McCarthy Road Roundtable Project

Project Date: 2000-2001
Lead: Chris Beck
Client: State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
Location: McCarthy/Kennicott

McCarthy/Kennicott is a tiny, unincorporated community in the heart of Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Life in this remote community oscillates between busy summers of 24-hour daylight, an influx of tourists and summer visitors, and local businesses making the most of the three-month money-making season; and long, quiet winters where parents home-school their children, access in and out of the community is by four-wheel drive or the twice-weekly mail plane and economic activity is limited to subsistence hunting and trapping or traveling outside the area for work.

For visitors, the community offers both the rich history of the Kennicott copper mining industry and out-the-door access to the nation's largest national park. As McCarthy/Kennicott and its tourist industry have grown, residents and businesses alike have seen an increased need for planning - finding a balance between protecting the community's unique qualities while creating a sustainable way of life for area residents.

Working with a team hired by the State, Chris Beck's goal as lead on tourism issues was to develop strategies to gain the greatest community benefits, while minimizing adverse impacts, from anticipated growth in tourism and related residential development.

This multi-year project created several significant products:

• A forecast of projected growth in tourism and residential use, and a series of community workshops to help understand and find common ground among diverse local views.
• A development "toolbox" that presents a series of case studies and strategies designed to guide growth, focusing particularly on means to direct development without the regulatory tools available to incorporated communities.
• An inventory of visitor resources and development options along the McCarthy Road corridor, including waysides and trailheads, which fed into the Environmental Impact Statement process for the McCarthy Road Upgrade.