The clock is ticking for a squatter’s cabin near 4 Mile Haines Highway.

The 10-by-14 cabin, built by a summer resident on Sealaska Corp. property two years ago, will have to be moved, a corporation official said this week.

“They’re trespassing. Before we demolished it, we thought we’d give (the builder) the opportunity to move it,” said Michele Metz, assistant lands manager for Sealaska.

The cabin sits on the historic Yendeistakye village site, and restrictive covenants on the deed prohibit such structures, Metz said.

“You really can’t do anything to develop that property.” Sealaska’s interpretation of deed restrictions is they would prohibit even commercial tours from being offered on the land.

Thieves took about $1,000 worth of furnishings from the cabin during the winter, according to Carl Krihwan, a 67-year-old engineer from Massachusetts who built the structure across the road from a popular eulachon-fishing site.

“It was kind of a mistake,” Krihwan said in a telephone interview this week. He said he built it not knowing who owned the property it was on.

During a visit to Haines last month, Krihwan found the door to the cabin open and exterior stairs removed. A 50-gallon water tank, a 20-pound propane tank, a 12-volt car battery, a wall-tent stove, a coal bucket, cooking utensils and hardware were taken, he said.

“They kind of cleared me out, but they didn’t discourage me,” he said, estimating the loss at $1,000. “It takes a lot of guts to come back, after people steal from you and make up stories about you.”

The cabin is in trees about 50 feet from the road, camouflaged in part because of its dark green paint.

Chilkoot Indian Association employee Dave Berry said he discovered the cabin about a year ago and sent photos and GPS coordinates of the structure to Sealaska.

Krihwan said he first visited Haines in 2007 and he plans to build another cabin this August when he returns to Haines, but on private property in the upper valley owned by a friend.

“You can’t get discouraged by a few setbacks.”

A stove and sink attached to the floor remain in the cabin, Krihwan said. The cabin’s door was bolted and one window was boarded shut this week. Krihwan said he’d like to see the cabin remain standing and be used by eulachon fishermen.

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