2026

Anchorage Museum recently hosted historian Bathsheba Demuth to speak about the economy of mushing and how it has shaped Arctic &subarctic culture… and how that’s changing today, as a result both of motorized travel eclipsing dog travel and the decline of once abundant salmon runs. She speaks about writing the biography of the Yukon River, as a living ecosystem-plus-culture.

The recorded lecture is now available online!

Register now for Are the Dogs Running Today? A Lecture by Historian Bathsheba Demuth on crowdcast, scheduled to go live on March 25, 2026, 01:20 PM AKDT.

05/29/2026

Seeking an Alaskan communications professional to support Iditarod Trail⬇️⬇️

Join us! Meaningful work promoting Alaska's trails, sharing history, and engaging trail users. ⛰️🧗‍♀️🐕‍🦺🛷 Flexible, contract-based work arrangement. 🚵⛷️🥾🎉

Check it out here:

05/20/2026

Congratulations to COAST-X for completing your snow machine expedition from Bethel to Utqiagvik! We're glad you were able to use the Iditarod Trail for part of your trip.

COAST-X 2026 A coastal traverse connecting communities, observations, and knowledge along Alaska’s Arctic shore In Spring 2026, COAST-X will travel by snowmachine along Alaska’s western and northern coasts, moving from community to community to document environmental change and share observation...

04/24/2026

**West Susitna Access Road**
DOT needs to hear from you. Historic trails or properties that will be impacted by road development may have been overlooked or omitted!!

DOT has opened a public review period for the West Susitna Access Road Project, deadline May 23, 2026. This review is for the Programmatic Agreement, the document which outlines how historic properties & resources will be dealt with during road construction.

The public is able to review and comment at https://publicinput.com/westsusitnapublicpa

For general information about the project: https://dot.alaska.gov/westsusitnaaccess/

04/20/2026

The President wants drastic cuts to public lands funding and staffing (again).

“By systematically cutting budgets and firing career staffers, it’s the administration paving the way for wholesale sell-off of these lands.”

Proposed for BLM:
76% cuts for the National Conservation Lands (Iditarod National Historic Trail falls here)
61% cuts for Recreation Management
100% cuts to Cultural Resources Management (this includes monitoring historical and archeological sites)
100% cuts to Wilderness Management

This is not “government bloat” that can be trimmed. Public lands budgets and staff have been flatlined or shrunk for years, and the consequences are felt.

This is a direct choice to willfully ignore the American public’s love of its wild places and desire for access to public lands -- for decades, the most and maybe only truly bipartisan issue where the great majority of Americans agree.

Want to help? TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS that funding for federal public lands agencies is important to you. In our three-part government system, Congress passes the budget. The administration provides its input, and so can you.

It has the most acres and the least funding per user of any of the Department of Interior agencies. So why is Secretary Doug Burgum aiming to gut its budget?

03/25/2026

“A Route of Dogs and Gold: The Lesser-Known History of the Iditarod Trail in Chugiak and Eagle River”

You are invited to join the
CHUGIAK-EAGLE RIVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY
for their Spring History Adventure
Saturday April 18, 2026
3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Special presentation by Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance:
“A Route of Dogs and Gold: The Lesser-Known History of the Iditarod Trail in Chugiak and Eagle River”

IHTA will share the history of the trail that opened the Alaskan gold fields. Hear stories about the route from Seward to Nome, which later became a national historic trail, and hear how the trail touched and shaped the Chugiak-Eagle River community, then and now.

You do not need to be a member to attend this FREE event!

Elks Lodge 2682, Community Room
17111 N. Eagle River Loop Rd, Eagle River
(Parking in the rear of the building)

Bring your memories, your tall tales, and a friend!

03/18/2026

Great footage! A relaxed trip across the finish line by Iditarod 2026 winner Jesse Holmes

03/18/2026

who else is online watching for the first finisher right now? 😁🦮🦮🛷

03/11/2026

DeeDee Jonrowe, 36-time Iditarod race veteran, speaks about the Big Impact new roads would have on the Iditarod Trail

The proposed industrial access road would reshape hunting pressure, public access and the character of a historic Alaska corridor.

03/06/2026

Join us at these 2026 Iditarod Sled Dog Race events:

Celebrate America's 250th at the Ceremonial Start!
Saturday March 7
BLM's Campbell Tract in Anchorage
Bureau of Land Management - Alaska Friends of Campbell Tract

Official Restart of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race
Sunday March 8
Willow, AK with Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
Come find our booth in the Willow Community Center!

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and partners invite the public to join us for the finish of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Ceremonial Start at the BLM Campbell Tract from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 7.