KAREN BREWSTER: All right. This is Karen Brewster, and today is November 3, 2021, and I’m here with Dan Seavey at his lovely home in Seward, Alaska. And this is for the Iditarod National Historic Trail Project Jukebox project. So thank you, Dan, for letting me come see you today. DAN SEAVEY: It’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you for -- KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: -- for your interest in this.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Well, since you’ve been interviewed before on a Project Jukebox, we won’t go into your whole life story. Uh, but I do know that you came to Seward in 1970 -- DAN SEAVEY: No, 1963. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok, ’63.

DAN SEAVEY: In August of 1963 on the 19th day of August. And the only reason I remember is that’s my birthday. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, ok.

And I know you were a social studies teacher for a long time. DAN SEAVEY: Twenty-two years, right.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. And here in Seward, you got into dog mushing. DAN SEAVEY: Yes. KAREN BREWSTER: And I’m assuming that’s what led you to this Iditarod National Historic Trail project. DAN SEAVEY: That’s a good assumption.

KAREN BREWSTER: So why don’t you tell me how you got involved in the trail part of it. Was it -- DAN SEAVEY: Well. KAREN BREWSTER: Because you ran in the race? DAN SEAVEY: Well, that.

But, before the race, you know, I was here and teaching Alaska history to high school students, and, of course, you can’t teach Alaska history without running into gold rushes and trails and dog teams.

And what amazed me, I guess, early on was the importance of Seward, uh, to -- well, to the whole territory, actually, with being situated as we are on the water, on the ocean, an ice-free port.

And then, the efforts to settle the town. And, of course, to build the railroad out of Seward north.

And the importance, just the importance of Seward to the territory. And that was also true of out westward. Seward was kind of the service center, so to speak, at that time.

And so, here we are, we’re -- we're an important place, historically, and there used to be trails going out of here, you know, that sort of thing.

And, of course, I got involved with dog mushing as soon as we moved out here. I mean, by end of 1964 I had probably more dogs than I should have had, already.

KAREN BREWSTER: So what -- what got you into mushing? Why dog mushing? DAN SEAVEY: Just the glamour of the -- it’s sort of fantasy stuff. But as a junior high kid, you know, the -- that sort of thing. (phone rings in background)

KAREN BREWSTER: That’s the phone. Ok, we’ll pause for a second. (pause)

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok, the excitement of dog mushing.

DAN SEAVEY: Right. As I mention in my book, it probably started when I was a -- in the fifth grade in a one-room country school in rural Minnesota. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And teacher’d read the Jack London stories to us, you know. And I can remember doing a map study of Alaska and turning to my map partner, say, "Hey, you know what? We need to go to Alaska when we grow up."

And, you know, the -- it took off from there, of course. And eventually, it took me -- I was 25 when I moved up here, so it took a while. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: College degree and uh, marriage, and three kids, but we got here.

KAREN BREWSTER: That’s great. Um, and so, what was your role in the first Iditarod Dog Sled Race?

DAN SEAVEY: Ok. Ok, so imagine we had been mushing for about ten years, so I wasn’t a -- you know, wasn’t new to dog mushing. And we had joined the Aurora Dog Mushers Club up in Knik.

And that, of course, brought me into contact with Joe Redington and several other kind of die-hard mushers. And we'd go up there for fun races and what have you.

And -- and spent probably more time drinking coffee and talking about it after these short races, you know. And then it had kids’ races and what have you, which we had some kids to enter.

And we got thinking, well, you know, we should, we should do a long race. And it was the purchase -- Alaska purchase centennial in 1967. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: You know, then -- and I never entered that, but there was a race. About a 50-miler, out of Big Lake. But the point is, that that race was important since it brought a lot of mushers together.

And I have an appendix in my book of all the mushers that were there. And they were the notables of the time that participated in that race.

And about nine miles of the original Iditarod trail was used in that race. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: And --

KAREN BREWSTER: And was that original -- was that nine miles, um, brushed out and usable, or the -- ? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: -- crew, or they did -- they cleared it for that race? DAN SEAVEY: No, I think it was usable. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: At the time, yeah.

So after the -- after that, then they -- I say they. We. Got talking about a real serious long-distance race. And we looked at the records of the -- like the All Alaska Sweepstakes, you know, that was held in the 19-teens in Nome. KAREN BREWSTER: In Nome, right.

DAN SEAVEY: Four hundred and eight miles from Nome to -- north to the coast and back.

And uh, so we got looking at that, and well then, one thing led to another, and well, why don’t we have a race to Iditarod since the Iditarod Trail is here, and we can, you know, with some work, we can get it ready for the -- for a race?

And someone, I think it was probably Howard Farley from Nome, you know, "Why do you want to -- why do you want to go just to Iditarod? There’s nobody there to see you come in. It’s a ghost town, right?" KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: A gold rush ghost town. There’s nobody to see you come in, and nobody will know when you leave.

So then -- then he suggested going on to Nome. So that’s kind of the germ that was germinated for that race.

And there were a few of us that worked pretty hard on it. Tom Johnson, Gleo Huyck. Oh, gosh. There’s probably half a dozen. You know how it is with any club. There’s probably half a dozen that are the doers, you know.

KAREN BREWSTER: But you were all members of the Aurora Dog Mushers Club? DAN SEAVEY: Right. Right.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, and then in -- in -- on the Nome end, Howard Farley. DAN SEAVEY: Um-hm. KAREN BREWSTER: Um, and Joe Redington. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. And, of course -- KAREN BREWSTER: And Vi.

DAN SEAVEY: Vi and Joe, they were instrumental in the -- in the centennial race, as well. And as was Dorothy Page.

KAREN BREWSTER: But she wasn’t a musher, was she? DAN SEAVEY: No. She’s a historian. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. And um.

KAREN BREWSTER: And so she just had a personal interest? DAN SEAVEY: Right. Right. KAREN BREWSTER: In the history? Yeah, she was in Palmer, or -- ? DAN SEAVEY: In Wasilla. KAREN BREWSTER: In Wasilla. Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: And you said somebody Huyck? What was that first name? DAN SEAVEY: Gleo. Like, Gleo. G-L-E-O. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh.

DAN SEAVEY: Hyuck. And it’s a tough spelling. H-Y -- I forget how to spell it. KAREN BREWSTER: H-Y-K-E, maybe, or something? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, something on that order. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. All right.

DAN SEAVEY: He’s still -- he’s still around. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh. DAN SEAVEY: Gleo is. In -- up there in Wasilla.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. And then, was -- Leo Rasmussen, was he involved? DAN SEAVEY: Uh, from the Nome end. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: From the Nome end.

KAREN BREWSTER: And then you. And anybody else from the Knik-Wasilla end?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, you know, there was -- I’m trying to remember the names now. I have them in my book. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Uh, they’re accessible. KAREN BREWSTER: Anybody in particular who --

Yeah, I mean, that centennial race, 50 miles. Nowadays, that doesn’t sound like long. DAN SEAVEY: No, but it -- you know, it was then.

Well, even the sprint races, you know, like the Rendezvous Race in Anchorage. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: I mean, that added up as three days of 25 miles, you know. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: But it’s 25 a day. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: So, yeah, but uh, so anyway, it was decided we would -- we would go to Nome.

Well, you know, talked about it, talked about it, and finally, Gleo and Tom just kinda took the bull by the horns and it got Joe committed for sure, and they went from there. Organized it.

It’s interesting. They decided -- decided on the race. We decided on the race in October, and we put it on in March. KAREN BREWSTER: That’s pretty amazing.

DAN SEAVEY: I mean, considering that -- considering all there was to do, and, you know, what we had to do.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, you had to organize all the villages as checkpoints, and things? DAN SEAVEY: Right.

KAREN BREWSTER: And it was all volunteers? DAN SEAVEY: All volunteers. KAREN BREWSTER: Wow.

DAN SEAVEY: Yep. And, of course, Joe being the showman that he is, he -- he -- you know, fifty thousand-dollar purse, that was unknown in mushing circles. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: I mean, it was a lot of money. A lot more money then than it is now, but still, you know, it’s peanuts compared to -- you know how to swing a golf club in the afternoon and --

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. So how did he raise that much money?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, that’s another story. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: That’s another story.

The money wasn’t completely raised, so to speak, on the day that we left.

