56 public comments reflect both support, opposition for proposals intended to protect glacier, surrounding area
The federal Bureau of Land Management is working through development of a recreation plan for the Castner Glacier. An Environmental Assessment of the proposed plan for the increasingly popular area along the Richardson Highway south of Delta Junction has drawn mixed response from the public.
The BLM received 56 comments before an Aug. 18th deadline on the draft Environmental Assessment for a proposed recreation plan for the Castner Glacier, where visitorship has grown to about 12-thousand people a year.
“We are going through this process because of the increase in activity that the Castner Glacier has had,” says BLM spokesperson Scott Claggett.
The draft EA examines the environmental impact of the plan and considers concerns raised during a public scoping period last winter. Claggett says they include excessive motorized access, crowding and overuse in the mountainous area near Richardson Highway milepost 217.
“We’re hoping that the environmental assessment we have and the plan that we create will sort of be meeting the needs that we've seen,” he said in an interview Thursday.
The EA also outlines restrictions on accessing the area with vehicles weighing more than 3,000 pounds. Claggett says many of the comments received this summer were critical of the proposal.
“They seemed to be concerned with maintaining access and not instituting new restrictions. They incorrectly stated that the BLM would prohibit motorized use.”
He emphasized the plan would continue to allow seasonal motorized access in the proposed 4,700--acre Castner Glacier Recreation Area.
“The plan actually proposes to recognize motorized use in the summer months and designates two routes open to motorized use in the May to October timeframe,” Claggett said.
The recreation plan also proposes banning fireworks, campfires, ice-carving and ice-climbing in and around the glacier and its ice cave. It also looks at development alternatives, including commercial tour accommodations.
“We did have comments that were both for and against group size limits. We also had comments about the impact on the glacier.”
Claggett adds that some commenters suggested allowing other ways to access the area.
“There (was) also support for additional motorized routes, helicopter tours and e-bikes.”
Other commenters worried about inadequate trailhead parking.
“Safety was an underlying theme, especially in the comments surrounding the parking, the group-size limits, the negative impacts to the glacier.”
Experts and others advised caution two years ago when the ice cave partially collapsed due to the warming climate.
Claggett stressed that parking is the state Department of Transportation’s responsibility.
He says BLM officials are reviewing all the public comments as the finalize the Environmental Assessment, which is scheduled for release in November. A final decision on the Castner Glacier Recreation Area plan itself is expected by early next year.
