Sorted by date Results 376 - 400 of 643
A demand for floathouses To the Editor: I’ve been following the Stikine River houseboat dilemma for some time now with interest. I did moose patrols for the Fish and Wildlife Service on the river in 1957, 58 and 59. I also ran the river in the 70 and 80s with friends in Petersburg and Telegraph Creek with a youth camp. There were no house boats on the river in that time. There were, however, numerous private cabins and moose tree huts. Soon after statehood, the Forest Service, after taking much criticism for being a mere “Logging Ser...
January 20, 1917 – Postmaster Refling has received advice from the department at Washington that, owing to the difficulty in obtaining paper and skilled labor, the furnishing of “office-request” envelopes has been suspended for the present. These are the envelopes with the words, “After – days, return to - , Petersburg, Alaska,” printed on corner. It is stated, however, that there is ample stock of envelopes with only the stamp printed thereon; also that “special request” envelopes – bearing the printed card of the purchaser – may be had. Jan...
The state has so far not received any applications from a number of floathouse owners contacted last autumn. Since October, the Department of Natural Resources has been reaching out to identified owners of floating facilities anchored along the Stikine River’s tidal area, the land which is under its clear jurisdiction after resolving a longstanding dispute with the United States Forest Service last March. The floathouses being targeted are those anchored within the tidal influence of the river, which ends just beyond the terminus of Shakes S...
PETERSBURG (AP) – The U.S. Forest Service is moving forward with a project to restore a stream south of Petersburg. Ohmer Creek has been damaged by decades-old logging and road-building where it crosses under Mitkof Highway about 21 miles south of Petersburg. During construction of the roadway in 1959 and 1960, trees were cut from about 20 acres around the stream, leaving a swath of the creek where heavy rains can erode the banks, KFSK-FM reported. Forest Service hydrologist Heath Whitacre said the project is planning to add wood, create new s...
KETCHIKAN – Proposed timber sales on Deer Mountain and in Petersburg are on hold as officials consider public comments against the issue. The Alaska Mental Health Trust board will take up the topic in January, reported the Ketchikan Daily News. Every comment on the plan was negative as zof Wednesday. Officials say the delay will give the trust time to consider the public’s input. The board decided in August to move forward with the sales if a federal land exchange bill failed in Congress by Jan. 15. “What we had intended to do was initiate our...
WRANGELL – A number of Petersburg and Wrangell residents have been receiving letters from the state, informing them their float houses anchored along the Stikine River need to be permitted or else move. Since the late 1970s, the placement of float houses and temporary cabins along the river have made it convenient for locals making use of the river basin, be it for subsistence fishing, hunting, trapping, work or recreational purposes. While a number are there on a seasonal basis, this year some 18 have been identified as being situated y...
Roads with ferries don’t work To the Editor: This fall Governor Walker has been weighing the pros and cons of proceeding with the Juneau road extension. The project entails fifty miles of new pavement, which would dead end at a ferry terminal on the uninhabited Katzehin River delta across the Lynn Canal from Haines. As residents of Petersburg and Wrangell know, long roads with short shuttle ferries have not worked out as hoped for in Southeast Alaska. The South Mitkof and Coffman Cove terminals, while beautiful facilities, have been largely shu...
Bill Neumann spent 20 years teaching shop in Petersburg and smoke houses built by his students can still be seen around town. Neumann's oldest students might be reaching retirement age, but they still remember him, even if he doesn't always remember them. "I'll go to the post office and some guy will come up and shake my hand and what I have to say is, 'The face is familiar but I can't put a name on it,'" he says. "But I love that, and I'm so thankful that I've stayed in Petersburg. So many...
Over 20 people assembled at the SONS last Thursday evening for a presentation and Q&A with representatives of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office (TLO). The representatives stressed their desire for a land exchange to pass via federal legislation as it would allow the Trust to bypass logging on contentious land in Petersburg and Ketchikan. Residents who attended were more concerned about what would happen if the land exchange does not go through and the TLO moves forward with plans to log areas in close proximity to residences on Mitkof...
The Alaska Mental Health and Trust Authority will hold a community meeting at the Sons of Norway Hall tonight, October 27 from 7-9 p.m. to talk about their hope to exchange land with the US Forest Service and the potential for selective helicopter logging on land they own near Petersburg. AMHTA has been working towards a land exchange deal for 10 years and in September announced they would move ahead with selective logging on their land in both Petersburg and on Deer Mountain in Ketchikan if Congress failed to approve the land exchange by Jan....
A changing climate is altering rain and snowfall patterns that affect the waters Alaska salmon call home, for better or worse. A first of its kind study now details the potential changes for Southeast Alaska, and how people can plan ahead to protect the fish. One third of Alaska’s salmon harvest each year comes from fish produced in the 17,000 miles of streams in the Tongass rainforest. More than 50 species of animals feed on spawning salmon there, and one in 10 jobs is supported by salmon throughout the region. “Global climate change may bec...
PETERSBURG – Southeast Alaska biomass experts believe that the low price of oil shouldn’t put wood heat projects on the chopping block. When the price of diesel remained higher than $4 a gallon, wood-fired boilers were sold as a relatively cheap heating option for public buildings in Southeast. The campaign to promote wood heat has been successful in Southeast – especially in the Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island areas – as all levels of government, tribal governments and private enterprise invest millions of dollars into biomass project...
