Monday, November 02, 2009

20 Below in Fairbanks

The thermometer read -21F this morning, luckily the truck was plugged in. When I went downtown it was only -4F so I'm quite confident I have the coldest lot in Fairbanks. Yeah for me. It warmed up to zero later so I took the dog for a walk and made some snow art. Enjoy.
I took some other pics on the walk to document a proposed expansion by Great Northwest Inc. They are a gravel pit and peat extraction company that has been here for years. They now want to expand their excavations up to my back door. Literally. But they need permission since it's all wetlands. The problem is it's their land and they've been there forever so I doubt it can be stopped. Their remediation is applauded because they leave duck ponds where once there was black spruce. The problem is you can walk and ski and travel through black spruce. These "duck ponds" are massive sink holes 20 feet down in the bog so you can't ski or walk in and out of them and they are bordered by dikes 20 feet high. I am contacting the Army Corps of Engineers to see about the public input process but I fear my lovely back yard will soon look like a WWII battlefield.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I applaud your committment and wish you well in your fight. Sometimes the big guys don't always win, but more often than not they do. Wal-Mart moved into a neighborhood filled with trees, wetland and marsh in my town. The homeowners resisted and fought for a year, but Wal-Mart held out with their lawyers until the homeowners had no resources left. So sad. Your photo looks so peaceful.

Liz

Johnny G said...

Thanks Liz, I don't want to shut them down but I would like to see some trail easements so we can all still enjoy the area a bit. I'll keep you posted!

Unthawed Alaskan said...

I agree, your lot is the coldest in the valley. I got a chance to compare when Bob was living there and I was living in your mom's rental. Your place is a good 10 degrees colder in the deepest darkest of winter. It is warmer in the summer though.