State Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, has scheduled a Friday, Dec. 3 meeting to discuss possible management changes along the Chilkoot River, including new land designations.
Thomas two years ago floated a proposal to build a new road to the state campground at Chilkoot Lake campground, but that idea never gained traction and wasn’t supported by former Gov. Sarah Palin.
Thomas said this week that designating sections of the river and adjoining eagle preserve land as a “state recreation use area” managed by the state Division of Parks would eliminate uncertainty caused by overlapping jurisdictions there, including those of Parks, Department of Fish and Game and Department of Transportation.
“It’s all state land in there, but what do you do? This gives someone the authority to go in and manage that place. All the agencies are afraid to act because of questions about authority,” Thomas said.
Thomas said he would chair the meeting and that all ideas were on the table. He cited concerns about the safety of bear-watchers as well as Native worries about the trampling of historic and grave sites at the location of the former Chilkoot village.
“This is a way to sound it out. If people have too much objections, we won’t do anything, but there are people in town who want something done with the road access, and there’s potential problems with bears. Tour operators don’t like the idea of restrictions, but the state doesn’t want to be liable for stupidity,” Thomas said.
He said he didn’t have a specific plan but wanted to hear input and ideas from residents. “We need to air it out and see if we can fix this thing. We want to resolve it once and for all,” Thomas said.
The meeting begins 6 p.m. in the assembly chambers.