On the spur of the moment the other day, while travelling back to town from a meeting I had in the Valley, I pulled off Glacier Highway (which actually becomes Egan Drive as it gets closer to Juneau) and parked the car in the lot of the Mendenhall Wetlands.
The Wetlands is really a very beautiful and wide open space, made up of thousands of acres of flat land half way between the Valley and the city.
It is a state wildlife refuge, and although it is home to many different kinds of animals, was established primarily to protect birdlife.
It is home (both temporarily and permanently) for thousands of different species of birds who use this place as both a feeding and resting ground as they migrate to and from the arctic.
Here is more information on the refuge:
For the past couple of weeks the lot has been full in the early mornings. It is duck hunting season in Juneau, and it has been common recently to see hunters walking through the fields and along the highway.........
The huge flat area is surrounded on all sides by mountains - mountains on the mainland side in Juneau, mountains across the channel over on Douglas, and the Chilkat mountains off in the distance.........
There is a fierce debate going on in Juneau right now, and with the elections in October the heat involved in this particular debate is increasing.
There is a strong move to build a second bridge across from the mainland to North Douglas.
There is only one bridge between these two places right now, and the only land-based way to travel from Juneau over to Douglas Island is by way of the one existing bridge located in downtown Juneau.
The primary residential area on Douglas is on the south side of the island.
The primary residential area in Juneau is in the Valley (north of the city)
For those who live in North Douglas and who work in the Valley, currently they must drive south, cross the current bridge and then drive north to work.
For those who live in the Valley but want to ski on Douglas, the only way to get there is to drive south to town, cross the bridge, then drive north to the ski resort.
For those on the outside of Juneau looking in, the solution seems simple. Build another bridge.
But, as with most things in Juneau, the solution is not exactly that simple.
The pro-bridge side of the debate raises issues like public safety (access to hospital, police and fire services), that the cost involved in its construction will only go up if we do not build the bridge now, and that the bridge will not adversely impact the wetlands.
The con-bridge side of the debate raises issues such as existing volunteer fire services on the north side of the island, helicoptor access, that local money (through an extension of an existing, and what was supposed to be a short-term, sales tax increase to fund other projects) should not be used to build this infrastructure addition, unstudied impacts to the wetlands, and whether or not such an expensive addition should be built in the current economic climate.
They also question the accuracy of the current price tag, which varies between $70-$90 million.
There are questions about who this bridge will actually benefit - with allegations of private business interests (developers) and those who like to ski being particularly brought into the mix.
And finally there are observations about how limited the current road system in Juneau really is, and just how big of an impact a new bridge will actually make in terms of convenience and safety.
The debate will continue to rage, the rhetoric on both sides no doubt will continue to escalate, and it will be interesting to see what happens in the near future............
I have walked once in this area, and it is more difficult than it looks.
The grass is very long.
There are multiple small channels throughout the area, meaning you have to maneuver down into these washouts and then climb back up into the grass to be able to continue on.
And much of this area is underwater at different times during the day, so people need to watchful of the tides because they can come in very quickly.............
From the parking lot, these pictures were taken behind me on the Juneau side.
You can see Egan Drive and then the mountains...............
A close-up of the mountains in Juneau across from the Wetlands parking lot.
If you look closely, you can see that we have had snow in higher elevations for the first time this season.
I am not sure if what I see is the start of a new glacier, or (more likely) is just simply one small part of the Juneau ice field
Regardless, to me it is extraordinarily beautiful.............
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