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.
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.
Sep-Oct 2011 DCC News
October 31, 2011
Redistricting map showing proposed Denali Borough districts in Ordinance 11-18
The Draft Vehicle Management Plan and EIS tops the news in out latest edition of DCC News. Other features include Denali Borough redistricting, Eva Creek’s impact on birds and wildlife, and Underground Coal Gasification.
DCC holds Constituent Meeting, posts second Vehicle Management Plan Reaction Paper
September 18, 2011
This past week has been a busy one for DCC. On Wednesday, September 14th, we held a well-attended constituent meeting at the McKinley Village Community Center, promoting an intelligent discussion on the Draft Vehicle Management Plan EIS. At the meeting, a number of suggestions and concerns were raised, and we’d like to thank you all for attending. We’ll be continuing our queries to NPS regarding details of this Draft Plan. Remember, although DCC will be submitting comments on behalf of our members, your individual comments are extremely important. They will be due on October 31, 2011.
Check the DCC Vehicle Management Plan page for more history and copies of our comments. The webpage also provides information on how to submit comments.
Our most recent reaction paper is posted at the link below.
DCC Reaction to Denali VMP_September 14, 2011
Jul-Aug 2011 DCC News
August 31, 2011
DNR Commissioner Dan Sullivan (center) speaks to attendees at meeting with DCC
Read DCC’s initial reaction to the Denali Park Road Vehicle Management Plan. Also in this edition DNR Commissioner Dan Sullivan meets with DCC to discuss Healy gas exploration, Jane Bryant has a new book, and our newest board member talks about the Vehicle Management Plan.
Eva Creek Wind Farm Permitting Phase Blows Through
August 22, 2011
The Division of Mining, Land and Water (DMLW) released four separate land-use permits associated with the Eva Creek Wind Farm, proposed for ridges east of Ferry. Of the Eva Creek permits applied for by Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA), two are associated with road use and development (over approximately 16 miles), one covers material sites and extraction (eight material sites to extract 309,730 cubic yards of gravel), and a fourth covers the land use required for the turbines themselves and associated infrastructure development (including 42,869 acres). In addition to structures planned for state land, a rail siding yard and warm storage building are planned for private land at the base of Ferry Rd.
A fifth land use permit, applied for by Brice, Inc., would grant up to fifteen acres for a construction staging site “adjacent to the Ferry Road, approximately one and one-half miles east of the Alaska Railroad.”
May-June DCC News highlights Annual Meeting, Vehicle Management, Wolf Census, Redistricting, Trash pickup on Stampede Road
July 1, 2011
Our May-June 2011 Newsletter, now at press, provides an eclectic mix of articles.
A cover article on our recent Annual Meeting provides pictures and a recap of this popular event.
“A New Vehicle Management Plan for Denali – will it be better?” by Nancy Bale, provides some history behind the move to change how buses and other vehicles are allocated in Denali Park. The EIS for this plan is expected any day.
“Board of Game considers allowing motorized Hunting in the Yanert,” by Anne Beaulaurier, reviews the recent proposal before the Alaska Board of Game to add a late season motorized hunt and details the local opposition.
“Gas Bullet Line Skirting Denali NP would be largest project on Continent,” by Cass Ray, discusses this mammoth effort that remains at the planning stages, for now.
Other interesting articles appear, on the massive changes to the Denali area’s voting district, the Parks Highway interpretive plan, the Stampede Road Cleanup, and more.
For an online version of the newsletter, click the link below.
May-June 2011 DCC News
DCC and NPCA support the FRAC Act – mandating disclosure of fracking chemicals
June 1, 2011
The FRAC Act, just re-introduced in Congress, would mandate disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, and would repeal the 2005 exclusion of fracking from provisions of the Clean Water Act. To read more about why the FRAC Act deserves YOUR support, visit the American Rivers site here.
Waters within Denali National Park could be affected by gas drilling in the Stampede Townships under a recently granted exploration license. Because of potential threats in Denali and other parks, the National Parks Conservation Association recently sent Congress a letter of support for the FRAC Act. To read the letter NPCA sent to Congress, click below.
NPCA Letter Supporting FRAC Act
Friends of Yanert seek to retain non-motorized hunt
May 25, 2011
A group of concerned citizens has submitted a proposal to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game arguing to retain the Yanert Controlled Use Area. This special area, where only non-motorized hunting is allowed, has been in place for decades and includes the entire valley of the Yanert River, east of Denali National Park. A recent proposal by the Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee sought to open the Yanert to motorized hunting after September 30th every year. The Friends of Yanert proposal lists several reasons why such a change would reduce the quality of the resource and probably would not solve any problems, either. The proposal will not be considered until March 2012. To read the proposal, click the link below.
Friends of the Yanert proposal to Retain Non-Motorized Area
DEC Permits Herbicide Spraying in Healy Railyard
May 14, 2011
This permit began with a 2006 effort by the Alaska Railroad to spray a suite of herbicides on their entire track, and has ended with a permit for one herbicide and a carrier for railyards in Healy, Anchorage and Fairbanks. Public comment DID make a different, despite the ultimate outcome, in reducing the scale and scope of this operation. To read the final decision and summary of comments, click below.
ARRC 2011 Herbicide Permit Decision Document
Hearing Scheduled for HB 113 – Stampede SRA in House Resources
April 3, 2011
The bill to establish the Stampede State Recreation Area will be heard in the House Resources Committee on Friday, April 8 at 1pm. For details and important information on what you can do to help support the bill, please see the post on the Friends of Stampede website.
Support Tangle Lakes State Wildlife Refuge
April 3, 2011
Our good friends at the Copper Country Alliance have made a smart and benefiical proposal to establish a State Wildlife Refuge in a portion of the Tangle Lakes Watershed. This is country at the eastern end of the Denali Highway that many of us have visited and enjoyed, great for water recreation, hiking and berry picking. Have a look at the Tangle Lakes website for more information, and check out DCC’s latest alert for what YOU CAN DO to advocate for this Refuge.