11/07/2025
🚨 Save Palmer Golf Course! 🚨
The City of Palmer is considering closing the Palmer Golf Course for airport expansion — and we can’t let that happen.
This place means so much more than just golf. I worked there every summer in high school and college — it was the best job I ever had. It wasn’t just a workplace, it was a family. They supported me, wrote scholarship recommendations that helped me reach my goals, and taught me what real community feels like.
The golf course creates jobs for so many people — even local teachers who work there in the summer. It hosts dozens of charity tournaments every year, giving back to causes all over our valley. Many members of the Special Olympics play here, finding friendship, inclusion, and joy on those greens.
And for me personally — it’s where I met my husband, and where we got married. It’s part of my life story, and I know I’m not alone in that.
Palmer Golf Course is one of the only profitable entities the city owns, and it’s a green space that brings people together in a way no parking lot or runway ever could.
Please, take a moment to email the Palmer City Council and tell them to SAVE PALMER GOLF COURSE before it’s too late.
Let’s stand up for one of the best parts of Palmer — a place that gives back, connects us, and makes this town feel like home. 💚⛳
See this post below for who to email and more information
- Dr. B
ALASKA CITIZENS: TIME-SENSITIVE ACTION NEEDED
Please do this as soon as possible:
The future of the Palmer Golf Course will be decided in the next few weeks.
There are only three City Council meetings left this year before the new Airport Master Plan begins in early 2026.
If the City does not act now, the golf-course property will be automatically included in the next Master Plan as airport development land.
Once that happens, changing that designation will take years of federal review.
We are asking every Alaska resident to email the Mayor and City Council today and urge them to begin the FAA Release of Federal Obligation for the golf-course property.
This is the official FAA process that allows the City to keep this land as public recreation while staying in full compliance with federal law.
Action requested Begin FAA Release of Federal Obligation for the Palmer Golf Course
Please email to:
jcooper@palmerak.org,
jalcantra@palmerak.org, scarrington@palmerak.org, vhudson@palmerak.org, acollins@palmerak.org, agraham@palmerak.org, cityclerk@palmerak.org
Subject: Action requested Begin FAA Release of Federal Obligation for the Palmer Golf Course
Dear Mayor Cooper and members of the City Council,
I’m writing to respectfully urge the Council to take formal action before the end of this year to begin the FAA Release of Federal Obligation process for the Palmer Golf Course property.
The City will soon begin the next Airport Master Plan in early 2026. Once that process starts, the golf-course property will likely be included in the consultant’s draft plan as “airport development land,” consistent with earlier planning assumptions.
While the Council and the FAA will still need to review and approve the plan, this inclusion will make future release requests substantially more complicated and time-consuming.
Taking action now keeps Palmer in control of its own process and prevents the course from being prematurely classified as aviation property.
FAA Policy Supports a Release
FAA Order 5190.6B, Chapter 22 allows the airport sponsor — the City of Palmer to request a Release of Federal Obligation when land is “not needed for present or foreseeable aeronautical purposes.”
This process is common nationwide for lands that are better suited to public recreation or community use.
Chapter 17 also states that non-aeronautical uses can be compatible when they benefit the public and do not interfere with airport operations.
The Palmer Golf Course meets those criteria: it has operated safely for decades, generates tourism and local revenue, and serves as an open-space buffer that enhances airport compatibility.
Environmental and Practical Constraints
The area surrounding the airport and golf course presents significant environmental constraints for any expansion, including wetlands, the Matanuska River bluff, wildlife corridors, and established public infrastructure.
The prior Airport Master Plan included conceptual development areas that would require extensive environmental review and costly mitigation.
These realities make aviation expansion into the golf-course area neither practical nor justified within a reasonable planning horizon.
Request
I respectfully ask the City Council to:
1. Direct the City Manager to begin preparing a formal request to the FAA for release of the golf-course property under Order 5190.6B §22.6.
2. Include this item on an upcoming Council agenda before the end of the year so that the City can move forward before the new Master Plan formally begins.
This step does not preclude future aviation planning-it simply ensures Palmer’s long-standing public recreation area is handled transparently and with full local input.
Thank you for your continued service and your commitment to balanced, fact-based governance.
With Appreciation,
Your Name
City, State
FAA Airport Compliance Manual Chapter 17 & 22
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/Order_5190.6B_Compliance_Chg3.pdf
Current Airport Masterplan:
Critical Habitat: Pages 26, 27
Wetlands: Page 30
https://www.palmerak.org/media/10356
October 23, 2025 Advisory Meeting: Expansion proposals into the critically environmentally sensitive areas of the golf course:
https://www.palmerak.org/media/31901g
