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Post by NorthWes on May 6, 2008 20:29:38 GMT -9
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Campbell Tract and Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) Far North Bicentennial Park (FNBP) Land Use changes affecting Geocaching Caches are allowed throughout Campbell Tract/Far North Bicentennial Park EXCEPT within 150 feet of a waterway. A streamside exclusion zone (for geocaches and all other user groups) has been created to protect sensitive streamside vegetation, stream banks, and bear feeding areas, as well as to reduce the possibility of inadvertent bear/human encounters along these streams. A smaller exclusion zone of 50 feet around existing BLM buildings, operational areas, and the active runway (as shown on the map referenced below) within the BLM Campbell Tract has also been created to ensure geocaches don’t conflict with active BLM operations. Both the MOA Parks and BLM Campbell Tract land managers are overall delighted with the care geocachers have exercised in pursuing their sport across these public lands. In particular, the CITO ethic and attention to trail stewardship and ‘Leave No Trace’ behaviors has given geocaching a very positive reputation. Recent studies (see Anchorage Daily News article) have highlighted the need for land managers to make immediate and prudent choices in protecting known salmon and bear critical habitat, and to do their best to reduce the opportunity for chance encounters with bears in their high-use corridors (the streams). Our willingness to assist with this effort in putting those small areas off-limits to cache placements has reinforced the land managers’ perception that geocachers have good land stewardship practices. Download this Map (pdf, 317KB) for the exclusion zones. Caches currently within the exclusion zone as of April 23, 2008, must be archived and removed or moved outside the exclusion zone by May 17, 2008. Geocaching.com guidelines allow cachers to move their caches up to 0.1 mile (528 feet) without involvement of a geocaching.com administrator, as long as the new location remains at least 0.1 mile from the nearest adjacent cache. Be sure to update your cache changes on the geocaching.com listing! You can update your coordinates by visiting the affected cache page, clicking on “log your visit,” choosing “Update Coordinates” from the pulldown menu, clicking “add a waypoint to the log,” entering a comment, and clicking “Submit log entry.” If you tried moving your cache more than 528 feet, you will get a “coordinate error” in red next to the add a waypoint check box. If you choose to move your cache more than 528 feet, you’ll need to contact the Alaskan administrator, erik88l-r, through his geocaching.com account. Below is a list of caches which need action, based on their current location. A separate email has been sent to the owner of each cache detailing this request. We’ve committed to have all the affected caches either relocated or archived on the geocaching.com website by May 17th. Please don’t remove a cache unless you’re its owner, or you’ve received the owner’s permission to act on their behalf! If you need assistance relocating or removing your cache post a reply in this thread or email NorthWes ( northwest@geocachealaska.org) or Ladybug Kids ( ladybugs@geocachealaska.org) and one of us will help as necessary. Note that the below list represents less than 15% of the total caches in the Campbell Tract and Far North Bicentennial Park. If you have any questions regarding this policy, its interpretation or its application to a particular cache (whether it’s listed here or not) or what’s shown on the map, please email Wes Skinner directly at: northwes@geocachealaska.org. Thanks for your help in keeping our relationship with land managers on BLM and MOA Park lands positive!GCWMJ6, The Forest Speaks, by herk_cachers & Mini-Herk GCHP0P, Chip Monk Shrine, by Davder & Guper Seekie GCWY3M, Fourth of July 2006 Cache, by fassal GCKRX8, Ives Got It, by AKbike&sk GC18EZ7, Thin Ice?, by OMGCrew GC1127G, Oleruns VERY BIG Cache, by oleruns GC109YK, NorthWes Ice-Fishing for a Bison, by oleruns GC1ANRK, Duck Crossing, by Tinman4X GC16WDR, Metamorphosis, by omonra GC11KWC, Oleruns Has Me In The Middle of Nowhere Again, by Iclight38
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Post by omgcrew on May 6, 2008 21:28:18 GMT -9
GC18EZ7, Thin Ice?, by OMGCrew
This one has been archived. I will remove the container when the impact/danger season is over.
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Post by oleruns on May 6, 2008 21:34:23 GMT -9
I have archived mine that are on the list plus one other one that is in a very big bear area they missed... TB's Near the creek. I will pack the containers out as soon as I am able, maybe a month or so.
