Guided bus tours will occur on Thursday September 9th.  Three choices are available and each tour includes lunch. All tours will depart from the Lands End Lobby.

• Seldovia: You will board a ferry and cross beautiful Kachemak Bay  to Jackalof Bay on the south shore. You will visit a floating oyster farm, a pending RC&D project, and the NOAA research center. You will then ride the ferry to Seldovia, a historic community accessible only by boat or plane, where you will have lunch at the Tide Pool Restaurant. You will then have your choice of walking tours, including the free museum at the Seldovia Village Tribe which provides a comprehensive history of Seldovia and the surrounding area.  Seldovia Village Tribe is a member of the Kenai Penn RC&D. (Departure time:  8:00am Lands End Lobby)
• Central Peninsula:  You will board a bus at Land’s End and travel to the K’Beg site south of Cooper Landing in the Chugach Nat’l Forest. This is a Dina’ina Athabascan Archeologist site, administered by the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, IRA and the Chugach Nat’l Forest (USFS). The Kenaitze Indian Tribe, IRA is a member of the Kenai Peninsula RC&D, there is a gift shop on site. You will then travel to Kenai Landing, a historic cannery that has been refurbished with restaurants and gift shops for lunch. While there you will tour a working, value added, specialty cannery for high end quality fish processing.  The Kenai Penisula RC&D was an early partner with this operation. After lunch you will travel to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge where you will meet with their staff and review the exciting and extensive new research that is documenting the diverse and changing landscape of the Refuge and the Kenai Peninsula. (Departure time: 7:30am Lands End Lobby)
• South Peninsula: You will board a bus at Land’s End and travel to Anchor Point, and tour Fishy Peat where local seaweed, fish slurry and other components create local soil for planting. You will also visit the mouth of the Anchor River, which is actually the furthest point west on a road system in the USA . There will be a discussion on the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust’s involvement with protecting this area, as well as water monitoring projects here. Then on to Islands and Oceans/Kachemak Research Reserve, tour the facility and have lunch there; from there, on to the highlands above Homer, the West Hill and Skyline area (good photo options there) and then on to the Cottonwood Horse Park, another Kenai Penn RC&D Project. You will finish your tour at the Bear Creek Winery where wines are produced using mostly local fruits and berries. They have introduced alternative energy options at the business and want to share a wine tasting experience with you. (Departure time: 8:30am Lands End Lobby)  

Also, Consider Choosing an Adventure Before or After the Conference!

If you are coming to the conference we would like to encourage you to come early and/or stay late and enjoy more of the beautiful state of Alaska.

The week before the conference in Palmer, AK (just north of Anchorage on the road system) is the Alaska State Fair with exhibits from all over the state. There is also the Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station run by the University of Alaska/Fairbanks and the Musk-ox Farm all in the Palmer area.

This is just one of the many places to visit in Alaska, not to mention the outstanding scenery, stream, lake and ocean fishing, mountains and many excellent hiking trails that are well defined.

We made an effort to summarize all the possibilities and could not. So we recommend that you visit the web sites of the communities you are interested in where lodging, restaurants, activities and services are listed and pick the adventure that best fits your needs!

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