Gulkana River - Bear Creek Jdnr.alaska.gov/mlw/planning/mgtplans/denali/pdf/Central_Gulkana.pdf · and Bear Creek. There is a large amount of land use activity concentrated within

Management Unit 16

Gulkana River -Bear Creek

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General DescriptionManagement Unit 16 begins about one mile northof Gulkana Village, crosses the Gulkana Riverand extends south 1/2 mile beyond the Bear Creekcrossing. This area offers highly scenic views,which are particularly impressive at the peak ofchanging seasons. The traveler's views areoriented across the lowlands of the Gulkana andCopper Rivers to the Wrangell and Chugach Moun-tains, as well as up and down the Gulkana Riverand Bear Creek.

There is a large amount of land use activityconcentrated within this unit. Recreationalactivities are popular at both the Gulkana River

The Gulkana River crossing offers memorable expan-sive views of the river lowlands and the WrangellMountains beyond.

and Bear Creek. Gulkana Village, a small nativesettlement, is situated about 1/4 mile from thehighway on the northeast bank of the GulkanaRiver. Industrial uses, such as gravel extrac-tion, can be found along the river bottomlands.

The area's scenic and recreational resourcesshould be considered a high priority for reten-tion through visual resource management. Theprimary concerns are related to the intensityand impact of recreational use along the GulkanaRiver and Bear Creek as well as the developmentsand uses at Gulkana Village.

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16 Gulkana River -Bear Creek

Assessment Units R36 — R37

NORTH*012 mi.

KEYT- Turnoutr e c ~ Recreationm ~ Impact MitigationRest- Rest Area

LJJ Federal Land

Private Land

Land Ownership &Management ResponsibilityMost of the land adjacent to the highway is ininterim conveyance to the Gulkana VillageCorporation. Small areas on the northwest cor-ner of the Gulkana River crossing and all landimmediately adjacent to Bear Creek are alreadyin private ownership. DOTPF manages a 300 footright-of-way along the highway within this unit.

Visual ResourceManagement ObjectivesThe management recommendations presented forthis unit focus on the themes of retention,enhancement, impact mitigation, and sensitiveland use and development.

Retention; To retain those scenic elementswhich make this area particularly attractive R63

to recreational users, local residents andother highway travelers. Land Use & Development ( LU )

Enhancement; To enhance the driving and recre-ational experience by providing adequate roadsidefacilities and by instituting view managementpractices.

Impact Mitigation: To reduce the visual impactof existing land uses which detract from thedistinctive visual quality of this area.

Sensitive Land Use and Development: To encourageall development to respond sensitively to thescenic resources within this area.

ManagementRecommendations

Since all of the land within this unit is pri-vately owned and situated close to the existingcommunity of Gulkana Village, there is a greatpotential for future development. It is impor-tant that land uses and development take fulladvantage of the visual absorption capability ofthis land and site landscape alterations appro-priately in order to maintain the area's highscenic quality. Landowners should be encouragedto respond to the considerations outlined undergreenbelts and to the recommended greenbelt widthas a setback for permanent structures.

It is recommended that development take placeeither within the existing village settlementarea or in Management Units 15 or 17 where visualabsorption capabilities are higher and scenicquality is lower.

Greenbelts

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In keeping with the visual resource managementobjectives for this unit, greenbelts can serve asappropriate management tools. However, sincethere are no means to formally designate orimplement greenbelts on private lands, these arerecommendations only. Because of the road's ele-vated position in the landscape, roadside landsare highly visible; therefore a 100 foot green-belt would establish a setback from the road toreduce the magnitude of development visibility.Within this greenbelt, large scale clearingsshould be discouraged and no more than 25% of thevegetation should be removed in any one area.Access roads should follow contours as much aspossible.

Turnouts (T)

Currently, there are no existing roadside turn-outs which take advantage of the scenic view po-tential of this area. Two sites have been iden-tified as potential scenic viewpoints and anotheras a recreational parking area.

T - 1 As the traveler approaches from the north, a sur-prise and spectacular view is opened up at thetop of the hill overlooking the Gulkana River andextending to the Wrangell Mountains. Developmentof a small gravel widening for pulling off theroad is recommended. An existing level area onthe east side of the road could be graded andgraveled, although a turnout on the west sidewould be safer for southbound travellers who aremore likely to use the site. Development on the

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west side, however, will Involve more extensivegrading in the right-of-way. Signing on thehighway is recommended to alert travelers to theturnout location.

