In the northwest areas operations during the 1981 field season consisted of patrol trips every ten days on the Kobuk and Noatak rivers to determine levels of use, developing information on the resources, and performing any needed visitor services. At Gates of the Arctic, park staff spent the entire 1981 field season living out of briefcases and backpacks in an effort to meet as many people as possible, and begin to accumulate knowledge about the area that would be necessary for proper management. In doing so, NPS employees in Alaska turned a full circle, back, in a manner of speaking, to the very earliest days of life in the national parks. Certainly, life in rural Alaska has its rewards. They had to overcome, too, long, cold, dark winters, as well as summers with long daylight hours, a phenomenon that brings its own special set of problems.
Housing is expensive and difficult to find.
Even then, the newly assigned staff had to accept living conditions with few of the amenities taken for granted elsewhere. The experience of Jim Hannah, district ranger at Chitina in Wrangell-Saint Elias, typifies the experience of new Park Service employees in Alaska. Hannah, who came to Alaska from Big Bend National Park in Texas, found himself living with his wife and two teenage daughters in a cabin with no indoor plumbing, and heated only by a wood stove. For the entire family, a considerable amount of energy would be spent in simply surviving. Despite difficulties they have faced, NPS employees in the Alaska parks have persevered.