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Post by ladybugkids on May 6, 2008 21:59:48 GMT -9
To reiterate one of the points in NorthWes' post...people don't have to kill off their caches through archiving. There's enough room out there for most folks to be able to move their caches 150' to clear the exclusion zone.
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Post by omgcrew on May 7, 2008 7:12:16 GMT -9
I just hope these guys don't foward their findings to the folks at Chugach State Park. I heard a rumor that there are creeks and bears there too. ;D
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Post by Forum Admin on May 7, 2008 8:26:49 GMT -9
To reiterate one of the points in NorthWes' post...people don't have to kill off their caches through archiving. There's enough room out there for most folks to be able to move their caches 150' to clear the exclusion zone. And we would be happy to move any caches where the owner is unable to.
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Post by NorthWes on May 7, 2008 9:46:56 GMT -9
I just hope these guys don't foward their findings to the folks at Chugach State Park. I heard a rumor that there are creeks and bears there too. ;D While I understand the humor of OMG's reply, the very real issue is ensuring existing user groups are able to continue using the recreation lands in both the Campbell Tract and the Far North Bicentennial Park with as little restriction as possible, while first and foremost meeting the very real needs for streamside habitat protection, all while avoiding any use of the word 'wilderness' in land designation. In the areas we're talking about now, if the land gets any kind of 'wilderness' designation (such as 'wilderness study area' - like in most of Western Prince Wm Sound's Chugach Nat'l Forest that was impacted by Exxon Valdez), geocaching will not be allowed at all. The 'streamside exclusion zone' neatly meets the habitat management needs while allowing recreation to continue elsewhere on the parkland. By the way, Chugach State Park already has a large area defined as 'wilderness'... mostly east of the area we habitually place caches in, so let's not even laugh about that possibility! Besides - Chugach State Park sits in on all land use decisions on the Campbell Tract and the FNBP areas - the interagency cooperative agreement requires it - and their rangers have expressed their pleasure at seeing a user group (geocachers) being so cooperative in molding a quick and easy solution to what could be a very thorny issue. We're getting off pretty light in terms of areas restricted, and in the bigger picture should view this as a victory - at last, we have a map of areas where geocaching is expressly encouraged!One final note - land managers at BLM, MOA Parks, and the Chugach State Park are watching our reaction on these forum threads... so remember to express your views in manner best benefitting our 'game'. BLM has invested considerable agency resource in setting up the map and reviewing options with other involved agencies & coordinators from GeocacheAlaska - it's been a very resource-intensive (time!) project for all parties involved, and it's good to remember the agency folks are doing their very best to keep it possible for us to geocache in the areas under their stewardship!
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mtboy
Silver Cacher
Posts: 139
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Post by mtboy on May 12, 2008 17:53:50 GMT -9
I am going to assist Herk with the forest speaks since he is in Florida enjoying the sunshine.
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Post by erik88lr on May 15, 2008 18:18:29 GMT -9
I've been trying to be cognizant of the areas being discussed, in terms of not publishing caches located in an area we're requested to not hide caches in. However, if you see that I've missed one please let me know ASAP so I can retract the listing and ask the cache owner to find another spot. If we don't police our sport someone else will do it for us. erik - volunteer cache reviewer
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Post by li1gray on May 16, 2008 15:43:19 GMT -9
NorthWes, Been very busy at work lately and was really unaware of the issue with the caches in Campbell tract area until I heard about it at the Event cache, My question is does this affect the caches across the road of Elmore? Are they in the exclusion zone? I know for sure the Torturous Slog's Final would be in the 150 ft zone? The map started across the road but then stopped so not sure if they manage that over to the dog trails?
Being that it is a night cache I am sure not too many people will venture out for it this summer with the lack of night, but just the same we could move it I am sure.
Best to drop me an e-mail as I am teaching class this weekend on Elmendorf (basic GPS and Geocaching) We hide a few on the base for the class kinda fun as I've seen some new cachers that I know that have been thru the class and have enjoyed it, and are now invovled in the game/sport!
