Slana resident Doug Frederick is the kind of man who likes to solve problems. So, when he and other area residents were faced with the possibility of losing access because of deteriorating trail conditions in Wrangell-St. Elias National park, he went to work.

Frederick, along with several friends, put down wooden pallets with planks fastened on top in three of the worst areas of a trail that had become impassible. It seemed like a sensible solution to a very real problem—a problem that has caused the environmental group National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA) has named Wrangell St. Elias as one of the nations “ten most endangered parks.” (See story on page 7)

The National Park Service (NPS) didn’t see it that way. They issued Frederick a citation for “erecting structures (bridging) in the park without a permit.” Rather than pay a small fine, ($250), he chose to fight the misdemeanor citation in federal court.

Frederick was not allowed a jury, and in due time U.S. District Magistrate John Roberts sided with the government and imposed a fine of $500.

It became evident that a town meeting called by the NPS in 2002 to “brain-storm what to do about access,” was really meant only to announce trail closures. “The point is that they don't want the trail, so they don't want to fix it because they don't want it,” said Judge Roberts at the sentencing hearing.

Frederick’s attorney, Wayne Anthony Ross, said they would appeal the verdict. “I am taking the appeal of this case pro bono,” said Ross. “...what the NPS has done is not correct, not credible, not honest.”

Friends and neighbors quickly rallied to support Doug and his wife Judy, not only paying the fine for the Frederick’s but also signing a petition which read, in part, “We protest the outrageous criminalizing by the National Park Service and the federal courts of a public spirited man, Doug Frederick, of Slana, who was undertaking a volunteer trail improvement demonstration.”

“The National Park Service claims to be a good neighbor but its actions abusing this family speak louder than words.”

The petition went on to say, “The community sends this message back to the NPS: What has been done is unjust, oppressive, not correct, not credible, and not honest. We have collected all of the fine money here tendered among us. We resolve that the Fredericks will pay none of it.”

In July of 2002 the NPS held a meeting in Slana to discuss what to do about the poor conditions of the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) trails in the area, and to announce their intent to close three of the trails—trails that led to Copper Lake, where Doug and his wife Judy had several small cabins and boats that they rented out in the summer.

“We were in attendance at the July meeting and also understood this was a demonstration of what the volunteers could do to improve the trail,” said Vanessa Thompson. “As every suggestion was made, neither Gary or Marshall mentioned that a permit was needed for the volunteers to set up this ‘model.’” Vanessa said, “Brian and I would have been there to help that day, had we not already had plans.”

Some of those present, including former State Legislator Dick Shultz, saw the trail closures as a direct attack on Doug Frederick. In a letter to Representative Don Young, Shultz wrote, “During my ten years in the Alaska Legislature, I encountered many frustrating and belligerent actions by both State and the Federal Administrators, but none can compare to the recent actions by the National Park Service in eliminating a longstanding business on the Nabesna Road in Wrangell-St. Elias Park.”

Originally the Fredericks used a small Super Cub airstrip for access to the Copper Lake property, until the NPS disallowed maintenance on the strip. With that closure came a need for increased traffic on the traditional overland route by ATV.

Shortly after the July meeting in Slana, the NPS not only closed that route, the only access to the Frederick property, but they expanded the closed zone to 1,000 feet either side of the trail, effectively eliminating access to the lodge property.

“I have a caretaker over there and need to get supplies to him,” said Frederick. “They told me if I tried to use the trail they would cite me.”

Shultz pulled no punches in his letter to Young. “I have lived in this area long before Park Status...I have watched promise after promise be broken to the local users of fish and wildlife, and now this absolutely highhanded, devastating news to the Fredericks,” he wrote.

Frederick and others volunteered to provide labor and partner with the NPS to provide solutions to the problem, not only of the trails that accessed the Copper Lake property but others in the area that were in need of repair. The park’s assistant superintendent, Hunter Sharp, told the group that there was no money available for the project. (Although the park had applied for, and received, a $30,000 grant from the NPS Scenic Rivers and Trails program to repair trails—which they promptly turned over to BLM for use on the Myers Lake trail—which is not in the park.)

What became evident at the sentencing hearing was that the NPS does not want to repair the trails. Apparently it was a surprise to Judge Roberts, who asked, “The meeting, according to the evidence, was sort of a town meeting to brainstorm what to do about the access. What was the purpose of the meeting if the park service very simply doesn’t want a trail. You could say ‘we just don’t want a trail there, period.’”

Joe Darnell, the NPS prosecutor responded, “... the goal of the meeting was essentially to provide people notice and to discuss the need to close that trail. Although, again, I want to emphasize to the court that the three bridges that are in question are not on the segment of the trail that had been noticed closed.”

The question of the trails future remains unanswered. In fact, after learning of the NPS’s intent to remove the bridge “structures” next summer, Roberts said, “I am as interested in the future as I am in what has happened in the past.”

There is speculation as to how much influence environmental groups such as the National Parks & Conservation Association has had on the decision to prosecute Doug and Judy Frederick, as well as other recent decisions by WRST Superintendent Gary Candelaria that have resulted in curtailing access in the park.

A recent NPCA press release said, “To preserve the integrity of the park and the enjoyment of its visitors, the Park Service must actively enforce existing rules to prevent ATVs from harming park wildlife and wilderness.” NPCA has been lobbying against motorized access in the parks for years, fighting not only ATV use but striving to keep RS2477 routes from being recognized by the park service as well.