While the acquisition of the 160 acres at Whitewater Bay on Admiralty Island was a tremendous win for public access and public land management, crucial gaps remain in the Admiralty Island National Monument. Congress has directed federal land managers on the Tongass National Forest to pursue the acquisition of 22,890 acres at Cube Cove, an abandoned logging settlement 25 miles north of the Native village of Angoon. The Cube Cove tracts represent the largest tracts of private land within the Kootznoowoo Wilderness Area of the monument. Without the reauthorization and adequate funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Cube Cove acquisitions will be difficult or impossible to achieve, opening the door for future conflicts in land management and possible loss of public access to the monument.
Admiralty Island, Whitewater Bay, credit USFS
About Hal Herring