Unneeded Road Through National Park

Proposal and Savings
Deny funding for the proposed second access road or railroad to Denali National Park and Preserve. Road construction would cost between $87 and $100 million, while the proposed rail line is estimated to cost $136 to $214 million. Both sections of the project would likely be paid entirely with federal funds out of the National Park Service (NPS) budget.

Background
Construction of an 80-mile second access road from Healy, Alaska to the Wonder Lake Area of Denali National Park and Preserve has been intermittently proposed for years by development interests. An amendment in the Fiscal Year 1995 Interior Appropriations bill directed the NPS to study the feasibility of a northern access route into Denali.

Status
While finding such a project technically feasible, the NPS study also detailed its high costs and conflict with park values and management plans. Senator Murkowski’s addition to the Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-first Century (TEA-21) authorized the project and $1.5 million to begin construction of the "North Denali access route" into Denali National Park. Construction could now begin without environmental planning or public consent.

Problems with the project

Taxpayer Concerns
The proposed road is unneeded. The Wonder Lake area is already served by the existing Denali Park road and a bus system. Neither of the two recently completed major development plans for Denali, including one for the south side of the park developed jointly by NPS and the State of Alaska, mention a second northern access route as a priority to improve and expand park access.

Local Community Concerns
Construction and maintenance of the road would divert funds away from other park needs. For the cost of the proposed road, all of the improvements currently recommended in publicly adopted plans for Denali and other national parks in Alaska could be funded. Finally, neither of the two major trade associations which represent the Alaska tourism industry have made the project a priority.

Environmental Concerns
Conservationists argue that the proposed second access route would harm the high-quality wildlife and wilderness that the park was created to protect. Also, the project would likely spur destructive large-scale development on private lands located within park boundaries, near Wonder Lake.

Contacts
Chip Dennerlein or Joan Pascale, National Parks and Conservation Association, (907) 277-6722, jpascale@npca.org; Henry Friedman, Denali Citizens Council, (907) 276-6833.