Assembly Continues Interest in Conservation Easements

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

Two groups are asking the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly to sign a contract which would restrict development and otherwise protect the natural resources on Lesnoi-owned Termination Point and Long Island. The Great Lands Trust came before the borough last fall and at different points over the last year hoping it would accept the conservation easement on the properties, which they identified as valued habitats, and the assembly expressed an interest in potentially holding the easements.

On Thursday night during the assembly’s work session, representatives from the Great Land Trust and the project funder, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, presented on their progress.

Legal Affairs & Land Transactions Director Austin Quinn-Davidson from the Great Land Trust went over a PowerPoint presentation and explained they’ve done a site assessment and are working on a land appraisal and other due diligence.

Lauri Adams with the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council said she’s been helping Lesnoi and the state and federal governments to come up with wording for the conservation easements that meet the EVOS requirements and are also acceptable to Lesnoi.

She addressed a few concerns she’s heard from the community.

“So, the first one obviously is liability. Is the borough taking on anything, new, different, or more risky than other things that it does as a borough? And I think I can answer that one pretty clearly that the answer is no. It’s basically the same as any other undeveloped borough land.”

Adams said another concern she’s heard regards the expense for the borough if it takes on the responsibility of a conservation easement.

“Do you have to do anything if you take these? Do you have to go out and spend some money? And the answer to that is also no. The way these conservation easements are written, they’re written to prohibit certain activities, which are basically development actions, so things can’t be built on it, but there’s not anything that requires that the borough do anything proactive on either of these parcels.”

She said the borough would have the authority to build trails, put signs up, and similar activities, but it would not be a requirement. One detail of the potential agreement that gave the assembly pause was that trapping on the lands would be prohibited, although other forms of hunting would be permitted.

Borough Mayor Jerrol Friend urged the parties to included trapping, saying that it’s been his experience that trapping can sometimes be a useful management tool, “especially with the beaver and some of the land otters and stuff. Populations can boom and actually hurt an area badly.”

Adding that his father made a living hunting and trapping, Friend added, “If you don’t have the capability to manage that off in there, you can actually damage areas a lot more than what you’d think.”

Assemblywoman Rebecca Skinner also spoke in favor of allowing trapping, and Adams said she would take the feedback to the other project partners. The assembly will wait to hear on this and other points of interest before further consideration.

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