DNR to Continue Susitna Recreation Rivers Plan

The Susitna Basin Recreation Rivers Advisory Board will no longer exist on July first. Commercial and sport fishers, conservation experts, miners, and other recreational users were all working with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, to draft an updated Plan.

When the legislature failed to override the Governor’s executive order to eliminate the Board, legislators focused on the Board’s impacts on development. However, the DNR says the Board’s work duplicated existing government efforts. It is unclear why the Governor targeted the Board or its current planning efforts. The Plan does not call out any specific projects in any areas, but does provide strategies to evaluate future projects.

The DNR Division of Mining, Land, and Water will now take on that role. DNR Communications Director Lorraine Henry says they will continue to work with specialists and provide additional opportunities for public input. 

Henry says that the current revision to the Plan will continue to require public notice, public comment periods, and meetings in the affected communities. The first public comment period was early January through early March. 

After July, the advisory board will no longer meet and board members will need to offer comments as members of the public. Henry says this removes overlap with work DNR is already doing and creates more efficient government processes. DNR’s Division of Mining, Land, and Water will also be responsible for developing any future recreation management plans.

The Board will still meet April 10th and their work is expected to be finished by July. The draft management plan is expected to be finalized sometime in 2024.