The Bureau of Land Management held a public meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, concerning the proposed extension of a land withdrawal for the Gilmore Satellite Tracking Station, located near Fox, Alaska.

 

The meeting took place from 3 to 5 p.m. at the BLM Fairbanks District Office, 1150 University Avenue in Fairbanks.

 

The United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), manages the tracking station. In July 2006 NOAA  filed an application with the BLM for a 20-year extension of Public Land Order No. 3708, which withdrew approximately 8,500 acres of public land from other land uses to protect the tracking station. The current withdrawal expires on February 14, 2009. 

 

A notice of the public meeting was published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2007. A notice of the proposed withdrawal extension and 90-day comment period was published in the Federal Register on February 1, 2007.

 

Antennas at the Gilmore facility. NOAA photo.

According to NOAA, the public derives numerous benefits from the tracking station, officially called the Fairbanks Command and Data Acquisition Station. Benefits include quicker response to natural disasters, improved weather forecasts, and enhanced search and rescue capabilities. The facility also supports scientific research in climatology and atmospheric studies, oceanography, and other fields.

 

For more information about the meeting or the BLM’s withdrawal extension process, contact BLM realty specialist Betsy Bonnell at 907-474-2336. For information about NOAA’s application or about the Gilmore Satellite Tracking Station, contact NOAA’s Richard Von Wittkamp at 206-526-4400. NOAA's Web site contains additional information about the facility.