House Resources reports out bill to grant Anchorage easement for Chugach State Park road maintenance

A House Resources Committee on Monday, April 7, reported out Senate Bill 47, which would grant the Municipality of Anchorage an easement to control, develop and maintain a short segment of Canyon Road that crosses Chugach State Park and provides access to the Sunnyside/Flat Top and Rabbit Lake trailheads.

The bill would allow the municipality to treat that road segment as a municipal asset so Anchorage can use a $4 million voter-approved bond for upgrades and maintenance. Committee co-chair Representative James Burke presided; Representative Fields moved the committee substitute be reported out with an accompanying fiscal note and individual recommendations, and members signaled no objection.

Senator Kathy Giesel, sponsor of SB 47, told the committee the bill addresses a small section of Canyon Road that briefly passes through state parkland before returning to municipal roadland. "Chugach State Park ... is the most visited parkland in Alaska, with 1,500,000 visitors every year," Giesel said, adding that park fee stations bring in substantial revenue and that the Sunnyside/Rabbit Lake trailhead is "exceedingly popular." She said the bill is intended to let the municipality maintain the section so it can be upgraded with bond money.

Roger Marks, a member of the board of supervisors for the Glen Alps Road Service Area, described why the easement is needed for the final stretch of road to the park. Marks said Anchorage voters approved a $4 million bond to improve access to the park and that the bond counsel advised the municipality cannot bond for improvements to property it does not own. "If the state were to grant easement to the municipality, then we can check off the box that that's a municipal asset," Marks said, noting the bond would cover about the last 0.6 miles up to the park boundary and that some segments lie on state parkland.

Marks explained the local context: hillside road service areas, funded by property taxes of residents in those districts, maintain roads for snow removal, grading and drainage. He said much of the traffic causing road deterioration originates outside the service area and is driven by access to the two busiest trailheads in Chugach State Park.

Committee members asked whether the easement would be perpetual and whether the bill could be used elsewhere. Marks confirmed maintenance by the local service area would continue and that the easement language in the bill was written as perpetual. Senator Giesel and Ricky Geese, director of the Division of Parks within the Department of Natural Resources, said the bill language is specific to Chugach State Park; Geese added that if the approach proves successful, similar legislation could be proposed for other parks in the future.

The committee took no formal roll-call vote; Representative Fields moved the committee substitute for SB 47 be reported with the fiscal note and individual recommendations and the motion carried by voice/no objection. The bill was set aside after reporting and committee staff indicated the committee would sign the report when members reconvene.

Clarifying details from the hearing: the presentation cited Chugach State Park visitation of approximately 1,500,000 per year; a park fee station generating nearly $600,000 annually was mentioned; the Glen Alps fee station was described as collecting about $17,000 per year; the Anchorage bond for Chugach access was described as $4,000,000 and Anchorage voters approved Proposition 9 on April 1 with roughly 53% support, according to testimony. The portion of Canyon Road targeted by the bond was described as roughly the final 0.6 miles to the park boundary and includes two short segments on parkland that would require easement clarity for municipal bonding and maintenance.

The committee heard no public testimony on SB 47 during the testimony period. The bill was reported out of committee with attached fiscal notes and individual recommendations and will move forward in the legislative process; no final legislative action was taken at the hearing.

Ending: Committee members and witnesses said the change is narrowly tailored to the Canyon Road crossing in Chugach State Park and could serve as a model for future, site-specific solutions if needed. The House Resources Committee will continue other business at subsequent meetings.