Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 336
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska has been America’s canary in the coal mine for climate warming, and the yellow bird is swooning. July was Alaska’s warmest month ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sea ice melted. Bering Sea fish swam in above-normal temperatures. So did children in the coastal town of Nome. Wildfire season started early and stayed late. Thousands of walruses thronged to shore. Unusual weather events like this could become more common with climate warming, said Brian Brettschneider, an assoc...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —The head of the U.S. Forest Service visited Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to investigate timber sales and related issues, a report said. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski hosted Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen during the July 6-7 visit, CoastAlaska reported Monday. Christiansen stopped in Wrangell, Ketchikan and Prince Wales Island as part of a flying visit with Alaska’s senior senator. The meetings were not publicized in advance. Murkowski questioned Christiansen about the service’s southeast Alaska timber sales during b...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Australia mining company is seeking permission to start exploratory drilling for the rare element vanadium in southeast Alaska. Northern Cobalt Ltd. has applied to the U.S. Forest Service for the proposed project on Snettisham Inlet, CoastAlaska reported. The site is in the Tongass National Forest about 35 miles southeast of Juneau. Vanadium is used in steel alloys, as well as rechargeable industrial batteries used in power grids and industrial plants. There are no active federal mining claims at the site. E...
The fireworks display tonight at 11P.M. at the ball field is moving forward as planned, said Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg, as parts of the state face fireworks bans due to wildfires and dry conditions. On June 27, the Alaska State Fire Marshal's Office implemented an immediate suspension on the sale and use of fireworks across most of the state, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety, Fire and Life Safety. The ban affects areas that face fire risk levels in high, very high and...
Visitors will soon be able to request the last of the daily permits for the Anan Wildlife Observatory this summer. There are four permits per day for the remainder of the summer meant to accommodate last-minute planning, and these permits need to be requested in person at the Wrangell Ranger District up to one week in advance. Requests must be made by filling out a form at the front desk, and individuals listed on the form must be physically present at the time of request (with the exception of...
Borough unfairness To the Editor: I moved here 30 years ago and fell in love with this community. Everyone helped each other and the city government was run quite well and fair. But as time has gone by the government has gotten bigger and created a borough that costs us lots more than it's worth in my opinion. I understand that the people that got swallowed up by the borough needed to pay for some of the benefits like school and such, but in most cases they are paying taxes for little to no...
WRANGELL - The City and Borough of Wrangell went on a water watch for a few weeks back in March. Due to a forecast of insufficient rainfall, and ongoing drought conditions across Southeast Alaska, a water watch has been declared once again. As part of the water watch, there will be a town hall meeting to discuss conservation efforts at the Nolan Center on June 12, at 6 p.m. This is a Stage I water watch, the lowest that city officials can declare. In a statement on the borough's website, city...
Senator is wrong To the Editor: Last fall the USFS held public meetings on the repeal of the Roadless Rule. The consensus was overwhelming public support in favor of the Roadless Rule as it now stands, from Alaskans who live, work and play here. Since the last 10 years the Roadless Rule was formalized for Alaska, many local guiding tours and a new a line of smaller, more personal cruise ships now rely on Roadless Rule lands, besides the mega ships that bring over a million passengers a year to...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly received a response from Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen after sending three letters requesting information about a possible review of the Tonka and Big Thorne Integrated Resource timber contracts. "I share your interest in a consistent, sustainable timber sale program on the Tongass National Forest that supports the local economy while adhering to strong policy, management and financial controls," wrote Christiansen in her letter to the assembly....
Redirect $32 million to "legitimate" transportation need To the Editor: Only 15 seconds into my April 12, one minute public testimony for the state operating budget, my microphone was abruptly muted by finance committee co-chair Senator Stedman. His justification explained afterward was, "We are talking about the operating budget." If freeing up $32 million dollars to put toward genuine transportation needs is an invalid suggestion toward relieving our state's fiscal crisis, then Alaska resident...
In a trip through Southeast Alaska, Congressman Don Young (R) stopped in Petersburg on Tuesday to meet with constituents and talk about the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). Signed in 1980, the act provided protection to over one million acres of land in Alaska, which includes parts of the Tongass National Forest. Under ANILCA, cabins cannot be built on protected land designated as wilderness. The cabins that were already built prior to ANILCA were grandfathered in; howev...
Why a free pass? To the Editor: How is this fair? The Borough Assembly just voted to put a proposed ordinance on the ballot this fall to change the way Borough Assembly Member seats are elected. This issue was brought forward by Don Koenigs, a concerned citizen who went to a few assembly meetings and talked to a few people about his idea. How is it fair that he gets his idea on the ballot with such a minimal amount of effort? The Borough Assembly refused to help the proponents of the ATV and...
