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My name is Tony Payne and I am one of two pilots who fly for the U.S. Army Alaska Environmental Resources Division. My job title is Natural Resources Specialist and I perform natural resource work for the US Army Alaska. The other pilot is Joe Mets, who also works for the Environmental Resources Division as an Environmental Engineer. The aircraft we use is an Aviat Husky A-1 that we lease from the Department of Interior, Office of Aircraft Services. The aircraft is a basic VFR, two-place, Short Take-Off and Landing aircraft equipped with GPS, radio-telemetry tracking equipment, and fitted with the larger than standard Goodyear 26 inch "tundra tires". The engine is a Lycoming O-360 generating 180 h.p. with a constant speed prop. Our areas of operation are the three Army posts in Alaska, Forts Wainwright, Greely, and Richardson. All together they comprise 1.6 million acres, most of which is not accessible by road. The lands we routinely fly over to perform our jobs are located on both sides of the Alaska Range, and can vary from vast expanses of wetlands, to rolling hills and valleys, glacial kettle lakes, rugged mountains and glaciers, and salt water inlets. The types of missions we fly with the aircraft are just as varied as the terrain we fly over. Current and past missions have included: Trumpeter Swan surveys, Beluga Whale surveys, monitoring wildfires, powerline construction monitoring, encroachment cabin inventory and monitoring, assessing fuel spills at remote range facilities, assessing and monitoring off-road vehicle use and land condition, identifying cultural resource sites, and conservation enforcement activities. I started off as a member of the IANRP when I was a student attending the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I have benefited greatly by being a member. It allows me contact with other pilots who are in the same field of interest as myself. Our aviation program is young and unique since we do work on military lands as opposed to national parks or wildlife refuges. Yet, there are also many similarities since much of the actual work performed is the same type of missions flown by other agencies. I have gotten a great deal of support, instruction, and valuable advice from fellow pilots at the Office of Aircraft Services, the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the International Association of Natural Resource Pilots. It is my goal to make this aircraft and our aviation program an important and valuable asset in the management and stewardship of US Army Alaska lands. |
