Originally published in SourDough Notes, Fall 2011. Written by Lezlie Murray, Visitor Services Director, Chugach National Forest

It’s a rare thing, but every now and then a Forest Service interpreter creates a history program from the inside out, and “becomes” the person they are interpreting. Such a rare person is Peggy Burnette, who has tackled the difficult assignment of living-history interpretation and succeeded. Though Alaska Nellie made a name for herself in Southcentral Alaska in the early part of the last century, her spirit and legacy live on, thanks to Peggy’s ability to channel Nellie’s story.

Peggy first came to work at the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center with her husband Don in 2006. During that first summer, she became intrigued by the autobiography of a woman name Nellie Neal Lawson. She read the book over and over again, and did extra research at local museums to learn as much about Nellie as she could. Eventually, she felt ready to tell Nellie’s story.

The oldest of 12 children, Nellie Trosper was born into a farm family in Saint Joseph, Mo., where she dreamed of coming to Alaska. As a young child she learned to trap and hunt in the countryside around her parent’s farm, becoming a good shot and capable woods woman. She left home in her late twenties after she had helped to raise her brothers and sisters and could be spared. A diminutive woman barely five feet tall, Nellie began to work her way to Alaska in 1901, stair-stepping her way through the west. She spent the most time in Cripple Creek, Colorado, where she worked at a variety of jobs, owned her own hotel and married a prominent assayer. Unhappy in her marriage due to abuse at home, she made the decision to divorce and moved on to California, where she booked steerage to Seward, Alaska.

It took Nellie many years to reach Alaska, but she never lost sight of her goal, arriving July 3, 1915. Ever productive and capable, she soon found work with the Alaska Central Railroad until the winter snows were deep and work had to be discontinued. Then, she hitched up a dog team and headed up the trail that later became the Seward Highway to trap the winter away.

Over the years, this fearless woman trapped commercially, ran roadhouses for the railroad, managed a post office and hunted with great success. In fact, her home on Kenai Lake had a special trophy room that was a favorite stopping place for visitors traveling the railroad. Over time she became so famous that people send her fan mail addressed quite simply to “Alaska Nellie, Alaska” and the post office always delivered.

Like Nellie, Peggy is also small in stature, but large in spirit and ability. Though Alaska Nellie married twice, Peggy has been married to “her Donald” for over 55 years, raising four children and welcoming many grandchildren into the family.

Through the years she has held a variety of jobs from North Carolina and Tennessee to Missouri, Oregon and Alaska. Like Nellie, Peggy has an adventurous nature and loves to work people in beautiful, wild country.

Perhaps it’s because of their similarities that Peggy is able to convey Alaska Nellie’s story with such passion and authenticity. Often when she finishes her presentation there are tears in the eyes of the audience and many ask for her signature, not believing that she is not the real Alaska Nellie.

Yes, it is a rare thing for an interpreter to succeed with living-history interpretation, but Peggy Burnette has done it. Alaska Nellie is truly alive and well at the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center.

Quilt for Two Rivers celebrates the outdoors in a classic American art form

To date, the Tale of Two Rivers conservation campaign has generated an original microbrew, an annual cycling event, a plein air paint-a-thon and a movie screening. 

Now up: a modern quilting bee.

A collaboration between the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, the National Forest Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service, Quilt for Two Rivers brings together 20 leading Pacific Northwest fiber artists who are combining talents on a single work; a 40-foot quilt with Whychus Creek running through each individual segment. 

Fulfilling one aim of the Treasured Landscapes program, the project is strengthening community connections to the outdoors, specifically to two Wild & Scenic-designated Oregon rivers, Whychus and the Metolius River. 

“These are not your grandma’s quilts, they are works of modern art,” notes Ann Richardson, Executive Director of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, a co-sponsor of Quilt for Two Rivers.  “And this is a unique, inspiring way to tell the story of how salmon and steelhead are making a comeback in these important waterways.”

Jean Wells, founder of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (the world’s largest outdoor quilting festival), named her segment of the quilt “Coming Home,” honoring restoration work that is bringing back native fish to Whychus Creek.  Her project is a family endeavor:

“My son Jason took me to the magical place on Whychus that you mostly see in the piece.  Other elements come from a hike to waterfalls in the upper reach I took with my six-year-old granddaughter, Livy, who took some of the photos I used in conceptualizing the work.  My daughter Valori is going to paint steelhead in the water section of the quilt.  My dream is to see them coming home to Whychus, and having Jason be able to go fishing there.”

The 17-panel final masterpiece will be sold either as a complete installation or as individual quilts.  A second, smaller quilt (four panels, seven feet long) along the same theme is also in development.  Half the proceeds from sales of the quilts will go to restoration projects on the two rivers, with the other half going to the quilters.  Both quilts will be unveiled June 1, with the large work exhibited at the Sisters quilt show as well as in Portland and Tacoma.

One goal has already been met: encouraging people from different walks of life to visit outstanding natural areas they may not know about in their own back yards.

