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+--- Thread: New recreation area by Healy! (/showthread.php?tid=1005)
New recreation area by Healy! - akdsmer - 04 Jan 08
The Wednesday meeting, as viewed by the News-Miner:
Stampede Road options debated
By [email=smilkowski%40newsminer.com]Stefan Milkowski[/email]
Staff Writer
Published January 3, 2008
People who hunt, snowmachine, and drive off-road vehicles on the Stampede Road near Healy all seem to agree the area should stay like it is now. Itâs open to everyone from snowmachines to dog-mushers, thereâs not a lot of traffic, and people take good care of it.
They disagree on the best way to do that.
Keeping things the same was the motivation behind a Denali Borough Assembly resolution calling for the creation of a state recreation area and companion bills in the Legislature that would create the area.
Rep. David Guttenberg and Sen. Joe Thomas, Fairbanks Democrats whose districts cover the area and who sponsored the bills, held an informal forum on the proposal Wednesday evening in Fairbanks.
Denali Borough Mayor David Talerico said the borough latched onto the idea of a recreation area after other proposals kept coming in â to build a railroad, improve the road, or possibly make the narrow strip of state land part of the Denali National Park and Preserve, which surrounds it on three sides.
âWe got a little bit spooked with all these different management proposals,â Talerico said. âWhat weâre really looking for is a way to hang on to what we got.â
About 15 people turned out for the meeting Wednesday, which followed a similar meeting in October in Healy.
Everyone who spoke said he also wanted things to stay the same.
Vern Dulany of North Pole said he likes that local people can get there and experience the wilderness âwithout a lot of government infringement.â
Brian Kelly Shaw of Fairbanks said he likes it that he can take his off-highway vehicle back there, because there arenât a lot of places the rigs are allowed.
But many also expressed concerns that by trying to keep things the way they are, users could actually mess things up.
Shaw said he didnât want the state to come in and start making improvements to the Stampede Road, which turns into a rugged trail shortly after Eightmile Lake. Right now itâs pretty much impossible to get an off-highway vehicle out there in the summer, he said, and thatâs how it should stay.
The state park superintendent for the region, Brooks Ludwig, explained that a citizensâ advisory group representing different users would help make any management decisions about the area. The Stampede State Recreation Area could be run a lot like the Chena River State Recreation Area near Fairbanks, he said.
But Paul Lhotka of Fairbanks and Mike Dubowski of Salcha argued the public process didnât always work as promised, and Lhotka warned of restrictions and fees down the road.
A few at the meeting offered alternative solutions for keeping the area as it is.
**** Bishop of Fairbanks, president of the Alaska Outdoor Council, suggested the area might be better off as a public use area rather than a recreation area. Public use areas fall under the stateâs Division of Mining, Land and Water, while recreation area fall under the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation.
Dulany said he thought the best way to leave things alone was to really leave them alone.
âMy biggest concern with the Stampede right now is the bus,â he said, referring to the abandoned bus near the end of the Stampede Road where Christopher McCandless died in 1992 after living there for more than 100 days.
A major studio movie about McCandless has renewed interest in his story, and Dulany said heâs already seen people trying to get out there and other people rescuing them, whether itâs their responsibility or not.
âThis bus is an attractive nuisance,â he said later.
Thomas and Guttenberg both said their vision for the recreation area was to be as inclusive as possible. Thomas said after the meeting that as long as the community was behind the plan, he didnât see any reason it wouldnât make it through the Legislature. The bills are SB 173 and HB 241.
New recreation area by Healy! - akdsmer - 04 Jan 08
The Wednesday meeting that Ole and I attended, as viewed by the News-Miner:
Stampede Road options debated
By Stefan Milkowski
Staff Writer
Published January 3, 2008
People who hunt, snowmachine, and drive off-road vehicles on the Stampede Road near Healy all seem to agree the area should stay like it is now. Itâs open to everyone from snowmachines to dog-mushers, thereâs not a lot of traffic, and people take good care of it.
They disagree on the best way to do that.
Keeping things the same was the motivation behind a Denali Borough Assembly resolution calling for the creation of a state recreation area and companion bills in the Legislature that would create the area.
Rep. David Guttenberg and Sen. Joe Thomas, Fairbanks Democrats whose districts cover the area and who sponsored the bills, held an informal forum on the proposal Wednesday evening in Fairbanks.
Denali Borough Mayor David Talerico said the borough latched onto the idea of a recreation area after other proposals kept coming in â to build a railroad, improve the road, or possibly make the narrow strip of state land part of the Denali National Park and Preserve, which surrounds it on three sides.
âWe got a little bit spooked with all these different management proposals,â Talerico said. âWhat weâre really looking for is a way to hang on to what we got.â
About 15 people turned out for the meeting Wednesday, which followed a similar meeting in October in Healy.
Everyone who spoke said he also wanted things to stay the same.
