Why Everyone Should Care

Imagine you could lose everything you worked for just because someone wants to widen a road for some agenda you are unaware. Does this road meet the criteria for the public good? Certainly not!

These are the opinions and observations of Roland Dickason owner of the Wolf Trail Lodge, certain residents of Moose Pass, visitors of the lodge, Alaskan residents, outdoor enthusiasts, fishermen/fisherwomen, conservationists, and those who cannot speak for themselves, such as the salmon.

The lodge owner, acknowledges the men and women of the Alaska Department of Transportation are studious, smart engineers who are also Alaskans and are doing their jobs. His grievance is not personal, he does not harbor any animosity towards personnel but he knows that the DOT entity as a whole, makes mistakes and this is one big mistake predicated on the facts that can be proven based upon the surrounding area along with environmental impacts converging within a short period of time.

The issues are larger than their staff, it is about using Federal tax dollars to support road projects that are unnecessary in small areas such as this wherein large highways in America are actually crumbling.

It is about flushing our State with Federal TAX PAYER’S OPM - OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY which may sound great at first blush but gives way to greater harms, at the expense of our fish that bring in more jobs/ more money in Alaska than wide roads ever will along with the fish that supply food for us and our wildlife, and sport/commercial fishing money.

The cost of this road is allegedly 60 million dollars or more to build but in terms of long term impacts it has a much higher price tag by destroying a historic multi million dollar one- of -a -kind lodge with resident bears, wolves , eagles, spawning salmon, and a natural beauty the is unrivaled and is irreplaceable. This is just one resident, there is the historic store which has been in an Alaskan’s family hands since the 1930’s and the DOT finds it is in their way. There is also a residence with a home on a cliff that will get blasted but rest assured the DOT has insurance in case his home collapses, that is so reassuring.

There are also two other salmon streams being impacted by the road but again the DOT is immune to stringent environmental protections because it obtained a Memorandum of Understanding CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION ( See Alaska DOT ) this was done more than five years ago, although the owner of this lodge and many others have found the premises/answers false or misleading ( See DOT Memorandum of Understanding with application for Categorical Exclusions with my refutations ) and can be refuted by present day facts.

All these factors lead us to believe that this project is one big boondoggle. Many people have said the DOT is too powerful and too bloated with our tax dollars to be stopped but they are fallible. For instance, the road to nowhere, the bridge to nowhere, and also the Knik Arm Bridge . ( See article library tab)

Most importantly, as citizens of the US and residents of Alaska, the larger issue: Do we even have private property rights any longer ? Arguably, any governmental entity with a plan and our money can propose , justify any boondoggle for the sake of progress and so called safety. So anyone’s life work, family homestead, business, animal sanctuary can give way to bureaucratic policies that will never consider the intrinsic values of the private property.

The pictured spawning salmon stream feeds bears, eagles, an intact wolf pact on the land that the historic Wolf Trail Lodge sits upon. The stream is fed by the Cook Inlet where the fish swim and then spawn here. Over the years million of fry have swam back to the ocean with all the challenges they face by predators, fishermen/women, pollution but they are now facing an even bigger threat because the State of Alaska Department of Transportation is proposing to destroy this stream by inserting a longer culvert, which is now being termed “smooth cylinders” but a culvert by any other name is still a culvert. Huge culverts/smooth cylinders are not good for spawning salmon, in fact culverts are being taken out of Washington State ordered by the Ninth Circuit.

The DOT also suggested using gravel/rock i.e. fill over the stream, not ideal for spawning salmon, for a road that in many people’s opinion is not only unwarranted but is just another example of wasting taxpayers money while there is a lack of strict environmental controls that should be in place when fish in Alaska are at risk.

This stream is part of the larger watershed of Moose Pass, a small town of about 219 residents, with large lakes, and streams feeding into the larger lakes such as Kenai Lake and the rivers in Coopers Landing , and our jewel the Kenai River, Moose Pass streams, lakes, tributaries are the headstreams supplying Alaskans with fish for food, jobs, tourism. Moose Pass is under attack , the Kenai Hydro Plant was approved and going to being built, it has been touted “ green energy” but again it is within this delicate watershed on Grant Lake and other salmon streams, and what most Alaskans are unaware of is the stringent environmental provisions and suggestions about how the hydro would impact the fish were not considered by the Federal Energy Regulator Commission. See article library

This means the foxes are watching the hen house, and concerned with the temperature of the water. Hence, if the entities are wrong about how the fish will spawn here, coupled with all the disturbances from building and maybe even blasting then it will have long lasting detrimental impacts upon our fish, which should never happen. It is our contention the most stringent environmental protocols should be applied whenever large bodies of water with fish are concerned because Alaskans livelihood depend on it.

