The Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) is the state agency that operates Alaska's prisons, community jails, and probation and parole system. It oversees inmate rehabilitation, mental health care, and facility safety at correctional institutions in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Palmer.
Photo: Michael A. Haase ( Michaelh2001 ) via Wikimedia Commons · Photo source · Public domain
doc.alaska.gov ↗Alaska
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State proposes approving revised cleanup plan for old Hiland Mountain prison range
State environmental regulators are proposing to approve a new plan to clean up an old shooting range at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River, after a first round of work last year left lead and bullets behind.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation proposes to approve the revised plan with conditions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has already approved it, and the public can comment through Dec. 4.
The state Department of Corrections ran the range from 1980 to 1998. It had eight firing lanes and a dirt backstop on a little over half an acre.
Crews spent July to September 2025 tearing out the lanes' concrete walkways and target stands and scraping off the top 4 to 18 inches of soil in parts of the range. They didn't finish. Crews ran into numerous bullets, casings and metal scraps and had to change their approach, according to the revised plan.
Metal detector sweeps turned up bullets, shell casings or metal scraps in every part of the range and along its edges, as many as about 300 in a single pass. Soil at the edges held lead at up to 843 milligrams per kilogram, more than four times the EPA's screening level. Tests also found nitroglycerin, an ingredient in gunpowder, and the metal antimony above state cleanup levels.
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by Alaska Newsadded 7mo ago3 min readAbout Alaska Department of Corrections
Photo: Michael A. Haase ( Michaelh2001 ) via Wikimedia Commons · Photo source · Public domain
doc.alaska.gov ↗Alaska
The Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) is the state agency that operates Alaska's prisons and jails and supervises people on probation and parole. It is part of the State of Alaska's executive branch, and its facilities range from Goose Creek Correctional Center in the Mat-Su to jails in Fairbanks, Ketchikan, Nome and Bethel.
The department hires correctional officers, contracts for health and mental health care for people in custody, and sets rules on what prisoners may receive, such as books and packages. Violence inside facilities, escapes and the treatment of detainees in court cases are recurring concerns.
The Alaska Legislature controls its budget, including funding for regional jails, and has studied what drives corrections spending. Court rulings on prisoners' rights, including religious practice, also shape how it operates.