RANGELEY – Sled-dog racing will return to the Rangeley area this winter after a seven-year hiatus.

The Western Mountain Dog Sled Race through the wilds of Oquossoc is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 23. It will be a single 30- to 40-mile mid-distance race for 8- to 10-dog teams.

“We’re getting interested parties from all over the U.S. and Canada,” organizer Kitty Fellows said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “Local support is very good and people in the community are anxious to help. The Downeast Dog Sled Association is also helping us. …Volunteers are going to be drastically needed to work the trails.”

Starting in the village of Oquossoc, which is about seven miles west of Rangeley, mushers will race out of town through Cupsuptic Campground and into the woods across Route 16 before retracing the path back to Oquossoc, Fellows said.

The race, sanctioned by the International Sled Dog Racing Association, is expected to take six to seven hours.

John Bicknell, a former New England champion musher, said in a news report last Thursday that he was pleased to see sled dog racing return to Rangeley. From the 1960s to 1990s, sled dog racing was Rangeley’s premier winter event.

“The races were the highlight of the winter for many folks in the area and, at one time, Rangeley had 95 dog teams racing,” Bicknell said. “The Rangeley area is perfect for this type of racing, with its reliable snow cover and cold temperatures, coupled with miles of backwoods roads and trails.”

Fellows said Bicknell owns a 16-dog team and was the coordinator for Rangeley’s sled dog races for 18 years. He is working closely with the new committee.

Lack of available land and a boom in snowmobiling interest ended sled dog racing, Fellows said.

But now Seven Islands Land Co., a private land and timber management holding company based in Bangor, has offered use of its land in Oquossoc for the race.

The event is sandwiched in between Rangeley’s snowmobile-racing Snodeo 2008, from Jan. 24 through 27, and the 2008 Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races on March 1 in Fort Kent.

“Snodeo was pushed back to Jan. 26 due to weather in the past years. That’s why we chose not to do anything in January. And our race is the week before the Can-Am race, so, we’re trying to attract dogs going up to that as a tune-up. If we get 30 dog sled teams up here, I’d be happy,” Fellows said.

Fundraising for insurance, permits and other expenses is under way. There is a spaghetti supper from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, at the Masonic Hall in Rangeley for $8 a person or $15 per couple.

“When we first mentioned trying to bring sled dog racing back to Rangeley, the enthusiasm it generated was phenomenal. Things are going very well. It’s been nothing but upbeat,” Fellows said.

To volunteer, or enter a sled dog team, or for more information, contact Fellows at 864-9940 or by e-mail at [email protected].