Here is your weekly Recreation and Road Report for August 3rd – 7th.
Road Conditions, Construction and Logging Activity:
- Middle Ridge Road is closed until reconstruction can be completed in 2027.
- The mainline, McCormick Creek Road, FS# 6265, is washed out and impassable at milepost 13, just past the Highbush Lake road.
- The Highbush Lake road, FS# 50040, has a slide across it but is passable to high clearance vehicles.
- The WCA crew is resurfacing the bridge on FS# 6270, near the intersection of Fools & Thoms Creek Road. FS# 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. The dock is closed until further notice.
- Trees are down on Zarembo roads near Roosevelt Harbor. The road is ATV accessible, but cars can’t get through.
- There will be a couple of miles of logging trucks on FS# 51720 on Etolin Island, as well as activity at the LTF. Expect traffic delays.
- The Forest Service is repairing roads, but they won’t be finished any time soon. Stay tuned for updates.
- Please stay safe out there!
Anan Wildlife Observatory:
- Wildlife update from the Anan Rangers: The fish are in, and both brown and black bears have been seen daily. Black bear cub triplets, twins, and brown bear twins have been observed at Anan. Osso’s third cub got lost and went on an adventure, but eventually found its way back to its mom.
- More bears have been seen on the trail. If you’re on the Anan trail, pay attention to the safety talk at the trailhead to learn how to handle encounters.
- See the action for yourself on the Anan livestream at Explore.org where you can watch bears live 24/7. You can also participate in Bear Bingo and win a prize! Information is available on the Friends of Anan Facebook page or website.
- Anan Wildlife Observatory permit season started July 5th. There are still some permits available on recreation.gov for $30, 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 Passes to Visit Anan: | Requests Accepted | Passes Awarded |
| August 2 – 8 | July 21 – 27 | July 28 |
| August 9 – 15 | July 28 – Aug 3 | August 4 |
| August 16 – 22 | August 4 – 10 | August 11 |
- For those who will need to purchase transportation to Anan, contact an authorized guide directly for both passage and permits.
Recreational Reminders:
- Remember to turn in your Stikine River sockeye harvest reports! Stikine River sockeye fishing closed on August 1st. Reports can be turned in to the Wrangell Ranger District Office.
- Be careful with your campfires! Completely extinguish fires, don’t leave fires unattended, and build fires on durable surfaces like rock and sand, not on duff or leafy debris.
- Áax’w Sáani (Little Lakes) cabin is under construction. It’s expected to be complete sometime this month! Expect short traffic delays on FS road# 6277.
- There was a human-bear interaction near 3-Way Pass last month. Remember to be prepared and aware when you’re in bear country. Bring bear spray, talk loudly and make noise.
- The Forest Service Staff hopes to see you at the Bearfest festivities this week from Thursday, August 6th, to Sunday the 9th.
- The USFS Interpreters are hosting some Bearfest activities. Reading with a Ranger is on Thursday at 10:30 at the library gazebo, and there will be kids’ games on the Nolan Center lawn on Saturday at 11:00.
“Our wallets are open this week, because we’re expecting some change in the weather!” Hardy-har-har. Get it?
This announcement is courtesy of KSTK and your Wrangell Ranger District.
