Parks and Recreation

The fate of the Carlson Center in Fairbanks will partly depend on the results of a survey that closes tomorrow night (Wednesday.) Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Recreation Department is studying how best to manage the multi-purpose building.

Alaska’s Interior had a very cold winter and a lot of snow. People are still skiing, snowshoeing and hiking on local trails. The state health department has recommended using trails as a way to help physical and mental health while staying far apart from each other. The Fairbanks North Star Borough Trails office has extended the Winter Trails Challenge to help people take advantage of the outdoors.

With great weather for September, more people are taking advantage of local trails.  There are hundreds of public trails in the Fairbanks North Star Borough on borough and state land. To help hikers, bikers and ATV users find them, the borough has started a Trails Challenge.

Fairbanks, AK - Improvement projects are happening at State Parks sites around the interior. The Upper Chatanika State Recreation site recently underwent renovations, and work on the Lower Chatanika site will start later this summer.

At the Upper Chatanika River State Recreational Site, rain and high river levels have been a concern for the last few years. Part of the road through the campsite ran next to the river, and when the river would rise, it created problematic conditions.

Brooks Ludwig, Northern Area Parks Superintendent, says the solution was creating a new road.

More than $7,000 worth of damage to brand new recreation equipment and landscaping at Tanana Lakes Recreation Area prompted Fairbanks North Star Borough Assemblyman Guy Sattley to ask fellow assembly members to approve $26,000 in additional of funding for the Parks and Recreation Department during the budgeting process this spring. 

"We have a tremendous investment out there, and it’s going to get heavier and heavier usage and we need to have folks out there in the night time to keep an eye on it, unfortunately," Sattley said.