Opinion: Helicopter tours don’t belong in Denali State Park

Though it has so far received little attention, a troubling new commercial activity is being proposed within one of the gems of our Alaska State Parks system. Developers want to build a commercial “RV Campground Resort” on a private inholding within Denali State Park and, with little public notice, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough’s Planning Commission will soon decide whether to approve a conditional use permit for this facility.

My problem is not so much with the “resort” itself, but one of its proposed visitor activities: helicopter tours within the surrounding park, with as many as eight flights per day from spring through fall.

Like many other Alaskans who’ve built a long and deep relationship with Denali State Park, I oppose commercial helicopter flights within the park’s boundaries. Such a loud and disruptive presence would conflict with the park’s wild values and character while also inevitably creating conflicts with the visitors who recreate in the state park in numerous less-intrusive ways, most notably camping, hiking, backpacking and boating. There is also reasonable concern over the impacts of helicopter flights on the park’s wildlife.

In his written comments to the Planning Commission, park superintendent Stuart Leidner has noted that, based on Denali State Park’s management plan and regulations, commercial helicopter operations “are deemed incompatible” with the park’s designated wilderness. I would add that some “special management” natural areas outside the wilderness zone — for instance, much of the Kesugi-Curry Ridges complex and the highly popular Kesugi Ridge Trail, along with trails that connect to those ridges — need similar protections. And I would ask Alaska State Park officials to defend the park’s wild spaces from such unprecedented motorized intrusion.

I also ask Alaskans who support our unmatched state park system to speak up in defense of Denali State Park’s wild character and its wild values.

Although the Mat-Su Borough gave unacceptably poor public notice, weather events have pushed the planning commission’s meeting from Jan. 6 to Jan. 20. So there is still time to comment (with the deadline for written comments at noon on Friday, Jan. 17). You can email your comments to Peggy Horton (peggy.horton@matsugove.us) or the Planning Commission (msb.planningcommission@matsugov.us). Or contact the Mat-Su Borough and request information on this proposed development and how to make your voice heard.

You might also contact the director of Alaska State Parks, Ricky Gease (ricky.gease@alaska.gov), and tell him to protect our parks from activities that by their nature would degrade both the wild character of our parks and the experiences of most park visitors.

Anchorage nature writer Bill Sherwonit is the author of more than a dozen books, including “Alaska’s Bears” and “Animal Stories: Encounters with Alaska’s Wildlife.”

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