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
DCC Submits Final Comments on Draft Vehicle Management Plan
October 30, 2011
We thank those members who provided suggestions and encouragement to us in the development of these comments, and who submitted us their comments for our review. Our comments reflect our commitment to the natural integrity of the park, an affordable public transit system, a regulatory limit on vehicles at Denali, and several other elements of the Draft Plan combined into a unique DCC Alternative. Read our comments at the link below.
Vehicle Management Plan comments-DCC-10-30-11
Read DCC’s updated Vehicle Management Plan comments
October 16, 2011
A VTS bus pauses below Stony Overlook
We recently completed another round of comments on the Draft Denali Vehicle Management Plan, after continued discussion with members, constituents and the National Park Service. Our comments provide greater detail on our concerns about the plan, and suggestions for improvements. We remain very skeptical about the capacity of either action alternative to fully protect park resources, and we continue to argue for a firm vehicle capacity number. Please read our latest comments below. And remember, comment deadline is October 31st. Look for more comment suggestions in the next 10 days.
DCC News – VMP comments 10-15-11-web
For more information, see the resources on our page for the Denali Vehicle Management Plan.
To comment on the plan, visit the NPS PEPC website.
DCC files Opening Brief in its Appeal of Healy Gas Best Interest Finding
August 26, 2011
On August 26, 2011, the Denali Citizens Council (DCC) filed its opening brief in the Alaska Superior Court lawsuit against the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ award of a gas exploration license on approximately 208,000 acres of state lands in the Denali Borough. The brief details the legal deficiencies in DNR’s decision to grant Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc. a license to drill for gas, including coalbed methane, in our neighborhoods and special places, and to do so without meaningful protections for our interests and area values.
DCC is not opposed to this gas development project in its entirety, but we are opposed to this license as currently structured and will aggressively defend our interests and our rights. With modest changes in line with the drilling approach that Usibelli originally sought for the Healy area, we believe the interests of all parties can be met.
You may view the opening brief by clicking the link below:
DCC Opening Brief_Healy Gas Best Interest Finding
For background on the Healy Basin Gas Exploration License, please see our write up on the topic and visit associated links.
Healy Basin Gas Exploration License
Vehicle Management Plan – Initial Response
August 21, 2011
DCC board members are still reading and thinking about the Vehicle Management Plan, but we have generated some initial responses to the actions proposed in the alternatives. Follow the link below to a PDF that compiles our thoughts so far – things we like about the plan, questions we have, things we don’t like. Please take a few moments to read through, and let us know your thoughts and ideas. We would like as much input as possible from our members before crafting our final response.
Remember the public meeting at the Murie Science and Learning Center on Tuesday, August 23, starting at 5:30pm, and other public meetings coming up soon.
DCC Initial Reaction to Denali Vehicle Management Plan
Comments on Military Training Areas due Friday March 4
March 3, 2011
The military will accept comments for two more days, through March 4th, on changes to ground and air training areas known as the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC). The proposals, a joint effort of multiple branches of the military, would affect airspace throughout Alaska and would increase ground operations in the Interior. Specifics include extended nighttime training hours, including airspace above Denali National Park and Preserve in what is known as the Susitna MOA. Expanded flight training areas and lowered flight ceilings (down to 500 feet above ground level) are proposed over the Denali Highway. Expanded land use, including northern portions of the Denali Borough, would include the use of live ordnance. Comments made now are part of the early stages of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) development. DCC’s comments, recommending no action on the alternatives proposed, align with a variety of local individuals and groups, including the Denali Borough Assembly and the Middle Nenana Fish and Game Advisory Committee. More information and an online comment form can be found at the JPARC website. Contact DCC Board Member Hannah Ragland for more information at hbragland@hotmail.com. Read DCC’s comments by clicking on the link below.
JPARC Comments-DCC_Feb_18_2011
Talk of Alaska – DNR Engagement
February 18, 2011
If you missed the Talk of Alaska conversation with Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan, it is worth listening to. Several questions concerned resource development issue of concern to DCC, including questions posed by DCC board members Jared Zimmerman and Nancy Bale related to natural gas development. Other questions concerned Wishbone Hill coal and Anchor Point gas development.
You can listen to the archived program at:
http://aprn.org/2011/02/15/talk-of-alaska-dnr-engagement/
DCC letter to DNR Commissioner outlines our concerns on gas development, other issues
December 30, 2010
Recently, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Dan Sullivan, invited members of the public to communicate with him regarding natural resource issues in Alaska. We at DCC were pleased with the willingness of the new Commissioner to gather input from the public, and we took the opportunity to send him a letter detailing a few of our concerns. Click the link below to view the letter:
DNR Recommendations_Denali Citizens Council_Dec 28, 2010.
If you have comments for the new Commissioner, you may send them too. Public comments on resource development issues can be sent to Gov. Sean Parnell’s transition team website at http://gov.alaska.gov/parnell/transition2010.html, or to DNR’s Public Information Center at dnr.pic@alaska.gov. In the subject line please write “DNR Recommendations.”
DCC’s request for reconsideration of Healy Gas Final Finding granted
July 31, 2010
We were pleased when Commissioner Tom Irwin of the Department of Natural Resources granted our request for reconsideration of the Healy Basin Gas Exploration Final Finding on July 28, 2010. We were one of 7 commenters whose concerns warranted reconsideration. To see the letter from the Commissioner granting our request, click here. Read more
DCC requests reconsideration of Healy Gas Best Interest Finding
July 19, 2010
DCC appealed to DNR Commissioner Tom Irwin to reconsider the Final Finding on the Usibelli Coal Mine Healy Basin Gas Only Exploration License. DCC argues in the appeal that a combination of due process violations, incomplete information, insufficient mitigation, and an arbitrary rationale for deciding the license area compel a need for a revised Final Finding.
Healy Gas FBIF Request for Reconsideratation 7-10-10
DCC comments on the proposed Vehicle Management Plan at Denali National Park
March 1, 2010
Prior to the nationwide economic declines of 2008-2009, demand from package tour companies had tour bus allocations near management plan limits. NPS started scoping for a new Vehicle Management Plan in the winter of 2010. We addressed our concerns in comments.
DCC comments on Vehicle Management Plan EIS Scoping 3-1-10
DCC criticizes preferred new road to Denali Park Kennels
January 22, 2010
We wrote to the National Park Service questioning the impacts of building an entirely new road for park buses to visit the famous Denali Park Kennels.
DCC comment on new Kennels access project 1-22-2010