DNR takes comment on renewing Camp Coogan Bay floathome permit near Sitka

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is taking public comment through Nov. 18 on a request from Kenneth and Monique Wilkinson to renew a five-year permit for their floathome in Camp Coogan Bay near Sitka.

The land use permit would cover year-round moorage of the personal-use floathome, two attached floats and a log breakwater on about 1.38 acres of state-owned tide and submerged lands, according to DNR's public notice. The renewed permit would run from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2031.

The application describes a 100-by-30-foot float, or 3,000 square feet, with 600 square feet of living quarters, plus two smaller floats measuring 18 by 18 feet and 18 by 50 feet. The proposed use also includes intermittent firewood transfer. Under the notice, a rock bolt and a 2,500-pound concrete anchor would secure the breakwater.

This year's public notice lists the breakwater, but the application does not: its floating-breakwater box is unchecked and its drawing shows none. DNR's 2016 notice for the same permit listed three floating docks and no breakwater, and that year's application requested up to 1 acre. The 2016 notice placed Camp Coogan Bay about 5 miles southeast of Sitka.

The current application states that 10 to 15 gallons of gray water go into the bay once a week, while human waste and garbage go to an approved disposal station. It lists the neighboring uplands as U.S. Forest Service land and says the site is reached by boat.

A land use permit is temporary and does not give the holder ownership or any other interest in state land, under DNR's standard permit application. The department's 2002 Northern Southeast Area Plan says floathome permits run five years and may be renewed if the structure still meets the original permit's requirements and any other conditions DNR sets. The notice says DNR may modify the proposed activity during its review and attach conditions, called stipulations, before issuing the renewal.

Written comments are due by 5 pm Nov. 18 to Christi Scott at DNR's Southeast Regional Land Office in Juneau, according to the public notice.