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Post by NorthWes on Jun 29, 2008 8:05:09 GMT -9
In an unfortunate vindication of why BLM and city park Land Managers wanted us to keep away from the streams because of the 'bear conflict' portion of their concerns, a young woman was mauled during an all-night bike race this morning in Far North Bicentennial Park. The mauling occurred on Rovers Run Trail, just downstream from its intersection with the South Gasline Trail, according to early reports posted on the Anchorage Daily News website. Rovers Run Trail roughly parallels Campbell Creek along its SW side from the base of the mountainside downstream to the east end of the airstrip. In light of concerns raised at user group meetings regarding the high number of brown bears now known (by definitive area study) to congregate along the streams in this fabulously wild area of city/state/federal parkland, I must agree with the comment made by Rick Sinnott in the online article. He questioned the wisdom of bicyclists riding all night through bear territory. "A midnight race along a salmon stream is probably a pretty bad idea when the salmon are there," he said. I'm disappointed other user groups of the Far North Bicentennial Park / Campbell Tract areas didn't heed the request of land managers to stay away from the streamsides during their activities. Land managers had raised bear conflict concerns during meetings with all user groups of this park area. This unfortunate incident reinforces the bear safety aspect of our decision to cooperate with the land managers in creating an 'exclusion zone' where caches aren't to be placed within 150 of waterways throughout this area. When there's a known high density of bears within a concentrated area, the best action for all parties concerned is to avoid conflict by avoiding the area of highest bear use during the period of its most intense use - the salmon run. Our decision to support the stream exclusion zone was based on common sense in bear country - avoid interaction if at all possible, especially in areas of known high usage where the line of sight is very very short. Making the application of the exclusion zone year-round kept us from trying to decide when bears were actually present, and 'kept the faith' with the streamside vegetation protection portion of the land managers' concerns as well. My prayers are with this young lady for her recovery... A link to the Anchorage Daily News online article: www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/450061.html
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Post by ladybugkids on Jun 29, 2008 9:42:04 GMT -9
I hope for a speedy and complete recovery for the young woman. That's twice in two weeks bears and humans have interacted in that part of the park. The first incident involved a pair of joggers and a bear on the Double Bubble loop. I'm disappointed other user groups of the Far North Bicentennial Park / Campbell Tract areas didn't heed the request of land managers to stay away from the streamsides during their activities. I'd be surprised if the Arctic Bicycle Club (ABC) didn't have a permit for the race. When I was active in the club many years ago, each and every race required a permit from the appropriate jurisdiction(s). Before we climb all over ABC and its riders (like the ADN website bloggers), let's get some facts about whether use of that trail was permitted, and if it was permitted, by which agency. I took a pair of my dogs from Prospect Heights to the Wolverine Peak Trail and up Rusty Point last night. It could have just have easily been me or my dogs getting beat up by a bear up there. Instead, we had two near misses with cow moose and their calves and then Mesa attempted to sample a porcupine. Fortunately, the dogs let me know of the presence of the moose (both standing off to the side of the trail on blind corners), backed off (good dogs!), and gave me a chance to pick an alternate route around the families. The porcupine was chewing on the parking lot outhouse and Mesa came within a whisker of wearing some quills before I saw what was up and called him back.
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Post by oleruns on Jun 29, 2008 13:40:50 GMT -9
Just an FYI on the subject: I ran into a moose kill orienteering on Wednesday night. I was so into looking at the map I walked right up to the ribcage before I could smell it... what a stink! I didn't have my GPS but a coords guess would be:N61 11.034 W149 42.138 of the moose carcus No caches in the area, so don't put one there for a while.
I hope the lady is going to be okay, it could happen to anyone.
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Post by knappling on Jun 30, 2008 7:05:56 GMT -9
I hope people will understand that this race, 24 Hours of Hilltop, is an annual thing and nothing has ever occurred like this during the race. The race is unique in that it goes on for 24 hours and the idea is to do as many laps as possible during this time. The Arctic Bicycle Club should not be held responsible for this incident - many people use these trails frequently, even in the middle of bear season, and this could have easily happened to anyone else in the area. In fact, I am surprised that the bear was surprised because people would have already been biking consistently for several hours down this trail before the incident occurred.
I wish the racer a full and speedy recovery and hope that she comes out of this without serious physical or emotional damage. I think the EMS and emergency rescue crews should be applauded for quickly bringing her to medical attention.