If it was only the hydro plant on Grant Lake this may not have a huge impact but this hydro plant needs a road, so in the infinite wisdom and quite baffling decision, the Kenai Brough allowed the forest to be s rezoned as commercial land for the access road. See article lobray. This will disrupt fish but it seems no one can do anything about it. Moreover, the road may require a bridge, at an alleged cost of multi-millions of dollars which will encroach upon a private landowner who does not want a bridge on his land nor blasting near his cabin. Is blasting good for salmon? Bears? Eagles? Residents?

Alas, the politicians were unresponsive to the concerns of Moose Pass residents, and the way in which these things were pushed through, apparently defied much scrutiny. If that was not enough to withstand, in a small area, with bears, fish , eagles and residents the SOA DOT wants to “ improve the road” in Moose Pass because they have stated it needs improvements and has drainage issues. The Moose Pass residents pushed back and some concessions were made; however, the historic store, owned by the Estes family will be destroyed, and the Wolf Pass Lodge with numerous hand hewn custom log cabins, the lodge, the tree house cabin , the streams and animals will be destroyed, this lodge had been written about in the prior owners book

This private lodge has hosted numerous guests over many years contributing to the local economy upward to a million dollars or more.

The lodge sits on this stream with bears feeding in the open much like Bristol Bay only on a smaller scale, the wolves come by, the lodge and its cabins overlook the lake , mountains, train with unparalleled views, there is no place on the Kenal Peninsula like this and yet the Department of Transportation insists on taking the land, destroying the stream, blasting on the hill, all for a road that only really needs to be paved at a cost of $60 million dollars or more, and they also want a bike path.

Whether or not you care about fish or bears or are shocked our environmental agencies have their hands tied with Memorandum of Understanding’s or Categorical Exceptions, which we will delve into in another section, the issue that everyone should be concerned about is private property being taken not because the government HAS TO but WANTS TO, and they want to spend your money to do so under the infrastructure bill which was intended to help crumbling highways, and although the section of road in question needs resurfacing there is no logical reason to widen it under the present premises.

As Alaskans, the issue of fish is non partisan, almost everyone can agree fish bring in money, and is more important than a road that is now along with the other projects destroying the character of Moose Pass along with the Wolf Trail Lodge , a place that hosts numerous animals and fish , along with being historically significant and worth millions of dollars all for bigger road, a bike path, and a turn around,

The owner of this property was told by a DOT representative he should not have a business license this road was a done deal and if he did not like it that they would take it by Eminent Domain. Other people were told they have no choice, and not to register their salmon streams, all statements the DOT has denied making but it was classic old world railroad tactics. So MOOSE PASS is being destroyed there is no huge Environmental Impact Study or other environmental controls for reasons we will explain later on but if you care about fish, bears, wolves, eagles, private property, Alaska history, community or your taxes, the Federal government cannot meet their debt obligations but they can infuse this little town with over 100 million dollars, which the residents are not benefitting from only burdened, because this road is being built with federal tax dollars as are the other projects funded by federal money as well then help us stop this project and also ask for more environmental scrutiny when it comes to our fish.

We have spoken to lawyers, environmentalists, and the media, our first meeting to preserve this lodge will be in August in Moose Pass. Please contact Roland or Jacquline for more information.

There is also a group, Protect and Preserve Moose Pass on Facebook. Click here

If you are a lawyer, environmentalist, conservationist , tax payer, fisherman /woman, bear lover, tree hugger or into private property rights we would love to hear from you and ask that you help us grow this small grass roots movement.

This could be your lodge or property, and if you look at the stretch of highway, it could use some asphalt but what it definitely does not need is to be widened nor does Moose Pass need to become the dumping ground for pork belly projects at the expense of the community , wildlife, fish , local lodges, and private property owners.