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Kenai Refuge Canoe Route Clearing - Stewardship Opportunity with Alaska BHA
Join the Alaska Chapter of BHA as we work down the south part of the Canoe Lake Chains in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and help us clear it for folks recreating in this area this year.
We'll meet at the West Entrance of Swan Lake Canoe System, at mile 3.5 of Swan Lake Road at the first Entrance.
We could hopefully have a shuttle worked out beforehand, so when we pop out the East Entrance we could have a couple people go and grab the other vehicles or we can shuttle trucks before we get into the lake system, load canoes and head out at a group-decided time on Saturday morning.
The USFWS has the Outdoor Education Center (OEC) reserved for the group Friday 5/16 through Monday 5/18, morning. There are 6 dry cabins that sleep 4. They don't have woodstoves so they can get a little chilly but are nice and dry. There also is what USFWS calls, the Bears Den, which is a big covered picnic area and has a massive charcoal grill outside that is available for use. There is one pit toilet and it also has a water pump (which may or may not be working by then). The OEC is located on the first left after you turn off Swanson River Road onto Swan Lake Road. AK Chapter Coordinator and Treasurer will be camping out the night before for folks that want to join on Friday night.
Saturday night's camp spot is TBD as we progress through the system. The goal is to make it to either Loon Lake or Swan Lake. Then it would be just a couple hours to get out of the system the next day and both those lakes have good campsites and good fishing.
All tools for trail work will be supplied. USFWS has 8 canoes, 2 people/canoe.
Volunteers should bring:
Personal gear for camping
~sleeping bag
~sleeping pad
~tent
~dry bags
~water filter
~food items
~any other preferredpersonal items wanted
USFWS can supply a couple of Jet Boils for easy meals water filters, if needed. All safety gear, life jackets ,and paddles will be supplied. USFWS also has some 70L dry bags that they can typically fit two people's items into and 1 day bag between your canoe and partner. XtraTuffs will work for boots but if folks want to make sure their feet stay dry then hip boots would be the way to go.
We try to pack as lite as possible and still have some comforts.
There will be a USFWS group volunteer form that will be filled out ahead of time with names of all folks, we will sign it the morning of our departure.
The tentative plan is to work the south part of the loop going in from the Canoe Lake Chains to Spruce and down to Otter Rock, Loon Lake and Swan Lake. Then, from Swan Lake head up Raven Mallard Teal Birch to Portage. There are some pretty short portages to start out the day and a couple of water portage. Towards Otter to Swan we see bigger lakes and longer portages.
Camp sites are limited to 14 people, so we'll work to iron out those logistics based on RSVPs.
Please RSVP if you're interested in joining us and email [email protected] and sign the BHA liability waiver and verify contact information for the volunteer list to ensure you have all relevant details for the project.
CHECK OUT our Pint Night: Moose Antler Development, for Thursday May 15th, preceding this stewardship opportunity at Naptowne Brewing Co.
WHEN
May 16, 2025 at 8:00pm - May 18, 2025
WHERE
Kenai Wildlife Refuge
33398-A Ski Hill Rd
Soldotna, AK 99669
United States
Google map and directions
33398-A Ski Hill Rd
Soldotna, AK 99669
United States
Google map and directions
CONTACT
Jeff Knisley
8 RSVPS
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