ALASKA’S BLACK BEAR LAKE CABIN WORK ACCOMPLISHED

An RAF grant helped fund the recent work party to renovate Black Bear Lake cabin, a remote USFS fly-in public use cabin in southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. RAF Michigan/Alaska Ambassador Rob Aho initially applied for the RAF grant, and funds for the project were also provided by the National Forest Foundation, the US Forest Service, and the Washington Seaplane Pilots Association.

The work party, led by RAF Alaska Liaison Jeff DeFreest and his wife, Ambassador Kari DeFreest, took place July 14-18 and received support from area volunteers.

“The Black Bear Lake cabin project was a success,” Kari DeFreest reported. The five-day work party required significant pre-planning and logistical coordination to get people, tools, food, and materials into the remote location on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.

Due to US Forest Service funding restrictions, the National Forest Foundation covered air charter flights for ferrying heavy supplies, tools, and volunteers to the site. “Misty Fjords Air again provided needed air taxi services to keep the project on track. They are definitely a committed partner on RAF projects,” Kari DeFreest said.

Three volunteers and one USFS person were on site for all five days. A total of 11 volunteers, from Alaska, Idaho, and California assisted. “Two local pilots were among the volunteers. They each flew their personal aircraft to the remote site at least three times, ferrying supplies and volunteers,” DeFreest said.

The crew replaced the front deck and stairs, removed some rotten subflooring and shored up the front of the cabin. They cleaned and disinfected the interior, replaced a broken window, and caulked the skylight to prevent leaks. They cleaned and repainted the wood stove and installed a new heat shield beneath it. They painted the exterior and installed an RAF fire ring.

They repaired the boardwalk leading from the beach to the cabin, built new stairs from the beach, brushed around the cabin, and built a new bridge on the trail to the outhouse.

Volunteer Tony Trimm reflected on the work, saying, “I appreciated Jeff’s [DeFreest] contagious enthusiasm for the project. Ingenuity and teamwork go a long way in problem solving.

This cabin is now a more desirable facility – one of more than 140 reservable cabins on the Tongass National Forest where visitors can experience Alaska’s water-accessible wilderness.

Submitted July 31, 2025