Tongass shelters vandalized

Vandals burned two shelters in the Wrangell unit of the Tongass National Forest, Forest Service officials said.

The damage to both the North Wrangell High Country Shelter and the Kunk Lake Shelter occurred some time between Sept. 2 and Sept 11, according to Wrangell unit Ranger Bob Dalrymple. Officials didn’t yet have a dollar value for the damage, and were waiting for clear weather to assess the damage, Dalrymple said. In either case, a fire started on the floor of the shelters burned through the wood floor, he added.

“I don’t think the intent was necessarily to vandalize the shelters,” he said. “It was just starting a fire on a wood floor.”

Depending on officials’ assessment, one or both shelters could be closed to the public until funds to fix them can be found, according to Dalrymple.

“Apparently, there was some structural damage to the Wrangell shelter,” he said.

In addition to burning the floor at Kunk Lake, located on Etolin Island, vandals tossed trash about and broke the oar of a skiff available for public use at the site.

“What makes it incomprehensible is that in the (about) four years I’ve been here, we’ve never had any vandalism reported until now,” Dalrymple said.

Despite similarities in the vandalism, Dalrymple said he had no reason to believe the incidents were connected in any way.

“It’s odd to me that we would have the same vandalism in two sites,” he said. “It’s bizarre.”

The Kunk Lake site is accessible only by boat, making the vandalism there and its coincidence with the High Country shelter even stranger.

“Generally, the rule of thumb is that the more remote a site is, the less likely it is to be vandalized,” he said.

Authorities urge anyone with information about the damage to call (907) 874-2323