Last month, a land exchange between the National Park Service (NPS) and Doyon Tourism, Inc. was completed.
The NPS exchanged approximately 8.37 acres of federal lands adjoining the Kantishna Roadhouse property in Denali National Park (including the original Roadhouse Historic site that was built in 1919) for 17.8 acres of the Galena parcel owned by Doyon. A cash adjustment to equalize the values was made by the owner of the less value property (NPS) to bring the exchange to equal value.
Much of the land to be transferred has been used by Doyon under a special use permit in support of lodge operations since the facility was purchased by Doyon in late 1995 and includes roads and buildings. The land exchange prohibits development of additional guest lodging, industrial users, or commercial resource extraction by Doyon or any other future owner.
For NPS, the purpose of this exchange is to acquire and protect the 17.8 acres at the Galena parcel, thereby precluding development at a highly visible location on the Denali Park Road (approximately milepost 91.7); and protect cultural sites on the parcel. The exchange will enable Doyon to proceed with development of a large solar project that has been in the planning stages for over a decade. The land exchange is truly a win-win for both NPS and Doyon.