And the reason Joe didn’t run that first race was, he was busy scrambling around trying to get the purse. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: That he promised.

Um, and as it turned out, I loaned, what was it? I don’t know, half of my earnings in the race for third place, anyway, I had to -- I did.

I shelled out so they could pay the rest of the places. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh. DAN SEAVEY: Down, you know. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, right.

DAN SEAVEY: It was a loan. I eventually got paid back.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. But so, well, as you say, nine miles was the historic trail, right? That was for the official Iditarod as well as the centennial race? DAN SEAVEY: Uh.

KAREN BREWSTER: I guess for the first Iditarod, how did you decide what route you were going to take?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, as near as possible to the Iditarod. I mean, the old historic trail.

KAREN BREWSTER: Uh-huh. How did you find out how -- that -- where that route went? DAN SEAVEY: Well. KAREN BREWSTER: It’s not like you could walk along and see it.

DAN SEAVEY: No. In fact, we mushed dogs out of Knik, and we stayed up there, quite a few teams. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: Dick Mackey and um, myself, Ron Aldrich. Uh, Joe Redington, worked on the trail out of Knik.

And, you know, Joe had a homestead. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: On Flat Horn Lake out there, so it went right along beside that.

And then, where it was obscure, they actually used light planes, um, to kind of, you know, figure out where the trail was. KAREN BREWSTER: To scout? DAN SEAVEY: From the air. Scout the trail, right.

And that led to Joe -- Joe was flying in those days, and that led to him cracking up a plane out there. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh.

DAN SEAVEY: And there was some tense hours and, you know, we didn’t know what happened to him. But he survived it, and it was one of those dramas of the --

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, could you see the old route from the air? DAN SEAVEY: Pretty much.

KAREN BREWSTER: Really? It hadn’t all grown in?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, it was grown in, but in an orderly fashion, you know.

KAREN BREWSTER: And it would be different vegetation, maybe? DAN SEAVEY: Right. Right. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: So I wasn’t up there in the air at all, but they did. And then, enlisted people along the trail, uh, for different segments.

Like Joe Delia and some of those guys.

KAREN BREWSTER: Where was he from? DAN SEAVEY: Uh, hm. Skwentna. Out in that country.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. Yeah, I mean, it makes sense that people in the communities, maybe, would’ve used parts of the historic trail as their links to the other communities.

DAN SEAVEY: Right. And that’s what I was going to get at. A lot of the trail, at least up on the coast, was still being used. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: But a good deal of it, this side of the mountains, of course, had fallen into dis -- you know, fallen into -- KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: Simply not being used. I mean, grown over and what have you.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. And certainly, it was -- we will talk about further, the southern part. DAN SEAVEY: Right. KAREN BREWSTER: Here from Seward, completely wasn’t being used. DAN SEAVEY: Right.

KAREN BREWSTER: Um, ok. Yeah, and, I mean, you didn’t have all this fancy GPS and -- DAN SEAVEY: No.

KAREN BREWSTER: -- you know, things for Joe to use in the air, like -- Yeah, so how did you combine that, what he saw in the air and being on the ground?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, there would be -- there’d be somebody on the ground, of course, probably a crew working. The way I see it, anyway.

There’d be a crew working, and ok, now what, where do we go? And then he’d point to it. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, we’ve gotta cross this creek here, and, you know, that sort of thing. Um, so yeah, it was a huge undertaking.

And we were pretty optimistic and what have you about, you know, we’re going to build cabins and this sort of thing along the way, and what have you.

Well, that was all talk, as it turns out, you know.

KAREN BREWSTER: You were lucky to even get the trail marked. DAN SEAVEY: Right. Exactly.

KAREN BREWSTER: And it didn’t -- the race trail does not follow the historic trail a hundred percent? DAN SEAVEY: No. No. KAREN BREWSTER: Correct?

DAN SEAVEY: No. But close to it. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: Close to it. Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. And then the serum run, which everybody gets all these things confused and combined. The serum run didn’t use the trail at all? DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yes. KAREN BREWSTER: Or it did? It used parts of it?

DAN SEAVEY: It did. The serum, course, left Nenana. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: And -- and -- But when it -- and down the Tanana and the Yukon. But when it hit Ruby. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, ok. DAN SEAVEY: It’s on the Iditarod Trail. KAREN BREWSTER: From there on, ok.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. And one thing also about the serum run, and this -- I hope that we can dispel that misunderstanding. The serum run did not inspire the Iditarod race. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: It was the All Alaska Sweepstakes in Nome that we patterned -- Uh, even took the rules, basically. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, really?

DAN SEAVEY: And uh, yeah. So -- but everyone thinks -- There are so many people think, anyway, that, well, this is kind of, you know, commemorating the serum run, which it was not.

We never -- I can honestly say -- I mean, I sat across the table a lot of times, and I never heard the serum run mentioned once. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: But the All Alaska Sweepstakes, we talked about, and we wanted to see the rules. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: And how could we alter them.

Again, in my book I have the rules for the first race, and there is -- I mean, you can get them on one page, practically. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: Of course, now, it’s practically a book. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, yeah. DAN SEAVEY: For rules.

KAREN BREWSTER: And they have to keep updating it, I’m sure. DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, I’ve heard of the All Alaska Sweepstakes, and I’ve seen pictures of teams, you know, out there in Nome.

But I didn’t realize it was 400 miles. I thought they were sprint races. DAN SEAVEY: Oh, no. No. KAREN BREWSTER: ’Cause I’ve never researched it. DAN SEAVEY: 408 miles, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Out there, that’s pretty good.

Um, so what do you see the connection between the starting of the dog racing with the centennial and then the Iditarod with this effort to get the trail designated as a National Historic Trail?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, I think the two broad goals was to -- to give the sled dog a purpose, so you know, so he could exist. 'Cause let’s face it, this era of the snowmachine was starting. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And so, the Iditarod Race, the hope was that sled dogs could be salvaged, so to speak, and useful.

And the other, course, was to get the Iditarod Trail included in the national trail system.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. Do you know how you guys would’ve heard about the national trail system and that they were adding historic trails?

DAN SEAVEY: Uh, well, I mean, it was in the news. It was common knowledge. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: And it would be published, I’m sure. That’s where I first heard of it. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Because it’s relative to Alaska, you know.

Another spin-off on those two goals I mentioned was, of course, the designation of mushing as a state sport.

KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, I didn’t know that -- has it been? DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, I didn’t know that.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. And that’s another -- we worked for that, to get that done.

KAREN BREWSTER: And that was about the same time?

DAN SEAVEY: Yep. Um-hm. I can’t give you a date on that, but it was in the early years of the race, for sure. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And the first one being in ’73. 1973.

KAREN BREWSTER: So how did you end up getting involved in the advocacy for the trail designation?

DAN SEAVEY: Uh, well, I mean, we were all -- had a task, right? And I was -- I guess I was supposed to be the Kenai Peninsula rep. I’m supposed to stir up interest.

And I did write some articles in the local papers, and, you know, talked to people and what have you. Drumming up interest. And wrote some letters to the politicians, as many of us did. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: Um.

KAREN BREWSTER: And did you do historic research?

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, that’s what got me going on this in the first place.

And particularly the, um, Seward’s important position, you know, historically. I was interested in that. So it all kind of came together with the race. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: Um.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, 'cause I think many people, including myself before I started this project, is they think of the Iditarod Trail is because of the race.

They don’t know that the Iditarod Trail has a historic gold mining, gold rush -- DAN SEAVEY: Yep. KAREN BREWSTER: -- time period use where it was the route from Seward to the gold fields.

DAN SEAVEY: Right. And that’s -- that’s a common -- You know, that’s common. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: Common belief.

Um, and when we got into the work of the advisory council for the trail, uh, and looked at the plan that -- KAREN BREWSTER: Comprehensive.

DAN SEAVEY: The comprehensive management plan for the trail, which was first put out, I’m not sure just when, but in the late '70’s, 1970’s, anyway.

KAREN BREWSTER: The first one has a 1981 date on it, I think, is when it was released. DAN SEAVEY: I’m wondering -- 1981, ok. Anyway, the --

I actually read the thing. And lo and behold, the Kenai Peninsula would’ve had to have been satisfied with -- you know, certain segments would be used.

