Serpentine - new NPS management plan proposals out for comment

Hi All,
FYI the National Park Service is proposing a new management plan for Serpentine in the Bering Land Bridge N.P. They have a document with 4 alternatives out for review. A couple of them include greatly expanding the facilities and even the airstrip to accommodate many more people (which, IMO, would adversely affect the remote experience of the place). I favor alternative A, no change at all. The comment period is 10/15/2012 - 11/30/2012.

If you visit Serpentine (or plan to), you can access the documents and comment here: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=36603.

I to will be commenting and my vote will be for expanding the runway. For those of us that live here and use the strip, it can be down right dangerous at times. Nothing like taking off with a loaded Cessna and clawing your way through the willows at the end of the strip, oh yes I forgot, and trying to avoid the bluff next to the river.

I agree that some improvements would be nice, if money outlay could be kept in check.

Yo

"...if money outlay could be kept in check..."

Within the National Park Service? That's hilarious. I'm sure it will be a fiscally responsible project, and I'm laying the sarcasm on as thick as possible.

I personally like the current runway; although not ideal, Cub type aircraft, C-180's, C-206, etc can operate out of there and the challenges associated with the current runway keep other aircraft traffic to a minimum.

I fear change.

Hi,
I fear the change too!
They destroyed the runway in the past and kept it that way for a long time!!!
And they fixed it only in a half-ass-way and it was thus dangerous for a long time...
They claimed it was an "Archaeological Excavation" and it looked like out of the LUFTWAFFE handbook on how to destroy a runway the Most Effective Way!
That happened in the early 1990-ties? wasn't it then?
If they improve it they will try to get landing fees or that fees for being there...If its big enough for Navajo's then the heavy tourism industry will strike there too and then that's the end of it for all of us!
I did not hear about this new plan and I dont expect any good from the National Park Service: If they upgrade it they will close it for YEARS to do the project !
Keep in mind that there is lots of agenda to regulate airspace over and even around the National Parks: they call it their "Viewscape" and "Soundscape" all this can be very dangerous to our hobby and our ways of making an honest living! It was only by a narrow margin that the laws about that stuff were pushed back a while ago...
Isn't it that Aircraft landings are Illegal everywhere other than Serpentine and one other strip in the entire "Bering Strait National Park" ???
Uploading a Video of Serpentine on my U-Tube channel now!

Look, the NPS probably won't have the money (in real terms) to do this anyway. Obama just declared several new national monuments this week out of thin air, and these are now added to the mix that the NPS will have to administer. Meanwhile the federal budget & debt have gone parabollic while real economic growth is negative, and Bernanke is now monetizing 100% of the deficit in order to cover it (just like Argentina, Zimbabwe, Weimer Germany, and many others have done in the past). And it looks like we are also headed to war with Iran (why Obama was in Israel this week), which would sure be a costly endeaver, likely the costliest ever.

Given this dire situation, I really doubt that this will happen.

As a tourist, and not a resident, I don't feel that I should vote. But, if I was to vote, I'd like to see some money tossed to the bunk house and leave the rest alone.

Back in oh-five, it was sure a welcome site to us after 5-6 days of camping.

http://vimeo.com/23231931

Hi again,
Maybe mainly for those that have not been there yet, I threw these 3 videos about landing and taking off from Serpentine on U-Tube:
http://youtu.be/SZzXTXCTqW4
and
http://youtu.be/dGS0ErnODyo
also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7nVi1CR8dk
Maybe its something for the Video vault but since its on this subject here...Gee the weather was great out there, again!
Regards from Anchorage...