Alaska Bill Could Allow Coop Activity in Protected Area
A bill moving through Alaska’s legislature would eliminate wilderness restrictions in a portion of a Bristol Bay region state park to allow a utility to study a hydroelectric project on a lake where development now is banned. So far, in observance of a 10-year-old management plan approved by local residents, state park officials have refused to allow Nuvista Light & Electric Cooperative to fly helicopters into the area and conduct drilling and seismic work under a $10 million legislative grant approved in 2011. Senate Bill 32, sponsored by Republican Sen. Lesil McGuire, would reverse that ruling. Click here to read more.