Volunteers restore fly-in cabins in Alaska

A team of seven Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) volunteers plus two US Forest Service staff recently spent a week conducting repairs and maintenance at remote, fly-in only Southeast Heckman Lake cabins in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.

The Tongass National Forest recently published a plan for cabin sustainability that includes reducing maintenance costs, fueling a growing concern about the USFS decommissioning cabins that can only be reached by airplane or boat.

Many of these remote cabins provide unique opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking, as well as backcountry safety, RAF officials said, noting that those accessed by plane, floatplane, or boat “provide unique solitude and independence.”

After a year of planning the project and logistics with USFS Recreation Management Specialist Seth Roseberry, RAF Alaska Liaison Jeff DeFreest organized the seven-day Heckman Lake volunteer work party.

With the help of an RAF grant, the USFS approved DeFreest’s plan, and the project was scheduled for April 2024. Work items included relocation and repair of the ice-damaged dock, pressure washing and staining the cabin, deck, rails, and accessibility ramp, repairing the outhouse, brushing the area, and filling the woodshed.

Seven RAF volunteers from around the country, including Michigan Liaison Rob Aho and RAF Director Jeff Russell from Wisconsin, joined Roseberry and USFS Forestry Technician Katie McCann to complete repairs and restore cabin access for users with mobility challenges. Additional work, including clearing trail and filling woodsheds, was accomplished at a second USFS cabin on Heckman Lake and a cabin on nearby Jordan Lake.

“The teams worked as one integrated group without much distinction between us and them. It was awesome,” DeFreest’s wife Kari said, adding “we also had great, professional support from our local partner, Misty Fjords Air.”

The workers completed additional maintenance to prepare cabins for use.

“Seth and Katie had done their research on cabin utilization and recent maintenance already accomplished at the old Heckman and Jordan Lake cabins, so that our volunteers’ energy and emphasis could be placed on filling those wood sheds and brushing trails. All told, the RAF was able to help manage not just one, but three cabins in the Naha drainage,” DeFreest said.

“I think we made a big impact on the cabins we worked on,” Russell added. “True to the RAF way of doing things, we had a great time. Work got done, fun was had, and relationships were built.”

For more information: TheRAF.org, FS.USDA.gov