Alaska News Daily Brief, Sunday, October 18

Alaska News, Sunday, October eighteenth. The years in this morning's brief run from twenty twelve, when a skiff on Seymour Lake last had a registration, to 2094, when a senior housing lease in Chugiak would end. In between sits a Sutton shooting problem the borough raised in twenty seventeen.

0:18Proposed Moose Range rules limit target shooting to areas that don't exist yet

A lot of today's news is about plans that are still on paper. On the Matanuska Valley Moose Range near Sutton, the state wants to limit target shooting on state land to designated shooting areas. Asked where those areas are, the Department of Natural Resources answered Friday in writing: "None have been designated." Under the proposed rules, you could fire a gun on state land there without a permit only while lawfully hunting or trapping, or in one of those areas. Private land would be exempt. Shooting steel targets and burning pallets or old vehicles would also need a permit. People already shoot out there. After the Jonesville coal mine closed, the country around Slipper Lake became an informal spot for shooting, camping and four-wheeling. In twenty seventeen the Mat-Su Borough Assembly backed making it a public use area. It cited a shooting death, several near misses and shots fired at houses. The Legislature created it the next year. For now, the state points to a borough request for up to 210 acres near Slipper Lake to build a shooting range. The borough puts the cost at about seven point five million dollars, built in phases as grants come in. Public comment on that request runs through October 30th. The rules would also hold vehicles to 10 miles an hour from May through September near Slipper and Wishbone lakes. Boat motors over 10 horsepower would be barred on Slipper Lake. The state says the same speed limit has proven effective in reducing conflicts at Man-Made Lake on the Knik River.

1:47Storm could push Juneau and Gustavus creeks back toward flood stage Tuesday

In northern Southeast, another strong storm arrives Monday night, and the weather service in Juneau says creeks that hit or neared flood stage Friday could do so again. Forecasters expect 2 to 4 inches of rain in Juneau and Gustavus, with moderate to heavy rain most of Tuesday. They're warning of fast rises on small creeks and water pooling on roads. On Friday, Montana Creek in the Mendenhall Valley hit 14.74 feet. That's just over flood stage, the point where water runs across the low crossing on Montana Creek Road. It was at least the third time since September the creek has gone over that crossing. In Gustavus, the Salmon River rose past flood stage late Friday morning and dropped back by early afternoon. Jordan Creek runs past Jordan Square in Juneau. If it reaches flood stage, up to a foot of water would cover the parking lots there, and some driveways would be cut off. Yakutat, Sitka, Pelican and Elfin Cove could see 3 to 6 inches, with the most near Yakutat. Hoonah and the rest of Icy Strait could get 2 to 3. The weather service calls those totals uncommon for this time of year but not historically extreme. Forecasters say the numbers will likely shift as the storm gets closer.

3:14Narwhal Exploration seeks state approval to drill up to three wells in West Harrison Bay

Up on the North Slope, an oil company called Narwhal Exploration wants state approval to drill up to 3 exploratory wells this winter in West Harrison Bay. That's in Beaufort Sea waters about 40 miles northwest of Nuiqsut. The wells would be drilled from temporary ice pads, built up until they rest on the seafloor in water up to about 8 feet deep. Camps would be staged in the National Petroleum Reserve. Crews would get in by a sea-ice trail from Oliktok Point and by an ice airstrip. Narwhal plans to build camps in November, finish the pads by mid-December, drill the first well in January and start packing up around mid-May. That's a year later than the company first planned. The federal fisheries agency, NOAA Fisheries, found the company's survey and ice-trail work would have short-term, minor impacts on whales and seals. The Center for Biological Diversity argued the agency underestimated how many animals would be affected. Nuiqsut hunters take seals off the Colville River Delta. The village's whalers hunt near Cross Island, about 85 miles east. Narwhal says the work isn't expected to affect whaling there. The state Division of Oil and Gas is taking written comment on the wells through October 30th. A separate Narwhal request for a five-year permit for off-road travel and ice construction on state land closes the same day.

4:38Alaska proposes first licensing rules for respiratory therapists, with a $350 first-license cost

Quickly, around the state. Alaska is the only state that doesn't license respiratory therapists. That changes under a law taking effect January 1st, twenty twenty-seven, and the state's proposed rules put the first license at three hundred fifty dollars.

4:56Juneau tourism task force prices most of its 41 recommendations ahead of Nov. 5 testimony

In Juneau, the tourism task force has priced most of its 41 recommendations ahead of public testimony on November 5th. A seawalk extension could run up to thirty million dollars. The recommendations are to be finalized November 12th and go to the Juneau Assembly after a December 17th meeting.

5:15Kodiak's proposed path to Bells Flats makes the state's draft plan, with design money only

A proposed 10-mile path from Kodiak toward Bells Flats made it into the state's draft transportation plan. The two point six million dollars attached to it is mostly for design work.

5:26Kodiak's floatplane base needs a new dock, and engineers will offer two ways to build it

At Kodiak's Trident Basin, the dock where every visiting floatplane parks is sinking. Engineers will show the city 2 ways to rebuild it on Wednesday.

5:36Lease extension to 2094 would let Chugiak senior project add rentals open to all ages

In Chugiak, the Anchorage Assembly holds a hearing Tuesday on extending Chugiak Senior Citizens' land lease to 2094 for new apartments. The project's second phase could open units to renters of any age.

5:49State plans to destroy abandoned skiff on Wasilla's Seymour Lake unless its owner claims it

On Wasilla's Seymour Lake, the state plans to destroy a 24-foot skiff whose registration ran out in twenty twelve. The owner can still stop that by claiming the boat and paying the state's bill. If you live along Montana Creek or Jordan Creek, plan around Tuesday. Comments on the Slipper Lake range request and on Narwhal's wells both close October 30th, and Juneau takes tourism testimony November 5th. Elsewhere today: helicopters will keep a remote Unuk River gage running below British Columbia mines, and a Kodiak physician faces federal tax evasion charges. That's all for this edition of the Alaska News daily brief. The full stories are at Alaska News dot com. And that's the way it is, Sunday, October eighteenth, twenty twenty-six.