Middle Nenana Fish and Game AC – Meets Monday Dec. 12th in Healy

December 11, 2011

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.

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

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

Member Update

April 24, 2011

Can DCC Get 150 New Facebook Followers?

April 22, 2011

You can be a participant in DCC’s on-line community and help DCC raise funds at the same time.

Long-time DCC member Gloria Oswald has generously offered to give $1 to DCC for each new person who “Likes” DCC on Facebook between now and our annual meeting, up to 150 people. As of this writing, DCC has 62 people who “Like” our Facebook page, so we are aiming for a total of 212 “Likes” by May 24.

Please help us get the maximum benefit from this challenge. If you are on Facebook, click on the Facebook link in the right sidebar and let us know you “Like” us. Then, contact your friends on Facebook who have a Denali connection and get them to participate too. This is the power of social media – the word can spread quickly and exponentially.

That is the same power we hope to harness in support of DCC’s activism in the future. If the Egyptian government can be overthrown with social media, we figure that we should be able to have at least a little influence on federal and state land management. We appreciate the funds we receive from this challenge, but even moreso we appreciate the strength that comes from connecting people who care about Denali.

Plus, this is a great opportunity for you to tap into information DCC puts on Plus, this is a great opportunity for you to tap into information DCC puts on Facebook that never reaches our newsletter, and often not even our website. And you can participate – we welcome your comments, suggestions, and concerns via Facebook. Be a part of the DCC community, and help us protect what is special about Denali.

DCC establishes Gas Legal Fund

December 17, 2010

One month ago, we announced that the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, Tom Irwin, had rejected our significant and practical suggestions to improve the Healy Gas Exploration Final Best Interest Finding by reducing the size of the license area and strengthening key mitigations.

The DCC Board met on November 5th and voted overwhelmingly in favor of appealing the Commissioner’s decision before the Alaska Superior Court. We filed the appeal on December 8, 2010. We have posted the appeal and other information detailing the history of this process, which began in 2005, on our website at http://www.denalicitizens.org/healy-basin-gas-exploration-license

Bringing an appeal at this point will focus attention on the details of the Best Interest Finding. It will present our case that DNR did not provide adequate public process or adequate consideration of conflicts between gas exploration/development and other public uses and values over the 208,000 acres in the license area. We are very happy to be represented by Anchorage Attorney Peter Van Tuyn, who is experienced in state resource law. The appeal process may take a few months and will be costly. For that reason, we are approaching our members and friends for year-end donations to the Gas Legal Fund. For details on how to contribute to the Fund, read on…

Your donation to the DCC Gas Legal Fund is vital to our effort
DCC has established the Gas Legal Fund to pay legal expenses related to gas exploration and development authorized by the state under the Healy Basin Gas Exploration Best Interest Finding. Initially the Fund will be used to appeal the state’s decision in Alaska Superior Court, however in the future, funds may be used for other legal expenses.
For a detailed description of the Fund click DCC Gas Legal Fund .

An anonymous donor has come forward to offer up to $10,000 to match donations to the DCC Gas Legal Fund. The donor has pledged to match dollar-for-dollar donations of $500 or more up to the maximum of $10,000.

Your donation is very much needed to enable DCC to effectively address gas development in the Denali area. While smaller donations do not count towards the matching grant, they are very important nonetheless for reaching our ultimate fundraising goal, and as a sign of your support for this effort.   Please consider giving before the end of 2010. You may donate online using our website. Specify that the gift is for the Gas Legal Fund.
Click DCC Gas Legal Fund to read details about the Fund. 

Our resolve remains clear… ..to secure a sustainable future for the Denali region – one that preserves sensitive lands, assures residential quality  of life, and allows responsible resource development.  If you haven’t yet done so, we urge you to sign our petition showing your support, at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/healygasexploration

Healy Gas Exploration BIF Creates Watershed for DCC?

November 29, 2010

DCC Reaches Another Watershed?

DNR Commissioner Tom Irwin’s decision to affirm the Final Best Interest Finding for Healy Basin Gas Only Exploration License creates a watershed moment for DCC in which the organization must choose carefully its future direction. While the DCC board is still examining opportunities to appeal the decision through the state court system, we must also be aware that legal action may not be possible or may fail. Then what?

DCC’s last watershed moment was 10 years ago in 2000. Read more

Denali National Park Aircraft Overflights Advisory Council to meet this Friday in Anchorage – December 3, 2010

November 28, 2010

Campbell Creek Science Center located at 5500 Science Center Drive in Anchorage
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

DCC Members who find themselves in Anchorage this Friday should plan to drop in for all or part of this meeting. For directions or an agenda, email me at nancy@denalicitizens.org.  The meeting is open to the public and has time allocated for public testimony.  You may submit written and/or oral comments.   

Why the need for an Overflights Advisory Council During the planning process to complete the 2006 Denali National Park & Preserve Backcountry Management Plan, the public identified impacts from aircraft overflights and airplane landings as a critical issue.  While aircraft are an important means of visitor access to remote areas of the park, overflights and landings have resulted in substantial changes in the natural sound environment and have generated new conflicts with park users on the ground.  In order to identify efforts that should be made to reduce impacts from aircraft overflights, the Overflights Advisory Council was created. The council will advise the Secretary of the Interior on measures for achieving desired future resource conditions as outlined in the Backcountry Management Plan.  The Council will also develop voluntary measures for assuring the safety of passengers, pilots, and mountaineers.

The Council formed in 2007 and has already met 8 times, convening meetings in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Denali and Talkeetna.  Items of interest on the agenda usually include presentations by the soundscape specialists from Denali National Park.  The park is, at present, analyzing its entire soundscape and the council has identified certain “hotspots” or problem areas where non-natural sound may be a factor in resource integrity. The Council promotes education and awareness of this issue, and works together with commercial air service providers and park staff to develop solutions.

Additonal information on the Overflights Advisory Council is available at: http://www.nps.gov/dena/parkmgmt/aoac.htm If you have any questions about the meeting, contact Nancy Bale at 907-277-3825.  I am a member of the Council, representing local environmental interests. You may email me, too at nancy@denalicitizens.org.

Healy Gas Exploration Final Finding affirmed with no changes

November 11, 2010

DNR Commissioner Tom Irwin rebuffs requests for reconsideration of Final Finding
Best Interests of local citizens jeopardized in a number of ways, despite assurances that they would be “of critical importance”
Sensitive lands remain vulnerable to surface impacts of gas drilling

On November 9, 2010 seven individuals and/or organizations who requested reconsideration of the Final Best Interest Finding on Healy Gas Exploration received letters from Commissioner of DNR Tom Irwin telling them that he had rejected all of their remedies to improve the Finding.

In our request DCC had urged the Commissioner to provide adequate public process, strengthen setbacks and mitigations and remove sensitive lands from the license area.  The license area is 208,000 acres, completely surrounding the town of Healy and incorporating virtually all private and municipal land holdings in the area. To learn more about this lengthy and tortuous process, visit  http://www.denalicitizens.org/healy-basin-gas-exploration-license

Please express your concern about this decision by signing our petition at the link below:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/healygasexploration

Our resolve remains clear - to secure a sustainable future for the Denali region- one that preserves sensitive lands, assures residential quality of life, and allows responsible resource development. A group of us has met to consider our options. If you would like to join this group, please email nancy@denalicitizens.org.

Alaska Department of Transportation soliciting comment on Parks Highway Redesign near the entrance to Denali National Park

November 9, 2010

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