DCC Files Response to State’s Healy Basin Gas Exploration Brief
January 24, 2012
Gas well on the Kenai Peninsula
Denali Citizens Council has taken the next step in the process of appealing the Final Finding for the Healy Basin Gas Only Exploration License by responding to the State of Alaska’s initial brief. DCC demonstrates in the reply that the Department of Natural Resources’ finding is not supported by the administrative record regarding both the size of the lease area and the required mitigation measures.You can read the entire brief here:
To read the earlier volleys:
Denali Citizen Council Opening Brief
For an overview of the entire issue, see our page on Healy Basin Gas Exploration.
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.
State of Alaska Files Brief on Healy Basin Gas Exploration License
January 5, 2012
On December 30 the State of Alaska filed its brief responding to DCC’s appeal of the Healy Basin Gas Only Exploration License Best Interest Finding. The complete brief is attached. DCC is now working on its response to the State. You can find DCC’s opening brief and other background documents related to the gas exploration license on our Healy Basin Gas pages.
Brief of Appellee – Department of Natural Resources 12-30-11
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.
Middle Nenana Fish and Game AC – Meets Monday Dec. 12th in Healy
December 11, 2011
- Unit 20C extends north from the boundary of Denali National Park and includes the Stampede Townships
The Middle Nenana Fish and Game Advisory Committee Meeting was rescheduled for Monday, December 12, 2011, at the Tri-Valley School Cafeteria, 6 PM. The Committee, whose meeting last week was held without a quorum, collected valuable local comments opposing Proposal 213, a late season motorized hunt in the Yanert Valley. The comment collected at that meeting will be considered as the Committee develops its position on Proposal 213. There are other proposals to be considered that DCC opposes. Read our most recent alert with more information on this meeting, the proposals, and the agenda.
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
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.
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
Mar-April DCC News focuses on Denali’s gateway issues
April 20, 2011
Our cover article highlights the work of the Denali Borough Planning Commission, with some examples of the challenges faced by this young borough. Other articles include:
- Thank you for Not Fracking - Molly McKinley, DCC Gas Organizer, discusses her work in the borough to educate and advocate around a recently issued gas exploration license on lands next to Denali Park.
- More on Eva Creek Wind Farm, one of the largest projects proposed for the state to generate power from wind, and located near Healy, by Cass Ray.
- Information on a Climate Change Research Project being conducted in the Denali Region, by Erica Watson.
- A description of her Juneau experience by local student Emily Brease, whom DCC sent to Juneau for the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action Civics Summit.
And much more……
Mar-Apr 2011 DCC News