Original Message

Check with every operator you can find in AK.

I am assuming you want to work the Yukon River area between Fairbanks and Eagle AK.  There are not many operators crossing the border over into the Klondike.  Other than Columbia helicopters, I never saw anyone cross the line.  Seems odd that with so many operators in AK --- very few cross that border on a regular basis.  (It may be that I was simply unaware of that activity.) 

For some reason, a wide swath has been cut so that the [fenced] border is clearly visible--for miles and miles in the vicinity of the Yukon River.  Ironically, that border, near the Yukon River is secure, with a decent "wall" and high-security crossing point near Eagle AK.  My boss told me several times "Do NOT cross that border.  For any reason.  Ever."  It was a firing offense, for sure.

Any operator in AK might have contract(s) in the region east of Fairbanks over toward Eagle, AK.  The area is pock-marked with abandoned gold mines.  I ran into one lucky bastdge who was flying a 500D, doing sling loads for gold miners in Chicken, AK.  He worked for a 2-aircraft operator.

One spring-summer-fall,  I spent several months living in cabins and campers all over that region.  I was contracted to fly "construction crews" to mountaintops that were in the 6-8,000 foot elevation range.  The crews were themselves contracted to the "Air Force" and their work was classified. They were daily flights, none of the crew ever spent the night on the mountain.

That job took me from Cold Harbor on the Alaska peninsula to Prudhoe Bay.  Best job, best flying in my career.