In May the Interior Trails Preservation Coalition quietly dissolved.
While it had accomplished a lot since it was formed in 2002, the group had been mostly inactive in recent years. When it folded, the group was still monitoring a trail-access issue regarding the Equinox Marathon trail on Ester Dome. Some members of the group, including its most recent president, Stan Justice, are still monitoring that issue. More on that at the end of the story.
Though the group has folded, trails are still represented in Interior Alaska. In 2018, the Interior Alaska Trails and Parks Foundation (IATPF) formed “to develop, maintain and promote a year-round trails and parks system for the greater Fairbanks area and beyond.” Justice has formed another group, Fairbanks Trails Inc., that focuses more on trail maintenance, though it will also advocate for trails when appropriate. And the author of this article, Eric Troyer, is still advocating for trails through this blog/website (run with the help of Don Kiely) and his free monthly Interior Alaska Trails Newsletter, which started in 2006.
When the ITPC folded, it had about $7,700 in its bank account. The remaining directors of the group split that money between the IATPF and Fairbanks Trails.
History of Trail Activism
The ITPC was formed in 2003, mainly to get legal protections for the route of the Equinox Marathon but also to protect other trails in the Interior. After many years and involvement of others, much of the route of the Equinox was granted protection. However, critical parts of the trail on Ester Dome are still without legal protection, especially the portion of trail known as the Alder Chute, which runs across land owned by the Alaska Ski Corporation. More on that later.
The ITPC accomplished several other trail projects during it’s time. The group:
- Fought to keep access to a trail on Skyline Ridge between Ridgemont Drive and Rocky Top Avenue that was blocked by a new homeowner. The case went all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court, but the dispute was ultimately decided with an out-of-court settlement that rerouted the trail along a section line between Noel Drive and Crestline Drive. Money from the settlement paid for construction of the trail reroute.
- Constructed a new trail between St. Patrick and Ester Dome roads that allowed for a reroute of a portion of the Equinox Marathon. Most of that portion of the marathon had originally been on a trail, but that trail had no legal protections and when a new landowner didn’t allow access to the race, the race had to be moved to Ester Dome Road.
- Used money from a state “Community Shared Revenue” program to install erosion control features along trail portions of the Equinox Marathon route on Ester Dome.
- Started the process to build an extension of the Farmer Mine Trail to the Tri-Con Mine Road/Trail, including getting permission from the Mental Health Trust, across which most of the route runs. That route would allow year-round continuous public access to portions of the Equinox Marathon route by routing around portions running across Alaska Ski Corp. land. The borough eventually took over the project and is still in negotiations with the MHT. The project is now included in the borough’s Capital Improvement Program, though it is many years out on the plan.
- Proposed other new trails on Ester Dome, including a longer one on the north side from the top of the dome connecting to trails farther down. But the group did not build trails (other than the Equinox reroute) due to a variety of issues including opposition from nearby homeowners, opposition from landowners, and poor soils for building trails.
- Commented on many trail-advocacy issues.
Protecting the Equinox Marathon Route
The longest-running issue the group dealt with was access to the Equinox Marathon Trail. The trail, which is really a collection of many trails along the marathon route, crosses land atop Ester Dome owned by the Alaska Ski Corp (ASC). ITPC and several others, including Equinox Marathon organizer Running Club North (RCN), have made many unsuccessful attempts to gain legal access from ASC for public access to those trails. ASC has allowed the marathon to use the trails on its property, though it has required several reroutes. It has also allowed for some RCN training events to use the trails, but the ASC has never allowed year-round public access.
A section line parallels the Alder Chute but about a quarter mile to the west. Many – but not all – section lines have public use easements. One of the last acts of the ITPC was to ask for a ruling from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources that the section line has a public use easement. The DNR investigated the situation and agreed with the ITPC that a public easement exists along the section line. That decision has been appealed. For now, the government ruling stands that the section line has a public use easement.
The ITPC had the section line surveyed. A switchback trail down that section line was brushed out in 2020, and people have been using it since then. That trail then connects to the upper end of the Farmer Mine Trail. A little farther downhill, the Farmer Mine Trail connects to the Alder Chute and the traditional Equinox Marathon route. A description of that route can be found HERE.
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