REMOTE CABINS AND TRAPPING CABINS

GoalsProviding Opportunities for Private Use ofState Lands. The remote cabin program isthe preferred method of providing oppor-tunities for isolated cabin development inremote parts of the Kuskokwim planning areawhere survey and conveyance are impractical,where disposal of land would cause potentialconflicts with other resources and uses, andwhere a long-range interest in public owner-ship and use exist.

Community and Social Impacts. When of-fering remote cabins, consider the needs anddemands of all state residents and minimizethe impacts on communities and resources.

Trapping Cabins. Support the trappingeconomy of the region by providing sites fortrapping cabins.

Management Guidelines ForRemote Cabins4_________A. Minimize Conflicts. To avoid conflictswith public access, important fish and wildlifehabitat, public use, and trapping, permiteeswill not be allowed to build remote cabins inthe following areas:

1. Within 50 feet of the ordinary high watermark of a lake, stream, river, wetland, or ex-isting trail unless a greater distance is requiredin a specific management unit, or;

2. Where public access for hunting, trapping,fishing, recreation, or mining would behindered.

3. Within 1/4 mile of existing airstrips usedby the public.

4. Within 1 mile of a guide site authorizedunder a state permit or lease.4Under current regulations trapping

is not allowed from a remote cabin.

Persons receiving a remote cabin permit areresponsible for installing a wastewater systemthat complies with the Department of En-vironmental Conservation's wastewaterregulations.

B. Fire Protection. DNR will not alter firemanagement plans because of the presence ofremote cabins. Cabin permit holders will beadvised before permit issuance and in the per-mit that DNR does not assume liability due toloss or damage to the cabin from wildfires andwill not provide fire protection if the firemanagement plan does not call for suchprotection in the area.

DLWM will notify the Division of ForestryFire Management Planning Team of the loca-tion of all authorized remote cabins.

C. Spacing Cabins. Remote cabins will bespaced at least 1/2 mile from another remotecabin or trapping cabin unless a different spac-ing requirement is established for a particularmanagement unit in Chapter 3. The distancebetween a remote cabin and a trapping cabinmay also be reduced if one person is the per-mittee for both structures or the adjacent per-mittee expresses a non-objection.

D. Legal Access. To avoid trespassproblems DNR will provide remote cabin per-mit holders with information on legal accessroutes to the remote cabin area.

E. Pacing the Distribution of RemoteCabin Permits. Remote cabin permits willbe offered periodically over the next twentyyears in order to make them available to asmany different people as possible. Remotecabin permits also will be offered in severallocations at one time and in sufficient num-bers to avoid a sense of scarcity.

F. Buildings, Density, and SpecificGuidelines. Limitations on the number orsize of buildings, location of cabin sites, al-lowed or prohibited forms of access, and any

Cabins 2-29

other considerations appropriate to the areaand consistent with remote cabin regulationsmay be established before remote cabin per-mits are offered.

The densities established for remote cabinpermits in each unit are for new cabins and arenot affected by the existence of unauthorizedcabins or their eventual disposition.

In order to reduce cost to the state and in-crease satisfaction for the permittee, remotecabin permittees should be allowed to choosetheir own cabin sites within the constraints ofthe guidelines of this plan and the remotecabin regulations, rather than having thedepartment establish the sites,

G. Type of Interest in Land. Remote cabinpermits are not intended to be converted tofee simple disposals of land that otherwisewould be retained in state ownership.Guidelines for remote cabins in each area aredesigned to avoid creating future pressuresfor actual disposal (for example, by setting ap-propriate number and density Limitations).

H. Rights-of-Way. New rights-of-way toremote cabin sites will not be granted unlessdoing so protects other important publicvalues.

1. Mineral Entry. Unless closed for otherreasons than the presence of permittedremote cabins, remote cabin permit areas willremain open to mineral entry.

J. Public Notice to Help Avoid Conflictswith Traditional Uses of Fish and Game.See guideline I, Public Notice To Help AvoidConflicts With Traditional Uses Of Fish andGame, page 2-11 for a description of publicnotice required for remote cabin permits.

K. Use of Remote Cabins for Trapping.Under the current remote cabin regulationstrapping and other commercial uses are notallowed from a remote cabin. Trapping fromremote cabins would create significant con-flicts with existing trappers in the planningarea. Remote cabin permits given in the Kus-kokwim Area will contain provisions prohibit-ing trapping. Therefore, if the remote cabin

regulations are changed to allow commercialuses, trapping will still be a prohibited usefrom the remote cabins in the KuskokwimPlanning Area.

L Other Guidelines Affecting RemoteCabins. Several other guidelines may affectremote cabin management practices. See thefollowing sections of this chapter:

Fish and wildlife habitatPublic access

Management Guidelines forTrapping Cabins_________A. Trapping Cabins in Settlement Areas.New trapping cabin permits may be allowed indesignated settlement areas before the area isscheduled for sale (prior to entering the LandAvailability Determination System [LADS]).Permits may be issued or renewed in desig-nated settlement areas for up to 10 years oruntil the time the area is offered for sale orstaking, which ever is shorter.

Existing trapping cabin permits will berenewed in proposed disposal areas. When anarea is offered for sale or staking, permitteeswill be given the option of:

1. relinquishing the trapping cabin per-mit and taking a chance on acquiring feesimple title to the cabin site through stak-ing, or;

2. keeping the trapping cabin subject tothe trapping cabin regulations (not ac-quiring title). If the permittee keeps thecabin, the cabin site will be deleted fromthe staking area prior to opening staking.At this time there are five existing trap-ping cabin permits in proposed disposalareas, four in the Tonzona area, and onein the Mount Rich Addition.

