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Posted 6/27/96

This has been a year for the record books here in Flagstaff. Its been the dryest year on record so far. Lack of snow over the winter forced cancellation of ALL of our sled and skijor races in Arizona. Bob and I managed to get in one race up in Colorado in Dolores. The dry spell has continued and beginning in early May fires began to break out all over the southwest. One burned only a mile from our home back in early May but luckily was put out before it caused any property damage. It did char however one of our favorite places for running with our dogs. These early fires were all human caused and so the Forest Service (for whom I work as an entomologist) closed most of the forests to any access to try to protect resources as well as the community of Flagstaff which is surrounded by the Coconino National Forest. With the closures some relief was realized.

Last week however a single dry lightning storm passed through Flagstaff on thursday dropping lightining bolts as it went. The next day several fires were burning out of control, one inside the city limits. Luckily it was contained quickly. The big casualty from a personal standpoint for us for several reasons though has been the Hochderffer Fire burning on the northwest side of the Peaks. Driven by high winds blowing 40 - 50 mph at peak gusts and very dense dry stands of pine, fir and aspen, this fire grew quickly from 30 acres to now over 8500 acres. Bob and I took a hike with the dogs several miles to the east of it yesterday and there were charred pieces of ponderosa pine bark and needles blowing and landing around us. We could see trees literally exploding with flames in the fire 6 miles to our southwest on the Whitehorse hills. The area on the north side of the Hochderffer Hills where this fire started is our main skijor training site in the winter. We do have others but this one holds snow reliably and was also absolutely gorgeous offering beautiful views of the north side of the 12,633 ft San Francisco Peaks.

It was chilling on friday while I was at work with the radio on listening to communications when all of a sudden came the word from the IC (Incident Commander - the person in charge of operations on a fire), as this fire jumped the last natural fire break before heading into the white horse hills and he announced to the central dispatch unit in Flagstaff "Its gone!". Twenty fire fighters had to deploy fire shelters that day when the fire overcame them. All were taken to Flagstaff Medical Center. One is still hospitalized with serious burns to the lower part of his body and is in serious but stable condition.

Keep Flagstaff and these fire fighters in your thoughts these days, hopefully as winds subside, and with the possible arrival of moisture from a hurricane currently off the west coast of Mexico later this week these fires will be contained and controlled but for now smoke fills the air and air tankers buzz overhead.

Posted 6/27/96

A nine minute film about Tim Triumph's travail in Iditarod won the top award at the Telluride Film Festival. May now be made into a tv movie.

Also, we're getting down to the wire on a new rule 18 (expired dogs) for Iditarod. Signups start June 29 and no new rule adopted as yet. Should be abanner year- 25th anniversary and lots of oldtimers may run.

SAME METTLE THAT WON IDITARODS SAVED HOME

By CRAIG MEDRED

Daily News reporter

BIG LAKE - As the acrid smoke of the onrushing forest fire thickened inside the North Big Lake Fire Station, Martin Buser struggled to disconnect the automatic garage door opener. Neighbor Bob Jones already had the 4,000-gallon diesel tanker parked there up and running. Fighting to save their homes from the fire roaring down on them, they now had to defeat electronic technology that had become a liability when the fire devoured power lines.

''We couldn't open it,'' Buser said, ''and the building was filling up with smoke. We had to get out of there.'' Jumping into the cab, Buser told Jones to drive. Buser was anxious to get back to his home a few hundred yards away on North Big Lake Boulevard.

''Bob tapped it (the door),'' Buser said. ''He said, 'It won't give.' I said, 'You didn't try hard enough.'' With that, Jones gunned the tanker. It went through the door with a crash.

''My first thought was the fire hall was going to burn,'' Buser said Friday, sitting on the deck of the home that he and friends saved from the fire on Wednesday, the home it took him seven years to build, the home for which he risked his life.

''About twice we thought about abandoning it,'' he confessed, ''but the wind swirled enough to give us some air. You couldn't see or breathe. My eyes were just running.

''There was no reason to die over it. I'd promised Kathy I wouldn't do that.''

At that, his wife, Kathy Chapoton, smiled. She'd had faith, she said. She'd known Buser to take big risks before and survive.

In 1991, along the coast of the Bering Sea, Buser followed five- time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Rick Swenson into a raging blizzard that sent some of the state's toughest sled-dog drivers back to the White Mountain checkpoint fearing for their lives.

