Experimental farm considers recreational trail easements

MAT-SU -- The University of Alaska is taking steps to establish official trail-use easements along portions of the University of Alaska Experimental Farm, near Trunk Road.

The Mat-Su Borough has discussed the issue of securing trail easements from the university for several years and, according to one university official, the parties are nearing a future deal.

"The farm should exist to serve the public and the people," said Steve Connelly, the university's senior property manager. "We're not very inclined to setting up recreation activities, but we do allow casual use of the trails and we are going to provide easements to the Mat-Su Borough so people can go legally from the Crevasse Moraine area to the Kepler-Bradley lakes area."

Hikers, skiers and mountain bikers have long used trails on the farm to travel back and forth between Crevasse Moraine trails and the Kepler-Bradley lakes area. By issuing the borough an easement, the university would grant recreational users legal access to farm trails.

"This will keep the trail system intact and ensure recreational opportunities for the future," Mat-Su Borough Community Development Director Ron Swanson said. "These easements will also enhance property values around the trails."

Both Connelly and Swanson said a final decision on easements is not far off.

"This deal will probably happen in the next few months," Swanson said. "We've talked with [the university] for a couple years about trails and about how that whole area should be used. The new hospital made us talk even more lately."

Last week, the University of Alaska held a public comment session at Mat-Su College, allowing people to express concerns about the future of the experimental farm. Connelly said about 70 to 80 people showed up with comments.

"In talking to people, they are concerned about the experimental farm going away and the general changes there," Connelly said.

The proposed trail easements would cover a trail on the north side of the farm and a trail on the southern end. Connelly said the northern trail is planned to be a permanent, fixed trail but the southern route would be an easement that could be relocated.

"We can't see 50 years in the future, and we may need that land someday," Connelly said. "We will be able to move this trail around, but you'd still be able to connect the points."

For 73 years the University of Alaska has owned the 1,060-acre farm. Last year, eight acres were sold for the new Valley Hospital site.

Since then, the university has estimated that 30 to 40 acres were taken by the Trunk Road extension project. Another 15-plus acres are under consideration for sewer lines to the new hospital and Matanuska Electric Association may soon run power lines across sections of the farmland.

Most recently, the university is putting up nearly 19 acres for sale adjacent to the new hospital site. The university was originally planning to sell a 10-acre plot but it added another nine acres at the request of an interested buyer.

"We had some interest from a party to combine the two parcels," Connelly said.

Connelly explained that the university is now assessing the farm to establish what it needs in terms of building facilities and land, but he said there are no plans to sell any more of the farmland.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.