Sentinel Staff
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on a proposal to construct a dock extending from private property at 725 Alice Loop in Sitka to BLM-managed submerged lands in Middle Channel.
A press release from the BLM states the applicant is a private property owner in Sitka and is seeking a long-term land lease to install a private dock into Middle Channel. The upland lot is on the western side of Alice Island.
The applicant wants to install a 5-foot-wide by 80-foot-long gangway, with a 29-foot-wide by 32-foot-long moorage float, into the channel between his house and the airport runway. It would be attached to two 16-inch diameter steel pipe piles. The dock would be installed after May 1, 2019.
Referred to as “The Atkinson Dock Project,” the area is just east of the Sitka airport runway. The submerged lands around the project area are BLM administrated land.
The BLM 30-day scoping process is intended to solicit public input on relevant issues, potential impacts, and alternatives that the bureau should address in an environmental assessment of the proposal.
“Public comments and concerns will be considered in the development of an NEPA document for the proposal and would be most useful if providing information or concerns specific to the proposed action,” the news release said.
The bureau is to approve, approve with changes, or disapprove the applicant’s application.
Comments will be accepted through April 15. A link to the project proposal and other scoping documents on the BLM ePlanning website can be found at https://www.blm.gov/office/glennallen-field-office.
Comments can be submitted electronically through ePlanning, by email at blm_ak_gfo_general_delivery@blm.gov, or by mail at:
Bureau of Land Management Glennallen Field Office, Attn: Sitka Dock Construction, P.O. Box 147, Glennallen, AK 99588.
(Graphics provided to the Sentinel)