Swenson, grieving over a failed marriage, pressed on to victory, later confessing that he didn't much care if he lived or died. He was going to win that sixth Iditarod or die trying.

Behind him came Buser, hoping for his first Iditarod victory, pushing on into the storm with the bold confidence that no matter how bad it got, he could endure. That attitude eventually led him and his dogs to Iditarod victories in 1992 and 1994.

So how did the terror of the fire compare to the '91 storm, Chapoton asked. ''About the same,'' Buser said. ''It was pretty intense. At one point, it was like David and Goliath. I was standing there with the garden hose swearing at the fire.''

On both sides of him, 50- to 60-foot flames licked at the sky. All that was holding them at bay was the fire line that Buser, Art Church, fellow musher John Schandelmeier and a neighbor had chain- sawed into the spruce-birch forest around the house, and the sprinklers he managed to keep running on the roof thanks to power from an emergency generator that ran until it blew up. At which point, dog-driving friend Andy Anderson of Willow managed to smuggle another generator around an ordered closure of the Big Lake area. Buser credits that and the arrival of the tough-as-nails woodsman Schandelmeier as keys in the fight to save his home.

Schandelmeier had come down from Paxson to help a former in-law battle the fire. He showed up at Buser's in the middle of the firestorm in the tow of a state firefighter. ''He (the firefighter) said 'I brought you another guy,'' Buser said. ''When I saw who it was, I said, 'You didn't bring me a guy; your brought me a crew.''

Dirty and sweat-stained as he sharpened a chain saw on Friday, Buser said he couldn't remember exactly what day that happened. ''Last night,'' he said, ''I thought I'd fought fire for a good long day when Kathy said, 'You've been at it for three.'' Stands of fire-blackened spruce trees bordered his home on two sides. What had been a thicket of spruce on another had been mostly cut down, leaving only a few young, green, fire-resistant birch trees. An insurance inspector examined the fire station door, which Buser expected to have to pay to replace.

Still, with his wife and the couple's 80 sled dogs safely back home, Buser's home looked almost peaceful. It seemed hard to believe that days before it had almost gone up in smoke while Buser was making sure Chapoton and the couple's two children were safely out of the area.

After he did that, he helped rescue musher Lynda Plettner's dogs, then fought a battle to get home to his own as the fire sparked out of control and spread west on the wind. ''I decided I needed to get back to my kennel,'' Buser said. ''The beginning of Big Lake Boulevard was really burning. There was heavy smoke and big flames.''

Buser's first priority was to save the dogs that are both his life and his business. He trucked them west to where the North Big Lake road ends at the lake and used a riverboat to ferry them across to a friend's cabin. When he ran out of room to tie the dogs there safely, he left old dogs and puppies on an island. All but two are now safely accounted for.

''That first trip was probably the hardest part of this whole thing,'' Buser said, ''because you had to prioritize in case you couldn't get back. ''After that, it became a property fight, and the chain saws came out and we started cutting trees. Then the s--- happened. My generator threw a rod right through the casing. Things were still looking pretty good, but I needed a generator real bad. If I didn't have water, everything was lost.''

Anderson supplied the generator, which came across the lake in the same way the dogs had been taken out. The liberated tanker truck supplied more water, though it was of limited use because the tanker had no pump. And friends supplied vital manpower. Cutting trees like crazy, watering the house and stomping out embers, they and Buser fought on as fire hopscotched down on them, igniting pockets of spruce with a roar.

''It was just coming right toward us,'' Buser said. ''We heard it roaring, going hog wild. It sounded like a freight train was running through the woods. It was very intimidating. I thought about the danger quite a bit.''

A truck and the boat were poised to aid a speedy retreat, but Buser never stopped thinking about how to defeat the flames.

''Everybody who was official said this place would have burned up if we weren't here,'' he said Friday.

Posted 2/13/96

The 1996 Yukon Quest International Sleddog Race began yesterday [2/10/96] in Fairbanks. For those not familiar with the Quest, it is a 1000 mile race running between Fairbanks, Alaska and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. It has 9 checkpoints (including start and finish) over the distance as opposed to the Iditarods's 20 some-odd. It is generally considered a harder race than the Iditarod.

