A February 10 Fairbanks Daily News-Miner STORY about the Fairbanks Borough’s Capital Improvement Program has a couple of lines related to trails.
One relates to the Trail-A-Year program and the other relates to a building at Birch Hill Recreation Area.
Read the News-Miner story HERE.
Trail-A-Year Surplus
The biggest mention of trails in the story is this:
The CIP also omits funding the trails improvement program for a year as it has a $1.4 million balance.
That concerned me and made me realize I haven’t seen any projects lately from the “Trail-a-Year” program, as it has been nicknamed. (Its actual name is the “Community Trails Improvement Program.”) That program was set up a few years ago to set aside $350,000 a year for certain borough trail programs. It concerns me for two reasons: 1) money set aside for trails apparently isn’t going to trails, and 2) during times of tight budgets, assembly members sometimes go looking for unspent funds as a way to trim budgets.
I reached out the Fairbanks Borough Trails Coordinator Andrea Jacobs to find out what’s happening to the funds.
Jacobs said the those funds had had a “narrow scope…intended to be used for easement acquisition and associated costs with realignment, etc.” She said that the program has had delays.
However, according to Jacobs, the “scope was edited to include trailhead improvements in this last round, so that should open up the funds to be available for those projects in the coming year.”
Delays in Easement Acquisition
Jacobs’ comment about the easement acquisition reminded me about the compromise that allow Borough Assembly passage of the update of the Fairbanks Comprehensive Recreational Trails Plan in 2023.
A big part of that compromise was to set aside funds so that the borough could buy easements from property owners who have a trail on their property that is included in the trails plan and does not already have a public access easement.
Read a post about the compromise HERE.
But that easement acquisition program has suffered delays, according to Jacobs.
“In the process of developing the easement acquisition program, there have been delays due to concerns regarding commercial use operations. We’re also in the process of inventorying needs and communicating with landowners to line up acquisitions to purchase.”
The concerns about commercial use operations is a recent topic that the borough’s Trails Advisory Commission is currently dealing with. See the “Standards for Use of Commercial Vehicles on Recreational Trails” section in this POST.
Jacobs also pointed out that while $1.4 million might seem like a large sum, it could “go quickly when considering the cost of surveying, realignments, etc.”
Jacobs said the borough is seeking property owners interested in participating in the program.
Access the trails plan HERE.
Birch Hill Recreation Area Multipurpose Building
Another line in the News-Miner story mentions “$500,000 to be earmarked as a match for a multipurpose building at Birch Hill Recreation Area.”
That building is being championed by the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks (NSCF), which is using volunteer professionals and applying for grants to help greatly reduce the cost of the building to borough taxpayers. However, some borough funds are needed for design work, which will then be used by the club to seek grants.
The building will be used to replace the aged Timing Hut and possible one or two more buildings.
See this 2025 NSCF POST explaining more about the building and the effort to seek funds.
Capital Improvements Project List and Trails
Trail projects are mentioned several times in the CIP, but almost all the projects are not scheduled to be funded anytime soon. Those project include the Equinox Trail reroute, and development of plans for Skyline Ridge Park, Isberg Recreation Area, Tanana Lakes Recreation Area and Peede Road Open Space. A couple of things could change that: 1) One or more citizens could make a concerted effort to get one or more project pushed higher on the priority list, or 2) someone could find a funding source, such as a grant, that would pay for most of the project, making it easier for the Borough Assembly to spend local taxpayer funds.
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