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FLYRFN
Silver Cacher
Posts: 180
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Post by FLYRFN on Jun 30, 2008 14:57:25 GMT -9
Is this the first time it was in Campbell tract??
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Post by NorthWes on Jul 1, 2008 15:58:21 GMT -9
Knappling and LBK have raised very good points - in fact, the race had a permit, there had been quite a bit of traffic across that particular point all night long, and yes - both the racer first-responders and the EMS folks from Anchorage Fire Department did a great job. The injured biker did a terrific job of 'self-rescue' in the aftermath, indicating both good personal fitness (she's one tough young lady...) and an excellent sense of 'what to do next' in a crisis. I'm not sure one in ten folks could've gone through what she experienced and then have the presence of mind to help with their own care immediately afterwards.
My initial post reflected the passionate frustration I felt when I realized that this incident was exactly what 'bear experts' had warned was in the making where such a high density of bears was being overlaid by growing human usage patterns in prime bear habitat. We geocachers heeded the request to give bears a wider berth in their areas of concentration along the streams, but any backcountry traveler knows that one of the hallmarks of an Alaskan hike is the opportunity to encounter wildlife. No one set of rules can protect park users from the inherent hazards to be encountered, but I felt at the time (and still believe) that the 'exclusion zone' we geocachers set up represents both a model cooperative attitude with land managers and a common-sense approach to reducing the possibility of interactions with bears. Continual human intrusion in feeding zones isn't just a chance for a mauling - it's a chance to drive bears out of that habitat, and that's not good in the long run either.
Backcountry travelers should read the available literature at the sites linked-to on this thread and over in the 'Bear Safety' thread. While out hiking, 'model' the reactive behavior you'd employ in a wildlife encounter. Think to yourself as you walk 'what would I do if...' and ponder the course of action you'd take. Rather than a fearful attitude, cultivate a 'prepared' attitude and enjoy Alaska, remembering that final responsibility for your personal safety rests firmly in your own hands.
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Post by oleruns on Jul 1, 2008 17:51:24 GMT -9
Thanks Wes! I don’t know the poor girl or her family but it still hits close to home. I write the insurance for many of the running events and work with race directors to put on events. That could have been our running club just as easily. Sometimes you are forced on to trails that are not your first, second or third choice.
I have made the mistake of reading the forum in the Anchorage Daily News and it hits me in the stomach every time I see comments about the bicycle club and that they should be sued. Or, the posts that say the parents should be charged with neglect. I shudder to think how many people that write that comment have obese children who can’t tie their shoes. I guess the parents rode the trail until just minutes before the mauling and felt it was safe and went home. When they arrived at home they received the horrible phone call. The parents and the club did nothing wrong. I have gone outside to USA Track & Field meetings to learn from other directors, I can tell you horror story after horror story of things that have gone mortally wrong for races and not one has to do with bears or night time (okay, one to do with night time). Heck, one time for our Cross-Country Junior Olympics I had just started a group of 60 7 year-olds down the big field by Kincaid by the scoreboard to run 2 laps around Dark-Alley when a big bull with at 70 inch rack ran right through the middle of them, kids flying everywhere. Thank goodness none of them were hurt but it could have been different.
I love that park at night! How many of the people that post have been there at night? As cachers we have seen those green beady eyes looking back at us in our headlamps and wonder, what the heck is that? Today I had a bald eagle take off not 6 feet from me. I hate to admit, but I took a quick step back and stumbled over a root and spun around. I am sure the eagle was laughing his tail feathers off.
The point of the rant is two things –
One: Is it worth it to volunteer? I guess so; none of those sedentary sue-happy quarterbacks that want to sue would be participating anyway. Plus sue for what? None of the clubs have any real money and if you go after the insurance companies you have a signed waiver and team of lawyers to deal with.
Two: Are these yo-yos going to lock up a park that we enjoy using or place rules that make it inaccessible? Again, some of the coolest things we see are going for night caches or when we screw-up and get out too late without a headlamp…right LBK? Or, Trove Rover…remember the lynx that kept coming at us no matter how much noise we made? We were not even sure what it was it was so dark.
I sure hope the girl is okay!
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mtboy
Silver Cacher
Posts: 139
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Post by mtboy on Jul 1, 2008 18:53:13 GMT -9
I believe that we all take risks every day...we are forced to calculate the risk/ reward in every day decisions. I am disgusted that people are willing to sit back and monday morning quarterback the parents decision to let the girl race. I have met the family, and know several other families that do similar things.
