Standford gives his sled dog a pet. Courtesy of Jim Stanford.

It’s quieter in the Chilkat Valley for Jim and Deb Stanford, the last of Haines’ mushers.

A snowy field behind their house for the first time in decades sits empty. For 30 years the yard belonged to more than 60 barking and howling sled dogs. This winter, Stanford burned the dog houses, pulled the posts and chains that held his huskies and gave his…