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Deer hunting season began for Alaska residents and nonresidents in much of the Unit 3 management area last Saturday, lasting through Nov. 30. Bow hunting on Mitkof Island and the Petersburg Management Area, hunting on the remainder of the Mitkof, Woewodski and Butterworth islands, and residential hunting on the Lindenberg Peninsula portion of Kupreanof Island all begin on Oct. 15, and are subject to other limitations. Outlooks for this year’s season for Sitka black-tailed deer are much the same as last year, with smaller harvests expected t...
WRANGELL — The jury in the trial of Greg Salard found the former family physician guilty of two child pornography charges, for receipt and distribution. A lesser, third count was not deliberated by jurors. Judge Anthony Burgess presided over the proceedings, which lasted seven days. Jury selection began last week, and the trial included five days of testimony. Prosecutors finally rested their case on Monday, after the court heard from a federal investigator, arresting officers and a computer specialist. Evidence shown during the trial i...
WRANGELL — On Sunday Alaska Native and Canadian First Nations groups will mark the first anniversary of the Mount Polley tailings dam collapse in a ceremony on the Stikine River. On Aug. 4, 2014, a rupture in the tailings dam servicing the British Columbia mine released billions of gallons of metals-tainted effluent into waters that fed into the salmon-rich Fraser River system. Earlier this month the mine’s owner, Imperial Metals, received a restricted permit from the provincial government allowing it to reopen Mt. Polley, using an alt...
The United States Forest Service (USFS) announced the next step has been taken in a land deal with Alaska Mental Health Trust (AMHT), after signing an Agreement to Initiate on June 30. The agreement as currently envisioned could see the transfer of nearly 40,000 acres of state and federal lands between the two agencies. For AMHT, the deal will allow it to develop the lands’ timber and mineral resources. Founded by Congress in 1956, AMHT is a state corporation set up to assist the state in funding its mental health program. The trust manages l... Full story
Early birds and night owls may have noticed a lack of power during the early morning hours Monday, after service for Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan went down for several hours. The grid went down at 2:48 a.m. after a mature bald eagle ran afoul of a section of line near Ketchikan’s Herring Cove. “We’re very apologetic, especially when we cause problems in our neighboring communities,” said Andy Donato, manager of Ketchikan Public Utilities’ electric division. By 5:32 a.m., Tyee Lake Hydroelectric was back online and most of Ketchikan...
An investigation conducted by a British Columbia commission found that the provincial government had not violated public disclosure laws by withholding information on Mount Polley mine prior to its tailings impoundment dam breach last summer. The report was put together by Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham and addresses complaints that the province had violated Canada’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. On Aug. 4, 2014, the mine’s tailings pond wall ruptured and released 13.8 million cubic yards of met...
The Wrangell and Petersburg museums are teaming up in an attempt to identify several hundred individuals in a collection of photographs that dates back more than seven decades. The Clausen Museum in Petersburg is hoping to put names to the faces of 1,474 individuals from the early 1940s as part of its ongoing World War Two project. The museum possesses a collection of photographic negatives, originally used for wartime identification. Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, the United States entered the war already e...
Five of Alaska Marine Highway System’s 11 ferries will be laid up at some point next year under a draft vessel deployment plan released on June 24. The Taku will be held in layup status the whole year, while the Kennicott will be from October until entering overhaul in early January. The Fairweather and Chenega will enter federal projects in October and mid-September, respectively, and will both be laid up starting in May 2016. The Malaspina is also scheduled to enter layup status in late May of next year. Under the draft schedule, from O...
Ahead of next month’s start to the football season, Alaska’s largest tribal group has made clear it will not be rooting for one of the National Football League’s 32 franchises by boycotting its primary sponsor. Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska gave notice last week to all tribal employees to discontinue use of FedEx services due to its sponsorship of the Washington Redskins. The announcement follows the council’s adoption of a resolution formally opposing the NFL team’s controversial name, urging FedEx to disass...
WRANGELL — The Red Chris mine in neighboring British Columbia passed its final bureaucratic hurdle, after the province’s Ministry of Energy and Mines issued a Mines Act permit amendment last Friday. The mine’s owning company, Imperial Metals, had earlier been granted its Environmental Management Act Permit on June 15, allowing Red Chris to begin discharging tailings into its tailings storage facility. From there, water can be discharged subject to provincial water quality guidelines. The Red Chris property is located in the province’s northwe...
WRANGELL — The United States Forest Service this month released a new fact sheet regarding wild salmon populations in the Tongass National Forest, available online and at the agency’s various offices. “It’s to demonstrate to the public just how important salmon are,” explained Martin Hutten, a supervisory biologist with the Wrangell Ranger District. The facts speak pretty clearly for themselves. The waters of the Tongass National Forest produce more wild salmon than all other national forests combined. Supporting these populations, TNF biologis...
WRANGELL — Wrangell Medical Center interim CEO Marla Sanger last week announced her intention to conclude her contract on October 30. In a letter addressed to friends and colleagues, she explained the decision was a difficult one, but Sanger will be returning to Vancouver, Wash., to be with family. Sanger had initially been brought aboard in November 2012 as part of PeaceHealth’s leadership contract with Wrangell’s hospital. Initially the contract was to have lasted only a year, but Sanger stayed on as the hospital transitioned past a troub...
