Comments supporting Ship Creek access rights

“Ship Creek is a high quality whitewater run near Anchorage,” said Alaskan kayaker John Schauer. “It is well within the safe capabilities of kayakers and packrafters with skills to run class IV rivers. It should be made accessible to recreational whitewater kayaking and packrafting. Paddling the river, provided that access to portage the dam is allowed, should be permitted along with the other allowed recreational uses of the area.”

With over 200 signatures on the Ship Creek Recreation Access Petition, we’ve got some great early support.

200 Bonny Putney: “Open the run!”

198 Roger Nott: “My request does not take precedence to the vital need to keep this military base secure and reasonably safe for public use. I understand that this whitewater run is only appropriate for advanced boaters and that enhancement of the portage around the dam may be advisable. Thank you for your consideration.”

197 Tom Carvajal: “‘Life, Liberty, and the right to pursue happiness”… not by taking away our rivers.”

192 Scott Dillard: “It is ridiculous that this choice piece of whitewater so close to Anchorage is illegal.”

189 Naira Aslanyan: “Please allow access to this wonderful creek! People from around USA come to kayak the creek and it’s sad that paddlers can no longer access it! Thank you so much for your thoughtful consideration.”

186 Tim Duval: “I respect the needs of the military, but also see the value in having the great natural resources, like this river, open to public use. Thank you.”

178 Zach Tracy: “Rivers and creeks etc shall not be owned to anyone in the world. Nature has its own rules and boundarys. I dont think the military holds any more power than anyone else to take our natural waterways. I think people should be able to access this creek.”

165 Joseph Jenkin: “Cmon… really? were making this a serious issue. is the military running out of things to push their power trip on? maybe they should start helping people instead of just looking for ways to hassle American citizens on our own soil. give me a break! the military should offer a full pardon and apology to Tim Johnson for making this an issue demanding more than a phone call.”

164 Mark Corsentino: “It is my understanding that the Ship Creek dam impoundment is for raw water supply to the Military Water Treatment Plant, and backup to Anchorage’s Ship Creek WTP. Because kayaking is low impact, a portage route around the dam, or taking out and walking up the biathalon road would have no impact to these water treatment facilities. Educational awareness and signs about the need for the dam would be useful for all recreation users to see so they can be cautious and respectful (eg. Eklutna Lake).”

156 Eli Helbert: “I am planning to visit Alaska in June of 2010 and although Ship Creek is not on the agenda for this trip, I strongly feel it should be an option for any citizen that desires to recreate in the outdoors.”

153 David Dill: “Please open river access to recreational boating and decommission the dam as it appears to serve no purpose but to block migrating salmon.”

151 Bill Overington: “Ship Creek is a unique and remarkable whitewater kayak run located minutes from Anchorage. With open dialogue between the whitewater kayaking community and Fort Richardson Base officials I can see no reason to close this recreational opportunity to the public. Please give full consideration to allowing access to the whitewater canyon section of Ship Creek to all future permitted boaters.”

137 Taylor Cavin: “Whitewater kayaking is a low impact activity. Waterways are a public trust. Low impact activities should be allowed within the public trust.”

131 David Howard: “I travel to paddle, and spend money where I paddle and often go back with family for a vacation, too, I support this petition. I have a trip to Anchorage planned for next year and 2 friends in the state as well.”

129 Matt Dalton: “I never paddled Ship Creek. I have boated up in Hatcher Pass, though (Little Susitna). Alaska’s a great place to boat. Responsible boaters should be allowed to access everything the state has to offer. Punish only when necessary.”

124 Benjamin Orkin: “Please continue to allow access! We can’t keep loosing creeks!”

121 Justin Benton: “As an adventure enthusiast (especially kayaking) I’ve been dreaming of taking a trip to Alaska. It is with despair that I have learned of bans on some of the rivers in the AK area.
I am signing this petition to hopefully show my support for free access to our natural resources.
Thank you for your consideration.”

118 Joel Decker: “This boating ban makes no sense.”

115 Kevin Wright: “Let’s get the river open. There is no good reason to limit access above the dam. The community is very willing to work with the military to make this work. Please keep the dialogue open.”

112 Martha Ryan Hern: “I support Ship Creek Recreation Access for a world class kayaking run.”

110 William Zollinger: “See petition text above! Thank you for your support.”

109 Jule Harle: “I’ve kayaked Ship Creek & thought it had excellent whitewater & was one of the most beautiful whitewater rivers in Alaska. The only crime here is making this river inaccessable. I can’t believe Tim is being summoned to court over kayaking this creek! He has been working hard to open this creek for years.”

105 Kelsey Aldrich: “Please open ship creek to paddlers. it’s a winning proposition.”

103 Brian Threlkeld: “The army has the best land in Anchorage…let the public play too…”

102 Mark Oathout: “Thank you.”

100 Andrew Ryan: “I paddled Ship in 2002; a great day of paddling ended with a MP warning.
I haven’t been back since. I would go if it was permissible.”

95 Mark Momberg, Alaska fishing guide and frequent Alaska traveler: “Ship Creek is a wonderful place and a outstanding Alaska resource. Having a useless dam on a river with salmon runs is a tragedy. Until the dam is removed please permit access for whitewater travel through the affected area.”

