Borough helps remove roadblocks to Boy Scout

MAT-SU—Last night the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly approved an ordinance that ultimately gives the local Boy Scouts of America road access to their property, something sought after for some eight years.

The 2,200 acre site at Blair Lake near Denali State Park now has the chance to become a High Adventure Base Camp, what Scouts are calling “ a preeminent destination for youth seeking an exotic high adventure program available nowhere else in the world.”

“It's great to see individuals from all sides of such a complex issue work so well together,” said Borough Assembly Member Tom Kluberton, who represents the area.

The problem was: the Great Alaska Council, Boy Scouts of America's land had no road leading to it. The only access off the Parks Highway is through two properties north of the site, Denali-Son-Glo Trust Land and then Alaska Hotel Properties or McKinley Wilderness Lodge.

The agreement involves a trade of property and leased ground in exchange for legal road access to the Boy Scouts' site. The Borough involvement was necessary in order to lift “not-for-profit” restrictions on the Boy Scouts' land deed, so the Scouts could exchange 20 acres to Alaska Hotel Properties and a 10-year, 10-acre lease on Scout land for a horse riding operation as requested by Son-Glo.

Kluberton said he was impressed with how the agreement came together. “We had constructive input from Northern Valley community councils and residents. The Borough staff did a first-rate job of capturing the spirit and intent of those inputs as well as the Planning Commission and other Borough committees. The Great Alaska Council of Scouts was responsive and as flexible as they could be within the limited parameters. Finally, my hat is off to families whose lives are most affected by the change in their neighborhood—they stayed engaged through the process never offering criticism without constructive suggestion and in the end accepted compromise with dignity. Once again the wisdom of our late Mayor Curt Menard came to mind: 'the price of success is persistence,”' Kluberton said.

Borough Land Management Agent Nancy Cameron guided the parties through the options. Cameron said she was struck by Kluberton's sincerity and his sense of responsibility to his constituents.

Three amendments passed. Kluberton asked to insert more specific language which prohibits timber harvesting and to prohibit commercial access to both nearby rivers. Assembly Member Pete Houston asked to give a greater buffer to a neighbor's land from the horse riding outfit, some 500 feet, while still keeping the horse rentals 100 feet from a creek.


For more information call Nancy Cameron, Borough Land Management Agent, at 745-9848.

-end- —End—