More military land open to hunting now than ever before

  • Published
  • U.S. Army Alaska Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  There is good news for hunters and other recreational users of Army lands for September.

This year, 89 percent of Army land available for recreational uses, will be open to the public for September 2011, a 19-percent increase over last year. This means the public will be able to access approximately 1.2 million acres of Army land for hunting and other recreational uses.

As in the past, the Army will continue to ensure all its available lands, not being used to support training, will be open to public recreational uses.

The Army has now reached what is called its "four-week lock in for training," meaning units should have already submitted their air and land-use training requests for September.

At this point, a unit would have to have an extremely unusual justification or emergency situation to be able to schedule air or land-use training for September.

Units are now planning and scheduling their training for October and beyond. Some of it has already been in place on an annual training calendar.

However, it is always prudent for hunters to have a back-up plan, an alternate hunting site selected, in case of a last minute air or land closure for training.

Tanana Flats Training Area
Fort Wainwright's Tanana Flats Training Area falls in Game Management Unit 20 A. All of this huge training area, some 652,000 acres, will be open for hunting except for the two impact areas and TA 201, which will be open Sept. 1 through 7, Sept. 9 through 12, Sept. 15 through 26, and Sept. 30th.

Donnelly Training Area
This 654,000-acre area is divided into DTA East and DTA West, both in Game Management Unit 20D. In DTA East, TA 501 is only open Sept. 1 through 6. TAs 502-507 and 514 are open Sept. 1 through 9. TAs 508, 510-513, 530-532 and Gerstle River are open Sept. 1 through 15.

For DTA West, TAs 524 and 526-529 are only open Sept. 1 through 6. The rest of DTA West is open Sept. 1 through 25, except for the impact area and the normal off-limits ranges of TAs 516, 519, 520, 523, 529, 532 and part of 548. Thirty-Three Mile Loop Road will be open Sept. 1 through 9.

Yukon Training Area
The 265,000-acre Yukon Training Area is in Game Management unit 20B. Here TA 307 is open Sept. 1 through 23 and 26 through 30. TAs 306 and 315 are open Sept. 3 through 4, 10 and 11, 17 and 18 and 24 and 25. The rest of YTA is open Sept. 1 through 30 except for the impact areas and a few small off limits areas. The Johnson Road - Brigadier Road is open from Sept. 1 through 20.

All impact areas remain off-limits. Impact areas contain unexploded ordnance, which is extremely volatile and could cause the loss of life, limb or eyesight. These areas are depicted on Alaska Department of Fish and Game maps as restricted areas.

The Army lands withdrawn for military training, the TFTA, DTA and YTA, are outlined with dotted black lines in the 2011-2012 ADF&G Alaska Hunting Regulations. To further define the numbered training areas within TFTA, DTA and YTA, the Army has published color maps. These maps comple-ment the ADF&G maps by depicting impact areas and off-limits areas and by color-coding the availability of hunting in each numbered training area.

The maps are available at the visitors' centers near the main gates of Fort Wainwright and Fort Greely. By Aug. 15, the Army will also publish the maps on the web at www.usarak.army.mil/conservation/FWA_DTA_Maps.htm.

It is extremely important for hunters to exit training areas no later than midnight on the day prior to closure. Training area closures occur to facilitate military live-fire activities.
It is important for the public to remain outside of restricted areas at all times. These areas are associated with active live-fire facilities and unexploded ordnance. Aside from being a tremendous risk, entry into restricted areas on lands withdrawn for military training is a criminal offense and may result in criminal prosecution.

All users of Army lands are required to register for a Recreational Access Pass and are urged to call into the U. S. Army Alaska Recreation Tracking System system for updates regarding the opening and closing of training areas for recreational use. The number is 353-3181 at Fort Wainwright; 873-3181 at Fort Greely; and 384-3181 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Registration for RAPS can be done at the Main Gate Visitors Centers at Fort Wainwright, Fort Greely and JBER. A call to any one of the three telephone numbers will be able to provide training area access at all three posts.

Prior to accessing lands withdrawn for military training, hunters and all other recreational users must call in to the USARTRAK system.

The system provides Army conservation officials important information concerning the location of people within the training areas and assists with range clearing efforts before live-fire activities begin.