Ranger district planning for Roosevelt Harbor restoration project

The Wrangell Ranger District is beginning the planning process for a restoration of the Roosevelt Harbor area. The harbor, located on Zarembo Island west of Wrangell, is graded inadequately and has poor drainage. According to a document provided by District Ranger Clint Kolarich, this leaves the site and the harbor itself vulnerable to pollutants and erosion. A rough outline of the plan is to add base surface material to the existing grade of the existing Forest Service administrative site, to improve drainage of the parking area and point it away from the harbor. Existing drainage ditches and culverts will be improved, and there are also plans to restore functionality to a catchment pond in the area.

"The restoration is important but it's not complicated," Kolarich said. "It's not a new issue, it's been known. It's been on the back burner but I want to move it to the front burner."

Community assistance will be required for this project, as well. The Forest Service is asking members of the public to help them create an inventory of all functioning and nonoperational vehicles around the harbor and Deep Bay, on Zarembo. In the near future, Forest Service personnel will be contacting potential owners of these vehicles to try and establish ownership. Vehicles that go unidentified will become subject to impoundment and removal, Kolarich said. People are encouraged to be proactive and contact the ranger district regarding any vehicle ownership on Zarembo Island. Identified vehicles will be physically marked with a tag, according to the document, and near the end of the process a public service announcement will go out regarding any vehicles still unidentified

"Successful implementation of this project will require a cooperative effort by local stakeholders including the Forest Service, the City and Borough of Wrangell, and members of the community," the document reads. "This notification is the first step in that effort, seeking to create a dialogue, and we greatly appreciate everyone's participation. We all know this will be a complex task given the fact that many of the vehicles are no longer registered, and most have since changed hands."

The community is asked to contact Lynda Nore, with the Forest Service, at (907) 305-0842, or by emailing lynda.nore@usda.gov. Additional information can be found by contacting Kolarich at (907) 874-7500.

Kolarich said that there is no set timeline for this project yet, asking for community assistance in building the vehicle inventory is only step one. He did say that he hopes to have the inventory put together this summer, and begin the actual restoration project next spring.

"This is the first step in the process of doing the restoration," he said.