Tips to make winter roads better
To the Editor:
Dear residents of Girdwood. Here are some helpful tips that will make the winter roads better. Please do not park in the street when it is snowing. If you see a snow berm over a culvert it is there for a reason, it helps keep the culvert from freezing, do not remove. If there is thawing going on call 783-8147 and we will take care of it. If you are having a problem with a road culvert call me at 783-8147 to discuss it so I can tell you the 411. If you have any other problems call 783-8147 please do not call the contractor they are just doing what they are told to do. Please remember Girdwood does not have a full time staffed road department like the MOA or State, we operate under a fixed budget and can not do everything that needs to be done right away. Lets all have a safe and happy winter season.
Nicholas Danger
GBOS Roads, Fire and
Facilities Manager
Girdwood
Seward Highway is a dangerous road, slow down and drive with care
To the Editor:
My wife Melanie and I were watching the news about yet another fatal car accident on the Turnagain Arm near Bird. Last week a Girdwood resident Heather Berg was killed in a head-on crash when someone tried to pass her vehicle along this same stretch. As business owners in Hope, we drive to Anchorage once a week to shop for the dinner house, and we are frankly terrified to be out there. As parents and grandparents of kids who live and work in Girdwood, we continue to be alarmed for their safety. As we drove home from Anchorage last week ten separate vehicles passed us before we reached Girdwood although we were traveling at or near the posted speed limit. In the past couple of years this area has been designated a “safety corridor” and double traffic fines have been posted in an unsuccessful effort to slow people down. Just south of Girdwood is one such sign, which is posted on a speed limit sign reading 65 miles per hour. There is just no reason for anyone to drive over 55 mph in the wintertime on this road. The head-on fatalities seem to be predominantly caused by people passing, or by vehicles sliding over into oncoming traffic on slick roads. Ideally, fifty miles of concrete jersey barriers from Potters Marsh to Portage would separate the opposing lanes, preventing all head-on accidents. Failing that, a passing restriction along the entire area should be posted and strictly enforced. What can we do to initiate some public response to this dangerous situation? Who should we contact in an effort to remedy this?
Kent and Melanie Bowman
Bowman’s Bear Creek Lodge
Hope, AK
Hope Mining Company has a long history of responsible mining
To the Editor:
This is in response to the letter that Mr. DeFord submitted to the Turnagain Times in the last issue concerning Hope Mining Company operations along Resurrection Creek.
Hope Mining Company, through its various incantations, has been operating for over a century with deep roots within the mining community in Alaska and especially on the Turnagain Arm. The Mathison Brothers founded the company somewhere between 1895 and 1896, and history is rich with references to development of the Resurrection and Sunrise areas due to the influx of mining back then.
Mr. DeFord’s comments concerning the antiquity of the existing “Mining Act of 1872” and that back then miners weren’t using D9 bulldozers provides an interesting juxtaposition. The mining law has been continuously updated in the last 130 years, and Mr. DeFord and the community might appreciate the fact that Hope Mining Company today is 100 percent compliant with all modern mining laws, in addition to being compliant with the USFS Code of Federal Regulations, Environmental Protection Agency and Fish and Game requirements and the requirements of multitude of other overseeing agencies that ensure that Hope Mining Company Operations are not damaging the environment.
If Hope Mining Company were using the antiquated mining methods that were prevalent in the early days and to which Mr. DeFord refers, hydraulic giants and intense water pressure would be used to destroy everything in the mining path and the resulting effluent would simply run downstream into the inlet further washing away much of everything else along the way. Dynamite and dangerous chemicals were also used back then to achieve mining objectives that were inconsistent with the environment. Instead, Hope Mining Company obtains permits that often take years to approve to very judiciously mine within approved areas, and is bonded to return the mined areas to a natural condition satisfactory to the overseeing agencies when mining is complete.
Hope Mining Company is working in concert with the USFS to accomplish the objective of a restoration corridor through our claims area not because we have to but because we share the same goal as the USFS; joint and beneficial use of Forest Service lands for the benefit of everyone. Readers should also know that the land involved in the proposal that Mr. DeFord takes exception to is land that’s already been mined at the turn of the century and consists mostly of those same tailing piles that were blown asunder in the early days and that will ultimately be under water in the Forest Service’s proposed restoration corridor.
In fact, the efforts of Hope Mining Company in these areas will directly facilitate the corridor placement and reduce the cost to the public through the stockpiling of rocks, gravels and trees for use in developing the riparian areas. The USFS has actually worked closely with HMC to facilitate working through these areas before restoration work begins.
Hope Mining Company encourages anyone, including Mr. DeFord, with concerns about our past and current operations to contact us directly at (907) 274-1906
James Roberts, Operations Manager
Hope Mining Company