Stay tuned for the upcoming “name the quilt” contest, blog posts and a short video by Liking the Quilt for Two Rivers Facebook page. 

Quilt for Two Rivers is a project of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, U.S. Forest Service,  and the National Forest Foundation, funded by US Bank with the participation of the Deschutes County Cultural Coalition, the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In the Eastern United States, National Forests are almost myths. People have heard of National Forests, but they don’t really know where they are or how they work. Until not too long ago, I was one such person.

Growing up in Michigan, my family went on maybe a dozen camping trips with our pop-up camper at state campgrounds. I had never camped in a tent in the middle of the wilderness. I never doubted that I could, I just never had the opportunity to prove it to myself. This changed last August when three friends and I traveled north and to the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area in the Huron-Manistee National Forest for a weekend of camping along the shore of Lake Michigan.

Summer vacationing in Michigan is all about the lakes. Whether it’s the “big lake,” as we fondly refer to the Great Lakes, or one of the thousands of our beloved inland lakes, Michiganders and Midwesterners love the water. Despite all the time I’ve spent at lakeshores, our camping weekend at the dunes turned into one of the best beach weekends I’ve ever experienced.

From the Nurnberg Trailhead, we hiked with our gear for about a mile towards the lakeshore. Unlike most National Forests, we hiked almost exclusively on sand through the trees.  As sand filled our sneakers, it quickly became clear that the walk would be easier barefoot. After we scouted the end of the trail near the lake, we picked an area that had been used as a site before, where we would limit our impact on the surrounding dunes and vegetation. Tucked back on a little sandy ridge, our site was approximately a three minute walk to Lake Michigan, perfection.  

The three minute walk wasn’t exactly a “walk in the park,” as they say. We climbed over two giant dunes to make it to the water’s edge, and then faced the same challenging trek back to our campsite. By the end of the weekend my calves were feeling each and every walk we had taken to the lake, but every journey over the dunes made each swim all that much better.

For the next three days we filled our time with sleeping, swimming and eating. Our toughest decisions were whether to swim or play Frisbee.

We could not have asked for more perfect weather if we had ordered it ourselves. For the first two days the water was uncharacteristically calm, providing perfect conditions for lakeside lounging. As the sun set Saturday night we swam in the crystal-clear water and cherished the sandy bottom beneath our feet. Sunday evening, however, Lake Michigan showed its true colors with huge waves, or white-caps, as we call them. Whether it was diving into one as it broke or riding one to shore, those waves were easily my favorite part of the weekend. I wanted to stay out all evening to play in the waves.

By the end of the weekend, none of us were eager to return to civilization. Thanks to this quiet corner of the Huron-Manistee National Forest, for a few days it seemed as if we had lived in a fairytale where we didn’t have to worry about school or jobs, and we didn’t need to check Facebook or return text messages. We just enjoyed the simple pleasures of each day – sunshine, cool water, and good friends. My first camping experience on a National Forest will certainly not be my last. 

Have you ever stood in a field of grasses towering over your head? Have you felt small in a wide open sea of grass? Soon the majestic prairie will once again provide a sense of awe for residents and visitors alike. Less than an hour from Chicago, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie offers visitors a chance to experience Illinois, and much of the Midwest, how it once was: tallgrass prairie.

From Army to Prairie

Beginning in 1940, the open space of Midewin became the Joliet Arsenal, a state-of-the-art munitions and explosives manufacturing operation that played a vital role in World War II. In 1993, the U.S. Army released the land, and in 1996, transferred nearly 20,000 acres to the U.S. Forest Service. Today the land is  recovering from years of agricultural and other uses, and. thanks to numerous partners , the tall grasses of the prairie will soon wave again amidst the towering wildflowers.

Birder’s Paradise

Due to the rarity of the landscape, grassland birds, such as boblinks flock to Midewin. In addition  Henslow’s sparrows and other, wetland, shrubland and woodland birds also frequent the prairie.  Birders can spot great blue herons in the wetland areas and hawks, falcons and eagles flying overhead.  For a list of birds at Midewin, click here.

Explore the Prairie

As restoration continues the Forest Service has opened more and more acres to the public. Be sure to walk through the prairie in the spring and summer to see the dozens of wildflowers that burst in the grasses.  Visitors can wander through this unique landscape on various trails along Prairie Creek that meander amidst the tall grasses. The River Road Trailhead, provides opportunities to explore seedbeds and hike the Prairie Creek Woods trail to see the Buttonbush Pond Overlook. Ammunition bunkers once covered the prairie, and visitors can walk through one from the Iron Bridge Trailhead on the Group 63 interim trail. When snow blankets the prairie, bring along your snowshoes and crosscountry skis to glide across the open space. For a map of the trails throughout the prairie, click here.

Winter Lecture Series

Thursday nights at the prairie, Midewin plays hosts to a variety of speakers. All lectures are free of charge and held at the Midewin Supervisor’s office two miles north of Wilmington. For more information click here.

As you plan your winter and spring weekends, be sure to mark Midewin for a visit to experience Illinois’ native landscape.