Alaska Highway Community
Initiative
At the Alaska Highway International Forum
in Dawson Creek, BC on September 29, 2004, thirteen communities
located along
the Alaska Highway signed a Memorandum of Understanding signifying their interest to work together on matters of
mutual interest
regarding the future planning and development of the Alaska
Highway corridor. Please refer to the Memorandum of Understanding
for more information.
The Alaska Highway stakeholder groups are
in the process of reviewing the draft discussion document
entitled Vision
through Partnerships and working collaboratively to determine
the strategic direction for the next phase.
Alaska Highway
Community Roundtable Members
City of Dawson Creek, District of Taylor,
City of Fort St. John, Town of Fort Nelson, Town of Watson
Lake , Village
of Teslin, Teslin Tlingit Council, Marsh Lake Local Advisory
Council, City of Whitehorse, Village of Haines Junction,
City of Delta Junction, City of North Pole, City of Fairbanks
Next Steps
At the direction of the Alaska Highway Community
Roundtable members, the Northern Rockies Alaska
Highway Tourism Association (NRAHTA) will assume the pivotal role as coordinator to
carry out the next steps in the process. The Association
welcomes
the opportunity to be an integral player in this important
endeavor.
Following is a list of the initial activities
to be undertaken by NRAHTA:
- Update the Alaska Highway
International Forum website.
- Seek input from the
participating communities on the discussion paper entitled “Vision
through Partnerships” and
review the next steps.
- Develop a strategy for consultation
with First Nations.
- Complete a comprehensive community
consultation process to determine a common vision,
collective action plan and
top priorities.
- Assess future funding requirements
and opportunities.
- Review staffing and resource requirements.
- Expedite
the Alaska Highway Legacy Foundation charitable application
and research its prospective
international
status.
- Communicate with senior governments
and other stakeholder groups on an as-required
basis.
- Work towards completing the corridor
inventory survey.
How
the Vision Started
The need to develop a collective
voice for the Alaska Highway corridor began at the 2003
Northern
Rockies Alaska
Highway
Tourism Association Tourism Rendezvous and Annual General
Meeting when Senior Researcher, Sarah Adams of Tourism
BC presented the preliminary findings of the Northern
Rockies Alaska Highway Visitor Research project. The
report also
included initial visitor comments which highlighted
the importance of improving the traveling experience for
the Alaska Highway visitor.
City of Dawson Creek Mayor
Wayne Dahlen and Council embraced
the vision that all communities along the
highway should
work collaboratively to address areas of mutual importance.
In addition, the City of Dawson Creek contributed
financially towards the research and organization required
to initiate
the project.
Organizing Team
The Northern Rockies Alaska Highway Tourism
Association (NRAHTA) was contracted by the City of Dawson
Creek
to coordinate the Alaska Highway International
Forum and
to organize the Alaska Highway 2004 Legacy Tour
in July 2004.
David Leverton of Leverton and Associates Ltd.
worked with the organization as Special Advisor to plan
and implement
the project.
Vision
To ensure that the Alaska Highway corridor
is recognized as the most important international historic,
cultural and wilderness highway in North America.
Mission
To create a Forum for political
leaders, administrative officials and tourism stakeholders,
to jointly explore
and collaborate on issues relating to maintenance, infrastructure
for tourism development, corridor management, preservation
of history, and marketing and promotion of the Alaska
Highway corridor.
Goals
a) To disseminate information to
all stakeholders interested in the Alaska Highway
and its future.
b) To identify the funds necessary to ensure
the long-term preservation of this historic
international land-link.
c) To encourage the development of an internationally
recognized set of policy guidelines for the long-term
preservation
and future development of the Alaska Highway corridor.
d) To encourage more effective joint marketing and
promotional strategies of the Alaska Highway corridor.
e) To sign a Memorandum of Understanding that will
solidify a long-term working relationship between
all parties
interested in the future of the highway.
i) To develop an Alaska Highway Legacy Council who
would be responsible for ensuring the implementation
of the
recommendations.
Alaska
Highway Legacy Tour
City of Dawson Creek Mayor
Wayne Dahlen led the Alaska
Highway 2004 Legacy Tour from Dawson Creek, British Columbia
to Delta Junction and continued on to Fairbanks, Alaska
between July 1 and July 12, 2004.
The community visits provided an
opportunity to meet with leaders, stakeholders,
and organizations in communities
along the Alaska Highway interested in the future of the
highway corridor. The principal objective of the visits
was to meet with community leaders to review
the “Backgrounder
Discussion Paper” which highlighted issues and concerns
relating to the highway and to discuss the planned signing
of the Memorandum of Understanding at the Alaska Highway
International Forum.
The following individuals joined
Mayor Dahlen for the tour: Councilor Bud Powell,
City of Dawson Creek; Mayor Fred
Jarvis, District of Taylor; Councilor Brad Filmer, District
of Taylor; Mayor John Farynowski, Haines Junction; Honourable
Elaine Taylor, Minister of Tourism & Culture for the
Yukon; and Honourable Ted Staffen, Speaker, Yukon Legislative
Assembly. Alaska
Highway International Forum
The Alaska Highway International
Forum was hosted by the
City of Dawson Creek, British Columbia on September 29,
2004. The Forum was an opportunity for political leaders,
administrative officials and tourism stakeholders to
share ideas and discuss priorities to ensure that the
legacy of the Alaska Highway is preserved and that the
long-term future of the highway corridor as a tourism
attraction and economic link between British Columbia,
Yukon and Alaska is well-maintained for future generations.
A significant achievement of the International
Forum was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding
entitled “Alaska
Highway Community Initiative” by thirteen communities
located along the highway corridor. The adoption of the
MOU signifies the communities’ interest to work together
on matters of mutual interest regarding the future planning
and development of the Alaska Highway corridor. |
