Homer Alaska - Letters

I noted with a little snicker in my attitude, that the cost of rock was a prohibitive factor in harbor expansion plans. Guess where that came from? When they made the highway repairs and protection to the Spit Road years ago, it was decided that the best way to divvy up a piece of the action on the government spending for the rip rap that the rock had to be barged in via Seward. Previously, the rip rap rock had come from Jakolof Bay area, for use as Spit Highway protection. Closing the south side of Kachemak Bay to this "mineral extraction" and having lower transportation costs for the rock, allowed some elected officials at the time to make a profit on the Spit project, in rip rap mining, shipping and probably construction.

My idea for the artificial reef to mitigate storm wave erosion was to use "waste rip rap" — that which did not meet highway construction standards — since the rock was just to provide for the hold fasts for kelp. My thinking was, by mining the rock on the south side of the bay, for Spit rip rap, a harbor for small boats visiting the park lands could simultaneously be built, enhancing the public's access to the public's lands. Regional tourism could be enhanced. The locals could have a nice "day use area" on the south side of the bay, the Spit could be fixed up, a reef to enhance fisheries and mitigate storm wave erosion could be built ... and none of it would be ecologically detrimental.

But noooo! We have to have public parklands as someone's private back yard. We have to think about private profit at public expense and increased costs for public projects with no thought to the future. So now what did you get?

You didn't get an artificial reef for storm wave mitigation. You didn't get a day use harbor on the south side of the bay. You don't have affordable rock for a local project anywhere close because of transportation costs, and you have the high cost of a jillion other ecological concerns to get rock, even if you can afford to buy rocks.

You did get the Corps of Engineers to "rethink" fiscal feasibility elsewhere.

Steve Herbert

Des Moines, Iowa