Chugach Alaska Corporation
Granted Road Easement

- 05/19/2000 Alice Aguilar

Even with all our efforts in demonstrations and testimonies, on March 14, 2000, the US Forest Service granted Chugach Alaska Corporation (CAC) a road easement across the fragile wetlands of the Copper River Delta. CAC now has the go ahead to level the land to build a road that will cross 55 miles of public land in the Chugach National Forest and the Delta and sever nearly 400 streams in the eastern portion of the Delta -- all to access 9,000 acres of old growth forest for timber extraction. "It is shameful that CAC hasn't actively explored alternatives for shareholders such an a Conservation Easement Alternative. It would be a better deal for the Forest, the Shareholders and the Community," Carol Hoover, Associate Director of Eyak Preservation Council, said. The easement was granted without any economic study, and we know that this road will not be a money-make for the shareholders. How will CAC be able to maintain this road financially?

What we need to do now is convince the US Forest Service to consider a Wilderness Designation for the Copper River Delta to limit further development and protect the wildlife and the subsistence lifestyles of the People of the Delta.

The US Forest Service sent out the following Press Release about granting CAC the road easement:

American Political Network

Greenwire

Volume 10 No. 9

Copyright (c) 2000 by American Political Network, Inc.

March 14, 2000

NATURAL RESOURCES NATIONAL FORESTS:
CHUGACH ALASKA GETS GO AHEAD TO BUILD ROAD

The U.S. Forest Service and Chugach Alaska Corp. signed an easement agreement yesterday that allows the Chugach tribe to build a logging road in the Chugach National Forest.

The decision comes after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last month approved a bill clearing the way for the road construction. The federal government granted the Chugach tribe 73,000 acres of land in the forest's Carbon Mountain region in 1982. Chugach Alaska Corp. says it initially wants to log an 8,000-acre section of the forest.

Environmental groups opposing the road want the area preserved as part of the "wildlife-rich" Copper River Delta. They fear damage to salmon and other fish in 48 streams that the road would cross. But Sheri Buretta, chairwoman of the Chugach Alaska board, says the road won't harm forest habitat. Buretta: "We're being good citizens and good neighbors, and all we get from these guys are threats and pressure."

The company is allowed to start cutting in the forest at any time, but construction on the road is not likely to begin immediately (Allen Baker, AP/Anchorage Daily News, March 14). --RP

3/14/2000 APN-GR 9

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