Two guides were charged in July for bringing hunters to North Slope last year without a valid transporter license, troopers said.
The owners of Arctic Compass LLC, Chance Blankinship of Crossett, Arkansas, and James Nall of Bastrop, Louisiana, provided transportation services to hunters last summer, troopers said in the online report in September.
Blankinship and Nall advertised Arctic Compass as a big game transporter company and charged their customers thousands of dollars without holding a guide-outfitter or transporter license, according to a sworn affidavit written by Trooper Brian LeMay in support of a complaint filed in the Utqiaġvik Court.
Troopers started a criminal investigation into Arctic Compass and its owners in August 2022, after stopping company drivers for minor traffic violations several times and getting tips from Arctic Compass customers about the company potentially operating without a proper license, the complaint stated.
First, troopers stopped Nall for speeding along the Dalton Highway on Aug. 13, 2022, according to the complaint.
Later that month, a man told troopers that he and a group of his friends hired Arctic Compass to transport them from Fairbanks to Mile 366 of Dalton Highway to hunt caribou with Arrowhead Outfitters. He reported to troopers “reckless driving behavior along the Dalton Highway after the fact” and said that one of the company representatives told him they were not licensed as transporters, the complaint said. The company charged the group $3,300 for bringing them to the hunting spot, according to the complaint.
The Big Game Commercial Services Board investigator told troopers that Arctic Compass did not hold a transported license with them, according to the court complaint.
Two other clients of Arctic Compass told troopers later in August 2022 that they were transported by the company to the North Slope, the complaint stated. The clients showed troopers a contract that resembled a transporter contract and had references to hunting and game care.
During another traffic stop that month, Nall said that eight people in his van were his clients.
Troopers also stopped the Arctic Compass van with a trailer that month in Fairbanks when the driver failed to signal before turning left, the court complaint said. During the stop, the driver explained that the trailer was modified with coolers to transport meat for Arctic Compass’ clients and still had a bag with meat scraps left by the last group.
The court complaint stated that the company advertised as transporters on its website and charged hunters $1,200 and visitors $900 for transportation. The website address, http://arcticcompass.com/, now looks inactive.
“Here at Arctic Compass, we want to simplify your trip to Fairbanks,” the website previously said, according to the court complaint. “We, as hunters, also know the stress involved with funding a rental to take you to your hunting destination. We want to offer a unique alternative.”
Blankinship and Nall were charged for transporting big game hunters and for advertising as a transporter without holding a transporter license, according to the Alaska Court System. Both failed to appear in court during arraignments on Sept. 12 and Aug. 22. The next arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 3.