31 square miles up for grabs

And it's happening about an hour from Anchorage, right next to Houston.

The state wants to hand over more than thirty one square miles of public land for a brand new industrial park. We're talking scalable data centers, a rail freight hub, and power lines, all built right off the Parks Highway.

For a lot of us, that stretch of highway past Houston is just background scenery on the way to Talkeetna or Fairbanks. This proposal could change that view for good.

The push is coming from the state's own economic development corporation. They say it could bring construction jobs and help spread our economy beyond oil and mining.

But neighbors are already speaking up. That land includes trails people use to get outside, plus water sources folks depend on every day. It's the kind of decision that can reshape a community overnight.

The Houston mayor says the city wasn't even consulted before this hit the table. And right now, the borough has no special rules on the books for permitting something like a data center.

Alaska only has eight data centers total right now, so this would be a first for the whole Valley. For anyone who drives the Parks Highway past Houston, this one's worth watching. How to weigh in is in the description below.