Conservation
Alaska is the largest state in the union. More than two and a half times the size of Texas and larger than the next three largest states combined. At more than 586,000 square miles, it is approximately one fifth the size of the lower 48 states. There are approximately 47,300 miles of coastal shoreline. Based on size alone, Alaska, indeed, lives up to its name: "The Great Land". Of Alaska's more than 365,000,000 acres, over 322,000,000 acres (about 88%) are held in public trust by the Federal Government and the State of Alaska. Alaska is home to over half of parklands, preserves and wildlife refuges in United States. Much of the National Forest lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service are locked away from commercial development by "wilderness" designations, inaccessibility, and exclusions in the Tongass and Chugach National Forest land management plans. Developable lands in Alaska constitute a very small percentage of the state's landmass.
The Chugach region comprises approximately 10 million acres or roughly 2.5% of the state. Within the Chugach Region, Chugach Alaska Corporation is entitled to approximately 378,000 acres of full fee estate and 550,000 of subsurface estate to be managed for economic opportunity and growth for its more than 2000 shareholders.
Chugach Department of Land and Tourism's goal is to benefit our shareholders through sound land management practices, maintain ownership and control of our lands and resources, and preserve our culture and heritage. As stewards of the land and resources, Chugach works to maintain a balance between development and conservation of the area's natural character. In these days of fashionable and popular politics, Chugach relies on science and research to make the best informed decisions on highest and best use of our lands. While Chugach has developed some of its timber and mineral resources, much of Chugach's land remains in a wild and untouched state. Chugach will continue to employ sound land management practices and conservation principles to maintain its lands for subsistence and natural processes while providing economic opportunities for its shareholders. It is fitting that the resources developed in the Chugach region benefit the Chugach people.
Chugach holds title to full fee and subsurface estates within the boundaries of the Chugach National Forest, Kenai Fjords and the Wrangell-St. Elias National Parks. The presence of wild and pristine places in the Chugach region is critical to Chugach shareholders and their heritage, as are areas that remain available for responsible development.
Gravel Sales
Chugach Alaska Corporation (Chugach) holds title to extensive hard rock and gravel deposits in many key locations in South Central Alaska. In recent years, Chugach gravel sales have provided materials for the Seward Highway realignment and maintenance of the Richardson, Edgerton and Copper River Highways. In addition to the highways, material sales have also benefited local communities with projects such as the Power Creek Hydroelectric Project and riverbank reconstruction and stabilization of the Copper River near Cordova. Chugach also provides the rip-rap, rock and gravel for local communities in the Chugach region. Cordova, Tatitlek, Port Graham, English Bay and Chenega have all benefited from Chugach rock and gravel sales.
For More Information on Chugach Alaska Corporation's gravel sales and policies contact:
Chugach Alaska Corporation
Department of Land Resources and Tourism
3800 Centerpoint Drive
Suite 601
Anchorage, AK 99503
Phone: (907) 563-8866
Fax: (907) 561-6961
Easements
The Chugach region extends from the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula easterly to the 141st meridian near Icy Bay. Although the region comprises approximately 10 million acres and nearly 5000 miles of shoreline, about 7.4 million acres are held in public trust by the federal government and an additional 1.5 million acres are held by the State of Alaska. Chugach Alaska Corporation has entitlement to approximately 378,000 acres of full fee estate and 550,000 acres of subsurface estate. Most of Chugach's lands lie along the coast of the Prince William Sound, Gulf of Alaska or along major waterways within the region. While Chugach Alaska does allow access to and across privately owned lands through the permit process, there are reserved easements to allow access to public lands and waterways that have become isolated by private lands.
An easement is a right or interest that permits a person specific limited use of another's land. It is reserved for specific uses and can only be used for the purpose defined. Section 17 (b) of ANCSA established easements for access to public land, across Native Corporation land. In the 1982 Chugach Settlement Agreement with the United States, other easements, referred to as "CNI" easements, were also reserved. Both 17 (b) and CNI easements are reserved for specific uses and in specific locations. Using the easements for anything other than it's reserved purpose is considered trespass. No commercial activity is allowed on the easements without prior approval from Chugach Alaska Corporation. Hunting and fishing are not permitted from or on 17 (b) or CNI easements. Listed below are the most common types of easements encumbering Native lands and a description of the activities allowed on them.
