Interpretive Plan Underway for Parks Highway
January 19, 2012
Mt. McKinley (Denali) seen from the Parks Scenic Byway near Cantwell
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation have begun the process of creating a master interpretive plan for the Parks Highway Scenic Byway. The master interpretive plan will establish a separate set of goals and objectives specific to interpretation that compliment and support the Parks Highway Scenic Byway Corridor Partnership Plan which was completed in 2008.
Public meetings were held in several communities along the byway in spring of 2011 to gather information from community members on the intrinsic qualities along the highway (see May-Jun 2011 edition of DCC News).
The purpose of interpreting the nations’ scenic byways is to create a distinctive collection of American roads, their stories and treasured places. The goal is the establishment and maintenance of interpretive sites and services along the highway.
The Parks Highway Scenic Byway stretches from the Chulitna River Bridge, at Mile 132 to Fairbanks, at Mile 362. In 2009 it was designated a national scenic byway.
If you are interested in participating in this process please contact Emily Lochart, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation at 907-269-8724 or via email: emily.lochart@alaska.gov.
More information on the scenic byway program and the Parks Highway Scenic Byway Corridor Partnership Plan is available on the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities website: http://www.dot.state.ak.us. Click on highways. You may also contact DCC’s community organizer for information on the byway via email at: julia@denalicitizens.org.
Alaska Railroad Applies for New Permits for Herbicide Spraying
January 12, 2012
The Alaska Railroad has applied for permits to spray a glyphosate herbicide on three sections of track, roughly between Clear and Fairbanks, Talkeetna and Broad Pass, and Palmer and Wasilla. In 2006, the Alaska Railroad applied for a permit to apply herbicide along the entire railroad corridor, but public opposition stalled that effort. See DCC’s comments on that application. This past summer, the railroad successfully obtained a permit for a much more limited project spraying railyards in Healy, Anchorage, and Fairbanks. Now the corporation is following up with a much more extensive project.
View the public notices (which include dates for public comment and public hearings) for the three projects at the State of Alaska, Department of of Environmental Conservation website.
Stampede Rec Area, Yanert Non-Motorized Use on Borough Agenda
January 11, 2012
At its January 11 meeting, the Denali Borough Assembly will be considering several resolutions related to important DCC issues. Resolution 12-04 would reinforce support for the bill presently in the Alaska legislature to create the Stampede State Recreation Area (HB 113, SB60). Passing this resolution is important to show continued Borough support for the proposal.
Also on the agenda is Resolution 12-01 in support of retaining the traditional non-motorized hunting in the Yanert Controlled Use Area. Read more
View Nov-Dec DCC News online
December 11, 2011
Our end of year issue covers the controversial Fish and Game issues now before the local Denali Advisory Committee, the work of the Denali Aircraft Overflights Advisory Council, reaction to our comments on the Draft Denali Vehicle Management Plan, Poetry from Louise Gallop, and local projects such as Eva Creek Wind Power and the Neon ecological monitoring site. Click on the link to read the newsletter. Members receive a paper copy in the mail.
Important Healy meeting of Middle Nenana Fish and Game AC- Monday Dec 5th
December 3, 2011
The Middle Nenana Fish and Game Advisory Committee will meet this Monday, December 5th, at the Tri-Valley School Cafeteria in Healy. The meeting will begin at 6 PM, with public comments accepted. Agenda Middle Nenana AC – Dec 5th
The Committee will consider and make recommendations on proposals for statewide regulations and for the Interior Region (Region III). The proposals themselves will be up for consideration at the Interior Region Board of Game meeting in Fairbanks in March 2012. Particularly troubling to DCC members is a proposal (Proposal 213) that would open the Yanert Valley, now designated as non-motorized for hunting, to motorized hunting. The proposal, forwarded by the Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee, is widely opposed in the local community. If you are in the area this coming Monday, please attend the AC meeting and oppose this proposal.
Other troubling proposals (Proposal 227-232) would introduce intensive management, predator control and bear baiting activities into Unit 20c, which touches the northern boundary of Denali National Park and includes the Stampede townships. There is no data to support the scientific need for such activities and we feel they are being proposed (NOT by locals) to forward the “maximum yield” agenda of the current leadership at the Department of Fish and Game.
If you cannot attend the meeting, but would like to leave a comment, you may call or email Nan Eagleson, DCC Board members and Middle Nenana AC member, at surfbird@mtaonline.net, or 907-683-2822.
DCC and Friends of Stampede comment on NEON scientific site
November 30, 2011
To view DCC’s and Friends of Stampede’s comments on this proposed ecological monitoring site near 8 Mile Lake, you may click the links below. Stay tuned to our website for more information on the permitting process for this site. Check our previous post for more information on the purpose of the NEON project and its implications.
DCC NEON Healy Site Comments – November 2011
Friends of Stampede comments on NEON site 11.30.11
Permit for NEON scientific site on state lands near Healy- Comment deadline this Wednesday
November 27, 2011
DCC thanks Friends of Stampede for providing information on this proposed scientific installation, to be situated on state lands near 8 Mile Lake. The proposed site is part of a nationwide network of monitoring sites to be deployed by the National Ecologic Observatory Network (NEON) under the auspices of the National Science Foundation.
Map of proposed site.
