03/20/2025 01:00 PM House TRANSPORTATION

              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
(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.]