I look at it this way...
The girl had the presence of mind to help with her own rescue. She is an independent, smart, competent, girl. I would be curious to see if the people making those comments would be able to handle themselves half as well. I would guess not. I would love to compare their kids with this girl in fifteen years to see who has been more successful...
Stuff happens. I have personally been in bike races through far more remote terrain that is also prime salmon filled habitat. It isn't a fun place to be sometimes. We choose to live, work, and recreate in Alaska because of the wilderness...it is what it is, honestly, the risk of a bad bear encounter for me is worth the reward of living a life enjoying the wilderness. What is the risk of not parenting your child? What is the risk of turning them loose on the town with a bunch of other kids that don't really have parents invested in their well being? I would make the same decision her parents made 100x over.
@!*#$, we are turning our kids into a bunch of little sissies...I am shocked every day when I take the kids I work with out into the mountains. They can't handle being out in the sun on a seventy degree day let alone manage themselves in the middle of the night after they have been attacked by a bear!
If their parents took half the initiative that the girls parents did the kids i deal with every day probably wouldn't be in a treatment facility to begin with.
I had to rescue some dumb @#$ last weekend in the mountains in colorado. He was 40 years old, wearing cotton clothes, hiking through the snow without a map and without common sense. He got lost, fell 8 to 10 feet, and broke his toe. He yelled help for nearly thirty minutes attracting the attention of about fifty people on the trail. People were going nuts calling 911 and summoning rescue personnel. Granted, he was across the valley on the other side of a large flooding creek...but
A. Nobody actually went to him to figure out what was wrong and provide immediate assistance. Instead they called in BOULDER SEARCH AND RESCUE from fifty miles away.
B. Nothing was really wrong. He was a dumb ^&% that probably didn't have parents that ever taught him anything about the freaking mountains.
I ran down, found him, assessed the situation in about five minutes. Helped him across the creek and back to his car. He was out in less than thirty minutes from when I got there. In fact, he was GONE before the search and rescue showed up...and in spite of me telling him to call the sheriff's office immediately to notify them that he was in fact safe, he did not. They had to sweep through there anyway to ensure he wasn't still there...until they found me, the only person he actually made contact with.
CONCLUSION: PEOPLE ARE STUPID! We need to teach common sense to our kids...and encourage EDUCATED INDEPENDENCE.
I want to give those parents an award for teaching their girl to be competent, brave, and independent in a world where we expect everybody to take care of us. I am sick of this feel good whiny bull crap that we are force fed every day.
The attack is a tragedy. That is all it is. Yes, it was a higher risk situation that in hind sight could have been reduced. However, Rovers run is a known trail that is relatively safe biking wise...if the race director would have put them on a more technical trail and they had somebody break their neck...would there be the same outcry?
Wild animals generally do not like white light or people. They shy from both. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sorry about the rant.
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Post by FrostG1anT on Jul 1, 2008 20:34:40 GMT -9
I couldn't have said it any better, MTboy, oleruns. This is so true. Once we had to actually live to live and now... well, if life happens to you it seems as if we are supposed to sue someone and get something for it because we had our feelings hurt or egos bruised. I am very impressed with this teen-aged girl and am so glad that there are still some people out there who believe in living there life instead of watching it go by on a television screen.
I hate to say it, we live in Alaska. This is the last great place left in God's green earth or at least in the USA where a person can still go and physically, personally scratch an existence together in the wild from nothing and not be marked as a vagrant, a bum, a blight on society. In fact in some rural bush communities (almost anything off the road system) you still get to experience why they call this place the last frontier. It is not as wild and free as it was even 15 years ago, but it is still the WILD, the wilderness, the untamed. We live in a city where it is not uncommon, in fact it usually happens a few times a day where a 1 ton ungulate walks down a major paved roadway stopping traffic (and we think nothing of it) a fox cuts across a city street to get to trees in a city park, a coyote scampers across a runway (even if they are gated) to get across an open field in the shortest route.
The trails around town are wild, whether with four legged or two legged creatures and I personally would rather have a bad encounter with the four legged kind than the two as at least they have reason to be there.
