Alaska will benefit from the West Susitna Access Project

We have a great opportunity for new economic growth, diversification, and jobs for Alaskans, right here in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough: the West Susitna Access Project.

Last year the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) and the Mat-Su Borough signed a Memorandum of Understanding that enabled a partnership framework for a feasibility analysis of West Susitna Access, to be done in phases.

Phase 1 was completed in the fall of 2019. Now AIDEA and the Borough, together with Alaska Operations LLC, are the initial public and private partners in Phase 2 of the project. Future development efforts are likely to attract additional private entities.

Let’s take a look at the West Susitna Access Project, and consider its exciting potential.

This project is being proposed to advance to Phase 2 of a multi-phase process to examine the feasibility of an all-season access road to the Yentna Mining District. The exciting news about this project is that the road corridor will provide access to Mat-Su Borough and State-owned natural resources for multiple user groups.

Here are some of the benefits the West Susitna Access Project is anticipated to create for Alaskans: mineral extraction including gold, silver, copper, and strategic metals; oil and gas development from known and proven reserves; agricultural production; timber resources; alternative energy development; and much-needed expansion of recreation access.

Phase 1 narrowed the project footprint and identified a preferred route into the Yentna Mining District. Phase 2 is scheduled to begin in July, and will build on the West Susitna Roads to Resources study that the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities headed up in 2014.

Statutorily required land use planning will be touched on in this project, and it is important for Alaskans to know that the process going forward assures meaningful participation in the planning for access and road development. Local governments, state and federal agencies, area land owners, and the public will be involved at each step along the way.

AIDEA is a public corporation of the State of Alaska, created in 1967 by the Alaska Legislature “in the interests of promoting the health, security, and general welfare of all the people of the state, and a public purpose, to increase job opportunities and otherwise to encourage the economic growth of the state, including the development of its natural resources, through the establishment and expansion of manufacturing, industrial, energy, export, small business, and business enterprises…”

I am honored to serve on the AIDEA Board, and I believe the West Susitna Access Project represents a significant opportunity for our state to move forward with responsible natural resource development that can provide good jobs for the benefit of Alaska families, especially in this unprecedented time of economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now more than ever, it is critically important that we as Alaskans take the right steps that can help assure a strong and vibrant future.

Bill Kendig has been in the Mat-Su Valley for more than 30 years, with 25 years of real estate lending experience. He serves on the AIDEA Board as a public member.