Rosie Creek Project Completed to Boost Recreational Use of Roads
Alaska DNR
The Alaska Division of Forestry has completed significant recreational upgrades to the Tanana Valley State Forest’s Rosie Creek forestry road system in a partnership between working forests and recreational use that provides benefits to both, according to division director Helge Eng.
“Alaska is fortunate to have state forests that can both support sustainable timber harvesting and provide unique recreational opportunities,” Eng says. “This Rosie Creek project achieves both purposes, offering recreational users the chance to view sustainable forestry in action, and providing for road maintenance, directional signage, trail maps, parking, a downloadable GPS map, and other recreational improvements.”
Roads in the Rosie Creek Unit were originally built to access the area for forest management, and the division has used them for timber harvest, reforestation, tree planting, and wildland fire protection.
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April 2024
A $100,000 Recreational Trails Program Grant through Alaska State Parks and the Federal Highway Administration, plus a $20,000 match from the Division of Forestry and cooperation from the Interior Alaska Trails and Parks Foundation, paid for the following improvements:
- clearing brush, regrading, and resurfacing the 18-mile system of existing Rosie Creek forestry roads to reduce ruts and erosion
- regrading a portion of a material site at Mile 342.7 on the Parks Highway to provide trailhead parking, and removing junk cars and other garbage
- designing, constructing, and installing a map kiosk near the trailhead to detail the forest road system and explain land ownership and timber management in the working forest
- installing signs to indicate directions to stay on the maintained route
- providing a link to a downloadable GPS map at www.TrailForks.com
While the roads will continue to be used for primarily for forest management, recreational users should remember to yield right of way to forestry vehicles. The improvements will make the road system safer and more attractive for many popular recreational uses, including hiking, trail running, mountain biking, ATV riding, skiing, snowshoeing, E-biking, horseback riding, and snowmachining.
The division plans to offer a timber sale within the Rosie Creek area this fall and anticipates a local operator will harvest the timber to build log cabin kits or other value-added products, Eng says.
“We hope this project demonstrates how recreation and forestry interests can find common ground and achieve common goals to deliver long-term benefits to each,” he says.
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