Suzanne Wood, co-founder of Mitkof Highway Homeowners Association, on Sept. 1, sent a letter to the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority seeking records for the 11 August 2016 Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority’s Resource Management Committee Meeting and Executive Session and for the 24 August 2016 AMHTA Board of Trustees Special Meeting. The documents, according to the letter, “are necessary for us to ascertain how the Trust could transition from the ongoing and forward-moving AMHTA-US Forest Service administrative land exchange process to s... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly agreed to send a letter urging an alternative route to logging Alaska Mental Health Trust (AMHT) lands south of town at its Tuesday meeting. The land in question is on steep hillside located above Mitkof Highway, and the borough would rather see land exchanged than logging. Last month, the AMHT board announced plans to go forward with timber sales of lands near Petersburg from Scow Bay to south of Twin Creek, if a land exchange is not approved by Congress on Jan. 15. There is also AMHT land near Ketchikan. The...
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (AMHTA) board approved the sale of timber on two parcels they own in Ketchikan and Petersburg on August 24. According to the Trust, the sale will move forward if Congress does not pass legislation this session requiring the U.S. Forest Service to exchange land with equal timber values for the parcels. According to the Trust the two land parcels will be rendered valueless if they are not marketed soon. The parcel of land near Petersburg runs along a section of uplands along Mitkof Highway that is prone...
LeConte Glacier is a treasure many locals might overlook, but PHS students have been gaining a new respect for the icy giant for over 30 years now, thanks in large part to Paul Bowen. He is not a glaciologist. He is not a certified surveyor. Bowen was simply a science teacher who's been intrigued by glaciers ever since 1952 when he spent three months living on one while conducting fieldwork. In 1962, Bowen's first year teaching at PHS, it only took a week or two before he asked his new students...
tWRANGELL – The City of Wrangell is applying to the United States Forest Service to give a historic boat a new home. The M/V Chugach was one of 11 ranger boats operating in the state during the first half of the 20th century. Built at the Lake Union Dry Dock and Machine Works in Seattle in 1925, the vessel was assigned to Cordova for work in the Tongass and Chugach national forests. It remains the last of its kind in the USFS fleet, continuing service until last year. The boat was restationed in Petersburg in 1953, it served from there more t...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A brown bear mauled two wilderness guides who were leading a hiking excursion in Alaska after the group came between the female animal and her cub in the Tongass National Forest, state troopers said Friday. The guides a man and a woman were rescued by the Coast Guard after being injured Thursday on a trail on Chichagof Island about 30 miles north of Sitka in southeast Alaska. Troopers said the bears left the area after one of the victims used pepper spray. Authorities said they have no plans to hunt down the bear, and t...
WRANGELL – Last week a new public cabin was added to Wrangell Ranger District’s list, with the U.S. Forest Service’s administrative camp at Deep Bay converted into a two-building recreational site. The cabin will be the district’s 23rd, and its first on Zarembo Island, located about five miles to Wrangell’s southwest. Due to its proximity and size, Zarembo is a popular destination for locals in the mood for activity, be it hunting, camping or taking the all-terrain vehicle out for a spin. The cabin is primarily accessible by two approache...
In 1925, the M/V Chugach launched in Seattle and it ended up being the last wooden ranger boat used in the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) fleet. The vessel faithfully remained in service until 2015, transporting scientists, government officials, supplies, and guests throughout Southcentral and Southeast Alaska. Up until 1953, the historic ranger boat was based out of Cordova then it was relocated to Petersburg. The vessel is currently out of the water in Wrangell for scheduled repairs. The Chugach i... Full story
Bill Overdorff died suddenly on July 22, 2016 in Brownsville, OR, one week short of his 84th birthday. William Roy Overdorff, Jr. was born to Jessie (Olson) and William Roy Overdorff, Sr. in Washington D.C. on July 30, 1932; he was an only child. They moved while he was quite young to Grand Island, Nebraska, which was where he grew up. After he graduated from high school, he attended the University of Montana in Missoula, earning a Forestry Degree. He moved up to Juneau, Alaska to work for the... Full story
WRANGELL – Events for the 7th Annual Bearfest are already underway, with the first two workshops and symposium presented yesterday at the Nolan Center. The annual activity was started in 2010 by Sylvia Ettefagh, an outfitter with Alaska Vistas and commercial fisherman. Drawing a number of notable speakers and participants each year, Bearfest serves to highlight the local bear population, particularly that found at nearby Anan Wildlife Observatory. About 30 miles southeast of Wrangell, the o...
The Petersburg Ranger District held a local celebration to recognize the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act last week and over 80 people attended the event. The celebration took place on Friday in the form of a picnic at the Three Lakes Shelter out the road. U.S. Forest Service employees treated guests to interpretive hikes and grilled hot dogs for lunch. Joni Johnson, a USFS botanist and ecologist provided plant identification walks and taught some youngsters how to age... Full story
Overwhelming generosity To the Editor: We, as a family, continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity and outpouring of support and love from Petersburg, our family, and our friends. Thank you. It does make a difference. I cannot say that we are doing okay, but we are surviving and slowly, more accepting of our loss. A very bright light in our lives has gone out, but we have many more. Joey and Josh, our families, friends, folks from Electra, Texas, and the amazing community of Petersburg. All of you lighten our lives, and are helping us...
June 24, 1916 – About 800 fish, the first of the season, were received at the cannery. They came from the Colpoys traps, and consisted of 40 Kings, a few humpbacks, small cohoes and chums, and the balance sockeyes. Last year the Colpoys traps were first lifted on June 21, with a catch of 3,500. A few boxes of sockeyes were also brought in a week previous to that date by seine fishermen and shipped fresh. June 27, 1941 – Sand has been hauled away from Sandy Beach in such large amounts that it has become necessary for the Forest Service to ann...