I hope the girl recovers quickly and keeps the strong heart she appears to have. This is a tragic event, but I hate to point out the obvious, these are wild animals in wild lands and we all need to remember the risks we face each time we venture out into the wild. I for one am very blessed to live where I do and will continue to wander the wilderness around this State as it is some of the most incredible, spectacular, lavish settings anyone come dream of having for a backyard. I assume the risk and will carry on.
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Post by NorthWes on Aug 15, 2008 9:47:14 GMT -9
MOA Parks has issued a closure notice for Rovers Run Trail due to 'bear hazards' - as there have been at least four negative encounters along that trail/area with a specific brown bear sow w/cubs (2 of which were serious maulings). Persons found in the Rovers Run Trail 'zone' (between the trail and Campbell Creek, most specifically) will be cited for trespass under Municipal Code. BLM land managers are currently allowing use of all trails on Campbell Tract, but are recommending users avoid all travel near streams (except in major trail corridors such as the access trail/bridge from the parking lot towards the airstrip/Viewpoint Trail.)
Rovers Run Trail's SE terminus is on the Gasline Trail (south of Campbell Creek) at N61 09.050 W149 44.246, and its NW terminus is on the Viewpoint Trail at N61 09.744 W149 45.903. It parallels the south fork of Campbell Creek along the creek's southern side.
While the King Salmon run is declining, a limited run of Silver Salmon is making its way up Campbell Creek and will be spawning in the area alongside Rovers Run Trail - meaning this will continue to be a 'bear smorgasbord' through at least September. Expect the closure to continue through that time period. Caches in this area are to be avoided during the closure!
Excercise 'bear aware' travel throughtout MOA parks, as there have been reliable sightings of black bears within Kincaid and Connors Bog parks, together with the usual sweep of sightings along the entire eastern rim of the city, extending southward along Turnagain Arm. Moose will be moving about more as the fall rut season is fast approaching as well - meaning young bulls will gather in small groups as the rut moves to its peak. Their behavior will be increasing unpredictable and they should be given a wide berth...
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powmia
Silver Cacher
Caches Found/Hidden xxxx/x
Posts: 208
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Post by powmia on Aug 15, 2008 13:26:11 GMT -9
The Albert Loop Trail near the Eagle River Nature Ctr at the end of E.R. Road has also been closed due to bear traffic. This happens each year about this time.
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Post by santabro on Sept 9, 2008 17:44:11 GMT -9
I pat you on the back for your comments MT Boy. My thoughts exactly. I choose to be an Alaskan and hike the trails, but i also choose to use common sense and other protection when i go out, even two blocks from my house there could be a similur incident. I pray that the girl who was mauled will one day get over that experience and pray that it want happen again, but it will because we live in that type of environment. My thoughts on the subject.
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Post by ladybugkids on Oct 13, 2008 19:48:26 GMT -9
This just in...
"Rover’s Run / Mellen’s Way Trail in Far North Bicentennial Park (FNBP) will open to trail use beginning Wednesday, October 15 as recommended by Alaska Fish and Game. Anchorage Parks and Recreation in concert with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will remove closure signs and barricades at the entry points of the trail. Wildlife trail use indicators (tracks and scat) and salmon in the stream counts by Alaska Fish and Game biologists indicated the nearing of the end when many brown bears will be attracted to the South Fork of Campbell Creek upstream of the BLM Airstrip Bridge. These site evaluations led to the recommendation to reopen the popular park trail.
With the opening of Rover’s Run / Mellen’s Way trail, trail users should use safe bear country practices in the park. Bears have not gone into hibernation and may be encountered in the park. Users are encouraged to be bear aware, use the trails with a friend/buddy, follow bear safety practices such as avoid surprising them, make noise, keep on established trails, avoid crowding them by giving them their space, be observant and listen to nature. While none of the trails in FNBP are completely safe from bear encounters, the wider multi-use trails provide improved visibility to the trail users."
