Visual Perspectives on the proposed quarry area

Above you can see a greyscale image of the Talkeetna area, with the proposed quarry site outlined in yellow. A few things of note you can pick out from this image

  • The shocking proximity to the Talkeetna Lakes (X Y, Christiansen), which are pseudo colored in a blue shade
  • The anadromous creek passing through the quarry site
  • Proximity to existing (and newly proposed) subdivisions to the West and North
  • The proposed quarry site is rather large. It's 152 acres. For reference West, East Talkeetna and the Municipal Airport is approximately 479 acres. This site is roughly one third of that area.

One thing that is not immediately apparent looking at this picture, is the proposed quarry site is situated at one of the highest drainage points in the area.

The site is the western most edge of the Bartlett Hills, with areas reaching 600 feet and higher in the site. Christiansen and X Y Lakes sit at 400 feet approximately, as well as surrounding private parcels. You can see many of these parcels marked as "PRIVATE" in the image above. Being that the proposed area is so high, what does it look like from lakes?

From Christiansen Lake, you can see in this image the proposed quarry area, and how it would dramatically affect a pristine viewshed in a very quick fashion. Immediately beneath the area, are private residences in the Camelot Subdivision.

Photo taken by Howard Carbone

Here's another view of the hills taken from within the Talkeetna Lakes Park. These next two links show both winter and summer trails in the surrounding area.

Quotes from 2008:

Located two miles south of Talkeetna, the 1,040-acre park surrounds six lakes. The project has been eight years in the making. As part of phase 1, a new trail offers hiking, snow shoeing, mountain biking, and nearby canoeing and fishing. Free use of canoes will be part of the event. The next phase is to develop a world class trail system for Nordic skiing.
"A lot of work in this park was done by the community. That's what's unique about this project. The community is leading the way. It's a nice cooperation," Owens said.

Both quotes graciously pulled from the Mat Su Gov post about the park at it's opening.

The surrounding area is P R I S T I N E. This is what we are fighting to protect.