DNR opens travel in western coastal area

On Dec. 17 the Alaska Department of Natural Resources opened the western coastal area of state land on the North Slope for off-road tundra travel, for vehicles with off-road travel permits. Conditions in the area have met the tundra travel criteria of at least six inches of snow and soil temperatures of minus 5 degrees C or less at a depth of 30 centimeters.

The eastern coastal area and the upper and lower Brooks Range foothills remain closed for off-road travel. Soil temperatures at all coastal monitoring stations have dropped below the tundra travel threshold, but snow cover is still too thin at one station in the eastern area. Snow depths have reached the required levels at several foothills stations, but snow is still too thin in some places. Soil temperatures in the foothills remain too high for off-road travel in some areas, especially in the upper foothills.

And DNR warned that, although snow cover in the western coastal area is good, it may be thin in some places — operators should avoid these locations or use special construction methods to protect the tundra surface, DNR said. Alaska’s Division of Mining, Land and Water stipulates the required frost and snow conditions for driving across the tundra.

—Alan Bailey