As communities grow and lands adjacent to our nation’s parks become sought-after as destination properties, traditional points of access to public lands are more frequently blocked by new development. The Conservation Fund is working with its partners to secure the legal and practical access that is vital to keeping our public lands open and available to all Americans.
Chugach State Park is Anchorage’s backyard, and the Rabbit Creek Valley is one the most family-friendly spots in the park. Resolving this conflict is good for everybody.
In Alaska, the Fund is working with a variety of partners to maintain public access to Chugach State Park, the third largest state park in America. In June 2007 The Conservation Fund and The Great Land Trust, in partnership with the Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, announced the completion of a multi-year effort to secure public access to Rabbit Creek Valley within the park.
While Alaska is blessed by an abundance of public land, access to that land is not guaranteed. Chugach State Park, located at the edge of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, has been impacted by the city’s rapid expansion - right up to the park's boundaries. Conflict between public users and private landowners in Rabbit Creek stretching back to the 1980’s had blocked access to one of the park's most inviting alpine valleys for 20 years.
To secure access to the Rabbit Creek Valley, the Fund worked quietly with the various landowners involved over the course of five years. In partnership with the Great Land Trust, Alaska State Parks, the Alaska Legislature, the Rasmuson Foundation, ConocoPhillips, the Fund raised the funds needed to purchase the three properties totaling 320 acres that had prevented park visitors from enjoying the Rabbit Creek Valley for over 20 years.
The partnership completed the purchase of three properties totaling 320 acres that long formed an impediment to legal public access into the Rabbit Creek Valley of Chugach State Park. The properties were turned over to Alaska State Parks, which is establishing a permanent trailhead entrance to Rabbit Creek.
Read the News Release.
Alaska & Hawaii
In order to safeguard this fragile region, The Conservation Fund, working in partnership with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Native corporations, and others launched the Southwest Alaska Salmon Habitat Initiative – a 10-year, multi-million dollar program to protect wild salmon and their habitat.
From government agencies to corporations, from private landowners to land trusts and local communities, the Fund's partners seek our expertise to:
Powered by: Phase2 TechnologyThe Conservation Fund National Office
1655 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1300
Arlington, Virginia 22209-2156
Phone: 703-525-6300
Fax: 703-525-4610
Email: postmaster@conservationfund.org