Vern Dulany of North Pole said he likes that local people can get there and experience the wilderness âwithout a lot of government infringement.â
Brian Kelly Shaw of Fairbanks said he likes it that he can take his off-highway vehicle back there, because there arenât a lot of places the rigs are allowed.
But many also expressed concerns that by trying to keep things the way they are, users could actually mess things up.
Shaw said he didnât want the state to come in and start making improvements to the Stampede Road, which turns into a rugged trail shortly after Eightmile Lake. Right now itâs pretty much impossible to get an off-highway vehicle out there in the summer, he said, and thatâs how it should stay.
The state park superintendent for the region, Brooks Ludwig, explained that a citizensâ advisory group representing different users would help make any management decisions about the area. The Stampede State Recreation Area could be run a lot like the Chena River State Recreation Area near Fairbanks, he said.
But Paul Lhotka of Fairbanks and Mike Dubowski of Salcha argued the public process didnât always work as promised, and Lhotka warned of restrictions and fees down the road.
A few at the meeting offered alternative solutions for keeping the area as it is.
**** Bishop of Fairbanks, president of the Alaska Outdoor Council, suggested the area might be better off as a public use area rather than a recreation area. Public use areas fall under the stateâs Division of Mining, Land and Water, while recreation area fall under the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation.
Dulany said he thought the best way to leave things alone was to really leave them alone.
âMy biggest concern with the Stampede right now is the bus,â he said, referring to the abandoned bus near the end of the Stampede Road where Christopher McCandless died in 1992 after living there for more than 100 days.
A major studio movie about McCandless has renewed interest in his story, and Dulany said heâs already seen people trying to get out there and other people rescuing them, whether itâs their responsibility or not.
âThis bus is an attractive nuisance,â he said later.
Thomas and Guttenberg both said their vision for the recreation area was to be as inclusive as possible. Thomas said after the meeting that as long as the community was behind the plan, he didnât see any reason it wouldnât make it through the Legislature. The bills are SB 173 and HB 241.
New recreation area by Healy! - Ronster - 04 Jan 08
So what was your take on the way things went? The idea of making it all public use would work out great if they would go that route.
New recreation area by Healy! - ZMonster - 04 Jan 08
i really think that Dulany was onto something when he said that leaving it alone was the best way to leave it alone...
:banghead:
New recreation area by Healy! - akdsmer - 21 Mar 08
I received this today. Those that are interested in testifying please contact your representative.
Hello all â
HB241 (creating the Stampede Recreation Area) is going to be heard in the House Resources Committee this coming Wednesday, March 26th , at 3:00 PM. If you or anybody you know is interested in testifying, and have never done so before, please contact me in Juneau at (907) 465-4955 or email me at this address for instructions. We would like to have as much support from as many user groups as possible. If you know anybody who might be interested, please feel free to forward them this email.
Thanks!
Christian Gou-Leonhardt
Staff to Representative David Guttenberg
(907) 465-4457
christian_gou-leonhardt@legis.state.ak.us
New recreation area by Healy! - ARCTIC_EXPRESS - 21 Mar 08
so who's flying down lol
akdsmer Wrote:I received this today. Those that are interested in testifying please contact your representative.
Hello all â
HB241 (creating the Stampede Recreation Area) is going to be heard in the House Resources Committee this coming Wednesday, March 26th , at 3:00 PM. If you or anybody you know is interested in testifying, and have never done so before, please contact me in Juneau at (907) 465-4955 or email me at this address for instructions. We would like to have as much support from as many user groups as possible. If you know anybody who might be interested, please feel free to forward them this email.
Thanks!
Christian Gou-Leonhardt
Staff to Representative David Guttenberg
(907) 465-4457
christian_gou-leonhardt@legis.state.ak.us
New recreation area by Healy! - akdsmer - 21 Mar 08
AO will pay for Kevin to fly down and testify.
New recreation area by Healy! - Angler - 21 Mar 08
akdsmer Wrote:AO will pay for Kevin to fly down and testify.
I second that
New recreation area by Healy! - ChevyKev - 21 Mar 08
SWEETO!
Honestly, I have no problems with that - would have to take a day off of work, but that's ok as well.
New recreation area by Healy! - ZMonster - 21 Mar 08
ROAD-TRIP!!!
New recreation area by Healy! - akram - 21 Mar 08
akdsmer Wrote:AO will pay for Kevin to fly down and testify.
I say yeah. Or what's up with those constituent fairs thing. Could we use that?
New recreation area by Healy! - ChevyKev - 22 Mar 08
ZMonster Wrote:ROAD-TRIP!!!
Maybe in an amphibi-car :troutslap:
New recreation area by Healy! - SHoppe715 - 27 May 08
http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/apr/16/session-scorecard-tracking-ups-downs-25th-legislat/
I wonder if "died in committee" is the last we'll hear of ol' HB241...