Posts by Lisa Ellington

Gila National Forest update New Mexico pilots have responded to RAF Calls To Action regarding Forest Service plan revisions and have written comments. We appreciate their time and effort! Joyce and I collaborated on comments to Gila NF on behalf of NMPA, while Rol Murrow commented on behalf of the RAF. Several people have taken…

We are excited to announce a cooperative agreement between the RAF, EAA Chapter 42 and the National Park Service in Alaska. It’s an opportunity for a fly-in community service project to make Jake’s Bar (AKO) a safer place to operate. The strip is an unimproved 1,000-ft gravel bar along the Chitina River in Wrangell-St. Elias National…

In spite of 30mph crosswinds all day, 19 volunteers accomplished everything we hoped to! We worked a Bobcat to death, and were lucky Matthew Turnage was able to get a second unit out to us getting the 26 holes bored out.  As best I can see we got the following done: • Assembled, stained and placed two…

RAF Chairman John McKenna, Vice President Jack Tyler, New York State Liaison Russ Holland, Idaho State Liaison Mike Hart, longtime RAF volunteer Dr. Paul Collins and Idaho RAF member Larry Taylor attended a full day conference on federal public lands management practices March 28 at Boise State University. The sold-out session was open to “the…

Our RAF mission is to preserve airstrips, and in New Hampshire we found an unusual one – the only FAA-approved ice runway in the lower 48.  When winter comes to New England, the seaplane base at Alton Bay, (B18) on Lake Winnepausakee starts to freeze. Local volunteers watch it closely for an ice thickness of 12 inches –…

Big Bar airstrip is located on the Idaho side of the Snake River within Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Hells Canyon is the deepest canyon in North America and Big Bar is the only airstrip within that National Recreation Area.  The RAF and the Oregon Pilot’s Assoc. supported the Idaho Aviation Assoc. (IAA) to conduct autumn…

The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) joined representatives of federal and state agencies, aviation groups, landowners, and other stakeholders at the U.S. Forest Service Regional Headquarters in Albuquerque on November 10 to sign a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) creating a partnership called the New Mexico Airstrip Network (NMAN). The groups will collaborate to preserve, promote,…

​Sugar Creek grass airstrip, four miles from Bentonville, was christened October 8 with a fly-in celebrating Summit Aviation’s tenth anniversary. Together with our partners Summit and Tailwind Foundation, we have the airport in great shape. About 100 customers, friends and family visited, some exposed to the airstrip for the first time.  Visitors enjoyed volleyball, horseshoes, beanbag throws, live music…

The RAF is thrilled to have created Trigger Gap, a new recreational airstrip, this time in the beautiful Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. This 3,000-ft airstrip lies on lands managed by The Nature Conservancy above the Kings River, what the TNC calls a “recreational treasure, famous for fishing, swimming and canoeing.” “Our success is the result of…

Chicken Strip in Death Valley National Park’s Saline Valley is back in operation again, thanks to RAF volunteers. The July rains had rutted the airstrip. As a safety precaution, the Park Service closed it until maintenance could be performed to bring the surface back to a safe condition. Joseph Dier, Pat Fagan and Joseph Bork answered California Liaison Rick Lach’s work…