Hatcher Pass trail plan draws a crowd

PALMER — The struggle over access to Hatcher Pass flared up again at this week’s Mat-Su Borough assembly meeting.

Borough assemblymen Ron Arvin and Mark Ewing proposed a resolution at Tuesday’s meeting that would have called for a snowmachine trail following the old Carle Wagon Trail, running from Mile 1 of Edgerton Parks Road up to the existing Gold Mint Trail parking area. The resolution would have been directed at the state’s Department of Natural Resources, which is currently rewriting its Hatcher Pass Management Plan.

The way the assembly works, ordinances and resolutions are introduced at one meeting then discussed and voted on in a subsequent meeting. Generally, the rhetoric and the drama don’t come until that second meeting. The first is relatively quiet.

That wasn’t the case Tuesday.

Contingents of outdoors enthusiasts — those who enjoy motorized recreation and those who prefer non-motorized pursuits — filled the assembly chambers until it was standing-room-only.

Joe Irvine, who said he represented a group dubbed “Hatcher Pass not-so-silent majority,” urged the borough to wait and see what the state came up with.

“It seems a little premature to release this resolution before DNR has released the rewrite,” Irvine said.

Lynn Turner, who said he’s lived in the area since he was 7 years old, said the area can be shared. He said snowmachiners can use the area alongside cross-country skiers. They’ve been doing it for years.

“We can demonize snowmachining if we want,” Turner said. “Myself, I’m for sharing it with everyone.”

On the other side, Norm Stout said he was opposed to opening up the trail. He said snowmachiners are already disregarding the rules and the borough shouldn’t add to that problem.

“Snowmobilers are constantly being chased out of areas that are clearly denoted as off-limits,” he said.

A memo from Borough Manager John Duffy sent to the assembly before the meeting urged caution, saying the trail proposed might not be the best one for snowmachines.

“Rather than designating the Carle Wagon alignment specifically for motorized use at this time, it is respectfully requested that the assembly direct the administration to identify and design motorized and non-motorized trails as part of the Hatcher Pass Management Plan update,” Duffy wrote.

There was some talk at the start of the meeting that a move might be afoot to kill the resolution during its introduction, rather than allowing it to come up for a hearing and a vote. Assemblywoman Cindy Bettine said that she, for one, didn’t plan on doing that. None of her colleagues were, either, apparently. The resolution was introduced without opposition.

Assemblyman Pete Houston said, as a mountain-biker who enjoys rough trails, he’s concerned that multiple trails in the Valley are so torn up even he can’t use them. But still, he said, he didn’t want to thwart a public process by not allowing the issue to have a hearing.

The public hearing for the Hatcher Pass ordinance is slated for March 2.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.