State allows North Slope snowmbile use

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Mining, Land and Water said Nov. 30 that snow conditions within the North Slope Oil Production District “are adequate for snowmobile use,” an opening which applies only to operators with valid off-road vehicle travel permits for state-owned North Slope lands.

Off-road travel, however, is not yet allowed.

The division said Nov. 24 that all tundra opening areas were closed for off-road travel, as only one monitoring station has recorded minus 5 degrees C for soil temperature at 30 centimeters depth.

For off-road travel the state looks at conditions in four areas: eastern coastal, western coastal, lower foothills and upper foothills.

In the coastal areas the target is 6 inches of snow and soil temperature of minus 5 degrees C at 30 centimeters depth. For the foothills, the temperature target is the same, but the snow depth target is 9 inches.

For snowmobile travel, the division said operators do not need to request approval, and for the remainder of the 2020-21 winter season, and said, “permit holders may designate environmental staff to approve of the use of snowmobiles without contacting the DMLW Northern Regional Land Office.”

The division noted that any snowmobile use must be reported “on tundra travel completion reports for the season.”

- KRISTEN NELSON