Trapping cabins may be allowed in past landsale areas that are not proposed for reoffer.

2-30 Cabins

B. Distance Between Trapping Cabins.New trapping cabin permits will not be issuedwithin 5 miles of a known actively-used trap-ping cabin on either state or non-state land un-less a physical barrier such as a mountainrange separates the two cabins, or both cabinsare permitted to one person, or the permitteeof the adjacent cabin expresses a non-objec-tion to a lesser distance.

C. Minimize Conflicts. To avoid conflictswith public access, important fish and wildlifehabitat, and public use, permitees will not beallowed to build trapping cabins within 50 feetof the ordinary high water mark of a lake,stream, wetland, or existing trail unless agreater distance is required in a specificmanagement unit.

D. Public Notice to Help Avoid ConflictsWith Traditional Uses of Fish and GameResources. Through the public notice andconsultation procedures described inguideline I, Public Notice to Help Avoid Con-flicts With Traditional Uses of Fish andGame, page 2-11, DNR will make areasonable effort to provide notice so that anadjacent trapper may learn of the proposedaction, including the permitting of anothertrapping cabin, and make known the locationof his or her trapping cabin.

It is the responsibility of the adjacent trapperto prove that his or her cabin or trapping siteis actively used by providing evidence such asa valid state trapping license, tax returns, furreceipts showing previous income derivedfrom trapping, or official records of the Alas-ka Department of Fish and Game or theDivision of Fish and Wildlife Protection.Trappers operating under leases or other per-mits on non-state lands must provide evidencesimilar to that required for trappers on stateland.

E. Other Guidelines Affecting TrappingCabins. Other guidelines may affect trap-ping cabin management practices. See the fol-lowing section of this chapter:

Fish and wildlife habitat

Land Allocation Summary____Background. Very little land with high set-tlement suitability is required within remotepermit areas, because cabin sites can be wide-ly scattered and permits do not convey title tothe surrounding land. Based on land charac-teristics - vegetation, slope, etc. ~ over twomillion acres of state land are rated moderateto high for remote cabins. However much ofthis land has no present access. In addition,many lands rated low for remote cabins havesome sites suitable for cabin construction.

Cabin Permit Areas. Approximately 2.8million acres of land in eleven areas will beopen to remote cabin permits. Included arelands in the Alaska Range; in the Dishna, In-noko, and Takotna drainages in the northwestpart of the planning area, and in the Holitna-Hoholitna drainages. Permits will be allowedat a density of one to three permits pertownship. A total of 231 permits will be al-lowed. Areas open to remote cabin permitsare listed in Table 2.4.

Trapping cabin permits are allowed on nearlyall state lands throughout the planning area.They are not permitted along the shores of afew lakes with high recreation and habitatvalues specified in Chapter 3, nor in areasproposed for land sales.

Cabins 2-31

Table 2.4 Areas Open for Remote Cabin Permits

Permit Area Name

Dishna-Folger-Tatalina Area

A -- Dishna

B -- Folger

C -- Ta ta l ina

Subtotal

Holitna Basin Area

D — Door Mountains

E -- Shotgun Hillsb

F -- Titnuk-Tavlor

Subtotal

Alaska Range Area

G - Little Underbill

H -- Styx River

I - Upper Cheneetnuk

J -- Middle Fork

K - Tonzona-South Fk.

Subtotal

TOTAL

SubunitsIncludeda

7c, 7d, 8e, 8f8g, 9a, 9c

6a, 6c, 7c, 7d

5i, 5j, 9b

15c, 15d

15b, 15d (15f)

15b, 15c, 15d

l la , 11b, 12a,14c, 14d

13a

l la , 11b, 12a, 12c

13a

2c, 2d, 3a, 3b,4a, 4b, 13a

# PermitsAllowed

74

36

11

121

18

6

12

56

19

9

4

3

19

54

231 remote

Density ofPermits Allowed

3 per township

3 per township

3 per township

2 per township

2 per township

2 per township

1 per township

1 per township

1 per township

1 per township

1 per township

cabin permits

a In most cases only parts of the subunits are open for remote cabin permits. SeeMap 2.2 for boundaries of the remote cabin permit areas.

bFour addit ional permits may be offered near Boundary Lakes (subunits 15f) ifthe land qual i ty is not suf f ic ien t to ju s t i fy a disposal.

2-32 Cabins - Table 2.4

Innoko National Wildlife Refuc;rtvT~t*sie-i—r-«i—i-

AreaPla

-j—• j i j %^|

Takotnial̂ l

'"i!}na«f l̂

r red Devil Stony,Ri

ulcon DeltaNational

rne Villages ! ! /

££>! '^A^w^etVk & Pfl*erve r>M•*^miJxi v̂ ii, "sr

Scale in Miles

Remote CabinAreasMAP 2.2

REMOTE CABIN PERMIT AREAS

AREAPERMITS TOTAL *ALLOWED PERMITS

/ TOWNSHIP ALLOWED

Dishna-Folger-Tatalina

Holitna Basin

Alaska Range 1

121

56

54

See Table 2.2 for a list of remote cabinpermits allowed in each area.