The old Johnson Pass Trail, and that sort of thing, would be used as a trail, but where you can’t tie ’em together, we were going to do signage. And --

KAREN BREWSTER: So like, on the highway? DAN SEAVEY: On the highway, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: The highway that is now over what was the trail, there’d be a sign that says -- ?

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, you know, like, when you’re Outside, you’re driving along the Oregon Trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: Or what have you, you know. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: But so, what I did -- We had two reps on that first council. KAREN BREWSTER: From down here? DAN SEAVEY: From Seward, yeah.

And actually, I represented the Kenai Peninsula, and Mike Meehan represented the City of Seward. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: So anyway, we got our heads together, and we petitioned the council for a actual, physical trail, uh.

KAREN BREWSTER: This is the -- DAN SEAVEY: Just to give you some idea of -- KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, this is the Trail Blazers -- DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: -- incorporation. Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: But anyway, we -- with that letter, we petitioned the advisory council. There was a 20-person advisory council, the first one. And asking that in the final plan -- this was the pioneer plan. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: In the final plan, that we have provisions for an actual, physical trail on the Kenai Peninsula.

KAREN BREWSTER: Not just signs? DAN SEAVEY: Not just big, blank places filled in with just signs.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, well, so but, what do you do if the original trail is under a road now? How do you get a physical trail?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, you make it. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, you just reroute?

DAN SEAVEY: Reroute. Oh, yeah. And then that would be called an alternate trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: And the fact of the matter is, except for the Johnson Pass segment of the trail, almost all of this down here is alternate. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Well, it makes sense that the railroad -- DAN SEAVEY: And the road. KAREN BREWSTER: -- and the road used the best way, which would’ve been the way the trail went. DAN SEAVEY: Exactly.

KAREN BREWSTER: The trail doesn’t go up and over the mountains.

DAN SEAVEY: No, and that -- And so, I mean, it’s all understandable, but no, we want -- we want a trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: You know. And so, you know, that was, what, 41 years ago? And, you know, it’s just been the last five, six, seven years, well, pretty much since the Alliance was formed. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: That we actually are working that. On that.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, as I know you have advocated very hard for that Southern Trek part for a long time.

DAN SEAVEY: Right. And, you know, it’s happening.

KAREN BREWSTER: That must be satisfying. DAN SEAVEY: It’s very satisfying. That’s what I --

You know, if there’s any pride in this for me, it’s that right there. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: Because that meant we’re going to have, eventually, which we are now experiencing, a physical Iditarod National Historic Trail on the Kenai Peninsula.

KAREN BREWSTER: And is it going through Forest Service land? DAN SEAVEY: Yep.

KAREN BREWSTER: You don’t have to deal with private land?

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. There’s private land in that, but uh, it’s mostly forest. And that's a plus. And the forest -- Of course, the Forest Service has come on board strong here now, the last ten years or so.

So yeah, no, we’re really pleased with what’s happening there.

KAREN BREWSTER: Has there been a change in demand from the public for trails?

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, heavens. It just -- it’s mushroomed. I mean, I can’t believe so many people out walking in the woods as there are, but no --

And they find all -- even little obscure trails, you know. They look at old mining maps or something, and "Oh, there's --" you know -- So it’s great. The trail use is, oh yeah, it's doubled many, many times.

KAREN BREWSTER: So you think that’s helped with the efforts for getting the Southern Trek put in?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, numbers are important to -- especially to the government. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: So if you can tally up, you know, big numbers, that helps in the funding and so forth.

The thing that I think the major, uh, improvement, or the major, what would I call it?

Um, well, item in this whole progression, in getting the trail established, has been the designation of a permanent person by the BLM.

Because when we first started out, these guys were -- they were given, like, one month of time to the trail, you know. They were -- and they had other jobs.

Now with the -- right now we have Kevin Keeler. We have a full time BLM guy as the director for the whole trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: And, I mean, it makes a -- it's made a big difference. Not that these other guys weren’t interested.

We had, uh, Terry O’Sullivan was the first one, in the first several years. Terry O’Sullivan. And then Dean Littlepage. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And then the last, before the Alliance was formed, Mike Zadlich. I’m not sure on the spelling.

KAREN BREWSTER: I can -- that’s ok. Um, yeah, I guess I thought Terry and Dean and Mike were also full-time -- DAN SEAVEY: Hm-um. KAREN BREWSTER: -- trail administrators. DAN SEAVEY: Nope.

KAREN BREWSTER: They had other duties?

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. They were part-time administrators. Yep.

So, and now with Kevin, it’s a -- you know -- And he’s doing a -- he’s doing a great job, I think. He’s interested in it.

Not that these other guys weren’t, but they had -- you know, they had alternate lives.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Other duties as assigned? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, right.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Um, so how did you end up getting on the advisory council? You were part of the first one. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, I’m not sure.

KAREN BREWSTER: You didn’t volunteer? DAN SEAVEY: Well, no. No, I was a part --

As far as I know, I was a -- I was contacted by somebody, you know, maybe O’Sullivan. I’m not sure. "Would you be willing to be, you know, appointed to the advisory council?"

And as far as I know, I was recommended by the borough mayor, the Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: And then the other guy from Seward, Mike Meehan, he was a nominee of the Seward -- KAREN BREWSTER: City? DAN SEAVEY: City Council.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, as you say, that your involvement with getting the first Iditarod Dog Race going, and that sort of trail advocacy, and you’d been already writing letters and things, right? Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: Right. Right. Yeah. No, I was involved. And there were -- I noticed on that list of members, there was -- I’m not sure. I know Ken Chase was a musher, and Mary Shields.

KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. Edward Kalland, but he -- DAN SEAVEY: He was a serum run guy.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. Um, yeah, Ken Chase. Ray Collins from McGrath. DAN SEAVEY: I don’t think so. Not the first race.

KAREN BREWSTER: Um, Andy Edge from Nome.

DAN SEAVEY: No, I think those were the ones, that I remember anyway. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: That were involved with the first race.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. Well, yeah. Jack Garrison, Big Lake, would be another name. DAN SEAVEY: Not the first race anyway. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: I’ve got -- again in my appendix in my book, I have those, all those.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. But those were people who were on the first council appointed in 1981. DAN SEAVEY: Right.

KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, and Joe Redington. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, he was the chairman. KAREN BREWSTER: He was the chairman? Who could’ve been mushers. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Other ones they're from Anchorage. But Clyde Peters from Galena? He could’ve been on. DAN SEAVEY: Not the -- not the -- he could’ve been, but --

KAREN BREWSTER: He wasn’t a racer?

DAN SEAVEY: No, but what I’m saying is, I’m not all that acquainted with who all was in the race after -- See, I ran in ’73 and ’74, and after that, I -- you know, I didn’t pay much attention. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: Who was racing and who wasn’t.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. But I was just thinking who was a musher. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Not a racer. DAN SEAVEY: Right.

KAREN BREWSTER: That, you know, living in Galena, he could’ve been. And Mary Shields in Fairbanks certainly was a -- DAN SEAVEY: Right. Oh, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: She wasn’t racing yet, I don’t think, was she? DAN SEAVEY: Mary Shields was. She ran the second race, in ’74. First -- KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, I knew she --

DAN SEAVEY: First -- first woman to run it.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, I knew she was the first woman. I didn't -- I thought it was a little bit later. DAN SEAVEY: No, ’74. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: It was all male the first race. KAREN BREWSTER: Yep.

DAN SEAVEY: We got -- We got in -- I always think of -- I -- that’s so funny, because -- Rick Swenson, you know, bless his heart, he’s run that thing so many times, 30-some. And, of course, a five-time champion.

And one of the races closer to the end of his -- when he was battling with Susan Butcher. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: "That’ll be the day when any blankety-blank woman will beat me."

And by gosh, if Susan didn’t whoop up on him the very next race. I thought that --

KAREN BREWSTER: She had to prove to him he was wrong.

DAN SEAVEY: Yep, and it’s great. I think that -- Boy, there’s some tough gals out there.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Um, before the comprehensive plan came out, there was a study done by the Bureau of Recreation, the gold rush trails. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Is that what you were thinking of as something in the '70’s? ’Cause that came out in ’78, I think.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, it came out prior -- yeah, prior to.

But they had a commission, and ok, so Alaska’s eligible for this gold rush category of trails, so what are they? KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: And so, they did have a commission put together, you know, representative of the population. And they came up with this 2000, what was it, 2037-mile primary trail and connecting trails for the Iditarod.

