The West Susitna drainage is the wild backyard for the Mat-Su Borough.

 

Here, residents and tourists alike take part in the uniquely Alaskan activities and lifestyles that can be found nowhere else in the world. On a quick trip on a snow machine, ATV, boat or short flight, Mat-Su residents can still easily access world-class outdoor opportunities on public land. This is a place where residents fill their freezer with moose, tourists catch a salmon, and recreation enthusiasts packraft down rivers or snowmachine traplines. But this unique place, unmistakably one of the last of its kind left in the world, is currently at risk from a massive, economically questionable, industrial project that would leave the region unrecognizable. 

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Basic Stats: West Susitna Industrial Corridor

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Who?: AIDEA (Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority), the Mat Su Borough, NOVA Minerals (An Australian gold mining corporation), U.S. Gold Mining (Canadian Gold mining corporation), and the Alaska Department of Transportation

 

What?: 100+ mile gravel industrial access corridor. 

 

Where?: The industrial corridor begins at Port Mackenzie and ends at the Whiskey Bravo strip near Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range.

 

Price Tag: Current cost est. $450 million for an industrial corridor in 2017 dollars. Currently, DOT is estimating $85 million for the first 15 miles including a bridge across the Susitna. DOT projects have historically run 2x over their initial estimates.

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Public V Private: AIDEA has been inconsistent and misleading with public messaging depending on who they are talking to.  Currently, the only public portion of the project would be the first 15 miles. The public would be forced to share this portion with dangerous industrial traffic.

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AIDEA: AIDEA is a state-funded corporation with a long history of failed projects like Port Mackenzie, Healy Clean Coal, Anchorage Seafood Process Plant, and the Mustang Project. Learn more about AIDEA's failures here.