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WRANGELL — One of the U.S. Forest Service’s most popular recreational cabins in the area has met an untimely demise. The cabin at Anan Bay was demolished sometime before Feb. 18 by a fallen tree which was most likely toppled by high winds, said Tory Houser, acting Wrangell District ranger. “It’s total destruction. It’s pretty awful,” Houser said Feb. 23. “It’s really sad because it was a new cabin and beautiful.” Built in 2012 of yellow cedar, the 15-foot by 17-foot structure could accommodate seven people. It was two stories and had a full lo...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved a resolution supporting the Southeast commercial Chinook troll fishery during Monday's meeting. The resolution of support comes in the wake of a judge's recommendation to suspend the fishery as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), a Washington-based nonprofit conservation organization. Western District of Washington Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson's report and recommendation concluded that the National Marine...
February 9, 1923 – The opening of the Million Dollar Club in Wrangell next Saturday night will without doubt be one of the greatest pleasure events in the history of southeastern Alaska. The thrilling life of the bygone days of the Kondike will be lived over again as the dramatic scenes are reenacted. The famous native orchestra from Metlakatla will furnish the music for the occasion. Special boats will arrive from Juneau , Petersburg, and Ketchikan bringing delegations of visiting Elks with their ladies and friends. The local Elks have a...
January 26, 1923 – There is every indication that actual work will start on the big paper plant at Thomas Bay as early as this spring as weather conditions will allow. Two crews are now engaged in cruising the timber in the Rocky Pass section and the Forestry officials at Ketchikan are rushing work on one of their boats so that another crew can be sent out at once. Those who are backing the plant have applied for a final permit to develop the water power there and this will be granted as soon as the Forest Service has set aside thirty years s...
The Organized Village of Kake is looking into using a U.S. Forest Service facility at Portage Bay as a cultural healing and rehabilitation center. The overall goal of the program would be to reconnect people with their cultural identity, improve their mental health, and counsel those recovering from alcohol and substance abuse and other issues. The cultural healing center has been a dream of Joel Jackson's, the president of the OVK, for years. "What I had in mind was getting people to teach them...
The famous Salvation Army red kettles, manned during the holiday season by volunteers armed with silver bells, raised a combined $13,206.43 in Petersburg according to Capt. KV Saengthasy. The donations will be used to fund the Salvation Army's social services budget and also went toward purchasing a couple of Christmas presents for local children. Though they finished just short of their fundraising target, both red kettles stationed outside of Hammer & Wikan stores were filled on Christmas...
January Petersburg experienced record snowfall on New Year's Day with 17.5 inches of new snow on the day, bringing the total snow depth to 40 inches according to the National Weather Service. The Petersburg Borough Assembly passed a resolution requesting a discussion with the U.S. Postal Service about providing additional services in Petersburg following continued issues with staffing, irregular hours, and long lines. All-purpose vehicles became legal to drive on roads in Alaska, including in...
December 8, 1922 – A Ford passenger car arrived in town on the mail boat from Juneau this week for Ole Scarbro and will be used in a general jitney service. This is the first strictly passenger car to arrive in town and its first trip down the street occasioned considerable interest. December 12, 1947 – The custom of Christmas ships for Alaska will be revived this year after a 10-year lapse. With a Santa Claus to distribute candy, fruit and nuts to children and sprays of holly to their mothers, a show will be put on at each port, officials sai...
The Salvation Army Petersburg Corps is getting into the season of giving this year with multiple charitable opportunities coming up on the calendar. They kicked things off last week with their annual Thanksgiving food box distribution where 126 people, including 55 families, were served according to Capt. KV Saengthasy. The Lutheran Church donated 69 turkeys and St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church donated 10 turkeys along with other food items and baskets. The U.S. Forest Service also...
The Petersburg and Wrangell Ranger Districts are seeking comments for nine proposed cabins as the U.S. Forest Service looks to construct new cabins in areas that are closer to communities and accessible by road or saltwater. According to the project's scoping letter, the Forest Service plans to redistribute the cabin system on the Tongass National Forest to meet increasing demand and to make cabins easier to travel to and easier to maintain. The four proposed cabins in the Petersburg area...
The wolf hunting and trapping season for Prince of Wales Island will be the same as last year — Nov. 15 to Dec. 15 — though a number of individuals who trap wolves in the area criticized the Alaska Department of Fish and Game last week for its wolf management decisions. The department announced the limited season last Friday, just two days after a teleconference to review with the public wolf population estimates and harvest levels. Several people described seeing more wolves than deer in the area, arguing that a longer season and higher harves...
Since 2018, an ongoing insect outbreak has been killing the foliage of hemlock and Stika spruce in the Tongass. The Wrangell area is among the most affected. Though residents have expressed concern at the island's gray and red-spotted hillsides, state entomologist Elizabeth Graham shared reassuring news with the Wrangell and Petersburg communities at an online forum last Wednesday. The hemlock sawfly and western blackheaded budworm populations have likely reached their peak, and though the...
