State gives final OK to dropping two public easements on a Harding Lake lot

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources on Monday gave final approval to Michael and Sylvia Sampson's request to vacate, or permanently give up, the stretches of two public easements that cross their lot near Harding Lake, about 45 miles south of Fairbanks.

The easements are 33-foot-wide strips along the lines of the federal land survey, known as RS 2477 section-line easements, which the state holds as public rights of way under a 1923 territorial law even where they cross private land. Neither stretch has been built as a road. Together they cover about 5,280 square feet of the Sampsons' 1.25-acre lot, part of it cleared for the driveway to the house there, according to DNR's preliminary decision.

The Sampsons told the state that Salcha Drive, a gravel road along the east edge of their lot, is already the established public route, and that the easements are broken up because stretches on a neighboring lot were vacated earlier. DNR agreed. It found that every lot on the east side of the lake gets its access from Salcha Drive, that aerial photos indicate the public uses the road rather than the easements, and that giving them up would clarify access rights in the area and reduce the state's future liability.

A 50-foot strip along the east side of the lot, set aside for "roadway and public utility purposes" when the federal government deeded the lot into private hands in 1956, stays in place as part of the public's access route.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough and state agencies, including the transportation and fish and game departments, raised no objections, and no one from the public commented before the Oct. 8 deadline, according to the final decision.

The Sampsons must still meet conditions set by the borough and have two years to file a final survey plat with the state.