Wrangell’s recreational infrastructure is about to get a much-needed makeover in the coming months and years thanks to federal maintenance dollars from the Forest Service.
The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), signed by then-President Donald Trump in 2020, directed $8.1 billion over five fiscal years — 2021 to 2025 — to fund maintenance and repair work that had been put off due to budget or workforce issues. The money is for projects on federal lands, like trails, bridges, monuments and campgrounds.
In past funding cycles, the Wrangell Ranger District has used money to redo the road at Nemo Loop and maintain area trails.
On May 11, the U.S. Forest Service announced it would allocate $14 million of this year’s round of funds to 28 projects in the Tongass National Forest —four of those projects are in and around Wrangell.
Last December, a major windstorm damaged the Roosevelt Harbor dock and boat launch on Zarembo Island. The Forest Service will use the recent round of funding to replace the gangway and renovate the floating dock to make this popular hunting location accessible.
The project is out for bid and Wrangell District Ranger Tory Houser hopes that it will be completed by late July. “It is a priority, it’s a huge community priority,” she said. The $1.55 million in GAOA funds that have been designated for the project will also cover reconstruction of a foot bridge of St. John’s Creek on Zarembo.
The district also plans to reroute the first mile of Wrangell’s Rainbow Falls trail, making it more accessible and easier to maintain. As it stands, the first segment of the hike has about 8,000 steps. Though Houser won’t be able to make the trail entirely compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, she hopes to minimize the stairs and use a more sustainable building material, like gravel, that won’t require such frequent upkeep.
The Forest Service will use pulsed laser light to create a 3-D rendering of the land around the trail and map a better route to the top. The project has been allocated $210,000.
Houser hopes to have a design for the new trail ready by fall, then put it out to bid in 2024.
Last year, the Forest Service updated the upper deck of the Anan Wildlife Observatory. Using $700,000 in recent GAOA funds, it will also redo the lower deck.
Construction is supposed to start this fall.
In addition, the Forest Service is collaborating with the Wrangell Cooperative Association to perform $50,000 of trail maintenance around the island. The Thoms Lake trail, Pats Lake trail, Nemo Saltwater Access trail and Kunk Lake trail are examples of areas where the funds may be used.
Applications for the last round of GAOA funding will close in 2024, but Houser is hopeful that Congress will extend the program. “There’s a lot of projects that haven’t been funded yet.”
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