Grace Ridge Brewery will host a pre-Thanksgiving dessert auction as a fundraiser for Friends of Kachemak Bay State Park on Wednesday Nov. 27 at 6 p.m. As of Friday, 20 people had already signed up to bring desserts.
This is the third year that Friends has held the event. Last year they raised more than $1,000.
Robert Archibald, treasurer for the board of directors, said that funds raised support general trail maintenance within the park as well equipment for the volunteers. As an organization, Friends supports Kachemak Bay State Park to help keep trails usable.
Archibald said that at one point after environmental funding provided after the Exxon-Valdez oil spill there were close to 90 miles of trails within the park. Now, only about 10% of that trail system remains because the park does not have enough employees to maintain it.
“State Parks is also pretty limited in their funding as far as getting paid trail crew these days,” he said.
Funds raised at the auction will also support transportation costs to get across the bay and access the trail system. Archibald noted that several water taxi operators serve as board members for Friends and sometimes they are able to donate rides but not always.
Friends is able to operate and provide trail maintenance with a permit provided by the state.
“We do carry our own insurance, which is not cheap, in order to have people operate with power tools on the trail systems,” Archibald said.
Friends also provide an annual chain saw course that must be completed before volunteers can work on the trail. Archibald noted that the state park has only one trail maintenance person, Eric Clarke, who has been with the park for 26 years. “He has a lot on his hands for just one person, we’re a little more flexible with our volunteer crew,” Archibald said.
Two years ago Kachemak Bay State Park celebrated 50 years as an establishment. According to the Department of Natural Resources, the Legislature approved 105,387 acres as Kachemak Bay State Park, effective May 9, 1970. The park currently encompasses 400,000 acres.
Kachemak Bay was Alaska’s first official designated park.Soon after Kachemak Bay, Chugach State Park was established and then Denali State Park.
Upcoming annual Friends meeting
Friends of Kachemak Bay State Park will be holding their annual meeting at Islands and Oceans Visitor Center on Dec. 5. There will be a presentation provided by Homer Outdoor Wilderness Leaders (HOWL) and the board will present the annual Golden Pulaski award to the volunteer of the year. This will also be a potluck for the organization. There will be some socializing time starting around 5:30 p.m. and the meeting will start at 6 p.m.
