The Department of Natural Resources’ commissioner will appear before the Senate Resources Committee later this month to discuss a roughly 20,000-acre proposed land transfer that the state’s development agency plans to use for an industrial park that could include data centers.
The department confirmed Thursday that Commissioner John Crowther would appear at a hearing on Oct. 26 after legislators on the Senate Resources Committee voted Wednesday to issue a subpoena.
Lawmakers have raised questions over whether the proposed transfer of approximately 30 square miles near the Mat-Su community of Houston is legal.
Resources Committee chair Sen. Cathy Giessel, an Anchorage Republican, said she was concerned the state was forgoing millions in potential revenue by providing the land to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, at no cost.
“This is a violation of our legislative appropriation authority,” she said. Giessel added that she was concerned the planned use of the site had “been not described at all.”
The AIDEA transfer has also been controversial in the Mat-Su. The Mat-Su Sentinel reports that the Mat-Su Borough Assembly voted last month to oppose the transfer. Residents and local officials say they’re concerned the area, which includes mushing and snowmachine trails, isn’t a good place for an industrial park.
In its application for the land transfer AIDEA said it planned to “establish a multi-use industrial and energy development district” on the sprawling parcel. The agency said possible uses could include data centers, advanced manufacturing and a logistics hub. However, AIDEA’s executive director said at a hearing earlier this month that hosting a data center on the site was “implausible.”
In a preliminary decision, the Department of Natural Resources found the transfer was “in the best interests of the state” because it could bolster the local economy. It has yet to issue a final decision.
Department officials previously told lawmakers that Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office had not given Crowther permission to attend a prior hearing, according to a document from Giessel’s office. Dunleavy’s office referred questions to the Department of Natural Resources and would not say why the governor didn’t allow Crowther to attend the Oct. 8 meeting.
