The Matanuska-Susitna Borough (Borough) Land & Resource Management Division is proposing a salvage timber sale on Borough owned parcel tax ID 18N01E30B002. The parcel is located about 1.5 miles northwest of Wasilla off E. Paradise Lane and E. Foxtrot Avenue. The timber sale is intended to remove all trees within the footprint of the future Birchtree Charter School and includes about 10 acres. Access to the designated harvest area will be along E. Paradise Lane.  This proposed harvest area is near Shaw Elementary School. The harvest operation must be scheduled to minimize traffic during peak school traffic times.

Supporting material is available for public inspection by appointment only during normal business hours on the 2^nd floor of the Borough Building in the Land & Resource Management office or visit the Public Notice Section on the Borough’s web page, www.matsugov.us.  Public comment is invited on this request.  If you have any comments please mail or deliver them to the Borough offices at the address indicated above, no later than October 8, 2025.  If you have questions about this request call Emerson Krueger at 907-861-7867 between 8 am - 5 pm or you can send an e-mail to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please refer to MSB008204 Birchtree STH25-009 when submitting comments). 

The Irish Burma Personal Use Area will open Monday, September 8, 2025, for harvest of birch, aspen, and beetle killed spruce trees. Harvest is allowed within approximately 200 feet of the designated OHV trail. The harvest area lies between Burma Road and Purinton Parkway southwest of Big Lake. The harvest area is marked with flagging and signs.

 No live standing spruce may be cut during this harvest. Only dead spruce, birch, and aspen trees may be cut during this harvest.

A $25 permit is required and may be obtained from the Mat-Su Borough E-Commerce Webpage at https://ecommerce.matsugov.us/ (please note that an e-mail and credit card are required to create an ecommerce account), at the at the Big Lake Library, or at the Land & Resource Management Division located at 350 E. Dahlia Avenue, Palmer, between the hours of 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday.

The permit must be in your possession during the removal of wood from the site, and each cord removed from the site will incur an additional $25 fee. There is a limit of five cords per household to be removed from the site.

The permit will expire after all available wood has been removed but no later than December 31, 2026. Please call the Land & Resource Management Division at 861-7867 if you have any questions.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is in the process of updating its Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP), and we invite your participation in the public comment period. HMP helps guide the Borough in identifying risks and developing strategies to reduce the impacts of natural hazards on our communities.
 This update includes the identification of two new hazards: tsunamis and permafrost-thaw landslides. We encourage you and your community members to review the plan, share your feedback, and provide input on mitigation priorities.
The draft plan and additional information are available on the Hazard Mitigation Plan website https://des.matsugov.us/pages/hazard-mitigation-plan, or you can use the QR code to go directly to the story map.

The public comment period is open on September 1, 2025, and will close on October 15, 2025. Please also look for additional opportunities to comment during upcoming Planning Commission and Assembly meetings as the plan moves through the adoption process.
You may contact: 

• Taunnie Boothby – 907-861-8526  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
• Rebecca Skjothaug – 907-861-7862 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 
Your feedback is important in shaping the Borough’s resilience and preparedness, and we appreciate your engagement in this process.

Dated: 4/30/2025

Re: Rights of Way Opening – Core Area with Big Lake RSA to remain Closed

From: Michelle Olsen, ROW Coordinator

The Rights of Way in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB) will open to normal construction as of 7:00 am on May 5, 2025 for the core area, with Big Lake RSA and northern areas to remain closed. The core area is described as extending to the Little Susitna Bridge on the Parks Highway and the Granite Creek Bridge on the Glenn Highway. The Big Lake RSA and the northern portions of the Borough will remain closed until a later date.

Any questions about where it is open may be addressed to Michelle Olsen at 861-7803.

If you are restarting an existing project from last year, remember to contact the Permit Center 24 hours before work commences. You can reach the Permit Center at 907-861-7822 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Be smart about the ground frost levels. If the area is shaded or insulated with overburden, it may contain frozen dirt and gravel. Do not place frozen material back in the hole; replace it with a similar type of unfrozen material and compact it to 95% or greater.

Roadways in the core area may still be pumping water. Weight restrictions were still in place on the roads in the core area listed below at the time of this letter. Please check the Websites listed below for additional up-to-date information on weight restrictions.

Effective April 30, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. the following Borough maintained roads are restricted to the following:

All Borough maintained paved and gravel roads are restricted to 100% of legal axle load, no overloads.

The following roads remain restricted to 50% of legal axle load, no overloads:

• RSA 14: Candywine, McNeese, Rian Ave, Donovan Way & Lynn Dr.
• RSA 17: Lewis Lp., Captain Cir., & Burma Rd.
• RSA 21: Echo Lake Dr., Papoose Twins, Dawson Dr., Burma Rd., Wolf Rd., Pond Lilly & Victor Rd
• RSA 26: River Dr. & Peacefull Ln.
• RSA 20 and north to remain at 50% of legal axle load

Hyperlink to MSB weight restrictions:

https://matsugov.us/publicnotice/seasonal-weight-restrictions-2025

Hyperlink to State of Alaska weight restrictions:

https://dot.alaska.gov/mscve/pages/weightrestrictions.shtml

The roads north of this core area and the Big Lake RSA area remain closed.

If service calls are needed in these areas, please use light-duty trucks only, not heavy work trucks or trucks with heavy equipment. We rely on you to help manage the MSB’s maintenance costs by being aware of the conditions of our roads and keeping the cost of our maintenance low. If individual roads are soft or pumping water, please turn around and delay the work until the roadways firm up. It is recommended that lighter-weight vehicles be used to scope out roadways first.

Have fun and be safe!

Sincerely,

Michelle Olsen, RWA

Right of Way Coordinator

907-861-7822