Petersburg Search and Rescue found a missing hiker on Sunday off of a U.S. Forest Service road near the South Ferry Terminal after a two-day search according to Fire/EMS/SAR Director Aaron Hankins. Hankins reported that the Alaska State Troopers received a call about the missing man, who is in his early thirties, around 5 p.m. on Saturday after he did not return from his hike on time, at which point Search and Rescue was activated through SAR Captain Patrick Fowler. SAR members were debriefed...
A barred owl named Glaucus (for her gray coloring) and a red tailed hawk named Jake (originally from Kake) are traveling from Sitka to Petersburg Thursday with an ambitious three day schedule of presentations. Their visit is part of the on-going Rainforest Festival and is being funded by a grant from the Petersburg Community Foundation and in collaboration with Partners in Education. Avian Director Jennifer Cedarleaf and Avian Care Specialist Hannah Blanke will escort the raptors. Their first pr...
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public input on proposed cabin projects in Alaska made possible through funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Of the $18 million allocated to the Forest Service for recreation cabins and historic buildings, $14.4 million will go toward cabin projects on the Tongass and Chugach National Forests. Over 50 cabin projects have been proposed across Alaska. And though only a handful will be funded, projects in the Petersburg and Wrangell Ranger...
PETERSBURG, AK-At East Ohmer Creek, 22 miles south of Petersburg, Alaska, is a tree believed to be the largest left on Mitkof Island. Forest Service Fish Biologist Eric Castro said foresters estimate the tree, which grew on a once-rich floodplain, is around 600 years old. "Those giant pumpkins are what used to grow in this type of environment," Castro said. That tree stands in contrast to those that have grown around it over the last 60 years, which have reached four to eight inches in diameter...
WRANGELL – The U.S. Forest Service spent last week showing that the wildlife at Anan Creek aren't your average bears. From the chilliest to the chunkiest, the inaugural Anan Bear Awards were posted via Facebook from Oct. 3 to Oct. 7, honoring nine bears for their unique personalities. Paul Robbins, public affairs officer for the Tongass National Forest, said the awards are modeled after the Katmai National Park and Preserve's Fat Bear Week held at the same time. In that event, National Park Serv...
September 29, 1922 – “Theoretically and scientifically and in accordance with official lore, the run of sockeyes up the Chilkat closed on the 15th of August and at that date the stream watchmen were withdrawn. The truth of the matter is that the run of sockeyes was only beginning when the watchmen were withdrawn and the result was that within three days after the watchmen were withdrawn, no less than twenty-seven purse seines, the first ever used off the Chilkat River, were fishing there most industriously and with marvelous success, with thr...
(AP) - A landslide triggered by record rainfall significantly damaged three homes, prompted the evacuation of about a dozen residents and caused power outages in downtown Juneau, Alaska's capital city. Geological assessment teams determined Tuesday that favorable weather has returned the threat level to pre-slide levels. The city's public works department was preparing to begin removing debris, city spokesperson Meredith Thatcher said. Of the three homes, one was completely destroyed as it came...
September 15, 1922 Probably Mrs. John Vanderbilt, who is a guest at the Goddard Hot Springs, is the only woman who ever entertained a big brown bear in its native haunts with a repertoire of songs. Wynn Goddard, Billy Wilson, and Mrs. Vanderbilt visited Eva Lake, Peril Straits to fish. The two men started to fish up the stream and Mrs. Vanderbilt stayed on the beach. Billy struck out for the falls a short distance away and Wynn started in at the first turn. Mrs. Vanderbilt saw a movement where Wynn had been fishing and thought it was him, but d...
PETERSBURG – The Etolin Island Area - Unit 3, as described in Alaska Department of Fish & Game hunting regulations, is closed to the harvest of elk under the new Federal General Elk Permit (FE1234). The permit conditions allow for the harvest of one elk from Units 1, 2, 3-Remainder, and 4, excluding Zarembo, Bushy, Shrubby, and Kashevarof Islands and the Etolin Island Area in Unit 3. Successful harvesters are required to bring the complete skull, including the lower jaw, to a local USDA Forest Service office within 48 hours of harvest. R...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to pass Ordinance #2022-11 in its third and final reading during Tuesday’s meeting, allowing for increases to the purchasing authorization limits of borough officials. The ordinance now gives the borough manager the authority to set the spending limits for individual department heads. It also increases the borough manager’s purchasing authorization limit, allowing the borough manager to authorize purchases costing more than a department head’s limit but less than $75,000. Previously depar...
WRANGELL – Beginning Sept. 7, the annual Sharing Our Knowledge conference of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian tribes and clans will be held in Wrangell for the first time. This five-day event will take place at the Nolan Center and will feature a film festival, a panel discussion and a wide variety of research presentations on subjects ranging from Indigenous history to art. Organizers expect an estimated 200 people to arrive in town for the event. Because the anticipated attendance exceeds the capacity of Wrangell’s hotels and bed and bre...
