SB 47-CHUGACH STATE PARK EASEMENTS  3:31:38 PM CHAIR GIESSEL announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 47 "An Act relating to Chugach State Park; and providing for an effective date." 3:31:59 PM PAIGE BROWN, Staff, Senator Cathy Giessel, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, gave an overview presentation on SB 47. 3:32:17 PM MS. BROWN moved to and narrated slide 2: [Original punctuation provided.] Chugach State Park (SP) is the most visited Public Land in Alaska Chugach SP: 495,000 acres 1.5 million visitors annually [Slide 2 includes a map of Chugach State park.] 3:32:28 PM MS. BROWN briefly displayed slide 3, titled "Chugach State Park Use Data", which contains multiple graphic representations of: • Use • Distribution of Use (Map) • Sample Size • Top 5 Locations of Interest • Visitor Origins, Percent of Device Days by Season and Year • Visitor Origins, Percent of Device Days by Borough (Top 5) and Year • Patterns of Use 3:32:38 PM MS. BROWN moved to and narrated slide 4: [Original punctuation provided.] Chugach Design & Construction Projects  Completed: • Completed the parking expansion and paving work at Eklutna Lake • Completed new vaulted toilets at McHugh Creek, Eagle River Campground, and Bird Creek Campground • Completed drainage improvements at Upper Huffman Ongoing:  • Continued construction of a public use cabins at Eagle River Campground and Bird Creek Campground • 2 at Eagle River • 1 at Bird Creek • Began paving and improvements work at Prospect Heights • Began improvements at Bird Valley Trailhead Next Year:  • Begin construction of new parking area at Rabbit Valley Trailhead • Additional new concrete vaulted toilets at Eagle River Campground • Replace water heater and heating stoves at Bird Point cabin • Alaska Trails and Chugach Park Fund projects 3:32:41 PM MS. BROWN moved to slide 5: [Original punctuation provided.] FY24 Chugach SP Fee Station Revenue  Total: $590,555.00  Slide 5 consists of a pie chart illustrating revenues from the Chugach Park Pay Stations: Bird Creek Campground, $65,395.00 Bird Creek Overflow, $9,195.00 Bird Fish Trailhead, $12,800.00 Bird Point Trailhead, $8,150.00 Bird Ridge Trailhead, $4,350.00 Briggs River Campground, $3,255.00 Canyon Road Trailhead, $12,255.00 Chugach Spare, $660.00 Eagle River Campground, $100,090.00 Eagle River Day-Use, $1,740.00 Eklutna ATV Lot, $11,425.00 Eklutna Lake, $54,995.00 Eklutna Lake CG, $58,670.00 Eklutna Overflow, $8,295.00 Glen Alps, $117,380.00 Glen Alps Satellite, $5,845.00 Indian Ball Field, $2,710.00 McHugh Creek, $2,810.00 McHugh Parking, $2,935.00 Mile 7.4 North Fork Access, $5,890.00 Potter Trailhead, $5,830.00 Prospect Heights, $10,090.00 South Fork, $12,055.00 3:33:06 PM MS. BROWN moved to slide 6, a map of the interface between the Municipality of Anchorage and Chugach State Park in the vicinity of Canyon Road, Rabbit Creek and the Rabbit Lake Trailhead. She said SB 47 would address access, not only for residents who are increasingly recreating in Chugach State Park, but also for tourists who visit during the summer. MS. BROWN explained that Canyon Road, the access to Rabbit Lake trailhead, is renowned for its poor condition. The easement created by SB 47 would address this problem. In 2024, Anchorage voters approved a four-million-dollar bond for improvements to 0.6 miles of Canyon Road. She said about half the road lies within Chugach State Park which does not allow municipally funded projects due to state land ownership. 3:34:23 PM MS. BROWN pointed to the portions of canyon road that are on state land and on city land. She described the poor condition of the road, especially in the spring, and referred to a State Parks Facebook notice posted on February 7, 2025, with photos of a sloped ice slab. MS. BROWN said SB 47 was drafted in collaboration with the Municipality of Anchorage City Manager and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Parks. She noted that Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF) was responsible for maintenance of Canyon Road but had not been doing it. She said the Municipality of Anchorage was willing to take over maintenance of the road, if they were granted an easement, which would include road upgrades, improving access and safety in the park and allowing the municipality to invest in infrastructure for residents and tourists. 3:35:15 PM MS. BROWN presented the sectional analysis for SB 47: [Original punctuation provided.] Senate Bill 47 (Version A)   Sectional Analysis  "An Act relating to Chugach State Park; and providing for an effective date." Section 1. Amends AS 41.21.122: Management  Responsibility.  This section adds language to the management responsibility of Chugach State Park clarifying that the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is responsible for maintenance within the park except for as provided by the new subsections added in section 2. Section 2. Adds new subsections to AS. 41.21.122:  Management Responsibility.  