The University of Alaska’s timber sale area on the Chilkat Peninsula. (University of Alaska)
The deadline for bids and public comment on a proposed Haines-area timber sale has been extended.
The University of Alaska is offering up 400 acres of old growth Sitka spruce and western hemlock on the Chilkat Peninsula.
The extension follows the Haines Assembly’s request that the University of Alaska delay the sale until the two parties can meet.
The peninsula is southeast of the Haines townsite, and is home to many residential properties.
Many area residents have spoken out against a large scale timber sale in their neighborhood.
The university originally set the bid and comment deadline for Oct. 23. But Regional Resource Manager Patrick Kelly says it was extended for a couple reasons.
“The first reason was we received requests from potential bidders to extend the RFP,” says Kelly. “And secondly, we received a request from the borough manager to extend the public comment period.”
Kelly declined to talk further about the potential bidders, but said there has been interest in the sale.
The deadline for bids and comments was pushed off about a month, to Nov. 22 at 5 p.m.
Kelly says the university is also working to schedule a meeting with the Haines Borough and the Alaska Mental Health Trust. A date has not yet been set for that meeting.
The university put the land up for sale partly in response to a discussion taking place with the Haines Planning Commission. The commission is considering restrictions on resource extraction in the Mud Bay Rural Residential Zone. Potential restrictions would affect the university and Mental Health Trust, which own large parcels of land in that area.
Comments on the proposed sale can be sent to ua-land@alaska.edu.
