NPS Responds to Road Management Concerns

Back at the end of October, the DCC board sent Denali Superintendent Don Striker a letter outlining concerns about traffic on the park road and Vehicle Management Plan implementation. Some of these concerns were driven by member observations regarding traffic volumes and Tundra Wilderness Tour (TWT) usage on the road. The National Park Service responded after Thanksgiving, and you can read their answers in the attachment. The DCC board had some concerns that were not fully addressed and some follow-up questions that we are still working on. However, to give credit where it is due, we note that NPS took immediate action to work with Joint Venture to provide more balance in marketing on the Reserve Denali website (note the rotating landing page now displays “Denali Transits” first). The NPS response contains specific data about the numbers and ridership of TWTs, and it provides an accounting of total road traffic volume that is comparable to prior years.

The three attachments are the response letter and the NPS 1- and 5-year summaries illustrating how current management is meeting the 1- and 5-year standards from the Vehicle Management Plan. We welcome any thoughts or comments.