Research Notes...

December 20, 2007 - Almost Done!

Well, I'm making final adjustments to a few tables today. One more major section of data to cover, and then I'll be done with the draft of the full report to the U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management. As it stands now, the document is at 10.4 MB, 151 pages, with 73 tables and 27 graphs/figures. Imagine sending that back forth over email everyday! My CSU email account is groaning.

October 20, 2007 - Survey Numbers and Response Rates

These are the final response rates from our Summer 2007 survey effort. The follow-ups returned aren't the best, but our numbers are actually better than many public polls in the U.S. And, as this project was just one phase of a larger, multi-year effort, this is only part of the data. The Summer 2006 numbers aren't this good. Cheers to my team!

9/21/07 - A few thoughts about the differences between the highways - Please note, these are MY opinions and do not necessarily reflect the entire data set; nor does it reflect the opinions of the University of Alaska or the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

The Dalton Highway had the most traffic of the three. However, not all of the traffic was recreation-related. (I'd wager that the Taylor Highway actually had the highest percent of both miner traffic and recreation traffic, as people used this highway corridor to enter the U.S. from Canada.) The Dalton was originally built to serve as the transportation corridor for the Alaskan Pipeline and subsequently to transport goods between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay. My personal experience is that nearly 40% of the vehicles on this road either belong to the Alyeska Pipeline Company or are freight trucks hauling supplies north (or materials south). We did not try to survey people who were actually on the clock, working in the area, at the times we were surveying. (That said, my vehicle was circled one day by the Alyeska security helicopter while it was on patrol around Finger Mountain. I guess they thought that was funny.)

After these work vehicles, one is likely to see large touring buses or 18-passenger vans every day, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Tour companies make quite a profit by driving the Dalton with their cargo of tourists. I enjoyed getting to know a few of the tour bus drivers this summer. Most seemed to really enjoy their jobs - of course, they had FABULOUS places to work! We did not try to survey every single person in these groups - we usually just polled 2-3 people at random from each of these large groups.

A factor that stands out about the Denali Highway was the fact that many of our respondents were locals (Alaska residents) who felt very passionately about the highway and its condition. We received quite a few comments imploring us NOT to pave the highway or allow any further development. Interestingly, the BLM does not actually manage the road itself - that job belongs to the State of Alaska and its Department of Transportation. (Perhaps this is a sad commentary that our citizens don't know who actually manages their resources.) From my perspective, I'm guessing that, since this highway is no longer the main approach to Denali National Park, the locals find this region to be a nice little getaway from the more touristy areas. I can't say as I blame them; the views of the Alaska Range to the north are phenomenal.

As I mentioned earlier, the Taylor Highway is often used as a means for miners to get to their respective claims. We ran in to some resistence, as many seemed to think that our team was there to hinder their mining activities. Clearly, my team was NOT in a position of any type of law enforcement - we weren't actually even BLM employees (we had volunteer status). But we had "U.S. Government" on the license plates of our trucks. Clearly, that made us "one of them".

These comments provide just a minute glance into the controversy surrounding the Last Frontier. Those on the Outside may have opinions. They might even read and learn about Alaska endlessly as a hobby. But being up here, meeting people that live here year round, and seeing these places first hand gives new meaning to the word perspective. You really can't get this perspective until you experience life up there. And I only experienced one small part of that life. I'm hungry for more.