Forest Service cabin at Anan destroyed by fallen tree

One of the U.S. Forest Service's most popular recreational cabins in the area has met an untimely demise.

The cabin at Anan Bay was demolished sometime before Feb. 18 by a fallen tree which was most likely toppled by high winds, said Tory Houser, acting Wrangell District ranger.

"It's total destruction. It's pretty awful," Houser said Feb. 23. "It's really sad because it was a new cabin and beautiful."

Built in 2012 of yellow cedar, the 15-foot by 17-foot structure could accommodate seven people. It was two stories and had a full loft that Houser said could comfortably sleep five people.

The cabin, which is 31 miles southeast of Wrangell, has been taken off the Forest Service cabin reservation website for the rest of the year. Since it's one of the more popular cabins in the Wrangell District, it's typically booked six months in advance.

Houser said she will have to meet with engineers and architects to start planning to rebuild the structure. "It's a priority to us and we do hope to do it relatively quickly, but we do need to go through a process," she said.

Houser said she has been asked by various people why hazard trees weren't cut down from around the cabin.

"I don't blame people for (asking) that, but we thought we did," she said. "We cut a lot of trees out of there. The contractors, when they put the new cabin in, they cut a lot of trees out. Even after that, even with our new contract in 2017, they cut more trees out."

It's unknown how quickly the cabin will be replaced. The Forest Service has been calling people who held reservations to offer alternatives or refunds, Hauser told KSTK last week.

The recreational cabin for overnight rentals is about a half-mile north of the Anan Wildlife Observatory deck and shelter that was rebuilt last year.

Jeff Owings, with Ketchikan-based R&M Engineering, spent time at Anan last year as an inspector on the project to rebuild the wildlife viewing platform at Anan Creek. He discovered the crashed roof of the cabin when he boated to Anan with his family for a long weekend, according to a KSTK news report.

He reported that much of the back of the cabin is smashed, and both floors open to the sky, he told KSTK. Houser heard of the damage from Owings.