Outdoor digest: Iron Dog field slips to 35 teams; goat hunt closed

The field is set for the 2017 Iron Dog, the world's longest and toughest snowmachine race.

Thirty-five teams of two riders will start the pro-division race, including defending champions Tyler Aklestad and Tyson Johnson on Ski-Doos. Forty-one teams started this year's race.

The ceremonial start of the 2,000-mile race from Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks is Feb. 18 on Fourth Avenue in Anchorage. Racers head west from Big Lake the next day.

Among the notables passing on this year's race are 2015 champions Scott Faeo and Eric Quam; three-time winner Marc McKenna of Anchorage and seven-time winner Scott Davis of Soldotna, who shares the record for most Iron Dog victories with Faeo's father, John.

Davis has passed the torch to his son Cory, a six-time X Games medalist who is teamed with Ryan Simons, as he was last year.

Former champions back on their sleds and looking to reclaim glory include Chris Olds of Eagle River, racing with Mike Morgan of Anchorage; Todd Palin, racing with son-in-law Dakota Meyer; the formidable team of Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad of Wasilla; and Dusty VanMeter of Kasilof, who's racing with Chad Gueco of Wasilla.

"Despite the last two years of challenging snow seasons, the Iron Dog continues to be an iconic and uniquely Alaskan event,"  Kevin Kastner, the race's executive director, said in a press release.

Fifteen drivers are from the Lower 48, and 29 are rookies, including nine teams in which both drivers are rookies.

Fourteen teams are on Ski-Doo machines, with 12 on Polaris and nine on Arctic Cats.

The 2017 purse had not been announced, but in 2016, the winners earned $65,000 from a $145,000 purse.

2017 Iron Dog teams

1) Ryan Sottosanti and Micah Huss, Arctic Cat; 2) Shane Barber and David Spain, Polaris; 3) Bobby Menne and Daniel Thibault, Polaris; 4) Nick Petito and Jerrod Vaughn, Polaris; 5) Robby Schachle and Brad George, Ski-Doo; 6) Kraig King and Darick Johnson, Arctic Cat; 7) Tyson Johnson and Tyler Aklestad, Ski-Doo; 8) Joshua Plumb and Jordan Starr, Ski-Doo; 9) Mike Morgan and Chris Olds, Polaris; 10) Todd Palin and Dakota Meyer, undecided;

11) Robert Strick and Jason Moore, Arctic Cat; 12) Mike Telkamp and Paul Johnson, Arctic Cat; 13) Leslie Bryan and Casey Boylan, Ski-Doo; 14) Charlie Potter and Alex Schwochert, Arctic Cat; 15) Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad, Polaris; 16) Dusty VanMeter and Chad Gueco, Ski-Doo; 17) Eric Watson and Andrew Zwink, Ski-Doo; 18) Archie Beatus and Harold Attla, Polaris; 19) Kurt Steiner and Dieter Strobel, Arctic Cat; 20) Chris Kruse and Paul Sindorf Jr., Ski-Doo;

21) Nathan Haines and Scott Franz, Ski-Doo; 22) Brandon Burmeister and Tyler Bogert, Ski-Doo; 23) Tyler Drake and Shannon Jenkins, Polaris; 24) Jason Gundersen and Josh Norum, Ski-Doo; 25) Geoff Crouse and Kyle Conner, Arctic Cat; 26) Tim Lessard and Remington Lessard, Ski-Doo; 27) Rob Cleary and Dave Hausbeck, Polaris; 28) Troy Conlon and Ryan Folsom, Polaris; 29) Matt Heilala and James Stan, Ski-Doo; 30) Chad Dow and Shane Grindle, Ski-Doo; 31) Cory Davis and Ryan Simons, Arctic Cat; 32) Rurik Lindner and Richard Swenson, Ski-Doo; 33) Corey Berg and Luke George, Arctic Cat; 34) Barney Anselment and Dietrich Nikolai, Polaris; 35) Klinton VanWingerden and Kris VanWingerden, Polaris.

Mountain goat hunts shut down

Two popular Kenai Peninsula mountain goat hunts will close early this weekend to prevent overharvest, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

As of Wednesday, a hunt outside of Seward between Resurrection Bay and Day Harbor had resulted in the death of five billies and one nanny. That adds up to seven of what Fish and Game biologists term "goat units" because a nanny equals two goat units.

Another hunt east of Homer on the far side of Kachemak Bay has seen six goat units taken, just shy of the harvest quota of seven.

Registration goat hunts routinely are closed by emergency order when harvests approach the quota set for a given area.

Collecting tons of Gulf of Alaska debris

Chris Pallister of the Gulf of Alaska Keeper will describe next week how his organization used helicopters, landing craft, giant barges and sweat to remove some 2.5 million pounds of plastic debris from 1,500 miles of the Gulf of Alaska coastline over the last 15 years.

Much of the trash can be traced back to the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

Volunteers and seasonal workers collected more than 200 tons of trash this summer from Montague Island, which divides the Gulf of Alaska from Prince William Sound. The scene there was hard to believe, seasonal worker Scott Groves told Alaska Dispatch News in July. "It's mind-blowing," he said.

Plastic bottles, fishing nets, buoys, ropes and Styrofoam made up the overwhelming majority of the debris.

Pallister's talk on Wednesday is part of the Campbell Creek Science Center's series of Fireside Chats. The talk begins at 7 p.m. The entrance to the BLM Campbell Tract is located at 68th Avenue and Elmore Road, and the Campbell Creek Science Center is located at 5600 Science Center Drive.