OPINION: State maintenance work making a mess of Homer roadsides
Published 2:30 am Thursday, August 6, 2026
Tourism is an important economic driver of the Alaskan economy, particularly in Homer.
Most tourists, even those arriving by air or ship, will end up touring parts of the state on the road system. With expectations that they will see beautiful landscapes from our scenic byways and other local roads, it is important for the State of Alaska Department of Transportation (DOT) to invest in equipment that helps maintain our ditches and roadsides with aesthetics in mind as many other states do.
Currently, DOT uses boom axes on a giant mechanical arm that cut heavy vegetation with brute kinetic force, not with a precise, clean saw cut. Their equipment mangles and shatters alders and spruce tree limbs. The boom axe explodes limbs apart, leaving heavy debris and jagged stubs that make it difficult to walk in the area. This sort of trauma on spruce trees can leave them vulnerable to rot and insect problems. Also, the quick brute force approach leaves heavy limb debris in the ditches, making the ditch and culverts prone to clogging or plugging.
Alaska DOT’s brute force approach is outmoded for an Alaska that depends on its beauty to bolster the economy. In Homer, we have been cussing about this horrible treatment along our lovely, rural state-maintained roads. Yes, we must clear our ditches and cut back hazardous alder and spruce tree limbs, but not this way. Some states prioritize aesthetics and canopy management by using specialized cutters that will slice alders and spruce limbs with flush, clean cuts. States like Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Michigan have laws and standards for maintenance along roads that maintain natural aesthetics and prevent damaging the vegetation, like Alaska’s DOT does, that can invite tree disease and rot.
As a contrast in approaches to easement clearing, Homer Electric Association contracts a private service to clear their electrical easements, and the contractor employs equipment that cuts alders and spruce limbs cleanly, then uses a mulcher to chew the debris into small pieces, leaving the area safe for moose and people to walk beside the road, promoting a quick recovery of the lush native vegetation that sprouts the very next year and keeps debris from clogging ditches. Maybe the state should consider hiring some local specialists who do have the right equipment.
This has been an ongoing controversy every time the state brings their shredder to our roads. The mess they leave is unconscionable considering that Homer is a tourist town and considering the mess it leaves along private property. When they exploded all the vegetation along East Hill Road, a great deal of angry discussion about the appearance of the East Hill Road “maintenance” occurred among those who travel that road. Now DOT is thrashing Skyline Drive and Ohlson Mountain Road. This may seem like a small thing, but truly it is not when you consider collectively how much of our local roadside now looks like a bomb went off in the bushes all along the frontage.
There are alternative cutters for the highway department to purchase: A high-speed hydraulic boom saw can handle 5 to 7-inch diameter limbs, slicing them cleanly, allowing the tree to heal naturally. For 1.5-inch brush, a sickle bar/hedge cutter can cleanly cut brush parallel to the road. A heavy-duty flail mower will mulch grass and light brush up to 2 inches and leave a much cleaner finished area.
It is time for the Alaska DOT and our Legislature to fund more up-to-date equipment that will not simply thrash the vegetation with brute force but will instead do a tidy, neat job that protects the health of the adjacent trees and shrubs. Aesthetics do matter, both to the residents who have been fuming about this ugly, disrespectful treatment of our neighborhoods each time the state does this full clearing project and to visitors. We can do better and should do better.
DOT should explore ways to cut vegetation cleanly, leaving us with more aesthetic, safe scenic roadsides. Tourism brings in a lot of money to the state. We should do better to present our best look to tourist guests, all Alaskans who vacation on our highways and local roads, and to all the private property owners with frontage on state road easements.
Nina Faust is a 35-year Homer resident, retired high school teacher, and local community activist.
