Proposed Ahtna land swap would put Cantwell's shooting range on borough land

The ground under Cantwell's shooting range could become Denali Borough land under a swap the borough is discussing with Ahtna, the Alaska Native regional corporation that owns it.

In return, Ahtna would potentially get borough land next to an area where it may develop a resort, Community Development Director Stephanie Ford told the borough's Community and Outdoor Recreation Committee on Wednesday. The swap is only proposed, and Ford said she believes the Assembly would have to approve it. She called it "a great testing the waters situation for potential future projects."

The Denali Sportsmen Association runs the range beside Cantwell's transfer station on land it leases from Ahtna. The borough's mayor has asked the association what it thinks.

Ford said it's one of two potential swaps under consideration, part of broader talks about Ahtna land set aside for community development that has borough facilities on it, including the Cantwell School and the transfer station. Such land could go to the borough and revert to Ahtna if the borough ever abandoned the facility, she said.

Assembly members and planning commissioners have asked about liability insurance for a nonprofit running a range and cleanup of garbage or lead during and at the end of a lease, Ford said. One committee member asked Wednesday why the borough would give up land "in a good spot" for "not an ideal location for a shooting range," next to private land.

The committee is also helping Healy residents look for a range of their own. Healy shooters are likely to lose their informal range at a state gravel pit to road work next summer, Alaska News reported Oct. 13.

Asked whether the Cantwell range causes problems, one member said a resident there wasn't happy that it's as close to his house as it is. But hours are posted, the resident said, and he can call a club contact whose job is to go deal with it.

Before Wednesday's meeting, the committee received eight written comments on the Healy search. Committee Chair Tina Graham said they seemed to stem from a question at an Oct. 13 work session about borough land off Stampede Road, which someone took as a plan and shared with neighbors. No site has been chosen.

"I don't know where in the borough that's close to Healy that we could have a shooting range that won't be heard by somebody," Graham said.