Though it’s been closed for decades, the Alaska-Juneau Mine has been a topic of discussion at City Hall recently, and conservation organizations want people to be informed on the mine’s history.
At 6 p.m. Friday, the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) is taking hikers up the Perseverance Trail to offer a closer look at the history of the AJ Mine. The hike is meant not just to inform people of the history of the mine, but to examine what it would mean for the mine’s future if the City and Borough of Juneau’s mining ordinance were changed.
In late April, five businessmen wrote a proposal to the CBJ Assembly that centered around changing the mining ordinance to make it easier to reopen the AJ Mine at some point. The Assembly ruled that it needed to take its time looking into changing the ordinance, and tasked Mayor Ken Koelsch and City Manager Rorie Watt with developing a plan to evaluate the possibility of amending the ordinance.
Friday evening’s two-mile round-trip hike is expected to take about two hours and could prove challenging for some. Anyone is welcome on the guided hike, and dogs are allowed as well. Hikers are asked to meet at the Perseverance trailhead on Basin Road.
SEACC is also holding a meeting at 6 p.m. June 7 at the downtown public library, intended to educate people on the mining ordinance and discuss strategies to speak up about the proposed changes. This leads up to the Assembly’s Committee of the Whole meeting June 12 that will discuss the city’s next steps with the proposed changes to the ordinance.
