Wellwood Nature Preserve in the Copper River Basin of Alaska

Location of
Wellwood Nature Preserve

Descriptions of
Program Offerings

Build a
Bridge to the Future!

Contact
Wellwood Conservancy

Home

“Place-centered, world-focused”

Walk the Trails of
Wellwood Nature Preserve

Wellwood Nature Preserve consists of over 110 acres set aside as a safe haven for the natural world and as a welcoming place of renewal and education for human visitors. The preserve lies in the southern portion of the Copper River Basin of eastern Alaska and encompasses a number of distinct subarctic habitat regions, including forests of willow, aspen, and white spruce. Willow Creek meanders through the preserve, creating extensive aquatic and riparian habitat. For half of the year, a hard and unforgiving cold seals this land, conserving the scarce moisture of its arid climate and driving many of its inhabitants to distant retreats or to conditions of dormancy. In startling contrast, the season of sunshine, of flowing and growing, brings intense, concentrated activity to all Wellwood denizens. During this time, from the first spring pasque flowers to the last lingering asters of fall, a surprisingly diverse community of wildflowers adds beauties of color and shape to the leaf-filtered sunlight of the forest floor.

The first Wellwood trail was developed in 1986, complete with a footbridge over Willow Creek. A primitive camp area was added the following year. Educational camps have been an annual feature at Wellwood since 1986. Guided nature tours, presented in partnership with Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment, have been featured since 2006. Self-guided nature tours and more programming are planned for the future. Wellwood Nature Preserve also supports research that may benefit the health and vitality of natural regional systems, such as a community-science project aimed at understanding the dynamics of the Willow Creek watershed.

Wellwood Nature Preserve is privately-owned by Dave and Gay Wellman and is leased and managed by Wellwood Conservancy, a 501c3 nonprofit corporation. Plans to transfer ownership of the preserve to the nonprofit corporation are being pursued.

Wellwood Conservancy • HC 60 Box 227, Copper Center, Alaska 99573 • 907-822-3418

Home

Location of Wellwood Nature Preserve Descriptions of Program Offerings Build a Bridge to the Future! Contact Wellwood Conservancy Home
	“Place-centered, world-focused”
		Walk the Trails of Wellwood Nature Preserve Wellwood Nature Preserve consists of over 110 acres set aside as a safe haven for the natural world and as a welcoming place of renewal and education for human visitors. The preserve lies in the southern portion of the Copper River Basin of eastern Alaska and encompasses a number of distinct subarctic habitat regions, including forests of willow, aspen, and white spruce. Willow Creek meanders through the preserve, creating extensive aquatic and riparian habitat. For half of the year, a hard and unforgiving cold seals this land, conserving the scarce moisture of its arid climate and driving many of its inhabitants to distant retreats or to conditions of dormancy. In startling contrast, the season of sunshine, of flowing and growing, brings intense, concentrated activity to all Wellwood denizens. During this time, from the first spring pasque flowers to the last lingering asters of fall, a surprisingly diverse community of wildflowers adds beauties of color and shape to the leaf-filtered sunlight of the forest floor.


			The first Wellwood trail was developed in 1986, complete with a footbridge over Willow Creek. A primitive camp area was added the following year. Educational camps have been an annual feature at Wellwood since 1986. Guided nature tours, presented in partnership with Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment, have been featured since 2006. Self-guided nature tours and more programming are planned for the future. Wellwood Nature Preserve also supports research that may benefit the health and vitality of natural regional systems, such as a community-science project aimed at understanding the dynamics of the Willow Creek watershed. Wellwood Nature Preserve is privately-owned by Dave and Gay Wellman and is leased and managed by Wellwood Conservancy, a 501c3 nonprofit corporation. Plans to transfer ownership of the preserve to the nonprofit corporation are being pursued.

Wellwood Conservancy • HC 60 Box 227, Copper Center, Alaska 99573 • 907-822-3418
			Home

Walk the Trails of Wellwood Nature Preserve

Walk the Trails of
Wellwood Nature Preserve