Volunteer Spotlight
Harold Blehm, newest member of the council’s Terminal Operations and Vessel Traffic System committee is passionate about using his time to help make Valdez, Prince William Sound, and the Chugach mountains a better place.
Blehm first moved to Alaska in 1982, after he graduated from Colorado State University’s School of Forestry with a degree in outdoor recreation administration.
Colorado’s population has grown so much that Blehm said he doesn’t think he could ever return there.
“All the lakes we used to fish in are now inside city limits and you can’t fish there anymore,” Blehm said, “It’s sad.”
For his first few years in Alaska, Blehm worked for the City of Valdez as a firefighter, emergency medical technician and police officer. In 1988, Blehm finally got his dream job with the Alaska State Parks as district ranger for the Copper Basin Ranger District in Tazlina, Alaska.
“I got that job in ‘88, and in ’89, guess what happened?”