The U.S. Forest Service is planning to build a few dozen new cabins on the Tongass and Chugach National Forests in the coming years. The agency is proposing higher fees – $75 a night – to help keep up with the increased cost of maintenance.
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Life-long Petersburg resident Brian Richards and his wife stay at Forest Service cabins every summer. The 40-year-old said they reserve several cabins that they travel to by boat.
“It’s like a bucket list,” Richards said. “We want to use them all. I’d say we prefer cabins by lakes or rivers, you know, water, it just kind of adds another element.”
The couple sees their cabin stays as good for their mental health. Richards calls it “natural therapy” which helps them reconnect.
“The more we get out there and walk around and look at the trees and listen to the birds and just, you know, disconnect from civilization, I think it’s just incredibly beneficial,” he said.
Richards is excited to see more cabins coming to the area. The Forest Service plans two new cabins on the Tongass this year at El Cap and Mendenhall and four next year at Herbert Glacier, Woodpecker, Little Lake, and Perserverance Lake – they’re mostly on the road system for increased accessibility. There is one near Ketchikan, Petersburg, Wrangell, and Juneau. Similarly, there are six new cabins scheduled for the Chugach with half built this year at Porcupine, Meridian, and McKinley and half next year at Granite Creek #1 and #2 and Tincan. That means that the Forest Service needs to set the nightly fees for the cabins soon. The agency is required to have fees set six months before they charge them.
“It can be tricky,” said John Suomala, the recreation program manager for the Tongass.
Suomala helps set the cabin fees. He uses a cost analysis that looks at several factors such as local economies and what similar cabins are going for.
“Part of it too is just, you know, local expertise, from the districts, people that live in these communities,” said Suomala. “Just kind of thinking about, you know, what are the prices within these communities now and what do you think your neighbors are willing to pay.”
The nightly fees for staying at a Forest Service cabin in Alaska mostly range from $35 to $75. All of the new cabins are proposed for $75 a night except for two – one near Ketchikan is $65 and one at Juneau’s Mendenhall campground is $125 because it has electricity and nearby showers.
The new cabins are just a fraction of what’s available to the public. The Tongass has 142 cabins just in Southeast. Most are remote and get visitors less than 10 nights a year. Last year, it cost the Forest Service $700,000 to maintain them. The nightly fees covered about $500,000.
Suomala said the popular, more accessible cabins help subsidize the remote ones – and that’s their hope with the new cabins coming on board. But ultimately, he said, the public will help set the price.
“We want feedback to, you know, to get an idea, like are we way off here?” Suomala said. “Do you think it should be higher? Do you think it should be lower? We can’t raise the fee based on feedback from the public but we can lower it.”
As for Richards, he said $75 a night won’t be a deal breaker for him and his wife, Ola.
“Because, it’s worth it for us,” he said. “I guess my concern is for a lower-income family. I would hate to think that someone wouldn’t stay at a cabin because they can’t afford it. I think that’s a real shame.”
The deadline for public comments on the proposed cabin fees is July 2. People can comment in person, online by phone, email, or snail mail. See details below.
Online: at https://arcg.is/0LSzWv2.
Email: sm.fs.tnfrecfee@usda.gov.
Letter:
Ketchikan SO
Attention: John Suomala, Recreation Program Manager
648 Mission Street, Suite No. 110
Ketchikan, AK 99901-6591
In person or by phone: Oral comments must be provided in person at any Tongass National Forest Service office in southeast Alaska to during normal business hours (Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) or by calling 907-802-4229 and indicating you would like to provide comments on the proposed recreation fee changes.