This section adds new subsections allowing the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to grant an easement or a right-of-way within Chugach State Park to a municipality if DNR provides public notice and holds at least one hearing, and the commissioner of DNR finds that this easement or right-of-way is improving, facilitating, or maintaining public access to the park, and is in the public interest. Section 3. Provides for an effective date.  This section provides for an effective date of July 1, 2025. 3:36:17 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI referred to SB 47, section 1, lines 5, 6 and 7 which addressed control, development and maintenance of state land and water and control of the highway access and roadside structures. He asked whether these were conforming changes. 3:36:43 PM MS. BROWN said [SB 47] moves language that is already in statute regarding Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Mining, land and Water to a different section of the statute, using the same language. 3:37:17 PM CHAIR GIESSEL invited Department of Natural Resources (DNR) representative to answer questions about the changes to statute proposed by SB 47. 3:37:32 PM RICKY GEASE, Director, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, Anchorage, Alaska, concurred that SB 47 moves language to a different section of [statute]. He said Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF) would retain responsibility for the maintenance of the roads within Chugach State Park. 3:38:05 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked whether SB 47 would give control of the development or maintenance of the state park to the municipality or any other entity. 3:38:22 PM MR. GEASE said the easement would give the municipality the ability or right to improve the road providing access to the park using the bond authorization monies approved in 2024. He said this would bring the road up to modern road standards with regard to slope and drainage. 3:39:23 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI read SB 47, Section 1, lines 4, 5, and 7 and asked whether "the department" referred to Department of Natural Resources (DNR). 3:39:58 PM MR. GEASE noted that said [Section 2, (C), lines 17 - 19 state that "the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF) shall repair and maintain public roads in the Chugach State Park except for repairs and 19 maintenance performed by a municipality under (b) of this section." 3:40:27 PM SENATOR DUNBAR noted discussion with a representative of the municipality of Anchorage regarding a committee substitute (CS) to SB 47. He asked whether an amendment was planned. 3:41:03 PM CHAIR GIESSEL said there was an amendment, but she did not intend to offer the amendment at this time. She said SB 47 would be held for further consideration. She noted the collaborative effort by state agency and municipality representatives and said the amendment would be addressed in the future. 3:41:33 PM SENATOR DUNBAR said the concern expressed to him represented a small change to SB 47. 3:41:50 PM SENATOR HUGHES referred to SB 47, Section 2, lines 18 - 19. She asked whether the municipality would be required to repair and maintain the road. She suggested hypothetically that the municipality of Anchorage may experience a lack of financial means to repair and maintain the road in the future and asked who would be responsible for the road in that case. 3:42:48 PM CHAIR GIESSEL clarified the section of road at issue which crossed between the municipality of Anchorage and Chugach State Park lands. She said Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF) was by statute responsible for repair and maintenance of the state park sections of the road, but that they were not doing it. She said that section was effectively abandoned road, as evidenced by the photos from the Facebook post. The municipality was willing to assume responsibility for maintaining the road and improve it. CHAIR GIESSEL noted future plans by the state park to build a parking lot at Rabbit Lake Trailhead. She said there were federal funds in place for the parking lot and improving the Canyon Road access was important for that development as well. 3:45:01 PM SENATOR HUGHES asked whether the Municipality of Anchorage would have the responsibility of paying for road maintenance and repairs for the next twenty years. 3:45:14 PM CHAIR GIESSEL affirmed Anchorage's responsibility and said the amendment Senator Dunbar anticipated would specify that the municipality formally accepts the responsibility. 3:45:27 PM SENATOR HUGHES said she did not see language in SB 47 requiring the municipality to continue maintaining and repairing the road in the future. CHAIR GIESSEL concurred that there was not that language currently, but there would be, assuming the municipality does accept the responsibility. 3:45:57 PM SENATOR HUGHES said, as she read SB 47, the responsibility would fall back on DOTPF. 3:46:11 PM CHAIR GIESSEL asked whether the suggestion was for the municipality to rescind their offer to assume responsibility for the road. SENATOR HUGHES sought clarification to avoid confusion in the future should there be less willingness or financial constraints in the future for the municipality. CHAIR GIESSEL suggested a sunset date amendment. 