A proposed gravel mine near Kotzebue sits smack in the path of a caribou migration route, say residents worried that the project could disrupt local subsistence hunting.
The plan, by a local construction company, is to pull gravel from roughly 40 acres near Hugo Mountain, about 18 miles northeast of Kotzebue. But more than 120 people have expressed concern in a letter to regulators warning the mine would be in direct opposition to "the traditional and cultural" use of the land.
"With the high price of gas, the lower Noatak River is the area that most of our residents hunt for caribou from mid-August till freeze-up," former Kotzebue Mayor Willie Goodwin wrote in a letter to the state. "The area is also the first rest stop for salmon that migrate up the Noatak to spawn after four or five years in the ocean."
But good gravel that can be crushed and used in the construction of roads, or to build pads for houses, is precious in Kotzebue.
The easy, nearby spots have been mined, forcing builders to look elsewhere, said Toby Drake, who owns Kotzebue-based Drake Construction and is proposing the mine. He's offered to stop gravel excavation when caribou arrive each year.
Rock from the mine would likely be used for projects such as a $30 million effort to rebuild a shore-front avenue that's being eaten away by Kotzebue Sound.
That project, meant to forestall further erosion, needs about 75,000 cubic yards of gravel for the first phase of construction this summer, according to the Northwest Arctic Borough.
a quandary for leaders
The proposed gravel pit would operate from June to September each year and produce 1.6 million cubic yards of gravel over 20 years on land that passed into private ownership through Native allotments. A barge would haul the gravel to Kotzebue, making at least two round-trips every day on the Noatak River, Drake said.
Drake hopes to hear from regulators as early as this month and begin extracting gravel from the new site in time for the summer construction season. The project needs permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state.
It also presents a quandary for local leaders: Do you support a long-term gravel project in an area residents say is used for hunting, fishing and berry picking -- or seek to block a plan that could lower the price of local development?
Ron Hogan owns a cabin about 300 yards from the proposed mine.
"The view is really spectacular," he said. "People set their subsistence nets along the river ... The caribou migrate through that area in August and September."
Hogan said he counted 42 boats full of hunters there over Labor Day weekend. But caribou spook easily he said. A noisy, 24-hour-a-day gravel operation could change their habits.
A public meeting on the project in September drew about 60 people, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps also received a letter from 123 people that said: "While we all recognize the need for gravel sources, we do feel that it is wrong to sacrifice land that is tied to our cultural and subsistence needs in the name of progress."
Along with caribou migration, people said they worried about barge traffic and erosion on the Noatak River, and about industrializing a scenic area with acres of mining activity, said Pat Richardson, spokeswoman for the Corps of Engineers.
There's support for the mine too, she said. "A local source of gravel is an urgent need up there."
Current Kotzebue Mayor Eugene Smith had no comment on the mine, said a family member who answered the phone at his home this week.
While the Northwest Arctic Borough doesn't have an official stance on the project, Borough Mayor Siikauraq Whiting said everyone who has contacted her about the mine is opposed to it.
"We want to make sure that the subsistence areas remain subsistence areas, so that's why it's a real touchy location," she said.
"But at the same time, we can't stop progress."
Drake said people are worried about the size of his barge, but he said the propellers on the tug that pulls it are 20 inches in diameter and likened it to "three regular fishing boats going up the river."
Drake said he knew people who have cabins near the proposed site wouldn't be happy about the mine. He wouldn't either if he were in their shoes, he said.
Still, Drake said, "You get shooed away from somewhere to somewhere else, and it's just going to happen again."
As for the migrating caribou, Drake said he has a potential solution: He could shut the mine down every September -- or earlier -- at the first sign of caribou.
Goodwin -- the former Kotzebue mayor, and chairman of the Kotzebue elders council -- made a similar suggestion in his letter to the state. Maybe the mine could go silent as early as Aug. 15 each year, he said.
"I recognize the need for the gravel for the projects in Kotzebue that would make life easier for us," Goodwin said, "But I also recognize the need for the people who depend on caribou and fish, that they be allowed a reasonable opportunity to get them."
Find Kyle Hopkins online at adn.com/contact/khopkins or call him at 257-4334.
By KYLE HOPKINS
khopkins@adn.com