Lower Foothills open for tundra travel

Petroleum News

The Lower Foothills on the North Slope opened for tundra travel March 8, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Mining, Land and Water said in a statement issued that day.

The Upper Foothills remains closed.

The division said the Lower Foothills opening applies only to those operators with valid off-road vehicle travel permits to operate on state-owned lands on the North Slope. Although overall snow cover is good, the division said, it may be thin in some areas which should be avoided - or special construction methods used to protect the tundra surface.

In addition to adequate frost and snow cover, approval of individual routes of travel is required, and the division said site inspections will be conducted periodically to ensure compliance.

The target for the two Foothills areas is 9 inches of snow and minus 5 degrees C (23 degrees F) soil temperature at a depth of approximately 1 foot, the division said.

The division said the Upper Foothills area remains closed, with the snow depth target of 9 inches met at three of four of the Upper Foothills monitoring stations, while the remaining station averaged 7 inches of snow. The soil temperature target has been met at one monitoring station.

The Eastern Coastal area opened Jan. 9 and the Western Coastal area opened Jan. 16.

- Petroleum News