3:46:40 PM SENATOR DUNBAR suggested that an easement provides a right but not a duty, which would allow the municipality to proceed with their present intentions for the road, but not obligate them to maintain it. He acknowledged he was not familiar with the legalities of determining responsibility conditions. 3:47:27 PM CHAIR GIESSEL said there were no Department of Law (DOL) or legal drafting personnel available to answer questions. She noted the words of SB 47 with the addition of the amendment to include the municipality's acceptance of responsibility. 3:47:53 PM SENATOR DUNBAR acknowledged common interests and the complicated nature of determining responsibility for road repair and maintenance when roads pass through different areas. 3:48:30 PM SENATOR MYERS noted SB 47, Section 2(b)(2), lines 13 - 16 and asked whether a future commissioner would have the ability to rescind the easement or right of way should the municipality lack the will or the funds to repair and maintain the road. 3:49:04 PM CHAIR GIESSEL invited an amendment to SB 47 to address the concern. 3:49:13 PM SENATOR CLAMAN said the discussion centered on the way easements work. He said it was his understanding that the easement would provide the right of way to the municipality for perpetuity. He said the second question was about the duty to maintain and whether that also was in place for perpetuity. He posed a hypothetical in which a neighbor obtains an easement for a driveway, but never uses it. He said the easement could eventually pass to future owners, unimproved and unmaintained. However, if a driveway was built across the neighbor's property, there would be a duty to maintain it. He suggested explicit language for development and to define the duty for continued maintenance. He suggested that the bond process may affect the municipality's future capacity to maintain the road. He also suggested explicit language that the road would revert to the state when and if the municipality was no longer maintaining it. He said determining who was responsible for maintenance once the road was built was a real issue that should be addressed by SB 47. 3:52:00 PM CHAIR GIESSEL invited further comment from Department of Natural Resources (DNR). 3:52:06 PM MR. GEASE noted plans for [the Rabbit Lake Trailhead] parking lot. He said geotechnical work had been completed and he anticipated design work in the summer of 2025 followed by bids in the next year or two. 3:52:49 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what a municipality could do with an easement, for example, could they practice forestry; he asked what rights were granted with an easement. 3:53:10 PM MR. GEASE deferred to the legislative legal team and Department of Law (DOL). He said, typically the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Mining, Land and Water handled DNR's easements. 3:53:44 PM CHAIR GIESSEL opened public testimony on SB 47. 3:53:59 PM ROGER MARKS, Board of Supervisors, Glen Alps Road Service Area, Anchorage, Alaska, testified in support of SB 47. He explained the necessity of SB 47 to improve road infrastructure in Anchorage's hillside. These road service areas, funded by local property taxes, manage road maintenance, including repair, grading, drainage, and snow removal. The area, which includes two of the busiest trailheads in Chugach State Park, faces significant wear due to high visitor traffic. Despite a 1982 master plan recognizing the need for funding, the state has only provided minimal resources. In 2023, Anchorage voters created the Chugach State Park Access Service Area (CASA) to finance park access, and in 2024, they approved a $4 million bond for road improvements. SB 47 would allow the state to grant an easement to allow bonding for the road, which he said would benefit both locals and tourists. He said the [Glen Alps] road service area was currently providing road maintenance and would be happy to continue. 3:58:36 PM SENATOR KAWASAKI asked whether the road service area represented by Mr. Marks would maintain the section of road in perpetuity after construction is complete and the easement granted and the improvements are made. 3:59:14 PM MR. MARKS affirmed that the road service area was the entity which bore the responsibility to maintain the road. He said the road service area received taxpayer money to keep the road maintained up to the park boundary and noted that there were homes there that required access. 3:59:50 PM SENATOR CLAMAN asked for geographic assistance to identify from his recollection the section of road at issue. 4:00:13 PM MR. MARKS said the entire 0.6 miles from Canyon Park Road to the park gate was included. He described the section of road as a mishmash of road surfaces. He was at a loss to pinpoint the specific portion of the road segment. 4:01:06 PM CHAIR GIESSEL kept public testimony open. 4:01:15 PM CHAIR GIESSEL held SB 47 in committee. 4:01:39 PM th CHAIR GIESSEL set an amendment deadline for Monday, February 24 at 4:00 pm.