Posted 12/20/95

Mushing legend, George Attla 63, may have to spend a year in prison after being convicted of illegally selling fish roe to a processor. Natalie Phillips writes in Tuesday's Anchorage Daily News:

"3A federal jury in Fairbanks found mushing legend George Attla guilty Monday of assisting in an operation that illegally turned five tons of Yukon River subistence salmon roe into caviar and shipped it out of state."

She quotes Attla: "I am very sure they want to make an example out of me because I am a high profile person, but for who, though? People out in the villages? I know what they are thinking; they are all mad that I was charged." He had been charged with 18 felony counts under a federal law that prohibits interstate sale and transport of illegally taken fish. The jury reduced the 18 counts to misdemeanors.

A subsistence fishery is just what it sounds like. People in the villages (even cities) are supposed to catch enough salmon to feed their families and dogs. Attla got in touch with fishermen, who sold him the eggs from their chum salmon catches. This was all at the request of a now-defunct Maryland seafood company, which cut him an $85,000 check. Attla's defense was that he was just the middle man. "What happened to these guys I was aiding and abetting? They weren't charged with nothing." he told the Daily News. Two employees of the seafood company, Epicurean Seafoods, testified against Attla. The statute of limitations for them had already passed, and prosecutors claimed not to have enough evidence against Epicurean.

Posted 1/10/95

The George Attla Trial

On May 17, 1995, Alaska's sled dog racing legend, George Attla, was indicted by a federal grand jury on 18 "felony" counts of buying, and then selling out of state about 10,000 pounds of salmon roe (fish eggs) between August 13 and September 21, 1990. If convicted, George could have been sentenced up to a maximum of 5 years in prison and and fines of $250,000 for each count.

On December 14, 1995, the prosecution presented its case in a US federal court in Fairbanks, Alaska. On December 15th the defense presented its case, calling to the witness stand, William Sturdevant and George Attla. They and George's lawyer, Dick Madson, successfully pointed out to the jury that Attla was not the buyer, nor the processor, nor the seller out of state of the roe but merely the agent for a company called Epicurean which did all these things. This company provided the money to buy the fish, and had an employee who did all of the roe processing using Epicurean equipment on Attla's property. The company also did all of the airfreighting of the processed roe out of the state before they sold it.

On December 18, 1995, the jury which heard the Attla case returned two verdicts. The first verdict was "not-guilty" of the 18 felony counts of illegally buying and selling salmon roe out of state. However the second verdict was "guilty" of 18 misdemeanor counts of "aiding and abetting" those that did the illegal buying, processing and selling.

Unfortunately, in this case, "aiding and abetting" carries with it potential penalties on conviction of a year in prison for each count and a fine of $100,000 for each count, according to the daily newspapers in Fairbanks and Anchorage. Sentencing by the judge is scheduled for February 26th, 1996.

There are a number of situations involved in this case that are unusual. Five federal grand jury hearings were on the Attla case before the indictments were made. The trial jury was not a mixed race jury of the kind found in high profile cases such as the O. J. Simpson trial. George is an Alaskan Indian, but there were no Alaskan Natives on his jury. George was forced to change lawyers at the last minute and his new lawyer only had three weeks to prepare for the the trial, much less preparation time than he should have had.

Most importantly, no charges have been made or will ever be made against those who actually committed the felony crimes that George was falsely accused of. Instead, the two fishermen supplying most of the salmon roe, Epicurean's processing employee and two Epicurean officials are reported by the Fairbanks newspaper to have received immunity from all the charges made against George in exchange for their cooperation and for their testifying at the trial. The time for any other charges has expired. How could this happen? 5 people commit a series of crimes, but only the self-educated musher who assisted them is brought to trial.

Perhaps there is a reason. The Fairbank's newspaper reported after the trial that a senior agent in the US Fish and Wildlife Service said "he hoped Attla's conviction will send a message to subsistence fishermen tempting to profit from illegally selling salmon eggs." The President of the Tanana Valley Native Association, which is headquartered in Fairbanks, stated in a letter to the newspaper that "This appears a frightening example of a powerful government agency utilizing selective enforcement to target a high-profile target. ... Mr. Attla was left to pay the price while the big fish got away."

