Forest Service adds staff in Wrangell, mostly to work on recreation projects

The U.S. Forest Service is adding a dozen new positions in Wrangell, plus changing two jobs from seasonal to permanent. Most of the new hires are on the job, with a couple still in the hiring process.

District Ranger Tory Houser estimated it's a 15% to 20% gain in staff.

"Many of the positions are recreation positions," she said. "In our case, the influx is more a management decision to transition from having seasonal, temporary employees to having permanent employees that work a seasonal schedule."

Houser added the new staffers will be involved in multiple recreation projects in the area, including major trail renovation at Rainbow Falls, work at Anan Wildlife Observatory, as well as the Kunk Lake Trail and Nemo Saltwater Access Trail.

In addition to recreation projects, other new hires were added to work in disciplines such as fish and wildlife, and timber and silviculture.

Houser said the agency was able to use authority in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which allowed them to consider people with ties to the area as prospective employees, "to be able to look at their local knowledge as an asset in hiring them."

"Most of them are people that were hired under ANILCA, and if they weren't born in Alaska they have lived and worked here at some point in time," she said, adding that some had once been interns with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) who had the opportunity to work in the Wrangell area, while others were longtime residents.

One longtime resident who became part of the team is Dan Flickinger, who had previously worked in the private sector before joining the Forest Service as the new trails and developed recreation manager. "He is (currently) working toward doing timber framing and trying to use local wood to build some shelters out on the Nemo Loop," Houser said.

Another new staff member is interpretation and conservation education specialist Claire Froelich. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, she initially planned to concentrate her studies on health care and considered careers such as dietitian, but first she wanted an adventure.

Going through the SCA and AmeriCorps led her to initially work as an intern for six months with the Forest Service in Wrangell in 2022 and she fell in love with the area. "I spent the next seven months trying to get back here," she said. "It's been going great ever since."

She stays busy as the point of contact or liaison for various events, projects, school programs and partnerships with Wrangell organizations.

Froelich said she enjoys working with the Forest Service staff, as she feels the focus is more community based. "It definitely feels like a family, and we all work together really well."