Despite dimming income over the past fiscal year, board members for Southeast Alaska Power Agency were informed the future is still a bright one. At its June 18 meeting in Ketchikan, CEO Trey Acteson reported SEAPA remains financially strong and well-positioned leading into the next fiscal year. Sales revenues through last month were $1.3 million below budget, or about 12 percent. While weather volatility has played a hand in the shortfall, a consistent drop from anticipated power consumption by Ketchikan through the 2015 fiscal year has also...
WRANGELL - The next steps have been taken on an agreement between the University of Alaska Southeast and Wrangell Public School District, with the establishment of an office for the university's technical preparation program. The tech prep program is offered for college credit through the university, and courses are taught by approved instructors using UAS syllabi. Enrolled students earn high school credits needed for graduation as well, and school superintendent Patrick Mayer explained the...
WRANGELL — A skull found by a hunter near the Stikine River almost three years ago has yet to be interred. Wrangell resident Vena Stough discovered the skull while at Government Slough on Oct. 5, 2012, and brought it to the local police department. From there it made its way to United States Forest Service offices in Petersburg for further analysis. “What we try to do is figure out if it’s Native American ancestry,” explained Jane Smith, an archaeologist for the USFS for 23 years. The repatriation process is governed by the Native America...
As of Tuesday, the Alaska Legislature meeting in a special session in Anchorage had still not passed a budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. On Sunday, the Senate Finance Committee rejected a compromise budget passed by the House the previous day, which included some small concessions to the minority such as reversing cuts to the ferry system and per-student funding. A conference committee between the two chambers was being organized to negotiate an amended budget. However, any deal that would tap into Congressional Budget... Full story
Public and private groups are looking at new ways to enhance the value of Alaska's seafood industry. The multibillion-dollar sector is of significant importance to the state's economy, and Southeast is among its largest harvesters of fish and shellfish. In 2013, Southeast fishermen brought in a record catch of 479 million pounds, worth $375 million. This was a 79-percent increase over the previous year, according to the 2014 By the Numbers report produced by Rain Coast Data for the Southeast...
As the summer season nears its start, residents interested in seeking work with the Alaska Marine Highway System or various other marine-related occupations may need to make sure they have the proper credentials first. Among these is the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), which conveniently enough can be acquired at the Wrangell Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The office was able to take on the program after filing an application through Morphotrust USA, an identity services provider. A site survey was conducted to make...
WRANGELL — The high school is getting ready to sponsor a bit of culture, as it comes Wrangell’s turn to host this year’s Southeast Alaska Regional Artfest next week. Sixty students and 15 teachers from schools around the region will be represented, coming from Klawock, Skagway, Petersburg, Craig, Sitka, Mount Edgecumbe and Juneau. “We’re honored to host the continuation of the Southeast Alaska Artfest,” said Wrangell High School’s art teacher, Anne Luetkemeyer. Fifteen different classes will be offered to students next Wednesday afternoon thr...
A project to improve storage capacity at Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s (SEAPA) Swan Lake hydropower facility continues along with efforts to finance it with up to $11.36 million in bond sales. Over the past month, SEAPA’s executive director Trey Acteson and general counsel presented updates on the planned expansion of the facility located northeast of Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island. Each of SEAPA’s three member utilities—Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan— heard presentations on the expansion and the associated bonds. The project w...
Environmental organization Earthjustice announced last Friday groups it is representing in a trio of lawsuits opposed to U.S. Forest Service’s Big Thorne timber sale have filed two notices of appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, following the dismissal of their suits by a federal judge in a March 20 ruling. The Big Thorne sale involves the harvest of around 6,200 acres of forest on Prince of Wales Island and includes the clearcut of old-growth rainforest. Klawock-based mill Viking Lumber was awarded a contract last September to h...
WRANGELL — Wrangell residents and other Alaskans from around the state were given more opportunity to voice concerns over impending cuts to state programming during a public hearing held Monday evening for the draft of next year’s budget being considered by the Senate Finance Committee. Six Wrangellites came to their local Legislative Information Office to provide testimony via telephone, along with residents of Petersburg and Ketchikan. “I am speaking in opposition to the cuts to the Alaska Marine Highway System,” borough manager Jeff Jabusch...
The Inside Passage Waterkeeper organization premiered their "Water is Life" film to a Petersburg audience of about 50 at the public library on Friday. The ten-minute video follows the Stikine River from its headwaters to its terminus and highlights its importance to nearby communities. "The purpose of the video is to help people remember that this really is a rich, rich resource that we have here and it's increasingly rare in this world to have such a rich resource like that," said Daven Hafey,...
During their regular meeting held on Feb. 4 and 5, members of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency board approved taking the next steps toward diversifying the power provider’s energy portfolio. In particular, SEAPA could begin looking into the possibility of geothermal development at Bell Island, which has a former resort sporting a hot spring. The site has had the attention of the Unites States Geological Survey as a potential power source for well over half a century, but has yet to be fully assessed. “We’re just scratching the surfa...
Board members for Southeast Alaska Power Agency sat down in Ketchikan last week for their two-day regular meeting, examining the regional power provider’s current financial position as well as looking ahead at its future projects. “It went really well,” commented Wrangell’s representative, Steve Prysunka, after his first meeting. Elected to the Borough Assembly last October, Prysunka was appointed to represent it on the power agency’s board. “I was pleased with the tone of the meeting and how everything went. There was a sense of cooperation...
