Jack Wilbanks established a ranch in Kofa Mountains of Arizona, surviving drought and the Depression before selling in 1945. This cabin, recently restored, is largely what remains of the original ranch.

Gary Titus, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (top right) joins Kofa Refuge staff and volunteers (left to right) Cixto Saucedo, Paul Cornes, Glen Wilson, Gloria and LeRoy Iverson, Lindsay Smythe, and Susanna Henry for the Wilbanks cabin restoration project.

For the third year running Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Park Ranger Gary Titus has left the snowy mountains of Alaska to help restore historic cabins on another refuge far to the south:  Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, located near Yuma, Arizona.  Kofa, like Kenai, has a rich history of structures left behind by trappers, miners, and others for more than 100 years.  Unlike Kenai, however, Kofa does not have the staff trained in cabin restoration and historic structure management.  Ranger Titus is a backcountry law enforcement officer, but his love is historic cabins.  His trip to Arizona each year is tied to mandatory annual law enforcement refresher training - he just stays a little longer to help Kofa with their cabin projects. Kofa’s projects have included the Big Eye Mine building in 2005, Wilbanks cabin in 2006, and now the Hoodoo Cabin in 2007.  Each of the structures has its own unique history, which thanks to Gary, and the staff and volunteers at Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, can be enjoyed by Refuge visitors for many more years to come.