· Site Easement
A site easement is typically one acre in size and can be used for: vehicle parking (e.g., aircraft, boats, all terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, cars, trucks), temporary camping, and loading or unloading. Temporary camping, loading, or unloading shall be limited to 24 hours.
· Trail Easement
Trails are 25 feet in width and uses are: travel by foot, dogsleds, animals, snowmobiles, two and three wheel vehicles, and small all terrain vehicles (less than 3,000 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight).
· Local Road Easement
60 feet in width and uses are: trail uses plus automobiles and trucks.
· Regional Road Easement
100 feet in width and uses are: local road uses.
· Airstrip Site
Aircraft landing plus uses allowed on a one acre site easement.
In the Chugach Region, some site easements and trail easements have been located and marked by the U.S. Forest Service. For further information on the location of marked easements, please contact the U.S. Forest Service. U.S. Forest Service, Region 10,
Chugach National Forest (907) 743-9500
Cordova Ranger District (907) 424-7661
Glacier Ranger District (907) 783-3242
Seward Ranger District (907) 224-3374
For more information about easements and their uses visit the Bureau of Land Management web site at: http://www.ak.blm.gov/sec_17b/index.html
Contact the Lands & Resources Department for a map and easement description of the area of interest. Call 563-8866 or email dphillips@chugach-ak.com.
Minerals
Chugach Alaska Corporation (Chugach) is one of thirteen regional Native Corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. As a result of that legislation, Chugach was able to select its land entitlement from an area of roughly 10 million acres in south-central Alaska, extending 465 miles from the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula to the 141st meridian near the Malaspina Glacier on the Gulf Coast. The Chugach mineral rights entitlement includes about 378,000 acres of full-fee estate and 550,000 acres of subsurface estate.
The Chugach Region was once one of the foremost mining areas of Alaska. Historically gold, chromium, copper and coal have been mined in the Chugach Region, as was the first producing oil wells in Alaska.
Much of Chugach’s land was selected for its mineral values and the Corporation is actively soliciting exploration partners to evaluate and develop mineral prospects within its region.
Chugach Alaska Corporation Goals are to:
Encourage new exploration efforts for minerals in its region.
Support development of hard rock mines in the Chugach Region.
Create workable exploration/mining agreements that provide solid benefits to both parties and create jobs for Chugach shareholders.
Provide support for permitting of access and exploration. This may include logistical support as well as providing access to a comprehensive regional GIS database.
LAND STATUS & ACCESS
A substantial portion of the Chugach Region is included in Chugach National Forest (4.4 million acres) or National and State Parks and Refuges (2.2 million acres). Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and state lands comprise 2.3 million acres. Access is good with some of the most prospective of Chugach’s 928,000 acres of land located at or close to tidewater. Much of the region is easily accessed by boat or by helicopter for the inland tracts. Communities in the region have good infrastructure including airport, railroad, road, and marine highway connections. Some of the tracts have networks of logging roads and mine access trails. Chugach’s tracts on Knight Is., Latouche Is. and near Tatitlek village contain several patented mining claims on abandoned copper mines.
MINING AND EXPLORATION HISTORY
Placer gold was mined as early as 1850 on the Kenai Peninsula and lode gold deposits were developed around the turn of the century in the Chugach Region. Eight areas in the Chugach Mountains have had lode gold production, the majority of which occurred prior to World War II and continued sporadically through the mid 1950’s. Five of these gold mining districts are in the Chugach Region and three are on the Kenai Peninsula adjacent to Chugach land. Districts in the Chugach Region are from west to east as follows: Nuka Bay District; Ailak District, Port Wells District; Valdez District; Central VMS District; Bremner District; McKinley Lake District; Yakutat District
Systematic copper mining in Prince William Sound began when Kennecott developed the Beatson Mine in 1903 and the Ellamar Mine in 1906. Together, they produced over 200 million pounds of copper, 52,000 ounces of gold and 1.7 million ounces of silver. The completion of the Copper River Railroad from McCarthy to Cordova in 1911 and the subsequent shipment of the rich Kennecott Mine copper ores provided a transportation network which contributed to the economic success of the Region's mineral industry. Copper mining in the region ceased in 1930 with the closure of the Beatson Mine.
From 1984 to late 1986, the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a regional resource assessment of Chugach National Forest that clearly delineated the most prospective trends. That study, along with other research, has confirmed the volcanogenic character of Prince William Sound deposits. No major mining companies have conducted systematic regional exploration throughout the Chugach Region.
