Story Created:
Feb 1, 2007 at 7:49 PM AKST
Story Updated:
Feb 1, 2007 at 8:20 PM AKST
Denali
National Park stretches across 6 million acres and is home to an abundance of wildlife, but what you may not know is that the park also has some domesticated residents.
When
Denali
National Park was created in 1917, the park service retained a special breed of workers. Today it still uses Alaskan huskies to maintain and monitor some 6 million acres. The park's kennel maintains sled dogs that are considered workers and in many respects companions.
Denali
National Park and Preserve is the only park in the national park service to own and run a kennel. In fact, the very idea for a park in the heart of
Alaska was conceived on the back of a dog sled.
The kennel at
Denali
National Park and Preserve is the only one you can find within the National Park Service. Each husky at the kennel is bred into a life of service.
Wednesday, just like every day, the kennel came to life at the sight of a sled. The Alaskan huskies in
Denali live to run. In fact once they are hooked up and start going down a trail, it takes quite a bit of convincing to get the dogs to take a break, but it doesn't take more than saying “ready” for them to spring back onto the trail.
These dogs aren't the type found in any speed race. They are bred to be more of a freight-style working dog.
Not much has changed at the kennels since it was established in 1921. The
Denali dogs spend their days breaking trails through deep snow, pulling supplies out to ranger cabins in the back country and monitoring wildlife while patrolling for poachers.
The reason the dogs are still a part of the park today Is because they represent the parks history.
The park was envisioned by a man traveling on a dog sled, and in the early years the park was managed and maintained by rangers and their dog teams.
Denali still has records of individual dogs from the 1920s. In them are stories of how dogs guided rangers to safety during blizzards and details from normal patrols.
Karen Fortier, kennel manager, said, "Sometimes we have photos and a description of what they were like, whether they were a great lead dog or an honest working wheel dog, and a little piece of history about them.”
In the 1950s the park actually tried to modernize travel in the back country. Rangers brought in snow cats and other machinery, but they'd get trapped in the snow, and parts would freeze and break. It didn't take long for the park to scrap the idea and rely solely on the reliability of the dogs.
The dogs primarily run when temperatures range from 30 degrees above zero to 30 below. Wednesday it was in the low 50s. In that heat, they have a risk of overheating. Also, the quality of the trails is poor because they're covered in ice and slush, which makes the dogs work harder than if they are running on soft powder, so Wednesday the dogs had to take more frequent brakes and rest for longer periods of time than normal.
When the dogs are too old to work, the park doesn't keep them. Every year it retires two or three dogs, usually because they are getting up there in age -- nine or 10. Sometimes dogs lose their interest in running or even for medical reasons.
Since the dogs are bred to be friendly, they are put up for adoption. People who live in northern climates and lead an active outdoor lifestyle can qualify and apply to adopt.
If you're interested in adopting, you can log on to http://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm to find out how.
