Rainbow above the Killik River Valley
Western Arctic National Parklands is comprised of four units: Noatak National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Kobuk Valley National Park and Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, each managed from headquarters in Kotzebue, Alaska, a town of about 3,000 persons, located 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
The schedule stipulates 10-day work periods separated by 4 rest days. The 10-day work periods consist of a day in the home base of Kotzebue making preparations( gathering gear, studying the assigned area, etc.), 8 days in the field and a return day writing reports of field work including wildlife and plants observed, weather, people encountered, trash picked up, unusual experiences and anything else of interest to the National Park Service. A typical assignment might be for the volunteers to be flown in a single-engine plane to assigned point A where team sets up camp and assembles a collapsible canoe. The volunteers then spend seven days of exploration while canoeing the river to point B where they are scheduled to be picked up by plane. Volunteers are provided with a satellite phone during wilderness travel and are required to report to headquarters at specified times each morning and evening.
36 TiftonScene | JANUARY 2026