Trail helps heal Alaska Native hunting grounds

By RACHEL D'ORO Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - This is a trail to somewhere, especially in a vast, roadless corner of Alaska.

Residents in the remote Eskimo village of Hooper Bay teamed up with tribal and federal officials to create an environmentally friendly trail that's reduced damage to their traditional subsistence hunting grounds from the all-terrain vehicles so prevalent in their rough, boggy terrain.

Trail experts call the ongoing project a successful example of improving access to Alaska's most challenging settings.

National Parks Service trails specialist Kevin Meyer, who helped get the project off the ground in 2007, says the effort is part of a national renaissance creating a wide range of sustainable designs to protect multiple landscapes from the imprint of off-road vehicles.

More work on the Hooper Bay trail is planned for summer.