The state says Girdwood's Moose Meadow trails are trespassing

Four trails that Girdwood residents ski, walk, and bike at Moose Meadow cross onto state airport land — and the state now says using them is trespassing.

The Alaska Department of Transportation laid that out in a June letter as the city reviews Girdwood's new parks plan. Deb's Way, Moose Meadows, Stumpy's Winter Trail, and part of the Upper Iditarod Trail all run across Girdwood Airport property, the department said, with no easement or agreement behind them. It wants them either removed from the plan's maps or labeled as unauthorized, warning that showing them could imply state consent and stir "public expectations for continued access" that might collide with FAA rules and future aviation use.

The timing is awkward. Girdwood residents have been pushing the opposite way — at the plan's first workshop they asked the team to "formalize recreational use on airport land" and add a trail connection there. The Girdwood Board of Supervisors backed the plan 4-0 in April, six weeks before the state's letter landed.

The plan floats a fix: a land swap with the state to convert the disputed ground to park land. But the department attached a big condition — it would only hand over airport land as part of turning the entire Girdwood Airport over to the Municipality of Anchorage. As it stands, the state's objection sits in the record with no reply yet from Girdwood.

The Planning and Zoning Commission takes up the parks plan Aug. 3.