Mission Statement:
"Ensuring the continued development, operation, maintenance, and public enjoyment of cabins on the Tongass National Forest."
History:
In March 2007, the Tongass National Forest hosted a meeting in Ketchikan, Alaska, of citizens and Forest Service personnel interested in the public use cabins operated by the Forest Service in Southeast Alaska. The purpose of the meeting was to assess public interest in organizing a private support group to assist the Forest Service with cabin maintenance and development. The gathering is commonly recalled as “the Ketchikan Meeting”.
At the time of the Ketchikan Meeting, the Forest Service was working under a five-year action plan focused on evaluating the continued viability of each unit within the Service’s inventory of some 150 cabins. The Service had adopted several criteria for evaluation, including occupancy or usage rates, revenues, costs of maintenance, and known deferred maintenance. Under the action plan a sizable number of cabins were slated for “decommissioning” or removal. A wave of public concern rolled through groups of cabin users and business people dependent on the patronage of cabin users.
Within a year of the Ketchikan Meeting, an unincorporated group formed, calling itself the Friends of the Tongass Cabins (FOTC). Initially, FOTC was hosted by the Southeast Alaska Guidance Association (“SAGA”) an Alaska 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation headquartered in Juneau which provides training opportunities for young people. Most of the SAGA programs are geared around construction and maintenance of recreation facilities including cabins and trails, employing AmeriCorps volunteers.
In May 2009, SAGA procured an AmeriCorps volunteer for the benefit of FOTC. The volunteer was deployed to the City of Wrangell in the Wrangell Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest. The FOTC volunteer assisted in gathering local support for the Forest Service’s construction of a new facility known as the Middle Ridge Cabin. The volunteer also performed invaluable tasks in developing the operational capacity of the FOTC.
On October 14, 2009, Articles of Incorporation were filed in Alaska for the Friends of the Tongass Cabins, Inc. In December 2009, the corporation filed an application with the Internal Revenue Service, requesting IRS recognition of FOTC’s nonprofit status under IRC Section 501(c)(3), which application was granted. The Friends of the Tongass Cabins, Inc. is now an independent nonprofit corporation, and donations to FOTC are tax deductible. FOTC continues to enjoy a close relationship with SAGA and looks forward to a cooperative future with the Tongass National Forest Service. On July 21, 2010, FOTC and the Tongass National Forest Service entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, outlining a partnership for the maintenance of recreational public use cabins in the Tongass National Forest.