The University of Alaska hosted its first public meeting Wednesday to discuss the potential sale of 13,000 acres of timber throughout the Haines Borough. Partners from the Division of Forestry, Alaska’s Mental Health Trust, and the U.S. Forest Service were on hand to help explain the nature of the university’s sale.
The University first announced the negotiated sale in March. It aims to harvest 150-million board feet over 10 years and generate $10 million.
This meeting was a chance for Chilkat Valley residents to speak directly with UA. It had originally been organized into two parts. First, there would be an overview by the University and its partner organizations, followed by an informal breakout session where personnel could answer questions in smaller discussion groups.
This format had been contested by the Haines Borough Assembly. The assembly took issue with questions being answered in small groups as opposed to the public at large. At a recent meeting, Assemblyman Tom Morphet stated, “The Haines Borough Assembly will withhold support of this project until the assembly can have an open public meeting and have all its questions answered publicly.”
Wednesday’s meeting in the Chilkat Center started as planned with short presentations in the auditorium from each of the representatives in attendance.
The University of Alaska’s Chief Facilities and Lands officer Christine Klein explained that the university is selling the land because it relies heavily on timber sales to stay afloat.
“Those limited assets, lands and resources, have generated 210 million dollars that make up the University’s entire endowment,” Klein said. “A majority of that has come from timber.”
Chris Maisch from the Division of Forestry, and Wynn Menefee from the Alaska Mental Health Trust explained their organizations’ role in the sale.
Right now, only the University is planning to sell parcels for timber development. However, all of these entities own land in the Haines borough, and they will be coordinating forest management and infrastructure development related to the sale.
Once the opening comments concluded, Haines residents asked that the panel of representatives take questions directly from the audience. The panel agreed to that request before moving to the lobby to answer questions individually.
Haines resident Tim June wanted to know about how the University of Alaska, the Division of Forestry, and the Mental Health Trust will coordinate costs associated with infrastructure across their lands. Maisch responded that they are working out the details and it is still too early to tell.
Concerns were raised about parcels owned by the university that are close to residential areas. The university’s regional resource manager, Patrick Kelly, stated it is still unclear exactly which areas will be logged.
“Yes there are parcels that are close to downtown that are being looked at under this process. Will they be logged? Like it was referred to earlier, this is an iterative process and we’re at the initial stage of looking at it,” Kelly said.
When asked about the type of logging that would take place, Maisch said that it would be a mix of clearcut, shelterwood, and patch cut logging, depending on the size of the unit and the type and quality of the timber.
Others took issue with the public process. Local author and photographer Kathleen Menke believed that the community deserves an environmental impact analysis and more time to learn about the plan.
“What’s being proposed is on a huge scale and we’re being asked to comment on something where we haven’t seen a cost-benefit analysis, not just for your benefit, but our costs. And we need time to talk with our borough assembly and our fishermen,” Menke said.
Maisch responded that while the university is engaging in a conversation with the community, they do not have the same obligation as other public institutions to produce such extensive analysis as an environmental impact statement.
“By law they’re not required to do the same levels of analysis that other public agencies have to do, and that’s because they were set up to monetize the assets they were given for their trusts,” Maisch said. “So that’s why there’s a difference. Now that doesn’t mean you still can’t have a conversation to try to get the best benefit for these types of projects.”
After an hour of questions in the auditorium, the break out sessions began. The public was able to look at maps of the university’s land in Haines and speak with the representatives about their specific concerns.
The University of Alaska is accepting public comments on the sale until May 22nd at 5pm. Comments can be sent to ua-land@alaska.edu.