The Friends of Dick Proenneke and Lake Clark National Park are embarking on two exciting and important fund raising efforts during 2019 to 2020. First, we raised one hundred thousand dollars to purchase for the park a highly desirable parcel of private land at Twin Lakes 1,200 feet west of Dick’s cabin. Second, we are growing an endowment of one million dollars, that when fully funded, will pay in perpetuity for the maintenance of Dick’s cabin and summer seasonal staffing at Twin Lakes
Upper Twin Lake Land
Storm light illuminating historic Cowgill-Marshall Farmer Cabin on bluff above Upper Twin Lake, Terry Estate Inholding. Photo Copyright Fred Hirschmann.
Under the Homestead Act, two five-acre parcels at Twin Lakes were privately patented prior to the 1980 establishment of Lake Clark National Park. Over the years, the Park Service has obtained five of the ten acres. Early this year, 1.09 acres became available from a private owner and the Friends of Dick Proenneke and Lake Clark National Park signed an exclusive contract with the family to purchase this parcel.
The land we acquired for Lake Clark National Park was part of “The Boss Hunter’s Camp” mentioned in Dick’s book One Man’s Wilderness. The site, a knoll overlooking Upper Twin Lake, provided excellent vantage points for hunters to spot game prior to the park’s establishment. As you can see from the accompanying photographs, we believe the parcel holds some of the most outstanding scenic views in the entire National Park system.
Through acquiring this rare piece of property, we protect the wilderness of Upper Twin Lake from ever being commercially developed. The National Park Service strongly supports our endeavor. Susanne Fleek-Green, Superintendent of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve says, “The Friends group is a wonderful partner to protect the legacy of Dick Proenneke as well as the surrounding wilderness areas in Lake Clark National Park he so cherished and worked to preserve. “
Dick Proenneke’s nephew, Dick Hackard, provided the initial earnest money of ten thousand dollars to help purchase this land. Another twenty-five thousand came from the generosity of Ellen J. Lehman and Charles F. Kennel, Co-Trustees of the Alan G. Lehman & Jane A. Lehman Foundation. Every $ 2.10 bought a square-foot of this outstanding parcel for forever preservation.
Amount Donated Number of Square Feet Purchased
$ 50 24
$ 100 48
$ 500 238
$ 1,000 476
$ 5,000 2,381
$ 10,000 4,762
$ 25,000 11,905
Within the four million acres of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, there are 224 private parcels encompassing 193,710 acres. These private lands generally predate the park’s establishment and can only be acquired for inclusion in the park through purchase from willing sellers or by donation. The Friends has committed to assisting the National Park Service in purchasing park inholdings that contain strong characteristics of wilderness. We have a big job ahead of us!
Acadia and Grand Teton national parks started with major portions of their current land being privately held. Philanthropic donations over the decades placed many of these properties in public hands. At Grand Tetons, John D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased 35,000 acres along the Snake River near Jackson Hole and in 1949 donated his land holdings to the federal government for addition to Grand Teton National Park.
At Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, we will work with the National Park Service to purchase lands with significant wilderness attributes if and when they become available. We can buy land much more quickly than the federal government. Each time we buy a parcel of land for the park, we will enter into an agreement with the National Park Service that they will seek funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (Royalties from offshore oil leases that Congress has designated for conservation lands purchase) to eventually buy the land from us at its Federally appraised value. By recycling the money, this means we will be able to leverage donations into buying multiple pieces of land over time.
If you have ever wanted to feel like a Rockefeller or you just take pleasure in knowing you’ve donated to help purchase for preservation land in the park Dick Proenneke so loved, please consider contributing toward our acquisition of private lands with wilderness attributes within Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.
Fog shrouding the summit of Crag Mountain, viewed from Lot 4 of Terry Estate, Photo Copyright Fred Hirschmann.
White spruce forest and delta of Hope Creek viewed from Terry Estate inholding. Photo Copyright Fred Hirschmann.
The Volcanic Mountains reflected in Upper Twin Lake with autumn tundra of Dwarf Birch, Terry Estate inholding, Photo Copyright Fred Hirschmann.
Sunset light illuminating Gold Peak from Lot 4 of the Terry Estate. Photo Copyright Fred Hirschmann.
Autumn colors of willows and dwarf birches along the shore of Upper Twin Lake, Terry Estate Inholding. Photo Copyright Fred Hirschmann.
Lowbush Cranberry blooming in June on tundra of Lot 4 of the Terry Estate. Photo Copyright Fred Hirschmann.
Friends of Dick Proenneke Twin Lakes Endowment Fund
When fully funded with one million dollars, the Friends of Dick Proenneke Twin Lakes Endowment will provide long term, reliable funding for both recurring and one-time expenditures associated with the care and preservation of the Richard L. Proenneke Historic Site, and protecting, managing and interpreting the wilderness and natural and cultural heritage of the Twin Lakes Basin located in Lake Clark National Park.
Dick Proenneke hiking on ridge leading to Falls Mountain, Lake Clark National Park. Photo Copyright Fred Hirschmann.
At 82-years-old, Dick Proenneke departed Twin Lakes’ country in 1999 to reside with his brother Ray in Hemet, California. Following 31 years of living alone in the wilderness, he left his cabin, outbuildings and accumulation of handmade tools and belonging to the care of the National Park Service.
The Friends of Dick Proenneke and Lake Clark National Park formed in 2014 to assist the Park Service in preserving and interpreting Dick’s cabin and the surrounding national park. During the summer of 2017, the Friends hired historic log building preservationists Al Williams and Monroe Robinson to replace the sod roof of Dick’s cabin and remediate mold growth occurring inside. In 2018 the Friends paid for archival 4×5 inch Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) photographs of Dick’s cabin and outbuildings for placement in the Library of Congress. In 2019 the Friends is raising $ 100,000 to purchase for Lake Clark National Park a very important private parcel on Upper Twin Lake near Dick Proenneke’s cabin.
The endowment is held in trust at The Alaska Community Foundation, which wisely invests and protects the corpus of the fund. Earnings of the fund are made available as grants for preserving Dick’s cabin and interpreting and protecting the Twin Lakes area.