The early years of Wrangell's sawmills

Editor's note: Frank Roppel was in the timber industry from 1956 to 2002 and a

Wrangell resident since 1992. After graduating from high school in Ketchikan and

receiving a degree from Oregon State University, he began full time employment for Ketchikan Pulp Company in 1959. Rising to sawmill manager,

Roppel became the first president of Sealaska Timber in 1980, and served as executive vice president and general manager of Alaska Lumber and Pulp from 1984 until its closure.

At the advice of his wife, the writer and historian Patricia Roppel, he had begun putting together a history of the local...