Law list for Knik is lengthy

BUTTE — With the law coming to the Knik River, the Department of Natural Resources held meetings this week to explain exactly what will be against the rules.

The Knik River has long been famous for wild, raucous parties, bonfires, trash dumping, gunfire and general lawlessness.

Joe Joyner, the regulations coordinator for the department’s Division of Mining Land and Water, said that while some things may have been illegal on public land before, the Knik River Public Use Area is not public land — it’s state land. And it’s not a state park.

Prior to the passage of these regulations, things like littering and dumping of waste had to be settled through civil court — lawsuits filed against the offenders.

“We are probably the only state in the union that doesn’t have the authority to enforce our management plan,” Joyner said.

Well, they were the only state, until the Knik regulations passed. He said the department hopes the model, if successful, can be applied to other state lands in Alaska.

The regulations, he said, allow Alaska State Troopers, and other folks to whom the department grants the authority, to write tickets for breaking the law.

For now, he said, the duty will fall mainly on the troopers and will have to wait for the Supreme Court to approve the department’s proposed “bail schedule” — basically the list of fines tied to each offense.

At Wednesday’s meeting at Butte Elementary, locals asked questions of the DNR team.

With so much hazardous material dumped, has DNR looked at where potential hot spots for contamination could be?

Resource Specialist David Griffin cleans up the area, puts up signs and helped craft the regulations. He said the river is, generally speaking, a rather “pristine area” but that the department hasn’t done any studies.

Is there anything being done to get more enforcement of the rules at night, once the parties are in full swing?

Al Cain, on loan to DNR from the Department of Fish and Game to help put the regulations in place, said one of the best things people can do right now is to work on getting good solid information into the hands of troopers.

“Don’t ever walk up and confront an angry intoxicated person with a machine gun,” Cain said.

But do take a picture. Get a license plate number. Write down a detailed description of a person and what he’s wearing, what he’s doing, where he is and when.

With that kind of report, “Troopers go, ‘Whoa! We can do something with this,‘” Cain said.

Griffin outlined the regulations, which are also available at knikriver.Alaska.gov. He said they outlaw:

• Littering

“I routinely pick up household garbage in the area and there’s usually some mail in it,” Griffin said. If he finds that now, “You’re going to get a ticket in the mail.”

• Mining, drilling or other activity listed in the code without a permit

• Unregistered commercial activity

• Unlicensed commercial berry picking or harvesting of forest products

• Leaving a vehicle unattended for more than 72 hours

• Taking an inoperable vehicle into the area

• Bringing heavy equipment into the area without authorization

• Fires larger than four feet in diameter in the woods

• Unauthorized burning of trash, wooden pallets and other items

• Dumping hazardous material

“It’s a real shame, but it happens a lot,” Griffin said.

• Building unauthorized structures

• Unauthorized cutting of trees

• Unauthorized camping for more than 14 days

“People will end up going to a really popular spot and just staying there all summer,” Griffin said.

• Shooting at targets other than those made of wood, paper or clay

“And wood doesn’t mean a live tree,” Griffin said.

• Shooting off fireworks

• Shooting guns other than for hunting on most of the river flats

“The management plan does call for the construction of small-scale rifle ranges,” Griffin said.

• Harassing wildlife

• Building an unauthorized trail

“Come talk to me, we’ll help you build a trail,” Griffin said.

• Vandalizing public property

“If someone gets caught shooting signs that I put up they could get a ticket,” Griffin said.

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