National Park Service and Doyon may trade lands in Kantishna

Posted: August 22, 2010

Federal legislation may soon be in the works to authorize a land trade in the Kantishna area.

Doyon Incorporated, which owns the Kantishna Roadhouse, has approached the National Park Service seeking to acquire approximately 3.2 acres of lands adjacent to Eureka Creek for placement of a weir and pipeline to support a 50 Kw Pelton wheel power plant located near the mouth of the creek. With normal stream flow and guest vitiation, Doyon predicts that the hydro plant will replace or supplement their diesel power plant. Doyon has also asked to acquire approximately 2.6 acres of parcels consolidating their Kantishna Roadhouse holdings.

In return, the National Park Service would acquire approximately 6 acres of the Galena Lode Claim, currently owned by Doyon. This acreage straddles an old mining road that provided access to historic mining claims, including at least two existing private inholdings. Doyon would retain ownership of the majority of the Galena Claim, which extends west approximately 10 acres toward Moose Creek.

Currently, we do not have a detailed map showing the land trade. We will post more details as they become available. We are supportive of this land trade, although we would like more information about exactly how Doyon and the Park Service came up with lands to be traded to NPS.

For the past two decades, the federal government’s policy has been to accommodate the owners of mining claims in Kantishna by buying out their inholdings at fair market value. Although this land trade provides no net gain for the National Park Service, it could still be productive for both the National Park and Doyon if it permitted the use of cleaner, quieter alternative energy and reduced the impact of fuel delivery on the park road.

We’d like to see this legislation include an appropriation to buy the rest of the Galena Claim from Doyon, thereby furthering the policy and intent of the federal government to acquire the remaining Kantishna inholdings at fair market value.

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