This website describes the process used to develop Geographic Response Strategies (GRS) to protect sensitive coastal environments in the Northern Cook Inlet response zone. The Northern Cook Inlet Zone, which is part of the Cook Inlet Subarea, extends from the Chuitna River on the west side of the Inlet to Point Possession on the east and north to the Matanuska River.

GRS are oil spill response plans tailored to protect a specific sensitive area from oil impacts following a spill. These response plans are map-based strategies that can save time during the critical first few hours of an oil spill response. They show responders where sensitive areas are located and where to place oil spill protection resources.

A workgroup was formed to develop GRS for the Northern Cook Inlet Zone. Participants include State and Federal resource trustee agencies and local spill response experts.

The workgroup selected 17 sites from the list of candidate sites for GRS development. The map below shows the GRS selected sites, and the site selection matrix (28KB pdf) and site selection key (8KB pdf) summarize the resources at risk for each site. The site selection process involved a consideration of environmental sensitivity, risk of being impacted from a water borne spill; and feasibility of successfully protecting the site with existing technology.

Download a printable copy of this map in a 466KB pdf format.

Index of plans

For each of the GRS sites selected in the Northern Cook Inlet Zone, a response strategy was created, describing the Geographic Response Strategy for that site. The final Northern Cook Inlet GRS documents are sub-sections of the Cook Inlet GRS. This is the list of GRS identified on the index map above (numbers correspond to numbers on the map), with links to the corresponding response strategy in pdf format:

• NCI-01 Fish Creek (1.8MB pdf)
• NCI-02 Ship Creek (2.0MB pdf)
• NCI-03 Three Mile Creek (2.4MB pdf)
• NCI-04 Beluga River (2.7MB pdf)
• NCI-05 Theodore River (3.6MB pdf)
• NCI-06 Lewis River (3.3MB pdf)
• NCI-07 Ivan River (3.1MB pdf)
• NCI-08 Little Susitna River (3.6MB pdf)
• NCI-09 Goose Bay (2.8MB pdf)
• NCI-10 Fish Creek North (4.3MB pdf)
• NCI-11 Wasilla Creek (2.5MB pdf)
• NCI-12 Spring Creek (3.3MB pdf)
• NCI-13 Knik River (3MB pdf)
• NCI-14 Eagle River (3.3MB pdf)
• NCI-15 Campbell Creek (3.7MB pdf)
• NCI-16 Bird Creek (2.3MB pdf)
• NCI-17 Chickaloon River (3MB pdf)

Public involvement was essential to ensure that the sites selected and the strategies developed reflect the environmental protection priorities of local communities, stakeholders, and resource users. The workgroup sought public input to ensure that everyone with a stake in Cook Inlet was made aware of Geographic Response Strategies and their importance during an oil spill response. If you have local knowledge about the Northern Cook Inlet Zone or if you would like more information about Geographic Response Strategies please contact: dec.spar.grs@alaska.gov

You can learn more about Geographic Response Strategies by reading our Frequently Asked Questions.

This page last updated: June 23, 2008 by Nuka Research & Planning Group, LLC