Moving to rural Alaska: It takes a village: methods for moving cargo to the bush.

• Author: Wells, Garrison
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

Tractors, airplanes, boats, trucks, snowmobiles, and dogsleds. When it comes to moving to Alaska's bush territory, just about any mode of transportation is fair game.

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Michael Gonzalez, vice president of Denali Group, a relocation specialist company, says, "It is usually by air or water--a small boat. Once a shipment arrives to the bush we use all kinds of modes to deliver, depending on the ways we can get to the residence. We have used snow machines, tractors, boats, and other things."

Moving household goods to Alaska is no easy feat, especially to its rural outreaches. Outside of Anchorage and Fairbanks there are few paved highways. Most don't meet the same interstate/highway standards drivers in the Lower 48 may be used to because many are two-lanes and undivided. And, for many communities there are no roads at all. Add to that inclement weather, and a perfect storm of less-than-stellar moving conditions is formed.

As a result, moving costs are often far more expensive here than in locations outside of Alaska. "We don't get a lot of calls from people saying how do I get there?" says Bob Hafner, executive director for the Nome Chamber of Commerce. "We get calls from people asking: 'Is there a road I can drive up there?'" The answer? There isn't.

The coastal community of Nome, which is nearly 540-air miles from Anchorage, sits on the northern coast of the Norton Sound in the Bering Sea. Because there are no highways to Nome, flying and water transport, snowmobile, and dogsled are the only modes of transportation by which cargo can be moved to and from the town. Still, Hafner says, it's not difficult to move to Nome or to get household goods delivered: "You just can't get here by car."

"It's not hard to say: I am going to pack up my goods and then I am going to ship all of it here. That's not hard," he says. "It's hard when you ask: When is it going to be here?"

There are plenty of companies that help people relocate their goods to Alaska: U-Haul, U-Pack, Denali, RAVN Alaska, Lynden, Tote Maritime, and USPS are just a few of the companies that offer these services. Even with the wide range of companies offering moving services, there is still only a six- to eight-week "season" during which movers are more easily able to coordinate rural moves.

Is the Price Right?

To determine the costs associated with moving to rural Alaska, experts recommend obtaining an estimate from one of many company websites offering such services. There are so many variables governing rural Alaska moves that price estimates are all over the map depending on location, time of year, and available modes of transportation.

"It's tough," says Gonzalez. "There are too many variables that could increase the price substantially. For instance, where is it coming from? How fast do you want it? What kind of services are you requesting at the other end?"

Gonzalez says he considers the cost to be "very expensive. It depends on how remote the area is and...