My grandfather was the owner of the family cabin in the national forest in Petersburg, Alaska.  He originally intended to pass along ownership to my brother or myself.  We were both in the military at the time and there was concern that if either one of us were killed in action, the family cabin would be lost, too. My grandfather’s intent was to keep the cabin in the family for as long as possible so, in 2003, he transferred stewardship to my father. Unfortunately, my father passed away this past year (September 2016). At a time when the family is grieving, we must also deal with potential loss of the permit that allows us to maintain a cabin in the national forest. I am hoping that, after almost 70 years of being good caretakers of this land, there is something that can be done to save this special place.

I have been pouring over log books and pictures of my families’ time up Petersburg Creek. I am struck by how much it has meant to generations of service members from my family. During my time serving in the Marine Corps, I would make sure to go to the cabin when home on leave. When I had a family of my own, we chose to come back to Petersburg. One of the reasons why we chose to be here is the cabin. I planned on being able to take my children “up the creek”. I plan on sharing with them the wisdom of cabin life that my grandfather and father passed onto me. If the cabin remains in place, there are no negative effects to the community or the land where it now sits. In fact, I would argue that our stewardship would continue to add to this special place.