Eagle Scout Project
Dear Editor: I have camped out at the Causeway many times growing up, and I always thought that a picnic and overnight campsite would be a great addition. So when it came time to select an Eagle Scout project, I thought that I would be the person to make that happen. However, I didn’t realize how incredibly difficult it would be to cut through the red tape of approval to make volunteer improvements at a state park.
No longer having an Alaska State Parks representative here in Sitka complicated things immensely. I had hoped to complete the project over the summer, but that time was spent learning about and navigating the approval process. I had a lot of help with that from my dad and mentor, Brock Bauder; the former and current executive directors of Sitka Trail Works – Deborah Lyons and Lynne Brandon; U.S. Forest Service landscape architect Barth Hamburg; Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins; Randy Ruaro with Sen. Bert Stedman’s office; and the Alaska State Parks Supt. Mike Eberhardt.
I went to The Causeway with friends and family many times during the fall and winter months clearing out alder trees, rocks and bushes to try and make the site as close to perfect as possible. The site consists of an outhouse, a soft wide-open area to lay tents, along with a fire ring and picnic table overlooking the ocean. The outhouse is a bit of a distance away from the actual picnic and tent site so that day hikers and kayakers may also have use of it without feeling like they are disturbing a camping party.
The Causeway picnic and camping site would not have been possible without generous financial donations from: Spenard Builders Supply; Hames Corporation; Silver Bay Seafoods; Harris Air; my grandma, Aleeta Bauder; Allen Marine; and White’s Inc. My Grandpa Burgess Bauder, Uncle Beau Bauder and Eric Calvin all helped me by providing boat transportation.
Logan Wild, engineer with the Forest Service, provided the outhouse building plans. Boy Scout Troop 45 helped me and my dad build and transport the outhouse and the picnic table. The initial construction took place in our garage with the final touches happening onsite. Transportation of those pieces from the boat to the actual site was pretty complex. The outhouse walls and fully constructed picnic table were floated, on separate days, from the boat to the beach, then carried to the site. Zak Kirkpatrick, my Scout Master, happily worked with me when the weather was especially cold.
This project would also not have been possible without my parents, Brock and Patty Bauder, guiding and supporting me every step of the way. When you are out at the Causeway utilizing this new site, please remember the Boy Scout outdoor code and “Leave No Trace” behind.
Dakota Bauder, Sitka
