This gravel road will be restored by the National Park Service at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska/NPS file

Crews at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska on August 1 will begin removing a 200-foot-long gravel road near Lake Brooks that was improperly constructed by the park in 2014.

“Once again, the park apologizes to those who we offended by the construction of this road. It should never have occurred the way it did,” said park Superintendent Mark Sturm. “Thank you to our tribal counterparts who worked with us to develop a careful plan for site restoration. I am sorry this work was necessary. I would like to highlight that, in recent years, the park reformed the way in which projects are developed and implemented in order to ensure tribal consultation is done properly and resource preservation concerns are fully addressed.”

Ten years ago, construction of the road segment in question impacted two known archaeological features. This work was done without appropriate tribal and cultural resource consultation as required by law, a park release said.

The road as constructed never would have been approved if it had gone through proper channels. The park subsequently consulted with affiliated Tribes and Alaska Native organizations and completed a resource damage assessment. As part of an agreement between these organizations and the park, the road is being carefully removed, and the area restored to its natural state.  A tribal monitor alongside park archaeologists are overseeing the restoration work to prevent disturbance to sensitive resources.