Course there were other trails, and they were handled separately, I assume. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: You know, like the Chilkoot. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: And some of those.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. But so, they didn’t talk with you during that study? DAN SEAVEY: No. KAREN BREWSTER: You weren’t involved in that? DAN SEAVEY: No. No.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. So you really got involved in ’81 on the council? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: So do you remember some of the early work the council did?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, to be honest with you, no.

And this is not a fair assessment, but it fairly close, seemed to me that those early meetings, council meetings, the main object was to plan what date the next one’s going to be.

And I say that because, with tongue in cheek, because our hands were tied, for one thing. Even the administrators, you know, the Terry O’Sullivans or Littlepage, they didn’t have any money. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, right.

DAN SEAVEY: The appropriations, I mean, what -- what are -- ? Ok, we got this trail and we got this plan, but, you know, it takes -- it takes money. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: You know, so the money was very, uh, slow in coming. And, yeah.

I -- I -- I can’t -- to be honest with you, I can’t think of any real important stuff we did in those early days, except to keep the -- keep the engine idling, anyway.

KAREN BREWSTER: Do you remember how often you had meetings? Like, was it a regular -- ? DAN SEAVEY: It seemed like a couple a year, a couple a year. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: And you’d go up to Anchorage for those?

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. We actually -- we did have a meeting in Nome one time.

Um, the idea was to meet around different places, but that’s the only one I remember. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: We went to Nome. That was real interesting for all of us. In the fall. But um --

KAREN BREWSTER: And were you getting public comment from Nome about what people thought about the trail, or what should be done with it?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, that I don’t know. I really don’t know. I can’t remember anything like that.

I’m sure we were because Nome was an important -- you know, especially for the race. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: The race and the trail are so intertwined, it’s hard to separate them.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. For you guys who did both. DAN SEAVEY: Right, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. I think maybe for some of the people on the council or Alliance who aren’t mushers and racers -- DAN SEAVEY: Right. KAREN BREWSTER: -- maybe it’s easier for them to separate? But I can see for you it would be.

DAN SEAVEY: Whereas me, of course, we had the local Trail Blazers.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, that’s the other thing I want to ask you about.

DAN SEAVEY: You know, and then, of course, I ran the race. Couple -- By that time. I’ve run it five times total, but, you know, by that time, a couple only.

And um, then the -- like, I’ve served on the race board. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: The ITC (Iditarod Trail Committee). And the advisory council. And the Alliance. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: So it gets -- it gets interwoven, for sure. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, that makes sense.

So tell me a little bit about the Trail Blazers. 'Cause this document you showed me is the constitution of the corporation of the Seward --

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, that’s not the one.

KAREN BREWSTER: Iditarod Trail Blazers is what you showed me here. DAN SEAVEY: This is what I wanted to show you. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, that was the letter? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, and I'll take -- DAN SEAVEY: I’m sorry. KAREN BREWSTER: That's okay. DAN SEAVEY: I didn’t know I had that con -- KAREN BREWSTER: I’ll take pictures of it.

DAN SEAVEY: The Trail Blazers, well, um, they -- KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, yeah, this is the -- well, this is --

DAN SEAVEY: What’s that? KAREN BREWSTER: The Iditarod Historic Trail Seward to Portage side trail approved a proposal made jointly by Mike and Dave, yeah. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, there we go. Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: See, that was to the council, and that’s what got us our foot in the door for a -- KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: -- On-the-ground trail instead of signage.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. Right. Yeah, here, proposed actions. Well, I’ll take pictures of both of these. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Even -- yeah, constitution is --

So, yeah, tell me about the Trail Blazers.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, uh, the comprehensive management plan for the trail calls for, uh, what they refer to as trail blazer organizations along the trail.

And um, it’s supposed to have been kind of a citizens-type trail, patterned after the Appalachian Trail, somewhat, where you have segments and, you know, the organizations that are responsible for those segments.

And that was the -- that’s what the management plan called for. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: So uh, it seemed appropriate that we here in Seward should form a Trail Blazer group. And uh, which we did.

I mean, I was, I guess, the force behind that, so to speak.

KAREN BREWSTER: This doesn’t have a date on this.

DAN SEAVEY: No. Uh, we were incorporated in 1982. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: But we functioned a couple years prior to that. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: Right from the get-go, pretty much.

And uh, over the years, I mean, we’ve done a lot of stuff over the years, for sure. Major projects, like the bike path along the beach in Seward. KAREN BREWSTER: The one in town? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. That was our project.

And it’s -- it’s the beginning of the Iditarod Trail, of course. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: And we’ve done a lot of brushing. We've -- uh, trail building.

KAREN BREWSTER: Have you done anything with the connecting segments on the Southern Trek? DAN SEAVEY: Well, we, I mean, we, yeah. We -- KAREN BREWSTER: Have you --

DAN SEAVEY: -- have brushed and what have you. You know, in Moose Pass area and what have you. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: So you’ve been out helping to delineate that trail better?

DAN SEAVEY: Right. Right. In fact, some of it, we just claimed. It was on Forest Service’s. It was like logging road, and we just claimed them and hung our signs on ’em.

KAREN BREWSTER: Your Iditarod Historic Trail sign? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, ok.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. And now we see that it’s been probably some of it 50 years ago, so they actually are historic trails, I mean, by law.

But anyway, you know, that sort of thing. Worked with the local Forest Service, which have been pretty cooperative over the years.

Um, so and then other things are more visible, I suppose, is like the centennial statue. Did you see that down by the SeaLife Center there? KAREN BREWSTER: Not recently.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, well that’s a Trail Blazer project. It's probably sixty grand there, or so.

KAREN BREWSTER: And it’s to celebrate the centennial of -- DAN SEAVEY: Of the historic trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

And we did another of Wada. KAREN BREWSTER: Jujiro Wada? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. There's a statue of him. Another fifty, I suppose, thousand.

KAREN BREWSTER: And that’s a statue here in Seward? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Oh yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. And now we’re in the midst of doing another one, in memory of Alfred Lowell, who was a -- he and Wada kind of pioneered the trail out of Seward, you know. So yeah, and that’s going to be another sixty thousand.

So I mean, we do -- we’re always up to something, you know.

KAREN BREWSTER: So where do you get the money for those projects? That’s a lot of money.

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, beg, borrow, steal. Whatever it takes.

No, actually, pretty much grants. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Pretty much grants. Uh, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: You have somebody in the Trail Blazers organization who writes grants for you guys? DAN SEAVEY: Right, yeah. Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: ’Cause again, it’s all volunteers, right? DAN SEAVEY: Right. Um-hm.

KAREN BREWSTER: And then you have membership? DAN SEAVEY: Yep, we have membership. Uh, we probably have, well, right around 100 members. Um.

KAREN BREWSTER: How many on your board? DAN SEAVEY: Doo-da-do. Five?

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. Yeah, by the name, Trail Blazers, you know, I know there’s also -- there was one in Knik. The Knik Trail Blazers.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, right. And that one has been, you know, kind of a hit and miss. It’s not organized legally. We are. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: A 501(c)(3).

But they’re -- they rise up and descend, uh, but you know, we encourage it.

We’ve tried to get one going in Moose Pass, and it hasn’t happened.

KAREN BREWSTER: Is there one in McGrath? DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. That -- the ones right now, Karen, is Seward and McGrath and Nome.

KAREN BREWSTER: And in Nome, it’s the Trail Blazers, it’s not the Nome Kennel Club? DAN SEAVEY: It’s the Nome Kennel Club. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: It’s the Trail Blazer group. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: And they’re active, of course.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Well, and then, as I say, the name Trail Blazers, to me, I think of it -- it’s -- you’re the people out blazing the trail. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, right.

KAREN BREWSTER: Which is, you know, you’re marking it and clearing the brush and packing it down in the winter.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, that’s what they do. The Nome Kennel Club. I mean, they don’t have much brush to cut. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: But they got trail to maintain and what have you. They’re doing a good job up there.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, and in the winter, I think, you know, they’re the ones who go out with the snowmachines and break the trail. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: And so, it’s interesting to hear that the Seward Trail Blazers does all this other stuff.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, we have alder that’s very persistent, and willow. KAREN BREWSTER: Yes.

DAN SEAVEY: And we have floods that wreck trails, and what have you. So yeah, it’s a whole different story. But, you know, they perform a real important function.

