The Chilkat Peninsula is home to many residential properties. Right now, residents walk or boat across the bay to access the properties. (Abbey Collins)

A controversial timber sale proposal on the Chilkat Peninsula in Haines will not go forward as originally planned. The University of Alaska will develop the land for residential purposes.

The University offered up 400 acres in a residential area on the Chilkat Peninsula in September.

The proposed sale drew pushback on a few different fronts.

The acreage is in Haines Mud Bay neighborhood, a rural residential zone.

And, some Haines Assembly members argued borough code for that area would not allow for the proposed sale. The assembly even said it would explore its legal options if a timber contract was awarded.

The proposal also drew concerns from members of the community living in the remote part of the borough.  Still, others in the community supported allowing the University to move forward.

The University put the sale forward amid a local conversation about whether to limit resource extraction in Mud Bay.

At a University Board of Regents meeting in September, Chief Lands Officer Christine Klein said that was the reason for the timing.

“The reason we’re bringing this to you now is that there have been increasing efforts to put restrictions on the property and the area in Haines that this land is located at,” Klein said.

But in November, the university said it hadn’t received any bids on the sale. Still, in a statement, it said there was strong interest and UA was entering into negotiations that would “work to address current zoning issues.”

The direction the University is now taking is one that was suggested previously by assembly members. They pointed to the Letnikof Estates subdivision established in the 1990s.

When that was brought up in November, UA Regional Resource Manager Patrick Kelly said the University was in a different situation then.

“It was a way different time,” said Kelly.  “1997 we were flush. We had tons of money. Juneau was giving it out in bushel baskets. There was no want in this state whatsoever. This is different.”

But Kelly said they weren’t ruling it out. And now, that’s the direction the University is taking.

In an email to KHNS, Klein says the University has started developing a residential subdivision plat. She says any resource extraction that happens in the Mud Bay zone while the University develops subdivisions will follow local zoning rules.

Lynn Canal Conservation President Eric Holle, who lives in Mud Bay, says this is a positive and logical decision. Holle had questioned the profitability of timber in the proposed area.

Klein also says UA is working with the Division of Forestry and the Alaska Mental Health Trust to develop a timber project on land outside of Mud Bay. More details on what that would look like were not available at the time of this report.