A map showing UA property bordering and overlapping the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve boundaries near the Tsirku and Klehini Rivers. (CBEP Advisory Council)

At a meeting Thursday, the advisory council for the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve drafted a letter to the University of Alaska regarding its proposed 13,000 acre timber sale. The letter asks the university to not sell timber within the bald eagle preserve and requests future opportunities to comment on the project. 

Because the university purchased land in the Haines Borough long before the bald eagle preserve was established in 1982, the legislature specifically excluded it from the restrictions imposed on other entities.

Now the university has an opportunity to sell timber on land that it owns in and around the preserve. This could pose a threat to eagles in the area that rely on cottonwood trees to build nests and roost next to rivers.

Much of the advisory council’s discussion centered around the ambiguity of the proposed timber sale. Although the university has provided maps of the land it owns in the Haines Borough, it is unclear which sections will ultimately be logged. Haines Borough Assembly member Tom Morphet says that they want to hear the university out, but at this time they can’t support their plan because they don’t know what it is.  

“If they have some plan that they think can preserve the integrity of the preserve, then we should listen to it”

Concerns were raised over not just selling timber within the preserve boundaries, but land directly adjacent to the preserve as well. Andy Hedden, the council’s industry and business advisor, pointed to a portion of land owned by the university that borders and sometimes overlaps the preserve between the Tsirku and the Klehini rivers.

“On the one hand I’m a little uncomfortable telling them what to do with their private property, but on the other hand it is a pretty integral piece to the preserve and I think we would be remiss in not addressing that.”

Concerns also included the fast approaching public comment deadline. Kip Kermoian represents the Upper Lynn Canal Fish and Game Advisory Committee on the council. He wanted to request the opportunity to comment after the deadline on all of the university’s plans for development and disposal in each area they intend to log.

Ben Kirkpatrick, the council’s conservation advisor, responded it’s already apparent that the university will need to receive more comments during the development process because there is no firm plan yet.

 “We’re going to be able to comment whether they have an open period or not. There’s nothing saying we can’t tell them what we think, and they still need permissions from the borough, from parks.”

Before putting the motion to a vote, the council heard public comments from Haines residents Kathleen Menke and Scott Carey. They said the letter should strengthen its language about how critical the preserve is for protecting habitat and reiterate some of the protections within the preserve. Tom Morphet responded that the letter eloquently outlines the council’s concerns about the project.

“The truth is that it’s legal for them to log in the preserve. I don’t disagree with the idea of including a statement or maybe a sentence that the mission of the preserve is to preserve the habitat of these eagles. But I do believe that when we list our concerns, we nail that.”

The final draft of the letter was approved unanimously in a motion by the council.