KAREN BREWSTER: And now, the Seward Trailblazers, are they just focused on the Iditarod Historic Trail, or do you do work on other trails?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, no. We’re pretty much focused on the Iditarod. Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: Although, we do -- we do stuff like clean-up. We got a stretch of the Exit Glacier Road that we do the clean-up on. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: You know, and that.

But no, we’re pretty much focused.

KAREN BREWSTER: And you do advocacy for supporting the historic trail?

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yes. Yes. Um, for instance, several -- many years ago now, we drew up what we call our blue line map. This was -- had a map professional draw this thing up. And actually, all the way to Nome.

And what I’m getting at is, ok, we had this map done, and we distributed it to people we thought was, you know, it would be important to, including the borough land office.

Well, one day I got a phone call. "Hey, Seavey. You know there’s a driller up in the middle of the trail up by Bear Lake, drilling down through the surface?"

And uh, I said, "Well, what are they doing?" They said, "Well, they’re looking to see if the soil would be good enough for a borough landfill." KAREN BREWSTER: Oh.

DAN SEAVEY: I said, "Well, that’s interesting. We don’t want a landfill. We don’t want to detour our trail around a dump."

So I call up the borough mayor, and I said, "You know, you’ve got a driller up here right in the middle of the Iditarod National Historic Trail."

And he says, "What?" "Yeah." I say, "Go to your land office and check it out. Little Bear Lake, just a little bit south of that."

So he did. And an hour or so later, he calls me back. He said, "Well, they’ll be out of there by tonight."

So I mean, that’s the kind of advocacy. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: That we try to do.

KAREN BREWSTER: That requires a lot of vigilance. DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: On your part. DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah.

And then, for instance, when we -- the stretch of trail between Nash Road and Bear Lake, you know, North Bear Lake.

We took out -- When we first claimed that segment, we took out about eight old, deserted vehicles. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: Hooked onto them with a Caterpillar tractor and dragged ’em up and eventually got ’em to the dump. But uh, that sort of thing.

And then, it was -- oh, two or three years later, there’s another three or so back there.

So we finally arranged the trail head so they couldn’t get in there so easily, but --

I mean, that kind of stuff is sort of everyday maintenance, I guess anymore. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: You might say.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, and that was -- Part of a question, was, how do you, um, work on stewardship so people appreciate that this is a trail -- DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, ok. KAREN BREWSTER: -- and that it doesn’t get destroyed?

DAN SEAVEY: Right. Well, we have a -- Poleske (Lee) and I, we have our dog and pony show. And we go to different places.

We’ve gone to many places, like seniors in Cooper Landing or the Hope School. You know, anyplace we can get our foot in.

And we do a presentation on the trail. And it's pretty much the work of Lee Poleske. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: I mean, he does the work.

But yeah. Anyway, we do that sort of thing. Um, and we do Trail Days, you know, the National Trail Day. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: Down here, we generally have something along the bike path there to attract people. And at least get ’em to take a brochure when they leave. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: That sort of thing.

So yeah, we’re -- we’re pretty busy.

This "China Plague," (COVID 19 epidemic) as I call it, has put a damper on some of that stuff, but it will eventually get back.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. So what’s the brochure that you give out? DAN SEAVEY: Oh, it’s one we -- I don’t know.

KAREN BREWSTER: Is it from the Alliance? DAN SEAVEY: No, we -- KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, you -- DAN SEAVEY: The Trail Blazers has -- KAREN BREWSTER: Oh.

DAN SEAVEY: We have one, and the Alliance also, but ours is -- I mean, it’s a Trail Blazer one, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: I’ve seen the alliance one, but -- Well, but also, I was also thinking, besides public education, which you guys are doing a lot of, working with the land managers. Your example with the borough and the landfill. DAN SEAVEY: Right.

KAREN BREWSTER: The trail isn’t on their maps or in their comprehensive plans? DAN SEAVEY: Well, it is now, yeah. Oh, yeah. Very definitely.

And we’re getting good vibes from the borough administration. In fact, one of them sees the Iditarod Trail as a -- you know, a super plus for the borough, which it is.

There are people, certainly once the Southern Trek is completed, I mean, it’s going to be a boom. It’s amazing how many people. All these little white rental cars at the trailheads, you know. And the lots are filled. This summer, it was amazing.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, also, as you say, right now it’s a more attractive to be outdoors, away from other people -- DAN SEAVEY: Right. KAREN BREWSTER: -- activity people can do. DAN SEAVEY: Yep.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, so, how have you dealt with private land for the historic trail?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, we adjudicated, oh, I don’t know, many miles. Hundreds. Maybe 350 miles.

And that was through the Alliance for, uh -- and solved a lot of land questions and vocations and so forth. And that’s about, oh, over the past five years or so.

Uh, the alliance basically financed a team of state employees to adjudicate and get on the map those parcels that were adjudicated.

And I think now, we’re down to just some questions on Native lands. There may be some private, too, but not many parcels. We got most of it done. And that is a huge, huge step.

Now, as far as the Trail Blazers down here, we actually have gotten easements through private property. I mean, legal easements.

Not many, I think just two, but they were key -- key parcels, and managed to get easements through those.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, so how did you go about doing that?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, we knew -- I knew the owners. And this was Virginia Darling of Brown & Hawkins fame, you know. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: Uh, and it wasn’t that difficult. KAREN BREWSTER: No. DAN SEAVEY: She just said, what do you want? And --

KAREN BREWSTER: And she had a historic bent to her. DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. Oh, absolutely, yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: So that one. And let’s see, I think they were both from -- Maybe twice we -- we -- we went begging to Virginia. And yeah, so we were --

KAREN BREWSTER: And is there money involved in that, putting an easement? DAN SEAVEY: No.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. Yeah, so you didn’t have to finance some kind of a project to -- DAN SEAVEY: No. KAREN BREWSTER: -- convince the land owner? DAN SEAVEY: No. No, no. No, that was the easy one.

And then it seems like, well, the state. We’ve had to deal with the state quite a bit to this, you know, since this transfer of land.

Back when we started, it was pretty much Chugach Forest. You know, Forest Service right up to the edge of town, practically. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And then they transferred land to the state and the state to the borough. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh.

DAN SEAVEY: And, you know, it gets a bit complicated, but uh, so far, you know, it’s worked.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, that’s why I was asking about, is it in the borough comprehensive plan, so if they’re going to permit something they see, oh, there’s a trail there?

DAN SEAVEY: Apparently, it must be. I don't -- I couldn’t say for sure. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: But it must be, because whenever the borough’s over here doing stuff, I hear about it. I mean, they contact me, and, you know, where is the trail supposed to be, or what have you. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: So I think we’re pretty much, yeah, pretty much on the same page with the borough.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. I don’t know that that’s the same for the whole trail.

DAN SEAVEY: No. No. And like I say, this adjudication was huge. I mean, that was -- that’s a stroke of --

I mean, it’s -- it's every bit as important as getting a trail on the Kenai Peninsula because you gotta know where the trail is, and what have you, so.

KAREN BREWSTER: So adjudication is when land is officially transferred in ownership and documented?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, the ownership is nailed down, so to speak, and registered. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. And that, obviously that is good for the trail.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. So like, with private land, you buy a house, you get the title to it. So this is for, like state land?

DAN SEAVEY: It may come from the state. A lot of it did. Uh, you know, the fact of the matter, the State of Alaska owns a huge percentage of the Iditarod Trail.

And uh, the feds very, very little. There’s a lot more now with getting it down here in the Chugach Forest, but -- KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: Uh, BLM has what, 52 miles of trail?

KAREN BREWSTER: Is that because when the trail was designated, it was from BLM? The state hadn’t received its selections yet, and now they have? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, right. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, it’s just the way the -- the -- the land, uh, conveyance went. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: Wherever the boundaries --

KAREN BREWSTER: Because initially, it was mostly BLM land. Before we had a state, wasn’t it a lot of public land? DAN SEAVEY: Right. Oh, yeah, it was all. I mean, almost all public, federal land, yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: One -- one agency or the other. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: So.

KAREN BREWSTER: And then what -- Yeah, the Native land. How is that handled?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, it’s -- you gotta -- it’s handled as though you’re dealing with private property, so it’s -- you know.

