Lower foothills open for snowmobile travel

Petroleum News

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Mining, Land and Water said Jan. 4 that the lower foothills area on the North Slope has been opened for snowmobile travel. The division said this applies only to operators with valid off-road travel permits for state-owned North Slope lands.

The western coastal area was opened for snowmobile use Nov. 4 and the eastern coastal area Dec. 1.

No areas are yet open for general off-road winter tundra travel and the division said in a Jan. 4 email that weather conditions on the Slope prohibited monitoring the first week of January, with personnel scheduled to return for monitoring the week of Jan. 9 and the next off-road travel status report expected to be sent out around Jan. 15.

In the notice of snowmobile travel opening the division said that while overall snow cover was appropriate for snowmobile travel, snow will be thin in some areas and those areas should be avoided. For snowmobile travel, the division said operators needed to contact their permit issuing divisions for approval of snowmobile travel, with permits issued by both DMLW and the Division of Oil and Gas.

--Petroleum News