Mat-Su Borough, state swap land

Acreage is better suited for recreation, public facilities, economic development

January 8, 2006

DARRELL L. BREESE\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - After nearly two years of negotiation, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly and the state of Alaska have finalized a deal to trade ownership of several parcels of land throughout the Valley.

Assembly members voted unanimously Tuesday to pass an ordinance that completes a deal involving nearly 26,000 acres.

The lands are nearly equal in value, although the borough is giving up more acreage.

The borough's 13,994 acres of land are worth about $12.4 million while the state's 12,841 acres are worth about $12.36 million.

Most of the land the borough gave is remote - mostly wetlands or refuge land - in exchange for land that is currently designated as recreation zones of refuge areas under management by the state.

&#8220The state already has reserved the land for public use,” Ron Swanson, the borough's director of community development, said. &#8220So it makes sense for us to transfer ownership of those parcels to the state.”

By transferring title to the land, the borough is removing itself from the title on land it owns but does not manage because the land is within a legislatively designated area.

An LDA involves land that the Alaska Legislature put in a special-use area, such as the Willow Creek State Recreation Area, where public recreation under the state park system is protected in state law.

The largest single parcel involved in the trade is a 2,380-acre parcel in the Willow Creek State Recreation Area. The rest of the exchanged land is spread across the borough: the Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge, 537 acres; the Matanuska Valley Moose Range, 1,000 acres, and the Susitna Recreational River Corridors, 10,080 acres.

&#8220It is important to note that the use of the lands given to the state will not change with the exchange,” assembly member Bill Allen said. &#8220If a parcel is already dedicated for recreational or economic development use, it will remain that way. What a great deal for the borough.”

According to Swanson, land the borough will receive is better suited for a variety of multiple uses - such as land for community use and economic development, and to meet expansion needs for public facilities, which include schools, and fire stations, among others. Recreation, such as four-wheeling or hiking, could also become a use for the land.

Most of the land the borough will gain is along roadways, including four acres along the George Parks Highway near Kelly Lake. Other lands include 63 acres along the Parks Highway near Susitna Landing Road Estates, 4,480 acres near Willow Creek and Kashwitna Trail and 3,120 acres near Deception Creek, among others.

The planned exchange originally included a 200-acre parcel in Hatcher Pass, which would be part of the proposed ski area development.

But borough officials received an objection from the Cascadia Wildlands Project, requesting that the Alaska Department of Natural Resources remove the parcel from the land exchange.

Rather than debate the merits of keeping the land in the exchange, borough officials recommended the assembly remove the 200 acres from consideration and substitute 326 acres in the Kroto Creek/Ambler Lake Area.

&#8220Rather than risking the whole land exchange on the potential lawsuit Cascadia is threatening, it is best to remove it from the equation,” Swanson said. &#8220We will deal with the Hatcher Pass land later. I am confident that there will be no problem getting the land for the ski area later.”

The formal decision to exchange and convey land occurs when an agreement is signed by the borough manager and the director of the Division of Mining, Land and Water with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 32-2267 or darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.