Longtime Talkeetna resident, Melis Coady, took the helm of The Susitna River Coalition on August 1st. Coady has worked as the Director of the Alaska Avalanche School for past eight years. She describes what skills she learned in that job that she can now bring to her new role.
“What I learned during my time there is how to get diverse stakeholders to all rally around a shared value, and in that case is, Alaskans should be safe on snow.”
Coady says that a combination of previous job experiences and personal lifestyle preferences have helped shape a deep appreciation for Alaska’s wild places.
“I used to work for a long time as a wilderness guide and a climbing guide in the Alaska Range, at the headwaters of the Susitna River. I’ve also worked as a Park Ranger with the National Park Service, and then in my free time I like to go rafting and fishing on the river. I like trail running, berry picking, filling the freezer, those types of things.”
The Susitna River Coalition began as an organization dedicated to gathering and organizing information about the proposed Susitna-Watana Dam Project, so that residents could be fully informed about the proposed project. But the organization has evolved and now also sponsors various community events.
“We have a day of community cleanup where we go up and down the river trail and we clean up trash and waste from a very busy and fun summer here in Talkeetna. We are holding our Wild-Su Feast, where folks bring dishes from ingredients sourced from the Susitna River Basin and share recipes and kind of get together in celebration of the health of our river.”
Right now a big challenge for Coady is a looming deadline of August 23rd for public comments on a proposed project. The project proposes a multi-use road with bridges over the Susitna River and Alexander Creek. However, it would also likely serve as the primary section of the West Susitna Industrial Corridor Project which, thus far, has been controversial. Coady’s first two weeks on the job have been scrambling to get the scoping information out to the public. Her biggest challenge is making sure residents know that they have a limited time to voice their opinions. In addition to visiting the Susitna River Coalition’s website, she says there are a few other ways to become informed.
“You can leave a comment and read some information on the westsuaccess.com site. There’s two public meetings; one is in Anchorage at the Loussac Library on August 14th. They have a formal presentation for part of it and at the end you can have public testimony, and then they’ll have one the very next day at the Wasilla Public Library.”
Overall, Coady said, she’s happy to jump right in, in order to get the word out timely.
“It’s just good to have a lot of people looking at these issues through a lot of lenses, a lot of areas of expertise, and this community involvement and comment periods can elevate issues and help our decision makers and the people who are holding the purse strings make better decisions.”
