Federal funding will help pave way to scenic byway vision

About $140,000 in funding from the Federal Highway Administration has been secured for use in developing tourism along Alaska's newest national scenic byway, the Glenn Highway.

"This designation touched a nerve with locals, who were already very proud of their byway," said Joe Lawton, former volunteer leader of the Glenn Highway, National Scenic Byway Partnership Board. "We worked all winter on interpretation and marketing plans for the Glenn Highway, and this money will help our vision to become real this summer."

The two grants for the Glenn Highway were part of six, totaling nearly $375,000, that were awarded across the state. Other funding went to the Seward Highway and Alaska Marine Highway, both recognized as national scenic byways, and to the Sterling Highway for nomination as a scenic byway.

The money secured will come in the shape of two grants, one for nearly $25,000 and another for almost $114,000. The $25,000 grant, according to information from the state Department of Transportation, can be used as a seed grant to further the work of the partnership board. The second grant will fund a Glenn Highway Corridor Interpretive Plan. Partnership board members said the plan is a necessary element in the Byway, and must be prepared according to specific guidelines. The plan will be open to professional proposals, and will be overseen by a committee of stakeholders along the Byway, which includes the partnership board.

Patricia Wade, a member of the board, said the Glenn Highway Scenic Byway Association's Interpretation Committee met March 27 at Vagabond Blues in Palmer and selected 11 initial sites for a tri-fold map to be printed for this travel season. Another meeting was held at Sheep Mountain Lodge on April 16.

Land Design North, Wade said, donated the map for the first brochure. There are no federal or state funds available at this time to assist with promotion of this project. Instead, businesses are invited to purchase advertisements to assist with the production costs of 20,000 visitor maps, which will be distributed at locations from the Anchorage Visitors Center to Copper Center. The committee hopes to have brochures available by June 1. Businesses who would like to sponsor or contribute can contact Bonnie Quill at the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors' Bureau, at 746-5000.

Spots chosen for the initial visitors' map include the Alaska Native Heritage Center, Eklutna site, Colony House in Palmer, Alpine Historical Park in Sutton, Matanuska River-Knik Glacier Scenic Overlook, Matanuska Glacier interpretive site, raptor viewing site at mile 118, Knik Chickaloon-Nelchina Trailhead, and Sheep Mountain geologic interpretation site at mile 112 and the pull out at mile 132, where all four ranges are visible.

Wade said she's been pleased with the committee's willingness to focus on how Alaska Natives have been central in the development of the area.

"I was really pleased that at the onset they chose to include the history of the Athabascan people," Wade said last week. "They were not only willing to include the history, but were excited about it."

Wade said sites were chosen based upon traveler safety while entering or leaving traffic, and will be distributed all along the whole of the 135 miles of the Glenn Highway Scenic Byway. Additional sites will be selected for a full brochure, to be published for the 2004 visitor season. Public input is welcomed and encouraged by partnership board members.

The Glenn Highway National Scenic Byway is approximately 135 miles long. It begins in Anchorage and ends near the border of the Mat-Su Borough in the area of Gunsight Mountain. The partnership board's vision for the Glenn Highway Scenic Byway is a world-class drive for visitors and residents of Alaska. It embodies, Wade said, the Alaskan experience, from its scenic vistas overlooking the Matanuska Glacier and River to its rich geological, historical and cultural heritage. The byway, the board believes, further enhances communities and places of interest along the corridor, increases tourism, and adds to the local culture and economic base. The Glenn Highway Scenic Byway Association, Wade said, seeks to tell the byway's story and broaden the traveler's experience through improvements that make the highway safer, more comfortable, and accessible to all who wish to experience the grandeur it holds.

The original partnership board was made up of local people with interests along the byway. It was a grass-roots effort and bottom-up approach that resulted in broad acceptance and support for the national designation as a National Scenic Byway.

Since the Byway is a public facility, Wade said, it is important to allow the public to have input into the byway enhancement and decision-making process.

The next meeting is scheduled for July 17 at the community room above Garcia's in Eagle River from 7 to 9 p.m. An update on the progress of the brochure is planned, and Chuck Overton and Wade, on an ad-hoc committee to recommend appropriate benefits for the charter members, will speak at that meeting. Charter membership is open until October for $20, and general membership is $10 per year.