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Post by ladybugkids on Mar 30, 2010 6:44:27 GMT -9
Geocachers are encourage to attend this meeting to assure our input about land use in the Campbell tract continues to include geocaching. The BLM Anchorage Field Office will amend the Ring of Fire Resource Management Plan to address the 730-acre Campbell Tract Facility administrative site and Special Recreation Management Area in Anchorage, Alaska. The site is currently managed under the 1988 Management Plan for Public Use and Resource Management on the Bureau of Land Management Campbell Tract Facility. The BLM invites you to participate in the Campbell Tract planning process. Your input will help the BLM develop a plan to guide management of the Campbell Tract Facility for the next 10 years. A 30-day public scoping period begins March 31, 2010 (Note: this event was rescheduled from March 9 to March 31 due to weather conditions). Join us for an open house: March 31, 2010, 6-9 p.m. BLM Campbell Creek Science Center 5600 Science Center Drive (off 68th Avenue and Elmore Road) Comments may be submitted during the open house, by regular mail to the BLM Anchorage Field Office, 4700 BLM Road, Anchorage, AK 99507, or by e-mail to ak_ctf_amend@blm.gov. Comments must be received by April 30, 2010. The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public comment after publication of the draft amendment. For more information about the Campbell Tract amendment, contact Project Lead Jeff Kowalczyk at 907-267-1459 or via e-mail to ak_ctf_amend@blm.gov. View the 1988 Management Plan for Public Use and Resource Management on the Bureau of Land Management Campbell Tract Facility. Learn more about the Campbell Tract administrative site and Special Recreation Management Area.
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Post by NorthWes on Mar 31, 2010 20:59:35 GMT -9
Fellow Geocachers - attached is a PDF of the BLM Campbell Tract's Public Comment Form for filing comments on proposed Amendments to the current Management Plan. Everything about Campbell Tract is open to criticize judiciously, consider thoughtfully, or praise with vigor. It is incumbent upon GeocacheAlaska! to provide comments as a user group - we're currently off the radar as far as the written management plan goes.
I urge you to print the pdf, and make some remarks thanking the BLM Campbell Tract land managers for their kind acceptance of geocaching as an approved land use activity on the Tract. Ask to have the 'new' voice for geocaching activities in Alaska (GeocacheAlaska!) included in writing in the plan as a User Group Representative for recreational use of the Tract. Mention your visits, and how much you've enjoyed some specific aspect of the Tract (wilderness a few steps away from the trailhead, easy access, good parking, well-marked & maintained trails, great opportunities for birding and wildlife viewing, visible and effective safety enhancements such as video cameras at trailheads, an effective management plan for Bear Aware use of the Tract, excellent educational programs hosted by the Campbell Science Center... the list goes on and on!)
I was at the Public Comment Meeting this evening (3-31-10). I made sure to introduce myself as a geocacher-user of the Tract during tonight's meeting. I spoke with the LEO, with Doug Ballou (the land use planner who's enthusiasm for caching led to our initial official user approval on the Tract) and a half-dozen other staff who were all aware of geocaching, who use several geocaches close to the Science Center for training staff and visitors (such as the 'Bear Aware' cache very close to the center - well-stocked monthly by the BLM with swag for students), and who are excited to have a user group who's responsive to Land Mgr directions (aka the Stream setback following bear/human interactions). We have a good reputation, but need to be ON PAPER as interested in the Tract as a whole and not just as a landscape to hide caches on.
BLM's Campbell Tract Staff represent an excellent reference for us to use in opening other well-managed lands to caching. Please support the Tract with positive public comments while identifying yourself as a geocacher, and ask to have GeocacheAlaska listed as a BLM Campbell Tract User Group in the management plan. If we're on paper in their plan, we can use that as an excellent reference tool too.
Print, write, and mail (or drop in person) in the next two weeks. Ten minutes of your time can make a dramatic long-lasting positive impact for geocaching in Alaska.
Thanks!
Wes Skinner Board Member at Large Education Committee Member Advocacy Committee Member
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Post by saidbystacy on Apr 24, 2010 14:40:08 GMT -9
This is just a reminder that the public comment period to submit to the BLM regarding the Campbell Tract is April 30, 2010. If you haven't already, please take a minute to read through the last couple posts by LadybugKids and NorthWes. The post by NorthWes has an electronic version of the comment sheet. Comments may also be e-mailed directly to the BLM at the following address: ak_ctf_amend@blm.govBe counted among other user groups that should be included in the amended management plan! Thank you, Stacy Byas aka SaidbyStacySecretary Advocacy Committee Chair
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