And the original management plan does not allow for eminent domain, for, you know. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: Can’t condemn land and for reasons like the trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: But in the interim here, a few years back it was arranged for national trails, you can buy land from a willing seller. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: So that -- that was a plus.

KAREN BREWSTER: Where do you get the money to buy that land? DAN SEAVEY: Well, that, that’s another thing.

KAREN BREWSTER: But all of this land conveyance and adjudication, that relates to a trail easement across state land? DAN SEAVEY: Yes. Across state land, borough land, city land, private land.

KAREN BREWSTER: You’re not actually buying the trail corridor? I mean, you’re not removing the trail corridor from state ownership if it’s on a state parcel

DAN SEAVEY: Well, in essence, you are. I mean, it’s being transferred to a nationally administered trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: If you want to look at it that way.

KAREN BREWSTER: But it’s being -- but that nationally administered trail is by BLM? Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: Right, so.

KAREN BREWSTER: Has that caused any difficulty, having that mixed management?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, no. Uh, I tell you where we're getting the most problems is, the closer to civilization you are, the more problems you have. Like in Wasilla. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: Knik area, you know. That, because it’s developed so much.

But we’re pretty good. We’re actually pretty good all the way. Pretty much the length of the trail. Thanks to this team of adjudicators. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And like I said, there’s not many, 200, I’m guessing, I think I’ve heard 225 miles or something like that that’s not adjudicated, so that’s --

KAREN BREWSTER: That’s pretty good. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: What are some of the issues in the Wasilla Mat-Su area that you had mentioned?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, the development. Roads and, you know, the trail, you know. We want the trail, and other trails there, too, but you know, how are you going to cross a major highway? Well, you go under it, you know, and that, of course, takes money, and someone who -- and --

But the borough -- Mat-Su Borough’s done a pretty good job with trails, with dog trails. For one thing, Vern Halter has been the borough mayor.

KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, I didn’t know that. DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. And he -- KAREN BREWSTER: That helps. DAN SEAVEY: That helps, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: To have a musher. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: As the mayor.

Well, yeah, Wasilla, let’s say that whole area still has a good contingent of active dog mushers. DAN SEAVEY: Yep. KAREN BREWSTER: Sort of like Fairbanks, Two Rivers, also. DAN SEAVEY: Yep. Um-hm.

KAREN BREWSTER: That probably helps. Um.

DAN SEAVEY: And don’t forget, mushing’s the state sport. KAREN BREWSTER: That’s right.

Well, I was wondering about the trail use issues, too, if there’s user conflicts with motorized, non-motorized, mushing versus snowmachining or biking, or is the Iditarod Trail all open to everybody?

DAN SEAVEY: Pretty much. Uh, the whole concept was it’s a multi-use trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And that includes the Caterpillars in the mining areas, you know. And so, yeah, and so far, it’s, you know, it’s worked. But it is a multi-use trail.

KAREN BREWSTER: There haven’t been any problems with like, you know, Cats in the mining area or a lot of ATV use near the urban centers? DAN SEAVEY: No. KAREN BREWSTER: That have caused ruts and problems.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, the -- the -- you know, let’s face it, except for two weeks, the trail is pretty much belongs to whoever lives along it. You know what I’m saying? KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: So here comes the race, well, you know, you can accommodate the race. If you got a stockpile of tailings or something next to a mine and it’s piled on the trail, you go around it, you know. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: You get the race through there, that’s all you need to do.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. Well, and I was thinking, you know, some trails get big ruts in them from -- DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: -- four-wheeler. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: And then it’s very hard to mush. You need a lot of snow to fill that in.

DAN SEAVEY: Yep, you’re right. And there’s al -- there’s some of that, of course. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: But there’s -- maybe the local Trail Blazers go out and fill that in? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, and that’s what we’re supposed to -- that’s what we’re there for. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Is to maintain the trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: One of the reasons, of course.

KAREN BREWSTER: Uh-huh. Um, well since you’ve been on the advisory council and then the Alliance, do you have any thoughts about which -- What each group has done? Do they do things differently? DAN SEAVEY: Well, there is --

KAREN BREWSTER: Have you noticed a difference between them?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, there is no advisory council anymore. KAREN BREWSTER: No, I know, but there was a council. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: And it did things, and then it went away, and now there’s the Alliance.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, actually there was another council. They -- they -- what do they call it, sunset one? KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: And then, and they -- because there wasn’t much had been done, they established another.

KAREN BREWSTER: They -- As an incorporated? DAN SEAVEY: No. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh.

DAN SEAVEY: No. No, there’s a second advisory council.

KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, I haven’t heard about that one. What was that?

DAN SEAVEY: And that -- and they reduced the number of members from 20 in the original to, doo-da-do, 11, I think, 10 or 11. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: And we just carried on with that until the -- that was sunsetted.

And thus enters the Alliance.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. And you probably don’t remember the year of this second council?

DAN SEAVEY: No. Well, it was after -- I think there was seven years, so, you know, somewhere after seven years, in comes the second council. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, ok.

DAN SEAVEY: And then that seven years ran out, and now we have the Alliance. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Private non-profit.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. So you said those early meetings of the council, you didn’t feel like they accomplished much. Did they eventually accomplish anything?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, yes and no. I mean, they were -- we were pretty active as far as public awareness. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: I would say pretty heavy on that, of course. And lobbying for funds, of course. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: Tried to work on the membership, building up the membership in the Trail Blazers groups and establishing those, which we weren’t real successful. Yet.

Um, so yeah, I mean, and the fact that we just kept plugging along is important. I mean, there’s a continuity. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: Which is essential.

And, you know, we didn’t build a lot of trail, or we didn’t do, you know, that sort of thing. Didn’t build shelter cabins like we’re doing nowadays. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: Like we’re in the housing business. Uh, so yeah.

But with the Alliance, uh, course things -- things changed, and -- and --

KAREN BREWSTER: How so?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, for one thing, we started getting funds. And uh, we have a full-time supervisor, trail --

KAREN BREWSTER: The administrator, right? DAN SEAVEY: Administrator. Yeah.

And uh, yeah, I mean, things changed. We got the Forest Service on board for the Southern Trek, which is huge. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

So were there things with the council, um, that you wish could’ve been done that weren’t?

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. I wish we could’ve had a trail down all the way from Anchorage to -- or from the, say, Hatcher -- or uh, Crow Pass to Seward, in and being used.

KAREN BREWSTER: Before now? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, right. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: Absolutely.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. What do you think the biggest obstacles or challenges have been in all these years? DAN SEAVEY: Hm.

KAREN BREWSTER: Or still are, or currently are?

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, well, I’m so much more optimistic now than I used to be, so I don’t think we have any obstacles, really, that we’re not attacking and with the hope of good results for the trail.

You know, there’s bridges, and there’s always trail building and all that, you know, the Southern Trek, but, you know, things are looking up. They really are.

KAREN BREWSTER: You think there’re more people in the public excited about it and involved?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, there’s more people in the public using the -- KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: -- segment of the trails that we have.

And let’s face it, if you’re going to hike the Iditarod Trail, you’re going to be doing it on the Peninsula, pretty much.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, yeah. The other part, you have to hike in the winter. DAN SEAVEY: Yep.

KAREN BREWSTER: I mean, personally, I would not want to hike the swamps and the rivers. DAN SEAVEY: No. KAREN BREWSTER: Out on the flats.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, you can’t. I mean, it’s -- No.

KAREN BREWSTER: And it wasn’t -- as a historic trail, it was a winter trail, correct? DAN SEAVEY: Right. Right. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: Yep. And they used, you know, the heavy-duty stuff for mining and that was barged in in the summer. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: So, but the dog teams did their thing in the winter, for sure.

KAREN BREWSTER: And they used horses, too. DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Which always surprises me. DAN SEAVEY: Yep. KAREN BREWSTER: That they wouldn’t just posthole through.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Mushers love that. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, yes. DAN SEAVEY: When the horses did, yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, I’m sure. How many dogs broke their legs on that one? I don’t know. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, really.

KAREN BREWSTER: Um, so the Alliance is now a non-profit, and the advisory council was -- DAN SEAVEY: Is no more. KAREN BREWSTER: Is no more.

Do you think one form worked better than the other?