GEOLOGIC SETTING
The geology of the Gulf of Alaska consists of four fault-bounded terranes that extend from Kodiak Island to Southeast Alaska. They are respectively from west to east and oldest to youngest as follows:
1. The oldest, northern-most unit is the Jura-Cretaceous McHugh Complex that is a chaotically juxtaposed tectonic melange of clastics and volcanics.
2. The Cretaceous Valdez Group flysch sediments and basaltic igneous rocks that occur principally in the Chugach Mountains.
3. The younger Paleocene to Eocene Orca Group flysch sediments and basaltic igneous rocks occur principally in Prince William Sound.
4. The youngest late Cretaceous to Eocene Yakutat terrane clastic-chert-carbonaceous shale marine sediments occurs on the southeast side of the Gulf of Alaska.
Gold Deposits
Lode gold deposits that occur within the Chugach Terrane metamorphosed Valdez Group rocks as gold-quartz veins emplaced along shear zones, faults, and joints. Fracturing is sometimes pronounced and individual fissures can be traced for long distances (¼ mile plus) where vein matter is sometimes absent then reappears further along the shear zone. Most of the veins are narrow (few exceed 2-3 feet) but larger veins and disseminated mineralized zones can occur at contacts with intrusions.
Placer gold deposits derived from erosion of vein lode deposits occur throughout the Chugach Terrane. Several active placer gold mines are present in the Chugach Terrane on the Kenai Peninsula. Other, more remote placers documented elsewhere in the Chugach Region are inactive at this time. The eastern Gulf of Alaska beach deposits are also derived from erosion of the Chugach Terrane combined with reworking of recent glacial deposits. These deposits for the most part occur on the inter-tidal lands owned by the State of Alaska. However, inland paleobeach placers created by marine transgressions and regressions could occur on Chugach lands.
Copper Deposits
Over 300 base-metal occurrences, many of which have volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) affinities, have been documented in the Chugach Region. The majority of these occur in three distinct mineralized trends that are spatially and genetically related to three volcanic belts in the Prince William Terrane. The Prince William Sound VMS deposits are classic Fe-Cu-Zn systems with local significant precious metals dominated by pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite. They contain minor phases of cubanite, arsenopyrite, tetrahedrite, and secondary marcasite. Alteration consists of quartz, chlorite, sericite, talc and calcite. Primary sedimentary features are ubiquitous within the deposits and well preserved in the massive sulfides. Fluid inclusions, stable isotopes, and whole-rock data further indicate that these deposits are sea-floor volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits that formed in both sediment starved (Cyprus type) and sediment rich (Besshi type) mid-ocean ridge settings.
All of the early exploration (1890's - 1930's) focused on copper deposits. Potentially valuable zinc deposits were essentially ignored because of metallurgical problems. Some of the documented showings have zinc values in excess of 20%. Additionally many of the prospects have reported high precious metal values, which are common in some high-grade Besshi and Cyprus-type deposits elsewhere in the world. The lack of systematic district-wide exploration programs utilizing modern geophysical and lithogeochemical techniques makes the Prince William Sound district one of the most under-explored VMS districts in North America.
Other Minerals
Chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), tin (Sn), tungsten (W) antimony (Sb), silver (Ag), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb) all occur in the Chugach Region. Co, Ni, Sn, Pb, and Zn typically occur as minor components of copper deposits while Ag, Sb, Pb and Zn are common in gold veins. Chromium and manganese occur in discrete deposit types. Polymetallic veins in the Miners/Columbia Bay area as well as Mo, Sn, and W found scattered throughout the region may indicate potential for porphyry Cu/Mo deposits in the region. An active exploration program based upon information already available that utilizes new technology and modern exploration concepts may reveal new economically viable deposits elsewhere in the region.
Prospective Chugach lands for Sedex-Zinc
The Poul Creek Formation has significant, unexplained, highly anomalous zinc, copper, and barium sample values that were found during the 1984 USBM study. The host rocks are highly organic, fine-grained, pyritic clastics deposited in a deep-water anoxic environment along with basaltic sills and dike like intrusions. They were deposited along a subducting spreading ridge feature which could have produced seafloor fumaroles that can form sedimentary exalative (Sedex) zinc deposits. No mining company geologists have followed-up these anomalies.
Chromium Deposits of the southern Kenai Peninsula
Small podiform chromite deposits were mined at Claim Point during World War I. An estimated 2000 tons of reserves remain on patented claims adjacent to Chugach lands. The USBM did a concentrate test in 1983 that showed anomalous values of 1.2 ppm Platinum and 2.5 ppm Palladium in the chromite. Many new logging roads have recently been constructed in the area and have not been explored by geologists.
