Vehicles keep going through Palmer Hay Flats ice

WASILLA — Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials say two vehicles have gone through the ice in the Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge this winter, and that’s a high number.

Lands and Refuges Program Coordinator Joe Meehan said he didn’t recall anyone ever going through the ice on the Hay Flats in his 17 years with the program.

“Certainly not two in one winter,” Meehan said.

He said driving on the ice is both dangerous and illegal.

“What they’re doing is illegal, and it’s especially not a good thing to do this winter,” Meehan said.

According to trooper dispatches, the first plunge occurred on Dec. 6, 2015, when Anchorage resident Rose Scott drove her 2014 Jeep Compass onto the ice of the Palmer Hay Flats near Wasilla Creek. The vehicle was removed on Jan. 10, and Scott was charged with illegal off road use of wheeled equipment.

Meehan said some dead salmon fry were observed in the area around the sunken Jeep immediately after the vehicle was removed.

A second vehicle — a Ford pick-up — was recently discovered in the same area, and will remain stuck in the ice until Saturday or Monday, once the removal equipment is repaired. The cost of the removal falls on the driver, Meehan said.

Unfortunately, the removal itself also inevitably has some impact on the environment. Meehan said the removal vehicle must drive on the marsh to access sunken vehicles, and brush clearing is sometimes required. The vehicle must then be cut out of the ice with a chainsaw, extracted by a winch, and pulled to the nearest road.

Though the procedure is not ideal, it’s less damaging in the winter than it would be in the spring, Meehan said.

“We try to keep it to a minor impact,” he said.

Meehan said it appears both vehicles reached the refuge from the Rabbit Slough access road and attempted to travel upstream. Alaska Wildlife Troopers are still investigating the most recent case.

Meehan said driving off-road on state game refuge lands is a Class A misdemeanor, which has a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine and one year in jail.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.