NEON has applied to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for a permit to install the site on the upper Stampede Road, about a half mile south of the road. The plan of operations states that the installation will be temporary, 5-7 years, but the site will need electric power and the applicant has asked that power lines be installed to the site. This would involve construction of power lines either up the Stampede Road or through some part of the Panguingue Creek subdivision. Locals are reasonably concerned regarding the long-term implications of this single-purpose utility construction into an undisturbed area. Possible moving of the site to an area closer to existing power lines has been suggested. Some have asked for continued extension of comments to allow representatives of NEON to come to the borough and explain the project.
We urge you to comment to DNR regarding this permit application. Check the NEON website for additional information, see the Friends of Stampede website, where a variety of materials are linked and concerns documented.
Comments to DNR are due this Wednesday, September 30th, to AJ Wait at the Division of Mining, Land and Water: aj.wait@alaska.gov. You may call Mr. Wait for more information at 907-451-2777.
Mission of the Project (from NEON website): The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will collect data across the United States on the impacts of climate change, land use change and invasive species on natural resources and biodiversity. NEON is a project of the U.S. National Science Foundation, with many other U.S. agencies and NGOs cooperating.
NEON will be the first observatory network of its kind designed to detect and enable forecasting of ecological change at continental scales over multiple decades. The data NEON collects will be freely and openly available to all users.
Happy Thanksgiving from the DCC Board
November 22, 2011
We recently met for our annual board retreat, and reaffirmed our commitment to the natural integrity of Denali National Park and Preserve, and to the viability and sustainability of its gateway communities. We are planning an ambitious program for the year 2012, and we’ll tell you more in our December 2011 DCC News. Meanwhile, we’re busy stoking the fires as a cold winter has settled upon Alaska, bringing temperatures at Denali well below zero and in Anchorage near zero.
HAVE A WARM AND COZY THANKSGIVING….and stay tuned for more information from DCC.
Middle Nenana Fish and Game Advisory Committee to meet in Healy
November 22, 2011
On Monday, December 5, 2011, the local Fish and Game Advisory Committee, the Middle Nenana Fish and Game Advisory Committee, will meet in Healy at Tri-Valley Community Center. Locals who are familiar with this group are encouraged to attend the meeting. The group will consider Fish and Game proposals to be considered by the Alaska Board of Game at their Interior Meeting, upcoming in March 2012. Concerning proposals would..
1. Introduce motorized hunting into the Yanert Valley east of Denali National Park.
2. Establishing intensive management and predator control for wolves and bears in Unit 20c, which borders Denali Park on the north.
For more information on these issues, contact us at mail@denalicitizens.org. If you are in the area, attend this meeting and speak out.
Local candidates discuss coalbed methane development and more in Healy
November 7, 2011
Candidates for local offices met with the public on Tuesday November 2nd to discuss local issues. This annual Candidate Forum, hosted by the Tri-Valley Community Library, planned and facilitated by Tri-Valley High School government students, included candidates for School Board, Borough Assembly, and Borough Mayor. Questions posed to candidates were submitted by local residents in weeks prior to the forum, and represented an array of relevant local issues. Of particular interest to DCC members, candidates discussed their positions on coalbed methane development in the Denali Borough. Read more
Denali Borough Redistricting Proposals on November Ballot
November 3, 2011
Ordinance 11-18 would create a new representation district including Ferry and Stampede
Denali Borough voters will have two redistricting plans to choose from on the ballot November 8th. New district boundaries have been drawn to reflect population changes documented by the 2010 federal census. In one proposal, the entire Denali Borough would be one large district, with 7 representatives chosen from anywhere in the district. In a second proposal, a new district would be created for the area including the Rex Bridge along the Parks Highway, Ferry, and residences along the Stampede Road. In both proposals, Assembly members would be chosen by all borough residents.
Both options on this year’s ballot will be “at-large” voting. All Denali Borough voters will have the opportunity to vote for each assembly seat. Read more
In-State Natural Gas Pipeline Seeks to Temporarily Use Denali Borough Lands
November 2, 2011
Reprinted from the September-October Denali Citizens Council News (with links to more information):
The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) discussed their Alaska Stand-Alone Pipeline (ASAP) plans for the Denali Borough at a Planning Commission meeting September 20th. AGDC hopes to begin geotechnical studies to “evaluate the feasibility” of burying the natural gas pipeline on Borough-owned lands southeast of the Nenana Canyon. To do so, they have applied for a “Temporary Land-Use Permit” to drill two, seventy-foot-deep boreholes. These boreholes would be used to help AGDC determine how, or whether, they could bury the proposed pipeline in this area. Permit documents were available for review at the meeting, and the Planning Commission passed a resolution of support. The Mayor approves the permit, as use of the land is less than one year. A statewide right-of-way (ROW) application was approved in August, the first in a series of permits that will be necessary for the project. While much of this ROW uses existing state highway and railroad corridors (and is mandated by founding legislation to try to do so), the pipeline detours away from the Parks Highway to avoid a seven-mile stretch of the highway that passes through Denali National Park. This bypass of the park travels through Borough land before connecting with the Willow-Healy Intertie ROW (a major energy transmission line), and then rejoining the highway around Carlo Creek. AGDC will work separately with private property owners, Native Corporations, Borough governments, etc. to establish easements traveling through private property.