03/20/2025 01:00 PM House TRANSPORTATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB47 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 47 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 20, 2025
1:11 p.m.
DRAFT
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Ashley Carrick, Co-Chair
Representative Ted Eischeid, Co-Chair
Representative Genevieve Mina
Representative Louise Stutes
Representative Kevin McCabe
Representative Cathy Tilton
Representative Elexie Moore
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Ky Holland
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 47(RES)
"An Act relating to Chugach State Park; and providing for an
effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 47
SHORT TITLE: CHUGACH STATE PARK EASEMENTS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) GIESSEL
01/17/25 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/17/25
01/22/25 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/22/25 (S) TRA, RES
02/04/25 (S) TRA AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/04/25 (S) Heard & Held
02/04/25 (S) MINUTE(TRA)
02/11/25 (S) TRA AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/11/25 (S) Moved SB 47 Out of Committee
02/11/25 (S) MINUTE(TRA)
02/14/25 (S) TRA RPT 2DP 1DNP 1NR
02/14/25 (S) DP: BJORKMAN, KIEHL
02/14/25 (S) DNP: SHOWER
02/14/25 (S) NR: TOBIN
02/17/25 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/17/25 (S) Heard & Held
02/17/25 (S) MINUTE(RES)
02/26/25 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/26/25 (S) Moved CSSB 47(RES) Out of Committee
02/26/25 (S) MINUTE(RES)
02/28/25 (S) RES RPT CS 6DP 1NR SAME TITLE
02/28/25 (S) DP: GIESSEL, HUGHES, DUNBAR, CLAMAN,
MYERS, WIELECHOWSKI
02/28/25 (S) NR: KAWASAKI
03/10/25 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
03/10/25 (S) VERSION: CSSB 47(RES)
03/11/25 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/11/25 (H) TRA, RES
03/20/25 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR CATHY GIESSEL
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, presented CSSB 47(RES).
PAIGE BROWN, Staff
Senator Cathy Giessel
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: On behalf of Senator Giessel, sponsor,
answered questions on CSSB 47(RES).
RICKY GEASE, Director
Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation
Department of Natural Resources
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on CSSB 47(RES).
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:11:22 PM
CO-CHAIR TED EISCHEID called the House Transportation Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:11 p.m. Representatives Mina,
Stutes, Carrick, and Eischeid were present at the call to order.
Representatives McCabe, Moore, and Tilton arrived as the meeting
was in progress.
SB 47-CHUGACH STATE PARK EASEMENTS
1:12:27 PM
CO-CHAIR EISCHEID announced that the only order of business
would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 47(RES) "An Act relating to
Chugach State Park; and providing for an effective date."
1:13:20 PM
SENATOR CATHY GIESSEL, Alaska State Legislature, as prime
sponsor, presented CSSB 47(RES) via a PowerPoint presentation,
titled "Chugach State Park Easements" [hard copy included in
committee packet]. On slide 2, she stated that Chugach State
Park has 1.5 million visitors per year. Moving to slide 5, she
emphasized that the park's fee station brings in nearly $600,000
in revenue per year, with $117,000 coming from the Glen Alps
Flattop access point. She displayed slide 6 and explained that
on the other side of the Glen Alps Flattop is the Rabbit Lake
trailhead, which is accessed by Canyon Road. She stated that
the proposed legislation would address the unmaintained section
of road contained in state property, depicted in green. She
asserted that, because of the difficulty, the Department of
Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) has not maintained
the road in Chugach State Park despite being required to by
statute. She explained that the Municipality of Anchorage is
willing to take on the maintenance responsibility and to make
minor road improvements. She added that the Division of Parks &
Outdoor Recreation has a grant to enlarge the parking lot needed
because of the high volume of traffic.
1:19:19 PM
PAIGE BROWN, Staff, Senator Cathy Giessel, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of Senator Giessel, prime sponsor of CSSB
47(RES), in response to questions from Representative Carrick,
clarified that none of the $4 million that the Municipality of
Anchorage bonded would be eligible to be spent on Canyon Road in
state land until the proposed legislation is passed. She
affirmed that the $4 million currently is planned to be spent on
improvements on municipality land.
SENATOR GIESSEL clarified that the road inside the state land
near the Rabbit Lake Trailhead also needs improvement, but it is
solely the responsibility of DOT&PF.
1:21:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked for clarification on the language on
page 2, line 26 of the proposed legislation.
SENATOR GIESSEL replied that similar language is already in
statute and additionally repeated in Section 2, subsection (c)
of the bill.
1:23:25 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked if there are any other state parks
where DOT&PF is responsible for maintenance of public roads.
1:24:00 PM
RICKY GEASE, Director, Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation,
Department of Natural Resources, in response to a question from
Representative McCabe, provided his understanding that DOT&PF is
responsible for the roads in Chugach State Park and the highway
through Denali National Park and Preserve. He stated he would
provide the committee with a comprehensive list of roads in
state parks that DOT&PF is responsible for.
1:26:00 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL referred to page 1, line 7 through line 13 of
the bill and clarified that existing statute specifically
mentions Chugach State Park and the bill would move the language
to a different section.
[CSSB 47(RES) was held over.]
1:28:02 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Transportation Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 1:28
p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 3.07.25 SB 47 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HTRA 3/20/2025 1:00:00 PM |
SB 47 |
| 3.07.25 SB 47 Sectional Analysis Version G.pdf |
HTRA 3/20/2025 1:00:00 PM |
SB 47 |
| SB 47 (S)RES CS Vsn. G.pdf |
HTRA 3/20/2025 1:00:00 PM |
SB 47 |
| 3.01.25 SB 47 Explanation of Changes Version A to G.pdf |
HTRA 3/20/2025 1:00:00 PM |
SB 47 |
| 3.07.25 SB 47 Backup Doc.pdf |
HTRA 3/20/2025 1:00:00 PM |
SB 47 |
| SB 47 Fiscal Note.pdf |
HTRA 3/20/2025 1:00:00 PM |
SB 47 |
| SB 47 HTRA Presentation Revised 2.17.25.pdf |
HTRA 3/20/2025 1:00:00 PM |
SB 47 |