Alaska crew restores former fuel site with new trails and native landscape

What was once a utilitarian patch of ground beside an Alaska visitor center is now becoming part of the landscape again. At Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, a young conservation crew has spent the summer replacing an old fuel-tank farm with trails, vegetation and safer spaces for visitors. According to the latest news release by National Park Service, the project at Port Alsworth comes as more people are discovering the remote national park. By August 2026, visitation was already 43% higher than during the entire 2024 season, the last year the park operated fully.From fuel storage to public spaceThe restoration focused on roughly 15,000 square yards beside the Port Alsworth Visitor Center, states the news release. The area had previously been occupied by fuel tanks, leaving a landscape that was hardly suited to the growing number of visitors arriving at the park.