Willow mushers irked by lands bill

may 17, 2005

DAWN De BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

WILLOW - Some Willow residents and mushers are in an uproar over a state bill that would give land to the University of Alaska - including some parcels that, if developed by the college, could jeopardize trails where mushers and their dogs train, according to veteran musher Vern Halter.

Gov. Frank Murkowski earlier this month placed the transfer-of-land bill on a list of legislation he'd like politicians to review.

"It's back on special session, which worries me," Halter said. "I thought it wasn't going to be heard again, all the (politicians) would go home, and we'd have some breathing time."

Halter, the Willow Area Community Organization and the Willow Trail Committee are trying to protect the Frying Pan Lake, Willow Creek Road and Deception Creek parcels, which link to the historical Haessler-Norris Trail System, Halter said. Deception Creek is the west access to Hatcher Pass.

"Believe me, [the Haessler-Norris trail] has a lot of history. That's what's valuable - protecting the trail system, not the fast-track growth, fast-track subdivisions. Once you built that, it's lost forever."

A conference committee made up of three senators and three representatives amended House Bill 130 Friday morning. The committee's revision removed nine parcels of land from the legislation. The parcels extracted from the bill included Duke Island, Idaho Inlet, Kelp Island, Haines-Chilkoot, Neets Creek, Kodiak rocket range, Pelican, Port Alexander, and Warm Springs Bay.

The parcels in the Willow area could still be given to the university.

In late April, the bill traveled out of the House, receiving 27 "yes" votes and 10 "no" votes. Now, it faces a vote before both the House and Senate.

With a packet of letters and maps in hand, Halter traveled to Juneau May 3 to testify before the Alaska State Senate. He asked that politicians add an amendment removing three parcels from the 250,000 acres listed to be given to the university.

The University of Alaska, which is designated as a land-grant institution, could use the parcels for reforestation projects, a fish-habitat research area or an experimental moose station. However, Halter is concerned that House Bill 130 could allow the university to subdivide and sell the acreage in order to create revenue.

Iditarod supporters and Willow residents are concerned about decreased accessibility to the trails that help them prepare for competition.

"… (F)or a race to be a success, mushers must have ready access to trails. Perhaps nowhere is this more important than the Willow area, where many mushers live and train," said Stan Hooley, executive director of the Iditarod Trail Committee. "It is regrettable when we learn of mushers leaving the sport because of increasing difficulty in accessing trails. Consider the potential future impact to trail access as you make decisions to transfer and/or sell state land."

Sen. Charlie Huggins, R-District H, said he planned to vote against the bill, and sees a need to reform the process used by the Division of Natural Resources to select suitable lands for the state to grant to the university.

Many of the mushers did not hear about the proposed transfer of lands until the bill was being reviewed by the Senate.

"It was such a backward way to do it, without community input first," Halter said.

"The most important thing is the people of the community need to be part of this process and not an afterthought," Huggins said.

Rep. Mark Neuman, R-District 15, said he voted against the bill as an act of protest.

"I do support the concept, but I didn't like the process not including community input," Neuman said. "The Division of Natural Resources left the citizens out of the question."

Being a resident of Big Lake, Neuman said he understands the importance of protecting mushing trails, particularly those in the Frying Pan Lake area.

"Historically, people have used recreational trails for hiking, mushing, skiing, hunting, wildlife viewing, and all of a sudden, there's "No Trespassing" signs. That's wrong," Neuman said. He said he supports designating such trails to guarantee their preservation.

"The other thing we have to understand, from neighbor to neighbor, is the status quo is not just there anymore. We're growing too fast. We need to identify historical mushing and snowmachine trails. Then, look at a master plan of how those historical trails are going to exist when the urban sprawl happens," Huggins said.

Dawn De Busk may

be reached at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@frontiersman

.com.