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The Knik River Public Review Draft prepared by DNR is now available for review online!!
Its been a long, long time coming - many of you have worked for years and years to get some management of the outstanding Knik River and *Jim-Swan Wetlands area. Because of your hard work and persistence, there is legislation recognizing the area, there is a dedicated manager, some funding for management, and a bit more enforcement, and now we are close to having a final plan. The plan breaks the area out into units, includes a Trails Assessment & Management Process, Management Goals and Guidelines/Actions, and offers plenty of maps of the units including sensitive habitat areas. Addressing the highly differing desires of all the users and residents, caring for the sensitive habitat within, and following the sometimes contradictory mandates of the legislation is a supremely difficult task.
There are inaccuracies in the draft, and we have serious concerns to address. While we may not like everything proposed, we appreciate very much that DNR took the time to develop a comprehensive draft. Now we are digging into it to prepare our comments. As we develop comments on the draft, we’ll post them here so check back soon! And, as always, we invite your perspective, comments, concerns and questions as you review the draft. We learn more when we listen to different viewpoints - contact us!
Check the local Butte community’s website for their views and comments on the draft - they are always more on the ball than we!
A CD or printed copy may be requested online or by contacting Chief Planner Brandon McCutcheon at 907-334-2551; copies may soon be available at the Mat-Su Borough building and the local libraries.
DNR will hold 3 public hearings on the PRD as follows:
- March 25th at Butte Elementary School
- March 27th at Teeland Middle School in Wasilla
- March 28th Wendler Middle School in Anchorage
All meetings are from 6:30 - 9:00 PM
*The Jim-Swan Wetlands is a designated Audubon Important Bird Area for its Trumpeter Swan population, but its significance extends much further. A popular destination for paddling and wildlife viewing, this 10,000-acre area contains 20 lakes and ponds, anadromous fish streams, bogs, and willow thickets. This diverse area also has:
·High densities of migratory waterbirds, including ducks and Trumpeter Swans, and nesting waterbirds including ducks, grebes, mergansers, loons, and Trumpeter Swans;
·Several other Audubon Alaska WatchList species, including Rusty Blackbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Blackpoll Warbler;
·Coho Salmon spawning and key coho rearing;
·Black bears which use Jim-Swan intensively in the spring, and moose year-round;
·Dall sheep, which lamb on the cliffs directly above the wetlands; and
·Hammond’s Flycatcher, American Kestrel, Osprey, the northern-most population of Song Sparrow in Alaska, and other species not often found in this region.
Review numerous documents and agency reports on the Jim-Swan area.
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