88 Michael Bell: “Alaska is about access, this local resource should be used responsibly.”

86 David Gronemeier: “I hope to be able to run Ship Creek in the future.”

83 Travis Zuber: “I hereby sign in accordance with the fact that I believe ship creek should be open to recreational users.”
81 Blake McHenry: “This river is the benchmark for an urban sustainable resource. This creek should be open for all to enjoy at all levels as long as there are no detrimental impacts upon it. I don’t think paddling is one of them. thanks.”

78 Henry Munter: “Please allow watersports recreation!”

71 Tyson Peterson: “Ship Creek is a beautiful kayaking run that should not be illegal to kayak.”

69 Steve Staloff: “If the reason for closure is the use of the river for tactical training or other military activities incompatible with other civilian activities, it seems to me that limited closures or closure hours would suffice, in the same way MOAs are used by both the military and civilian aircraft.”

62 Neil Waggoner: “Rivers and creeks should be open for all to enjoy!”

61 JC Goldrup: “Please consider legal access for kayaking.”

58 Galen Johnston: “It is time that we end this pointless boundary scuffle. Kayakers, packrafters, and paddlers of all kinds continue to access the same water that they have for decades. For that to now be persecuted is both pointless and counterproductive. There is no reason that the Army can’t allow at the very least, limited access to Ship Creek. If the creek could be opened certain days, or blocks of time, the army wouldn’t have to worry about training safety and paddlers would be able to legally have fun”

57 Marjorie Richards: “It seems reasonable and beneficial to allow access to this section of Ship Creek .”

56 David W. Hamilton: “Please keep Sheep Creek open for public use.”

55 Jonathan Janoski: “This section of river isn’t truly open to public use. Please allow kayakers to enjoy the river. It is not right to forbid one user group while allowing all others.”

50 Steve Johnson: “I support this petition and can’t believe the military can block access to a waterway for pack rafting/kayaking. Any river or creek needs to be open for this recreational use in Alaska. Pack rafting/kayaking has been established in the Ship Crk. drainage for years.”

49 Tim Johnson: “It’s a shame this creek isn’t legal to paddle. Everyone make sure to STAY OFF this run until some access issues are resolved. This is a very serious offense & I am currently being tried for Federal Criminal Trespass, requiring the hiring of a lawyer. Once again, they are very serious and won’t hesitate to convict you, even if you plan on playing dumb.”

47 Nathan Auck: “I believe in the freedom to recreate in a way that has a low impact on our natural world. I believe that allowing whitewater boating on ship creek embraces principles which are inline with this idea.”

46 Tony Roof: “I think they should have it where you can get a permit to use that part of the creek like they do up by delta junction…”

44 Xavier Engle: “Boaters have a long history of good relations with the military authorities. Not only have we been running Ship for years without incident (until recently), paddlers have also been responsibly paddling the lower stretch of Eagle River through Elmendorf for decades. Seems like a registration system similar to what we use to access Lower Eagle would be effective and relatively easy to set up.”

42 Brad Snow: “How can Alaskans compete with other world-class boaters if they don’t have even the available natural whitewater accessible for them to practice and develop skills. Of course, there is the Turnagain Tidal Bore . . .”

37 Jonathan West: “good luck tim… best wishes!”

36 Bryce Yarbrough: “Please open ship creek up to the boating community. It is not fair to allow access to other users and discriminate against boaters!”

31 Debra Castro: “I am in full support of Life More Natural’s endeavor to open the access to Ship Creek. This creek is a classic part of Alaska and should not be restricted to Kayakers with real appreciation for nature’s finest.”

28 Gerard Ganey: “I came all the way from Vermont to paddle Ship Creek. Unfortunately it was closed to the public.”

27 Danny Crow: “This stream has a long history of being ran by locals. The military has always turned a head and told us to stay away from their dam. There is tons of hiking, biking, golfing and x-c skiing in the area. The stream is a beautiful resource that should not be locked up.”

25 Forrest McCarthy: “I travel all the way to Alaska every summer to run Creeks Like Ship Creek. The public should have access to Ship Creek.”

23 Tobias Schwoerer: “Anchorage with its large (military and civil) population highly values access to Fort Richardson’s recreation and training lands. Military land in vicinity of the Chugach foothills should not be off limits to the public. After all we finance the military with our own tax dollars. Access to such lands should be granted to all user groups, paddlers included.”

18 Roman Dial: “Ship Creek is a wonderful resource for Alaskans and Anchorage residents alike. It must not be criminal to use it for recreation.”

16 Ben Johnson: “Free the creek.”

13 Daniel McKay: “Allow access. Kayaking is not a crime.”

11 Coleman Roan: “No Brainer…”

3 Eric Oberg: “How can other recreational pursuits be allowed and not kayaking? This seems crazy, and certainly does not jive with the millions of dollars that the City of Anchorage has spent on their “Wild” campaign to brand the city. Lets be sensible here and get some access legal!”

2 Dan McKay: “This river should be legal to access!”

1 Allan Warren: “Ship Creek is a great kayak run that should be open to Alaska kayakers. With a simple portage trail put in, the dam could be avoided and kayakers could safely and responsibly kayak this great waterway.”