T - 2 A small gravel widening at this site would pro-vide northbound travelers with a place to get offthe road and take pictures of the spectacularview across the Copper River lowlands to the

, . . . Wrangell Mountains.

T - 3 This existing paved turnout near Bear Creek hasvery limited scenic views, especially consideringthe potential for views nearby. However, it islocated close enough to Dear Creek that it shouldbe maintained as a recreational use parking area.

Rest Area / Interpretive Sites (Rest)____

The Gulkana River Crossing is an area with signi-ficant scenic resource values and the potentialfor considerable recreational usage. To provideday use facilities and landscape interpretationinformation, a rest area should be developed onthe southeast bank of the river. .,

Rest-1 This site is already disturbed with a largegravel-surfaced clearing extending almost to theriver's edge, which appears to currently be used

' as parking for recreational use. Recommended-i - reclamation and development measures Include the

following: ,-,./. .

• Replant portions of the clearing to break upthe expansiveness and provide trees for windand sun relief.

• Provide picnic facilities and rest rooms, sitedso as to minimize their visibility from theroad.

• Reduce the amount of parking in this clearingand encourage use of the former material sitefor parking, as outlined in Impact Mitigation(M - 2).

• Include an interpretive display with infor-mation regarding the Gulkana and Copper Rivervalleys and Wrangell Mountains, as well as thehistory of Gulkana Village. . • ,-

• Provide information regarding the location ofthe Gulkana Village Campground.

Recreation Sites (Rec)

The following recreation sites are recommended

The Bear Creek and Gulkana River crossings are at-tractive to recreational users and should be de-veloped and maintained to promote this use whileretaining the area's scenic qualities. R65

for attention:

Rec-l Bear Creek. At present, there Is very little dis-turbance from recreational fishing use at BearCreek. This undisturbed character should beretained. Roadside parking should be restrictedto the existing nearby turnout as outlined underTurnouts (T-3).

Rec-2 Gulkana Village Campground. The campground whichis managed by Gulkana Village, is located on thenorthwest bank of the Gulkana River Immediatelyadjacent to the highway. The site's exposure tothe highway could be reduced by increasing thedensity of vegetation in the right-of-way betweenthe campground and the road. Signing should beprovided on the highway for this site, alertingcampers to its location.

Gulkana VillageThis native settlement is located on the north-east bank of the Gulkana River about 1/2 milefrom the highway. Distant views of the villagefrom the highway could be enhanced by carefullandscape management in the large clearing be-tween the highway and the village. Approximately1/4 acre of this clearing could be established asan entry way landscaped with natural planting—trees, shrubs, wildflowers. This would provide astrong element of foreground interest framing theviews of the village as well as reducing thevisual impact of the clearing.

Impact Mitigation (M) / Reclamation (R) Right-of-Way Management

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The gravel extraction sites which are locatednear the Gulkana River crossing have a negativevisual impact on this scenic area. Two sites,one on either side of the road, are verydistracting due to their high contrast, largescale and the duration of views from andproximity to a high use area. The followingmeasures are recommended for reducing some of theimpacts.

M — 1 Westside. Provide a dense vegetation screenwithin the right-of-way to reduce the visibilityof this site from the riverbanks.

M - 2 Eastslde. Regrade this former material site anddevelop It as the main parking area for the dayuse facilities and rest area proposed on thesoutheast bank of the Gulkana River. Inaddition, a dense vegetation screen should beprovided within the right-of-way to reduce visi-bility from the highway.

The exposed soil and the sharp color, line andform contrasts of the cut banks and fill slopesin the right-of-way create a strong, negativevisual impression. The cut banks could be madeto conform to the natural character of the sur-roundings by regrading them to reflect the shapeand contours of the banks along the GulkanaRiver. The visual Impact could also be signifi-cantly and positively improved if low growingshrubs and flowering plants, such as vetch orlupine were established on the cut banks andtaller brush, alder or willow was established onthe fill slopes. Encouraging revegetation mayrequire reducing the roadcut slope or terracing.

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