Manganese Deposits
During a recent evaluation of the strategic and critical minerals in the Chugach National Forest the USBM discovered two manganese deposits of interest. One is a bedded rhodochrosite, pyroxmangite, and magnetite interbedded with chert and calcareous shale that assays up to 37% manganese. The other, nodular masses that assayed from 29 to 35% manganese were found in a rubble area. This occurrence could represent primary sea floor nodules that if preserved in sedimentary beds could be of economic interest.
For more information on Chugach Alaska Corporation's mineral interests contact:
Chugach Alaska Corporation
Department of Land Resources and Tourism
3800 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 601
Phone: (907) 563-8866
Fax: (907) 561-6961
Tourism
"There is one word of advice and caution to be given those intending to visit Alaska…If you are old, go by all means, but if you are young, wait. The scenery of Alaska is much grander than anything else of its kind in the world, and it is not wise to dull one's capacity for enjoyment by seeing the finest first." Henry Gannett, Harriman Alaska Expedition 1899.
Chugach Alaska Corporation (Chugach) is an Alaskan corporation organized pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) as amended by the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act (ANILCA). The mission of the Chugach Alaska Corporation is to benefit our shareholders through sound land management and business ventures, maintain ownership and control of our lands and resources, and preserve our culture and heritage.
Chugach holds full fee title to over 300,000 acres in the Prince William Sound and Gulf Coast regions. Many of the tracts are particularly well suited for tourism development with a combination of tidewater access, level building sites, and magnificent views. With population centers and access points, such as Seward, Whittier, Valdez and Cordova nearby, Chugach's lands are ideally suited for visitation from both tourists to Alaska and resident Alaskans alike. A wide range of recreational activities can be enjoyed from Chugach Lands. Pleasure boating, sightseeing cruises, hiking, kayaking and camping are just a few of the opportunities available. High coastal mountains, tidewater glaciers, cascading waterfalls and a rich diversity of wildlife from puffins to the magnificent Alaskan brown bear can be seen among the islands and mainland of the Chugach Region.
Chugach holds title to approximately 333 acres in Whittier along Passage Canal. With the newly opened access tunnel and the increase in visitors, this could be a very important part of the tourism industry for Alaska. Access to the property is along an existing road from Whittier. Tremendous views of mountains high above Passage Canal are afforded form this unique property. Majestic forests and cascading waterfalls at Second Salmon Creek, combined with an expansive area of flat and gently sloping topography, provide the ideal backdrop for tourism facilities.
Five miles east of Second Salmon Creek, Chugach owns approximately 100 acres at Shotgun Cove. Currently, there is no road access, but the area receives a high rate of boat traffic, from pleasure boaters, sightseeing cruises and kayaking. A road easement exists to the Shotgun Cove property and design work has been completed. Shotgun Cove's water depth is ideal for dock or harbor facilities to compliment shore development. Chugach's property contains approximately 5,000 feet of shoreline in this area.
Other Prince William Sound properties include substantial holdings on Knight Island at Marsha Bay and Bay of Isles, both of which are premier locations for pleasure boaters and cruise destinations alike.
52 miles northeast of Cordova on the Copper River Highway, Chugach owns approximately 580 acres along the banks of the Copper River and Miles Lake. This property, adjacent to the historic Million Dollar Bridge, has incredible views of Childs Glacier, Miles Glacier, and the Chugach Mountains .
Chugach has substantial land holdings and selections along the Copper, Wernicke and Bremner Rivers within and adjacent to the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Currently, Chugach issues permits on a case by case basis for camping and other activities on Chugach lands that individuals and commercial operators wish to utilize. There has been a significant increase in recreational and commercial use of these rivers in recent years and development of facilities along the river could provide services not available at this time.
Chugach owns other lands well suited for tourism development as well in a wide range of recreational opportunity settings. These include lands suitable for remote, wilderness experience lodge and cabin sites, camp sites, Eco-tour operations, heliskiing operators, boat launch facilities, and urban development opportunities.
For more information on Chugach Alaska Corporation's lands and tourism, contact:
Chugach Alaska Corporation
Department of Land Resources and Tourism
3800 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 601
Anchorage, AK 99503
Phone: (907) 563-8866
Fax: (907) 561-6961