Last-minute permits for Anan available through Forest Service office

Independent travelers and residents looking to visit Anan Wildlife Observatory apart from tour groups still have a chance to do so.

The Forest Service Wrangell ranger district is making last-minute permits available through its office on a weekly basis until Aug. 25, the end of the bear-viewing permits season.

Up to four last-minute permits per day will be made available for those who request them the previous week by filling out a form in the district office.

“Collection of weekly requests will end Mondays at 4:30 p.m. and permits will be awarded on Tuesdays by noon. If several requests are for the same day, a lottery for awarding reservation space will be held on Tuesday at 9 a.m.,” reads a statement issued by the Forest Service.

Corree Delabrue, recreation management specialist with the Forest Service, said the last-minute permits were put on hiatus when the Coronavirus pandemic hit and the agency’s offices were closed. The offices on Bennett Street are now reopened.

“The reason we started this back up is because people were calling and asking,” Delabrue said. “People remembered them and started calling.”

Delabrue said independent travelers should first check recreation.gov for available permits. A search for “Anan Wildlife Observatory” will reveal what’s available each day. Permits for visiting Anan are required until Aug. 25.

To see the weekly schedule or to find out more about last-minute permitting, visit bit.ly/3IBYrTQ or call the Wrangell ranger district at 907-874-2323.

 

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