WASILLA -- Five appeals have been filed challenging the state decision to move forward with a timber sale off Willow-Fishhook Road near Hatcher Pass.
Those filing appeals include four Susitna Valley residents and the Anchorage-based conservation group Alaska Center for the Environment.
Among their arguments challenging the 4,600-acre sale are that the logging would hurt local tourism-oriented businesses, would generate few jobs and is based on outdated state forestry management plans that do not take into account the rapid population growth in the Valley over the past two decades.
State Division of Forestry Resources program manager Mary Freeman said the state has agreed to consider the appeal.
She had no immediate response to those challenging the sale but said their points will be "carefully considered."
Acting state Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Marty Rutherford, who oversees the Forestry Division, will decide whether to put the sale on hold.
The timber sale is the second in the Valley in recent months to draw objections from area residents.
A parcel off Petersville Road was put up for sale last spring despite objections and failed to attract any bidders.
The current proposed sale would cover about 4,600 acres off Willer-Kash Road and require about 17 miles of new roads, according to state forestry officials.
Logging, however, would occur on only about 1,200 acres with the rest left as buffers for streams, wildlife and roads. Among those on record as opposing the sale are several area residents and community councils in Trapper Creek, Willow and the Y.
Contact Daily News reporter S.J. Komarnitsky at skomarnitsky@adn.com or 352-6714.