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, I think the Alliance, there’s no doubt about that. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: Because then -- Now you got private people, not just government people, and that -- You know, like I say, that’s nothing -- that’s nothing negative against the government where the Iditarod Trail was concerned. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: I mean, it’s just the way things are. I mean, money has priorities, you know, and the trail was pretty much low priority for many years. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: Even to the point where -- where, you know, they couldn’t even provide personnel. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: Full time personnel.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, the Alliance is big on partnerships. DAN SEAVEY: Right. KAREN BREWSTER: And I don’t know, the advisory council must have been also.

DAN SEAVEY: Yes, yeah. That is reflected, in fact, in the composition of the advisory councils. I mean, they tried to bring in, like railroad and, you know, all different entities along the trail. Native, definitely Native groups. So yeah, I mean --

KAREN BREWSTER: Have you been involved in trying to build some of those partnerships? And how that works?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, I suppose I have been. KAREN BREWSTER: Well, how do you think --

DAN SEAVEY: I don’t like to sound vague, but I mean, it --

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, obviously with the Trail Blazers, you have been. But that, how you think that’s worked, having those partners?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, that’s absolute, I think it’s great. More people you can get involved, more groups you can get involved.

Because there’s nobody there saying, we don’t want that trail, you know, cover it over, you know, get rid of it. Everybody, all the partners are pro-trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: I mean, otherwise, they wouldn’t be our partners. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: So it’s a -- it's a -- it's like a plus. I mean, there’s not much negativism.

KAREN BREWSTER: You don’t have to try and convince a partner to become pro-trail? DAN SEAVEY: Right. Right.

KAREN BREWSTER: You seek them out as partners because you know they’re going to be supportive?

DAN SEAVEY: Yes, or they -- yes. And we’re getting a lot of -- I say a lot, of people coming to us, you know, "How can we help?" KAREN BREWSTER: Oh. DAN SEAVEY: What can we do?

And, you know, we had a presence at the state fair for several years, and we -- we got a lot in membership and people offering to help and what have you through that exposure.

KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. And at the Iditarod Race start? Do you guys have a presence there? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Small one, but yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: I don’t know, either the ceremonial or the real start, I don’t know. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Well.

KAREN BREWSTER: Probably the ceremonial?

DAN SEAVEY: No, the real start, generally. I had a booth out there. But, now again, with the -- KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: -- with the plague, things have changed. But hopefully, it’ll get back.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. This is all what you’ve been doing. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Because yeah --

DAN SEAVEY: Uh, there’s one thing, you asked a bit ago about how things might be improved.

I think that what we really need is a state representative on the -- with the advisory, or -- KAREN BREWSTER: On the Alliance? DAN SEAVEY: -- rather, with the Alliance.

KAREN BREWSTER: You don’t have one?

DAN SEAVEY: No, I think -- No. The state does not have a person dedicated to the Iditarod.

KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, like the BLM person?

DAN SEAVEY: Right. Exactly. ’Cause a vast, vast majority of the land is on state -- it goes over state land. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And it's -- And I don’t know. We've -- we’ve worked on that, tried to get someone involved, but so far the state won’t budge on it.

KAREN BREWSTER: Because of money? DAN SEAVEY: I guess.

KAREN BREWSTER: I’m just assuming that would be one of the reasons.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, it’s always a good excuse, you know. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: But it’s amazing what we can find money for, if we want to.

But anyway, that -- that I think would be a real improvement and everything ’cause it -- work with the state.

Like I say, most of the trail goes over state lands. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: So, it kind of makes sense. At least a part-time person.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. Um, are you president of the Trail Blazers? DAN SEAVEY: Here? KAREN BREWSTER: Here. DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: And have been since the beginning? DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Yeah. Since about 1980, I guess.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. And again, a small group of dedicated people. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, but we got a good bunch. We really do. KAREN BREWSTER: Good. That’s great. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Um, I see these, you know, comprehensive plan documents you have out on the table, and it makes me want to ask about them. Uh, what you think about them?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, I’m pretty impressed. Um, they did a -- this would be the work by, you know, the group before.

Most of this information was gotten before it was submitted, you know, even into a -- welded into a management plan. I mean, it’s preliminary information, and that was boiled down and put in these documents. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: And, I mean, it was a lot of work. A lot of work that went into these, um, comprehensive management plans, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: And do you feel like they’re being followed? Are they being implemented at all?

DAN SEAVEY: Um, they’re in need of revision. Um, and that’s one of the projects that we’ve got on the back burner with the Alliance. It’s going to take a lot of work. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: But uh, yeah. I say, it -- it -- Well, it’s just time. You know, time has passed. Almost all plans, city plans, you name it, have to be revisited and redone from time to time. And this one is there.

KAREN BREWSTER: Do you have anything specific in there that you -- ?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, this one emphasizes greatly the role of the Trail Blazers, and so far, the way it’s working, that we only have three Trail Blazer groups.

And I don’t know -- I guess we’re functioning ok, as long as government’s willing to keep funding stuff, you know. KAREN BREWSTER: Hm mm.

DAN SEAVEY: But I would like to see more Trail Blazer groups, for sure, and make the segments smaller. Like, we -- we -- we bit off way more than we could chew. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: The Seward Iditarod Trail Blazers, we’re all the way to Crow Pass. KAREN BREWSTER: Wow. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Well, think about it. KAREN BREWSTER: That’s a long way. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah.

So that’s why we tried to get one going in Moose Pass. We haven’t given up on that.

And there was, for temporarily, one for Crow Pass, when Bill Devine was the spearhead on that. And --

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, you’d think in Girdwood that there’d be --

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, and there was some renewed interest there. I know (Lee) Poleske and I went to Girdwood.

And they have a community organization there, you know, which would fit in really good for trailblazing. But we went and tried to get them organized, and it didn’t pan out.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, I think the Eagle River end might be another option. DAN SEAVEY: Um-hm. KAREN BREWSTER: For that.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Break ’em up into segments and get the Knik guys going again. And they could get us out to -- that’s a long haul there, too. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: McGrath.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Because yeah, that -- once you start getting out there, communities are farther apart. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Right. KAREN BREWSTER: And they have to have a bigger segment.

The other thing I noticed in those management plans is, there’s a lot in there for like exhibits and um, things that -- they were proposed that were going to happen, or should happen, and they haven’t happened. DAN SEAVEY: Right. Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Do you know why they haven’t happened, or are there still plans to do them?

DAN SEAVEY: No, I don’t know how to address that at all. Why something doesn’t happen? I mean, we always blame it on lack of money. Uh, but other than that, I really don’t know.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, and I guess it’s -- In the idea of revising it, would some of those things fall under being revised, that -- ?

DAN SEAVEY: Oh, yes. And I think a serious look at Trail Blazers and, you know, if we’re not the leaders of the pack, then let’s not say so, you know.

This is supposed to be a low-key federal government operation. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And I’m glad that it turned out the way it is because I mean, we -- the feds put a lot of money in this trail now.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Well, I was going to say, in the comprehensive plan, there’s probably a lot about the conveyances and the trail designation and things like that that have been accomplished? DAN SEAVEY: Right.

KAREN BREWSTER: So you don’t have to put those in as to-dos. DAN SEAVEY: Right. That doesn’t have to be, yeah, a central theme anyway. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

One other thing that has been mentioned is not only the centennial dog race that started, but there was something with a bicentennial commission and the trail. Does that ring a bell to you? Like a bicentennial commission maybe in Anchorage? I don’t know much about it. DAN SEAVEY: It doesn’t with me, Karen.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. And I don’t know if it was the bicen -- it would’ve been the bicentennial of Alaska purchase? ’67? ’77? Something in the mid-70’s? DAN SEAVEY: Well. KAREN BREWSTER: Right? Wouldn’t -- DAN SEAVEY: 19 -- well, oh.

KAREN BREWSTER: Wouldn’t 1977 have been the bicentennial of purchase? DAN SEAVEY: Well, ’70. KAREN BREWSTER: 1867 to 1967 to 1970. No, 2007. DAN SEAVEY: 2007. KAREN BREWSTER: I can do math.

So nothing’s ringing a bell about bicentennial. DAN SEAVEY: No. No. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

The other thing I was just thinking about, the public education and stewardship of the trail is, it’s obvious when it’s your local trail. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: You know, the Seward or the Knik.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, we have, we have iTREC, the iTREC program. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. DAN SEAVEY: That’s our main education program for the Alliance. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: Iditarod Trail in Every -- KAREN BREWSTER: Community? DAN SEAVEY: Community. Yeah. iTREC. (It actually stands for Iditarod Trail in Every Classroom.)

