Sen. Lisa Murkowski cut the ribbon at the new Anan Bay cabin on Aug. 19. Joining her were (from left) James King and Frank Sherman, of the U.S. Forest Service, and (to her right) Forest Service Wrangell District Ranger Tory Houser, WCA tribal administrator Esther Aaltséen Reese, Mayor Patty Gilbert and Virginia Oliver.
It's not often the U.S. Forest Service gets to open up a new public-use cabin in Southeast, and they had a special visitor to cut the ribbon: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Alaska's senior senator participated in the event Aug. 19 at the Anan Bay cabin.
After a tree fell in February 2023, crushing the cabin, the Forest Service decided it would use the need to replace the structure as an opportunity to give it some upgrades as well. The new red cedar cabin boasts a large, covered deck in addition to more room to house larger groups for overnight visits.
Reservations can be made by visiting recreation.gov, but it may take another week or two for the website to update and start accepting reservations.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was a joint effort. Officials of the Forest Service, Wrangell Cooperative Association and National Forest Foundation (NFF) - the nonprofit partner of the Forest Service - attended the ceremony.
WCA tribal administrator Esther Aaltséen Reese sprinkled tobacco on the structure to pay respect to the land while tribal elder Virginia Oliver beat a drum.
Mary Mitsos, chief executive officer of the NFF, explained that the Anan Bay cabin is just the start of a widespread cabin-building endeavor in Alaska. According to Mitsos, the foundation would like to build about 25 structures in the Chugach and Tongass national forests. That number includes new cabins as well as repairs and renovations for existing ones.
The effort is funded in part by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Great American Outdoors Act of 2020, with federal funding totaling $14 million. The NFF is providing an additional $3.7 million.
The Anan cabin contract went to Rainforest Construction, a Petersburg-based construction company, the same outfit that rebuilt the viewing deck at the wildlife observatory just up the trail in 2022. The contract for the Anan Bay cabin totaled $525,380.
The Anan cabin is not the only new structure planned for the Wrangell area. Roughly 25 miles from downtown, the Forest Service and NFF plan to construct a cabin near the Long Lake Trailhead. The timeline for that project is 2025.
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