Right-of-Way Alaska (rowalaska.net) is not a website about paddling your canoe across the 49th state. It is not a high-tech website. It is a basic framework intended to present a collection of reference materials that I have either collected or authored over my nearly 50-year career as a land surveyor and right-of-way professional in Alaska.
This site is primarily about highway rights-of-way (ROW) in Alaska and the research and analysis necessary to determine their interest, dimensions and location. A couple of projects will focus on boundary surveying as opposed to ROW research, however, there will be few if any references to ROW acquisition or ROW property management issues. I do not expect this to be a highly popular website. There are not a lot of people who have an interest in dwelling upon the real estate and land title basis for the highway and road access system. As motorists, we tend to take for granted that if a road exists, it's legal basis to be there must also exist. However, as a land surveyor, title or ROW professional, the basis of the existing ROW becomes very important to determine how much acquisition is necessary for a highway widening or relocation project. It is also important in a property management or utility permitting context to ensure that the highway facility does not trespass on adjoining private lands and the adjoining private uses do not encroach on the highway ROW. Right-of-way research goes to the nature and scope of the ROW interest, the width and location of the ROW and the fact that the existing ROW could be based on a variety of obscure historic authorities. In addition, the research and analysis of the existing ROW is clouded by the fact that many of them would not be referenced in deeds, patents or title reports. The purpose of this website is to facilitate the understanding of Highway Rights-of-Way in Alaska and to hopefully provide easier access to some of the archival materials that are not readily available.
The website archives consist of presentations, reports and projects that I have prepared during my ROW career at Alaska DOT&PF and R&M Consultants, Inc. The objective of these archives is that it will not only provide the presentation or report, but also the background and resource materials that may have only been cited in footnotes, if at all. The presentations and reports might be helpful, but the resource materials will allow a researcher to consider the source documents as a part of their own research projects.
Confidentiality of Website Archive Documents: Most of the documents in this archive were collected during my career with the Alaska Department of Transportation. Generally, all of these documents would be available for public inspection with the exception of on-going litigation materials. These documents might also be made publicly available except to the opposing party who would be required to obtain them through the discovery process. All litigation relating to the DOT&PF archive documents found at this website has been completed years if not decades ago and no longer present an issue regarding their availability to the public.
While employed by R&M Consultant's Inc., I was subject to a confidentiality agreement with regard to disclosure of information relating to client projects. This agreement has been honored for this website except where I have determined that it no longer applicable because the project documents are now considered to be "in the wild". Documents that are "in the wild" would include those produced for state or municipal government clients where litigation confidentiality was no longer an issue. Essentially, if I could obtain this work product from the state or municipal entity under the Alaska Public Records Act, it would also be available at this site. Work product that was developed for private and now completed litigation such as expert reports and their background materials would be considered "in the wild" as a public record of the court. For several projects I requested and received written permission from a private client to use their reports and materials for presentations. In another, the project report was recorded at the request of the client. All of these materials are considered to be "in the wild" and available for inclusion in this website's archives. Other client projects where the reports are not considered to be "in the wild", the subject matter may be presented with a general issue summary in order to provide context to the public research materials used for the project.
The Alaska Public Records Act (AS 40.25.110) states that most records in the possession of municipal and state government are subject to disclosure. Citizens should presume that all records are public and subject to inspection by any member of the public. The only reason a record may be withheld from public disclosure is if a legal exception can be identified that authorizes withholding access.
Section AS 40.25.220(3) in the Alaska Public Records Act defines “public records” to mean “books, papers, files, accounts, writings, including drafts and memorializations of conversations, and other items, regardless of format or physical characteristics, that are developed or received by a public agency, or by a private contractor for a public agency, and that are preserved for their informational value or as evidence of the organization or operation of the public agency;..."
Disclaimer: The author retains sole responsibility for any errors or omissions in the production of this website along with the text and conclusions of my papers and presentations.