The 95-year-old motor vessel Chugach, the last of the USDA Forest Service Alaska Region “ranger boats,” while no longer plying the waves, will continue the legacy of sharing Forest Service history with visitors from around the world.

For the last five years, Alaska Regional Heritage Program Leader Keri Hicks has worked with city and borough of Wrangell staff to move the boat to the care of the Wrangell Museum. The vessel will be placed outdoors as a new exhibit at the Nolan Center at the museum in Wrangell, Alaska.

“I am incredibly excited to see this project moving forward. Within 30 minutes of arriving at my new duty station in 2015, I was told that finding a home for the MV Chugach was my number one priority,” said Hicks. “In August 2016, the regional forester selected the Wrangell Museum proposal to exhibit the boat at the Nolan Center. After five years of negotiations and policy research, we’re finally able to start thinking about how best to share this incredible historic property with the public.”

Alaska Region staff and Wrangell District Ranger Clint Kolarich have been working with local partners to preserve the historic vessel and construct a safe cradling system for the boat. The final steps include constructing a shelter, walkway and elevated platform where people can stand to view the boat's deck and crew quarters as well as developing an interpretive plan. Nolan Center will deliver the interpretive program and offer guided tours.

Built in 1925, the MV Chugach operated in Alaska’s waters for 90 years and was one of more than a dozen ranger boats that transported scientists, government officials, supplies and guests throughout the areas administered by the Forest Service in Southcentral and Southeast Alaska.

First based in Cordova, the MV Chugach was relocated to Petersburg in 1953. The boat is 62 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and is estimated to displace 40 tons. Ranger boats served as travelling offices and as the primary workstation for Forest Service personnel carrying out a variety of tasks from administering timber sales to monitoring special use permits and transporting Civilian Conservation Corps crew members to work camps in the forest.

After retiring the vessel in 2015, the Alaska Region knew its history should continue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The MV Chugach should be ready for viewing in summer 2022.