An Aug. 4 float trip and a ceremony in Klukwan will be held to observe the 30th anniversary of the creation of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.
“We’re hoping the governor can make it,” said Evangeline Willard-Hoy, a member of the preserve’s advisory committee and chair of the group organizing the event. Mayor Stephanie Scott, advisory committee members and state parks officials are expected to be on hand.
The borough has contributed $1,500 toward the observance, which will include speeches, Native dancing and refreshments in Klukwan. Start time is 9:45 a.m.
Scott said as many as 40 seats will be available aboard the rafts and that they will be apportioned to the public on a first-come basis.
One hundred pins commemorating the anniversary will be distributed at the event. The borough’s tourism department created 1,000 of the pins, which are used as incentives for visitors to fill out a survey of the experience in Haines, said tourism director Tanya Carlson. The pins cost about $1,500, she said.
The preserve set aside 48,000 acres of forest land as eagle habitat, limiting development to traditional uses and effectively prohibiting commercial logging.