Download April 2011 PDF - International Journal of Wilderness

The KYA program met on Fridays,
and the participants in the KYA program
were students from all over Prince
of Wales: two students from Thorne
Bay, three students from Kasaan, one
from Klawock, three from Craig, and
one from Coffman Cove. All of these
students worked on YCC crews
Monday through Thursday, except for
the student from Coffman Cove, who
worked in the Thorne Bay Ranger
District office. Leadership was provided
by three YCC adult crew leaders
and a Youth Academy leader, who was
in charge of planning the educational
activities.
The Kasaan YCC worked on
projects all over the island (see figures
1 and 2). The crew worked on sign
installation at Salt Chuck Mine. Signs
were installed that warned visitors not
to collect subsistence food in the area
due to the large amount of heavy
metals in the water from the mine
tailings. The crew also worked in
Kasaan, which instills the students
with pride in their community. The
Organized Village of Kasaan has a
totem park, clan house, and historic
graveyard (see figure 3). Some of the
totems were moved over from the old
Kasaan village. The clan house was
built by the Civilian Conservation
Corps. Trail work such as raking,
brushing, and cleaning up was done
to the clan house trail. The students
built and installed an information
kiosk at the trailhead and replaced a
set of old steps for the trail. Other
Kasaan YCC projects included
building a woodshed at Trollers Cove
cabin, helping to build the Hatchery
Creek Fish Pass, and building benches
along One Duck Trail.
The Kasaan YCC crew had a great
opportunity to do work in the Karta
River Wilderness area (see figure 4).
The crew spent a few days at the Karta
River Wilderness cabin. During that
time they learned about Leave No
Trace principles, federal wilderness
designation, and had time to reflect on
and compare cultural values with the
U.S. wilderness legal guidance for the
management of designated wilderness.
While they were in the Karta River
Wilderness, they did some trail work
and hiked up to the Flagstaff Mine
site. Flagstaff Mine was active during
the 1940s and is an important part of
the history of the area; it also shows
the large amount of impact that
humans have had on the area. There
are a number of buildings that have
collapsed over the years and lots of
machinery, including old vehicles. Part
of the main trail in the area is on the
old roadbed from the mine, and
although it is more than 70 years old,
it is still very obvious that
it was once a road.
The Kasaan YCC crew
went back to the Karta
River Wilderness to stay at
the Salmon Lake cabin,
which is a historic cabin
covered with cedar shingles.
The crew filled the woodshed
using hand equipment
to gain experience with
axes and crosscut saws,
since the use of chainsaws
is not permitted in a wilderness
area. They installed
new trail signs and cleared
some of the trail, which
had a number of downed
trees.
It was important for
the Kasaan YCC to visit
this wilderness area because
it helped the youth share
cultural ideas and understand
government management
practices. The
youth had firsthand experience
with wilderness skills
such as site monitoring,
making resource management decisions,
and using crosscut saws and other
hand tools.
Figure 1—Kasaan community showing the kiosk
built by the KYA YCC crew for Totem Trail. Photo
by Paul Dawson.
Figure 2—KYA YCC students cutting firewood with the crosscut saw for the
Salmon Lake Cabin in the Karta River Wilderness. Photo by Paul Dawson.
Figure 3—Kasaan cultural park and totem pole displays. Photo by Paul
Dawson.
APRIL 2011 VOLUME 17, NUMBER 1 International Journal of Wilderness 29