Congratulations to them for their dedication, hard work, and innovation in completing a project which increases opportunities for visitors to observe the unique congregation of eagles in the Chilkat Preserve while mitigating environmental impacts. The Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Wayside and Trail provides wayside, trail and interpretive facilities for visitors to this 48,000-acre habitat. The project is notable in the approach taken to address the design challenges posed by the site and the care that was taken to create facilities that blend in with the area s striking natural beauty. Created to protect and perpetuate the world s largest concentration of bald eagles, the Chilkat Preserve attracts a significant number of visitors each year. The Department's solution was to create an environmentally sensitive interpretive viewing site that consists of two pavilions, small parking lots that are tucked into the habitat, a two-mile walking trail, and a boardwalk that incorporates interpretive displays and spotting scopes to view the eagles.
Visitors now have a designated site where they can learn about and observe the eagles.
The community has gained a new venue for both educational and social functions and is benefiting from increased tourism. And the environmental impacts of visitors pulling off the highway, compacting surrounding vegetation and damaging the bird habitat has been mitigated.