Alaska

For Bosco Olson and his neighbors, all-terrain vehicles are the ride of choice in negotiating the rough, boggy terrain near the village of Hooper Bay on the state’s western coast, where they hunt and fish, dig for clams and gather edible plants and the driftwood they use for fires.

Jessica Marshall

A new study finds that all-terrain vehicles buzzing through the forest in Alaska cut a swath much larger than their tracks when it comes to how much habitat is available to moose.

The findings, which quantify exactly how much moose habitat the roads effectively eliminate, support what others have found for animals like elk, caribou and grizzly bears in other parts of the country and could give managers a tool to regulate the use of such vehicles.

Chris Freiberg

FAIRBANKS — A Fort Yukon man received a mostly suspended sentence Monday for a road rage incident this summer in the Interior village with no paved roads.

Jacob D. Savage, 32, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of fourth-degree assault. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed a felony count of second-degree assault.

Tony Cella

The Alaska Department of Transportation spends between $10,000 and $15,000 in the Kenai and Soldotna area repairing road damage allegedly caused by all-terrain vehicles each year.

"It's a constant battle," said Kenai Peninsula District Superintendent Carl High.

Chris Freiberg

FAIRBANKS — A Fort Yukon man faces a felony assault charge after an apparent road rage incident in the Interior Alaska village where many people get around on its unpaved roads using ATVs and snowmachines.

Jacob D. Savage, 32, has been charged with one count of second-degree assault, a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

I never thought anything like this would happen to someone I know. I am from Texas, and I noticed when I moved here that people don’t make fences to delineate their property lines. I have always thought good boundaries make good relationships — personal boundaries as well as property boundaries.

“Good fences make good neighbors.”

Rindi White

PALMER -- After months of debate, the Mat-Su Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution limiting the Government Peak portion of popular Valley recreation area Hatcher Pass to only non-motorized use.
Before passing that measure, the Assembly voted down a plan to have borough staffers work with state employees and local user groups to establish a winter-only snowmachine corridor through that area.

The issue is whether to open a new area of Hatcher Pass -- an area now used by skiers -- to snowmachines and four-wheelers.

DENALI PARK -- Healy resident Annette M. Keith pleaded guilty in Fairbanks Federal District Court last week to three charges stemming from an illegal moose hunt in Denali National Park and Preserve three years ago.
Magistrate Judge Scott Oravec accepted a plea agreement under which Keith was fined $7,000 -- $2,000 for illegal hunting in the park, $2,000 for off-road vehicle travel and $3,000 for operating a business within the park without a permit.

She was placed on probation for three years, lost her guiding privileges for three years and lost her hunting privileges for two years.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reminds all off-road vehicle enthusiasts that operating a motor vehicle in certain Beluga Lake area wetlands is prohibited. This restriction does not apply to Beluga Lake, but pertains to the wetlands east of the lake.

The Homer Airport Critical Habitat Area encompasses much of the wetland area surrounding Beluga Lake and the Homer Airport (but does not include the lake surface). These wetlands provide important habitat for many species of migratory birds, serve to store and purify runoff from surrounding uplands, and provide a place of refuge for Homer area moose.