The Presbyterian Church, which has had an interest in the Garnet Ledge on the mainland across from Wrangell for 63 years, has turned over ownership to the Wrangell Cooperative Association.
The rules will not change, only the owner. The 39-acre property has been reserved since 1962 for “the children of Wrangell” to collect garnets, which they sell to tourists and at shops around town.
“If anyone goes up there to get garnets, they have to have kids,” said Sandy Churchill, a member of the WCA tribal council.
The church, which managed the property on its own after the Boy Scouts of America relinquished its interests in 2006, decided the congregation had shrunk too much to continue the responsibility, said Kim Covalt.
“Mostly, we’re just getting old,” he said of the 13 members left in the congregation. “We’re slowly losing our congregation to old age, and no one new is coming in.”
The remaining members have enough work just keeping the church’s two buildings in good condition, Covalt said.
“I just turned 72, and I’m one of the young ones,” he said.
His wife, Nettie Covalt, has served as lay pastor the past 20 years, he said.
A couple of months ago, Kim Covalt suggested at a congregation meeting that the church give the Garnet Ledge to the borough. But Churchill, who serves on the Presbyterian church board in addition to the WCA board, spoke up and had a better idea.
“It was like a big sledgehammer to the side of my head,” Covalt said of Churchill’s suggestion to deed the property to the tribe.
“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Churchill said of her attendance at the church meeting.
The parties signed the paperwork at the WCA board meeting on May 1.
“It makes a lot more sense for WCA to have it,” Covalt said.
The Garnet Ledge — a bedrock outcropping flecked with the semi-precious gemstones — is on the mainland near the mouth of the Stikine River, about a seven-mile boat ride from Wrangell.
In 1962, area businessman Fred G. Hanford gave the property to the Boy Scouts of America and the Presbyterian Church for scouting purposes and so that Wrangell kids could collect the garnets for sale. Power tools are not allowed.
In 2006, the Scouts transferred their portion of the deed to the church.
Wrangell garnets are generally ruby red — but are not gemstone quality.
Commercial miners staked claims as far back as the late 19th century, though most claims were short-lived. Miners tried again in the early 1900s, but those efforts failed too.
Hanford acquired the property in 1962 and established the limitations that continue today.
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