Pt. Retreat transfer OK'd

The federal government will convey 1,505 acres of land at Point Retreat to the Alaska Lighthouse Association subject to certain conditions, under provisions of an appropriations bill approved by a U.S. House and Senate conference committee.

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The private, nonprofit association is restoring the former U.S. Coast Guard light station at Point Retreat and plans to open a maritime history museum and bed-and-breakfast on site. The lighthouse is about 17 miles from Juneau at the tip of the Mansfield Peninsula on Admiralty Island.

The association now is leasing the property. When U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, amended a transportation appropriations bill last summer with language that would convey the land, he sparked a debate over public access, ownership and Southeast Alaska's history.

In Washington, D.C., on Friday, Stevens said the new version of the bill clarifies that the property will revert back to the federal government if it is not used for maritime preservation activities, as outlined in a 1998 law.

"I would hope they'd use it for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, whoever might use those lands, to try to have some understanding of the

development and history of lighthouses and what they meant to Alaska as it became a territory and then a state," Stevens said.

The bill further notes that Congress "expects that public access to the property for recreation, hunting and fishing will be largely unchanged."

The House of Representatives passed the bill Friday. It now goes to the Senate and on to the president.

Alaska Lighthouse Association President Dave Benton said the language states his group's intent clearly.

"We're very pleased the language is going through. It's going to allow us to now focus energies where we should be - restoring the buildings and getting long-term programs in place," he said.

Benton said the association plans to move forward with a conservation easement to protect the land and allow recreational activities such as fishing and hunting to continue.

"Because of the language going through, our plans have not changed," he said, adding that it likely will take two years to finish restoration at Point Retreat. The group plans to offer interpretative and educational programs, he said.

The land transfer drew fire from Southeast hunting and fishing organizations, some Angoon residents and environmental groups. Matthew Davidson, a grassroots organizer with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, had lobbied against the conveyance of 1,505 acres. SEACC asked that 10 acres be transferred instead, as earlier recommended by the U.S. Forest Service.

"It's really disappointing that a giveaway of 1,500 acres was slipped in this giant appropriations bill," he said.

While the new provisions are an improvement on the old amendment, Davidson said it will be up to the Alaska Lighthouse Association to maintain public use and preserve the wilderness character of the land.

"It's up to the new landowner to make good on their intentions," he said. "And people in Juneau and others who are concerned will have to hold their feet to the fire."

A 1901 executive order by President William McKinley set aside the 1,505 acres of land at Point Retreat for a lighthouse, with President Calvin Coolidge adding them to the Tongass National Forest in 1925, according to the Forest Service. Under a 1952 memorandum of understanding with the Coast Guard, all but 10 acres have been managed by the Forest Service.

Forest Service public affairs officer Sheela McLean said Friday that agency officials hadn't yet seen the conference report, but were glad Congress had resolved the issue.

"We're ready to move on," she said.

The Alaska Outdoor Council, which represents hunting and fishing interests, has objected to the transfer as poor public policy, President Carl Rosier said. No one seems to know why the lighthouse was granted 1,500 acres originally, which allows for a broad interpretation of maritime history, he said.

"It's still warm fuzzy language that certainly leaves the door open for who knows what down the road," he said today. "At best, it was a political compromise. The fact remains that it would have been better if all but a small postage stamp-sized portion had gone back into the ownership of the federal government."