Interpretive Plan Underway for Parks Highway
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation have begun the process of creating a master interpretive plan for the Parks Highway Scenic Byway. The master interpretive plan will establish a separate set of goals and objectives specific to interpretation that compliment and support the Parks Highway Scenic Byway Corridor Partnership Plan which was completed in 2008.
Public meetings were held in several communities along the byway in spring of 2011 to gather information from community members on the intrinsic qualities along the highway (see May-Jun 2011 edition of DCC News).
The purpose of interpreting the nations’ scenic byways is to create a distinctive collection of American roads, their stories and treasured places. The goal is the establishment and maintenance of interpretive sites and services along the highway.
The Parks Highway Scenic Byway stretches from the Chulitna River Bridge, at Mile 132 to Fairbanks, at Mile 362. In 2009 it was designated a national scenic byway.
If you are interested in participating in this process please contact Emily Lochart, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation at 907-269-8724 or via email: emily.lochart@alaska.gov.
More information on the scenic byway program and the Parks Highway Scenic Byway Corridor Partnership Plan is available on the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities website: http://www.dot.state.ak.us. Click on highways. You may also contact DCC’s community organizer for information on the byway via email at: julia@denalicitizens.org.
