Judge denies Pilgrim family access
ANCHORAGE - A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a backwoods family's request to use an old mining road so they can haul winter supplies to their remote cabin in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline denied the Pilgrim family's motion for a temporary restraining order, saying the National Park Service was justified in wanting to assess the environmental impact of reopening the road inside the southeastern Alaska park.
"Vehicular travel over the roadway in question has not occurred for more than 65 years. This was not a secret at the time plaintiffs purchased the property, as many living within the park boundaries lack vehicular access to their property," Beistline wrote in his 18-page ruling. "Therefore, it is reasonable to allow the Park Service time to investigate the issue before making a decision."
The lawsuit was filed earlier this month on behalf of four family members in response to the Park Service's decision to close the roughly 13-mile road to motorized vehicles. The agency took the action after the Pilgrims used a bulldozer without a permit to make the road more passable.
Papa Pilgrim, who changed his name from Robert "Bobby" Hale, and his family bought the 410-acre parcel in the spring of 2002 for $325,000. Pilgrim, his wife, Country Rose, and their 15 children lived in a miner's house, which burned down in April.
The Pilgrims want to use the road to bring in large supplies to winterize a new home. The supplies are waiting at one end of the road in McCarthy, an old mining town inside the 13.2 million-acre national park - about 170 miles east of Anchorage.
Supporters of the family said Beistline's ruling is just the beginning of their legal battle. The ruling was largely based on procedural grounds, said Chuck Cushman, director of the American Land Rights Association, a Battle Ground, Wash., property rights protection group that has taken up the family's cause and enlisted the aid of the Pacific Legal Foundation in the case.
Cushman said the family will need to seek the required permit through the Park Service administrative process.
"This is just round one of a 15-round bout," he said.