Cleanup slated for hay flats

April 29, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - It's time to roll up the sleeves and put on a pair of work gloves - plus stash an extra pair in a pocket - and help other volunteers pick up trash in order to beautify the Palmer Hay flats.

The annual Palmer Hay flats Refuge Cleanup Day, sponsored by Alaskans for the Palmer Hay flats, kicks off bright and early at 9 a.m. Saturday and ends around noon, with pizza being provided for volunteers.

The cleanup takes place in two areas: At the Knik River access off the Glenn Highway and at the Cottonwood Creek area, which is located off Hayfield Road - accessed from Fairview Loop. Signs before Hayfield Road will point out the location of the event.

AFPH founder Kris Abshire said the main crowd will be converging where Cottonwood Creek flows onto the hay flats.

"That's where the biggest mess is," Abshire said, describing abandoned cars, bullet shells and cartridges, dead animals and assorted trash.

"I guess there's a big blue bus abandoned out there, back on one of the side roads," she said.

The Mat-Su Borough will supply yellow trash bags

for participants. The borough also rounded up a tow truck to get rid of abandoned vehicles. A Dumpster will be on site, courtesy of the Mat-Su Borough Central Landfill.

The following Saturday, May 7, AFPH has planned a much more leisurely event than the laborious activity of hauling a winter's worth of trash off the refuge.

Local resident Russell Butts will conduct a "Spring Walkabout," a journey around the unnamed lake, that acts as a mirror for the mountains in the area. The trail goes around Rabbit Slough and out to where the Knik and Matanuska rivers merge. AFPH is tackling the paperwork to name the body of water Reflection Lake, Abshire said.

The May 7 event begins at 9 a.m. on a path, which will be marked, located along the Knik River access off-ramp from the Glenn Highway.

The long-term goals of the group include building boardwalks to create better access for bird-watching and creating a center that appeals to a variety of outdoor-user groups, Abshire said.

"Ultimately, we'd like to build a science center on the bluff overlooking the flats," she said.

"The view across the hay flats spans from Pioneer Peak toward Homer. You can see beyond Anchorage. It's spectacular."