Relocation of Forest Service boat discussed in port commission workshop

The Wrangell Port Commission met Thursday evening, Aug. 6, to discuss plans to relocate an old Forest Service vessel. The borough assembly adopted a memorandum with the Forest Service last November, regarding the M/V Chugach Ranger. According to a Nov. 14, 2019 article in the Sentinel, the ship was first constructed in 1925, and is one of the last wooden Forest Service ranger boats in existence. It currently resides in the boat yard. However, the plan is to move the boat over to the Nolan Center, where it will reside as an historical display.

The port commission spent the majority of their workshop discussing how to move the Chugach Ranger. Keeleigh Solverson, with the harbor department, said that the plan is to place the boat near the water-side of the Nolan Center, beside another boat already sitting there. She added that the original timeline for the project was to have the boat moved by the end of September.

One of the main problems with moving the boat is a lack of space for the travel lift, which will carry the boat, to maneuver into the right spot. Solverson said that most of the discussion in the workshop revolved around laying down some fill along the side of the boat yard, near the Nolan Center, to give the lift more space to operate.

As this was a work session, no formal action was taken by the port commission.