Renovation and enhancements being considered at Lena Beach, West Glacier, and Treadwell Ditch
Juneau, Alaska–The Juneau Ranger District is beginning environmental analyses of adjustments and improvements to three recreation areas and wants the public’s input on the proposed adjustments. The three proposals, Lena Beach Recreation
Area Renovation, West Glacier Spur Road Area Enhancements, and Treadwell Ditch Trail Bridge Construction, are all intended to improve recreation conditions, and safety at popular Juneau recreation sites. The public, organizations, and government agencies are
encouraged to get involved in these analyses by reviewing the proposals and by identifying the items to be considered, potential project design additions or alternatives, and the potential impacts of these projects.
The public is invited to learn about and provide input on these proposals at an open house on March 10, 2014, from 5:30–7:30 p.m. at the Juneau Ranger District Office, 8510 Mendenhall Loop Road. At 5:30 and 6:30, the District will provide
a brief presentation describing the current conditions and proposals at these sites. The remainder of the meeting time is available for questions and answers and for participants to write or drop off specific comments at the meeting. At Lena Beach, the District proposes road and recreation improvements to address concerns and improve the site. The proposal includes paving the road through the recreation area, changing the road to a one-way road, adding parking, and
adding gates. To improve recreation opportunities, the district proposes to reconstruct five shelters, replace the existing trails to shelters with accessible trails, replace outhouses, and add other recreation amenities. As part of shelter replacement, the
District proposes to make one shelter a large, more developed fee shelter available for reservations during the summer. The District is also proposing actions to improve fish passage on “Picnic Creek” within the recreation site. At West Glacier Spur Road, the District wants to improve the site and safety. The District proposes to add parking, install a gate, build a 0.4 mile non-motorized trail parallel to the road to separate traffic, construct a spur trail to
the lake, install a six-hole vault outhouse to serve heavy summer use, and install signs. The District proposes to improve the Treadwell Ditch Trail by building stream crossing structures such as bridges, culverts, and shallow water fords at 38 crossings. The District also proposes constructing a total of 0.4 miles of trail
that will replace areas of muddy or failed trail and will reroute the trail to avoid difficult or numerous stream crossings.
The District hopes to begin construction on these projects in the summer of 2015. Juneau’s new District Ranger, Brad Orr, will be the responsible official. Information about the projects is available at each project’s website: Lena Beach: http://go.usa.gov/Bdyd (case sensitive) West Glacier: http://go.usa.gov/BdV3 (case sensitive) Treadwell Ditch: http://go.usa.gov/BVsQ (case sensitive) Those wishing to be on the mailing list for any of the projects are encouraged sign up for the project’s email list by visiting each individual website and clicking
the “Subscribe to Email Updates” link (or for Treadwell, by contacting
mputz@xxxxxxxxx). For more information or to get on the hard copy mailing list, contact Ed Grossman, 907-789-6237. Comments about the project should be sent to Ed Grossman at Juneau Ranger District, 8510 Mendenhall Loop Road, Juneau, AK 99801 or emailed
to comments-alaska-tongass-juneau@xxxxxxxxx (please put “Lena Beach,” “W. Glacier,” or “Treadwell” in the subject line). Comments should be written and include specific reasons for comments and
explain reasons for concerns. Comments should be sent by April 18, 2014, in order to be fully considered in the analysis and eligible for participating in objections. -end- This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately. |
