LOCKING UP LAND FOR PUBLIC USE
Securing Alaska's Kenai River Future
by Les Palmer ©2001
Republished by permission from author
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by Les Palmer ©2001 Republished by permission from author |
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Rep. Ken Lancaster recently introduced HB 165, a bill that would add state-owned lands along the Kenai River and its tributaries to the Kenai River Special Management Area (KRSMA).
This idea was hatched 15 years ago, but couldn't be put forward until state and borough land selections had been completed. That accomplished, it's time to protect these lands.
In 1985, the Lands Subcommittee of the KRSMA Advisory Board met 38 times, part of the long process of writing the first comprehensive management plan for the river. As a member of that body, I well remember why we wanted those lands in the special management area. Left alone, they would be administered by the Department of Natural Resources.
Unfortunately, DNR historically has been less than a perfect landlord. Only after squatters' cabins had proliferated on state lands along Cook Inlet and in the Caribou Hills did this agency take notice that anything was amiss. Judging by its dismal record -- and it's not likely to change -- "DNR" could well mean "Department of No Responsibility."
The inclusion of state-owned lands in the special management area would give them at least minimal protection. Such enforcement as would be necessary would be administered by State Parks, which has year-round staff on the peninsula.
The best reasons for including these additional lands can be found in the 1984 act establishing the Kenai River Special Management Area, in Section 1, Findings: "The river's fishery and wildlife are its most important resources. The highest priority uses of the river and its adjacent land derive from its fishery and wildlife resources, which must be protected and preserved to ensure their renewability and continued usefulness."
Since the Kenai River Special Management Area is in effect a state park, some people will no doubt object to "locking up" more land. To that I say, if you're locking up lands for public fishing, hunting and recreation, lock away! That's the kind of locking up we need more of. The grim alternative is privatization, a true lock-up.
Water quality is another, even more important, reason for protection of these lands. Pollutants in the upper watershed pollute the entire Kenai River. A chemical spill in the Trail lakes or upper Kenai Lake could become a disaster beyond measure.
While serving on the Lands Committee, I was also a real estate broker and developer of recreational properties. At the time, my first thought about those lands along Kenai Lake and the Trail lakes was that they would make nice future home or cabin sites. But I had second thoughts. I decided such development wasn't worth the risk.
The lower 50 miles of the Kenai had already been allocated to private development, along with quite a lot of the upper watershed and lands along several important tributaries. The Lands Subcommittee concluded that the state lands in the upper watershed should be added to the special management area, which would protect them from most kinds of development, but leave them open for public recreation. Both the Lands Subommittee and the Kenai River Advisory Board unanimously adopted this recommendation.
That was 15 years ago. The reasons for including those lands are even more important today.
We can't allow ourselves to forget the importance of the Kenai. We must not allow ourselves to take it for granted. Those of us who love the Kenai must regularly remind one another and our elected officials that the river is valuable, but also vulnerable. Protecting the lands along the Kenai is an investment in the river's future.
And our future.
Les Palmer is a freelance writer who lives in Sterling and contributes outdoors articles and editorials to local newspapers as well as periodicals. This article was published in the (Kenai) Peninsula Clarion (Mar. 30, 2001).
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