Recreation and Road Report for July 20 – 24

This is the Recreation and Road Report for July 20th through July 24.

Hello, this is ___ from the Wrangell Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest. I’m here with the weekly Recreation and Road report for July 20-July 24th. 

Road Conditions, Construction and Logging Activity:

• Middle Ridge Road is closed until repairs can be completed next year. A team of engineers visited last week and prepared a design for reconstruction in 2027.
• The mainline, McCormick Creek Road, FS#6265, is washed out and impassable at mile post 13, just past the Highbush Lake Road.
• The Highbush Lake Road, FS#50040, has a slide across it but is passable for high clearance vehicles.
• The Áax’w Sáani Cabin contractor has cleaned up the slide on Nemo loop road, FS #6267.
• The WCA crew is resurfacing the bridge on the FS #6270 road near the intersection of Fools Inlet & Thoms Creek Road. Road #6270 will be closed past that bridge until further notice
• Roosevelt Dock on Zarembo will not be open in time for hunting season, due to contract supply chain issues.
• Trees are down on Zarembo roads near Roosevelt Harbor.
• The Forest Service is working towards repairing roads, but they won’t be finished any time soon. Stay tuned for updates.

Anan Wildlife Observatory:

• Wildlife update from the Anan Rangers: both brown and black bears have been seen daily including a set of triplet black bear cubs.
• The fish are starting to come in, but they are few in numbers at this time. 
• Meanwhile, more bears have been seen on the trail. People are advised to pay close attention to the safety talk at the trailhead to learn how to handle encounters.  Keep in mind that the fish are few and the bears are hungry.

• See the action for yourself! Check out the Anan livestream at Explore.org to view bears at Anan.
• Anan Wildlife Observatory permit season started July 5th. There are still some permits available on recreation.gov, if you have your own boat/floatplane to get there.  
• If there are no more permits available on recreation.gov for the day you are interested in, 4 permits each day are available through weekly lotteries.
• All lottery requests must be made in person at the Wrangell Ranger District office. Weekly requests will be collected by Mondays at 4:30 and awarded on Tuesdays by noon.  

The request schedule is as follows:

• For those who will need to purchase transportation to Anan, contact an authorized guide directly for both passage and permits.

Recreational Reminders:

• Be careful with your campfires! Due to hot and dry conditions, here’s an elevated fire risk. Completely put fires out, don’t leave fires unattended, and make fires on durable surfaces like rock and sand (not on duff)!
• Áax’w Sáani (Little Lakes Cabin) is under construction. It’s expected to be complete sometime in August! Expect short traffic delays on FS road #6277. 
• The USFS interpreter crew is running kids programs every week!
  • Forest Explorers is every Tuesday at Volunteer Trail, and Reading with a Ranger is on Thursdays at the Library!  Kids are invited for some fun summer nature activities and crafts.
• There was a human-bear interaction near Three-Way Pass this month. Due to late pink salmon arrivals in the creeks and late berry availability, bears are seeking food sources. Remember to be extra prepared and aware when in bear country. Bring bear spray, talk loudly, and make noise

This announcement is courtesy of KSTK and your Wrangell Ranger District.