KAREN BREWSTER: And that’s with teachers?

DAN SEAVEY: Yep. Bringin’ in teachers and having them -- they've -- drove up -- They draw, excuse me, they draw up their own curriculum, you know, and they discuss it and try it out and what have you.

KAREN BREWSTER: I know that at one point they had workshops down here, didn’t they, for one of the sessions? DAN SEAVEY: Uh, it has been, and again, prior to the -- KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: Epidemic here.

But um, they have the -- Let’s see, they have the fall session down here. Is that right? KAREN BREWSTER: I think so.

DAN SEAVEY: And then the spring session, they had in Fairbanks. Or I’m sorry, in Nome.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. For the end of the race, that would make sense. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Although it wasn’t -- it was after the end of the race. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh. Ok. DAN SEAVEY: I couldn’t quite figure that one out.

KAREN BREWSTER: I’d think they’d want to make -- but maybe ’cause there wasn’t room in any hotel. DAN SEAVEY: Well, yes, that’s probably it. KAREN BREWSTER: That’s probably it.

But so, when they came here, did you, uh, speak to the group? DAN SEAVEY: Right, yeah. Both Lee and I. We did our show.

KAREN BREWSTER: Your show. DAN SEAVEY: Our Iditarod show. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And then, we’ve done several of those, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, and I was thinking, though, that, you know, in terms of public education and appreciation and support for having a historic trail, how do you get people in other parts of the state to care? Or is that important?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, I don’t know. Alaska’s a big place. Um, I mean, Alaskans, they’re Alaskans, right? I mean, I -- I’m real impressed and taken with the Chilkoot Trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: And I don’t live down there. That’s a jillion miles away. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: You know what I’m saying? But it’s Alaska. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: It’s part of Alaska, so. Uh, I don’t know as if you’re saying, asking if we have a campaign to draw in Alaskans specifically?

Only the iTREC program, that I can think of. That’s all Alaska idea of being teachers along the trail.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. It’s all about the people along the trail.

DAN SEAVEY: But, yeah. But that doesn’t, I mean, you don’t get many Sitka or Ketchikan people. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

Well, and I guess what I’m getting to is, do you think it’s important for people in Sitka or in Fairbanks to care about the Iditarod Historic Trail?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, yes, absolutely. Uh, and why? Well, especially when it comes to protective measures where you have to lobby or somehow, you know, influence somebody, government or whoever, it’s nice to have a consensus, that’s for sure, of statewide people. Yep.

KAREN BREWSTER: And, you know, as historians, there is something to say about, it’s important for people to know their history. DAN SEAVEY: Right, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: You know. I don’t know if the rest of the world thinks that, but uh --

Well, what has kept you involved in this particular project for so long?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, I don’t know. It’s just a -- it’s been a lifelong interest of mine. KAREN BREWSTER: Well, but --

DAN SEAVEY: And like I say, it’s -- I’m kind of partial to Seward, for one thing. And I'm pretty excited about the past, you know.

The role that Seward has played in the development of Alaska, and, of course, the trail connected to it.

And I just -- I don’t know. I like history, for one thing.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Well, yeah, but you know, a lot of people after so many years with an organization would be, I’m done. I don’t want to do that anymore. I’ve -- you know, I’ve done my part.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, and this one isn’t even a life membership. You’ve got to ante up every year. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: But I belong to, like the Hope Historic -- KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: Hope Sunrise.

And I -- but just about as -- well, wait a minute, probably longer, on the board of the Resurrection Bay Historical Society. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: And then back home in Minnesota, I belong to that historic society. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, that’s great.

DAN SEAVEY: So I just -- I love history, and I guess this is just a continuation of that, you know, of that interest.

KAREN BREWSTER: Is there anything in particular that you have -- you feel particularly responsible for having been accomplished in the -- ?

DAN SEAVEY: Yes, I do. The very fact that we -- we’re developing a trail along the Kenai Peninsula. I mean, that to me is a -- I guess if I was going to boast about anything, that would be -- KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

DAN SEAVEY: Catching that and before the finalization of the management plan. And then, I mean, it’s taken a while. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: But it’s working, it’s going, it’s working. KAREN BREWSTER: Great.

DAN SEAVEY: As far as local, uh, Trail Blazer stuff, I guess just putting the trail in. I mean, just -- I mean, just the raw trail, uh.

KAREN BREWSTER: The trail breaking. DAN SEAVEY: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: The building, I guess.

DAN SEAVEY: Yeah, um, and we have an access trail to the -- to the Iditarod up at -- north of here a little bit, Bear Lake. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And that’s part of the trail. It’s part of the trail. It’s access to the trail, but it’s part of it. And it goes right along the east side of Bear Lake, and then, um -- Ok, so we claimed that. The Trail Blazers claimed that.

Well, the flipside of that is that the City of Seward has tried to annex all the way to the north end of Bear Lake at least twice that I can remember. And we advocated against that, in favor of the trail because it goes along there.

And I’m almost sure that, had we not thwarted that effort twice, that there would be cheek-to-jowl cabins all the way around the lake there. And people love it the way it is. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm.

DAN SEAVEY: And we took basically a game trail around the north end of the lake and then up over the divide and claimed that.

And again, the city would’ve loved to have a bunch of cabins lined up along there for tax purposes. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: What have you.

But we -- we outdid ’em on that twice, so hopefully it’ll stay that way. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

DAN SEAVEY: But it’s in. And the Forest Service has put a bridge, a major bridge in. KAREN BREWSTER: Wow. DAN SEAVEY: Along there.

So it’s been the Iditarod Trail for many years, now. It almost qualifies for that 50-year stuff. KAREN BREWSTER: Historic.

Well yeah, and it sounds like the obstacles or challenges have been land management agency things you have to deal with. Is that a fair statement?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, yeah, but again, we’ve had cooperation with the Forest Service. And in a way, this is just my feeling, I couldn’t say for sure. But uh, I think the Forest Service, the local, you know, this district, the people who have been managing that over the years, have appreciated the fact that we’re here.

For instance, we built kind of a -- for this end of the trail, anyway, a major bridge in a Sunday afternoon. KAREN BREWSTER: Wow.

DAN SEAVEY: And you can imagine what that would’ve taken if the Forest Service had to plan it, and, you know, on and on it goes. We put the bridge in.

And, in fact, we basically stole the material from the stockpile that the Forest Service had, and we put the bridge in. And it’s nice.

You know, it’s in, people are using it. It’s surplus stuff. It was free labor, and we didn’t study it to death. You know, and down the road four or five years. KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: Sort of thing.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, yeah, I mean, your Trail Blazers group shows as a model that local involvement. You need local trail users and trail advocates, whether it’s the Iditarod Trail or any other trail.

DAN SEAVEY: And that bike path, you know, what we call the bike path? KAREN BREWSTER: Um-hm. DAN SEAVEY: The trail in town there along the beach? KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. DAN SEAVEY: I mean, that was our project.

We contacted a local contractor who provided free gravel and put it in place and got, you know, the base in.

The city was doing -- having a paver in, and we talked him into half price, uh, asphalt for the thing. City paid it, but it was through us.

And it was done. I mean, it’s in. And people love it. That thing gets more use, even in the winter, you know, when there’s nobody out around much. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. DAN SEAVEY: So.

KAREN BREWSTER: That’s great. Yeah, I said, it shows that you need interested local people who are willing to work hard. DAN SEAVEY: Yep.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, I appreciate your time today. Thank you.

DAN SEAVEY: Well, I appreciate your time and your effort. It’s -- Yeah, it’s part of history.

KAREN BREWSTER: Is there anything else that comes to mind when you looked at the questions I had sent in advance?

DAN SEAVEY: Well, just -- As far as the Alliance goes, we’ve been in business now quite a few years, and I think it’s a great organization. It’s well run. Um, actually I served as president of that for a year or so.

But anyway, the present -- Speaking of the present Alliance, we have some dedicated people there, and they’re getting things done. And it’s gratifying to me after all these years.

I think I figured out, what, 41 years, on the -- with either the advisory council or the Alliance, so it’s gratifying to me to see such a group in operation. They’re getting things done.

KAREN BREWSTER: Good. All right. Well, thank you.