DNR gives final approval to vacating two section-line easements near Harding Lake

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources gave final approval, with conditions, to Michael and Sylvia Sampson's petition to vacate, or permanently give up, two 33-foot section-line easements on their lot near Harding Lake. The Final Finding & Decision, issued Monday, confirms a preliminary decision DNR approved Sept. 8.

The easements cover 5,280 square feet of Lot 6, U.S. Survey 3208, a 1.249-acre lot about 4.5 miles southeast of Salcha near the east bank of the lake. The strips run north-south along survey section lines and are public rights of way the state holds under RS 2477. That provision of the Mining Law of 1866 granted rights of way over federal lands. Congress repealed it in 1976, but rights that already existed remain valid, according to a DNR fact sheet.

The Sampsons argued the easements are discontinuous and that Salcha Drive already serves as an established public route. The survey plat notes that section-line easements in neighboring Lots 7 and 9 were vacated earlier. DNR found that Salcha Drive, a variable-width gravel road, gives the public better, continuous access, and said the vacation would consolidate access rights and reduce the state's liability.

As a condition, a 50-foot strip for "roadway and public utility purposes" stays in place. The federal government set it aside when it deeded the lot into private ownership on Oct. 23, 1956.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough and state agencies, including the Alaska departments of Fish and Game and Transportation and Public Facilities, did not object, the preliminary decision says. The public comment period closed Oct. 8.

The Sampsons must file a final plat, a survey map signed by the owners and sealed by a surveyor, within two years.