Aircraft Overflights Advisory Council Meeting in Anchorage

Date: November 24, 2008
Contact: Miriam Valentine, [phone]
Contact: Maureen McLaughlin, [phone]

The fourth meeting of the Denali National Park Aircraft Overflights Advisory Council will take place on Thursday, December 4 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Campbell Creek Science Center located at 5600 Science Center Drive in Anchorage. The meeting is open to the public with time allocated for public testimony. Written comments are also welcome and can be brought to the meeting or mailed to Miriam Valentine, Talkeetna Ranger Station, P.O. Box 588, Talkeetna, AK 99676.

The Denali National Park Aircraft Overflights Advisory Council will advise the Superintendent, through the Secretary of the Interior, on mitigation efforts that should be made to reduce the impacts from aircraft overflights at Denali National Park and Preserve. The group will develop voluntary measures for assuring the safety of passengers, pilots, and mountaineers and for achieving desired future resource conditions at Denali that were outlined in the 2006 Backcountry Management Plan. Council membership contains broad representation of interested stakeholders and has a balance of local, state, and national interests.

During the multi-year planning process to complete the 2006 Denali National Park and Preserve Backcountry Management Plan, the public identified impacts from aircraft overflights and airplane landings as a critical issue. Aircraft are an important means of visitor access to remote areas of the Denali backcountry, but overflights and landings, generally unrestricted by management plans in the past, have resulted in substantial changes in the natural sound environment and generated new conflicts with park users on the ground.

Information on the Advisory Council can be found at https://www.nps.gov/dena/parkmgmt/currentprojects.htm

Information on Denali's 2006 Backcountry Management Plan is located at https://www.nps.gov/dena/parkmgmt/gmp.htm

For additional information on the meeting, please contact Miriam Valentine at [phone] or via email at [e-mail]