George Attla is certainly a very well known Alaskan Indian, with an outstanding record of sled dog racing wins in the unlimited class. He has won 10 Anchorage Fur Rendevous World Championship sled dog races, 8 North American Open Championships and 9 International Sled Dog Racing Association Unlimited Class Medals (4 Gold, 5 Silver, 1 Bronze). In each case, this is more wins than any other musher has obtained. His out of print, hard cover book, "Everything I Know About Training and Racing Sled Dogs", is called the musher's "Bible" around the world. He has had a more recent soft cover book written about him called "George Attla, Legend of the Sled-Dog Trail".

George's early life consisted of a series of set backs. He developed bone tuberculosis, and his right knee cap ceased to function, rendering him unable to bend that knee. He spent so much time in hospitals that he never got past the 2nd grade. When he returned to his village of Huslia, he was physically unfit for normal native village jobs so he turned to dog mushing. His success in refusing to give in to his handicap has made him an inspiration to all who know him or know of him. It caused an award winning full length movie to be made of his early life called "Spirit of the Wind".

George's lawyer thinks that his sentence might be considerably reduced if the reaction of his friends to his trial were made available to the Judge who will decide his sentence. Therefore, if you have seen George Attla race dogs, have seen his movie or have read or heard of him, we are asking you to write your feelings about George and his trial in your own words to:

Thanks for supporting George Attla,

Robert I. (Bob Mush) and Bella Levorsen (editor of the book Mush)

Courtesy: Bob Levorsen

The Sentencing Hearing for George Attla was held on the morning of February 26, 1996, at the United States District Court in Fairbanks. The Presiding Judge was the Honorable John W. Sedwick, who was also the Presiding Judge at George Attla's trial last December. At that trial, George Attla was determined by the jury to be NOT GUILTY of any of the felony charges made against him of illegally buying salmon roe, illegally processing that roe into caviar and illegally shipping it out of state. However, the same jury pronounced Attla guilty of a series of misdemeanors for "aiding and abetting" those who had done so, The Sentencing Hearing was held to determine the sentences to given for the misdemeanor counts.

Five of many Attla supporters present were allowed to make statements after being sworn in. I was the first to speak. The Judge then reviewed the various aspects of the misdemeanor charges that would be appropriate for determing the range of sentences to be allowed under normal circumtances. Comments were allowed by both the defense and the prosecution on each aspect considered before the judge made his final determinations. Subsequently the defense and the prosection made their final argements, and then George Attla was allowed to make a final statement.

George's lawyer, Dick Madson, argued that the sentence should not include any prison time, but only a fine. The Prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Skrocki, requested that the sentence consist of 21 months in prison and $25,000 to $30,000 in fines.

George Attla then stated that he regretted what had happened and was sorry that he had hurt his friends and his family by his actions. He concluded by asking the Judge if it was fair that he alone was prosecuted. Judge Sedwick responded to the question by stating that his court could only preside over charges which had been made by the Prosecution.

The Judge then stated that his sentencing conclusions were based in large part on the many letters he had received, and by the statements made that morning. These conclusions were that George Attla was a good role model, that he was involved in many community activites, particularly with Alaskan Native Communities, and that no purpose would be served by a prison sentence.

The sentence given to George Attla by Judge Sedwick was: 3 YEARS PROBATION and a $10,000 FINE.

George Attla has asked the writer of this report to extend his thanks to all his friends for their support. Judge Sedwick reportedly received 28 letters, some of which resulted from the writer's requests on the Internet.

Bob Levorsen (BOB MUSH@AOL.COM)

CANCER PATIENT GETS WISH AS IDITAROD BEGINS

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Former Iditarod champion Jeff King's life revolves around preparing for the grueling sled dog race, but at Saturday's ceremonial start the boy in the basket changed King's perspective.

King was moved by 9-year old C.J. Kolbe's fight with bone cancer and the loss of his left leg.

"It's just a reminder to me and all my competitors there are a lot bigger races out there," King said.

King and 59 other mushers left downtown Anchorage on a clear, 6-degree morning and headed north 20 miles to the suburb of Eagle River, the first leg of the 1,150-mile race.

Their sled baskets usually carry survival gear and dog food. But for the downtown start, the mushers instead had paying customers - adventurous souls from across the nation who paid at least $500 for the two-hour ride.

Kolbe arrived from Broadalbin early last week along with his two brothers and his parents.