The Copper River Highway - A Right of Way Study - 2007

It seems as if a large portion of my ROW career at DOT&PF Northern Region was spent researching and responding to disputes regardind the status and location of the Copper River Highway ROW, particularly at O'Brien Creek to the south of Chitina and within the Chitina Townsite.

This presentation consisted of a a PowerPoint slideshow prepared for the 2007 Alaska Surveying & Mapping Conference.  I have included a few of a very large archive of documents relating to this controversial ROW.  In addition I have provided Recorder's Office links to several of the relevant Records of Survey.  The last group of documents are from the the 1991-1992 Superior Court case between the State and Ahtna, Inc. regarding the status and width of the Copper River Highway right-of-way from Chitina to the South.  The resulting Order resolved that the ROW was a 300-foot' wide easement conveyed to the State from the Federal Government by the 1959 Omnibus Act Quitclaim Deed. Note that the McCarthy Road, from Chitina to McCarthy is considered to be a separate road and not a part of the Copper River Highway.  A 2002 Attorney General's Opinion found that the original 200-foot wide railroad ROW between Chitina and McCarthy had been converted to a 100-foot wide PLO "Local" road easement.