WRANGELL - The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, SEACC, was founded in 1970 to protect the land and wildlife of the Tongass National Forest. The SEACC board of directors is made up of people who have made this region their home, from Seattle to Yakutat. Current Board President Stephen Todd is a Wrangell resident. SEACC board members and staff all came to Wrangell this past week to hold meetings on topics they felt were of public interest. The main two topics that were brought up were the Ro...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — The state has signed a $2.1 million contract with ALCAN Timber Inc. for a timber sale on state and federal forest land in southeast Alaska. The timber sale includes about 481 acres (195 hectares) within the Southeast State Forest and Tongass National Forest on the northwest end of Gravina Island, the Ketchikan Daily News reported Saturday. State Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige signed the three-year contract Wednesday. The Vallenar Bay sale involves about 16 million board feet (38,000 cubic m...
The Tongass National Forest recently announced that Joni Johnson of the Petersburg Ranger District is the recipient of the Alaska Region's 2018 Hakala Award for Conservation Education and Interpretation, making her the regional nominee for the National Gifford Pinchot award. Joni received her Hakala award at the National Association of Interpreters (NAI) annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana this fall. Joni uses her passion of teaching to create effective and original interpretive and...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state agency plans to swap land in southeast Alaska for federal land that can be developed for timber sales. The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority board on Thursday approved a land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service that will trade 18,000 acres (7,284 hectares) of trust lands for 20,000 acres (8,094 hectares) of federal land, the Juneau Empire reported. The trust lands are scattered throughout southeast Alaska and the exact amount to be traded must be worked out. Wyn Menefee, director of the trust authority land o...
WRANGELL - Students at Evergreen Elementary School have spent the past few days making Christmas ornaments. Some students drew pictures of Alaskan wildlife, others made miniature wreaths, and another class made poinsettias. All these ornaments are not only fun projects for students to work on. They will be travelling up to Juneau in the coming weeks to hang on the governor's Christmas tree. Tory Houser, with the Forest Service, said that the Wrangell district of the Tongass National Forest has...
It was clear to Sam Bunge that he was going to Vietnam after he graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1967. He participated in the university's Reserve Officer Training Corps in preparation because he didn't want to join the United States Army as a private. "I wanted to have a little bit of control of what happened," said Bunge. His first year in the army was spent training. He completed his basic training in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. Since he was entering the army as...
Roadless areas are the cornerstone to the economy and well being of southeast. The Roadless Rule is working for its designed purpose which is to ensure that the 99% of the economy that depends on intact old growth forest is protected from the less than 1% that wants to clearcut it and export it round. It is a myth that old growth is a renewable resource. There is a limit to how many 300 yr. old logs can be piled on a log ship bound for China. The ecosystem itself probably takes three times that long to mature. It’s simply unsustainable. A...
The 2001 Roadless Rule, covering 58 million acres of National Forest Land, including the Tongass and Chugach National Forests, was pushed through the entire national rulemaking and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes in 15 months. The 2001 Roadless Rule was promulgated by the outgoing Clinton Administration just eight days before President George W. Bush was inaugurated. The Roadless Rule was justified by the Clinton Administration’s claim that a national level “whole picture” review of National Forest roadless areas was neede...
On Sept. 25, a meeting was held by officials from the United States Forest Service to inform the public about the state’s plan to alter the Roadless Rule which prevents the construction of roads in nearly 60 million acres of land throughout the country. About 55 percent of the Tongass National Forest and 99 percent of the Chugach National Forest is subject to the Roadless Rule. The Roadless Rule was put into effect in 2001. In 2003, the Tongass was exempt from the Roadless Rule but reinstated in 2011. The USDA initiated an environment impact st...
WRANGELL — In 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a nationwide regulation on the management of roadless areas in national forests across the country. The “Roadless Rule,” as it’s known, generally prohibits timber harvesting and road construction in roadless areas.The rule affects 58.5 million acres of land across the country, based on information provided by the Forest Service. According to Nicole Grewe, with the Forest Service, about 55 percent of the Tongass National Forest is designated as roadless area. The Roadless Rule ha...
The Nolan Center was littered with maps of the Tongass National Forest Sept. 5. Members of the Wrangell and Petersburg Ranger districts came by to hold a public meeting on the Central Tongass Project, a series of proposed long-term renovations in the area. Dave Zimmerman, with the Petersburg Ranger District, explained that the Central Tongass Project covers both the Petersburg and Wrangell districts, an area that stretches across the Wrangell, Mitkof, Kupreanof, Kuiu, Zarembo, and Etolin islands, as well as a section of the mainland. According...
Clarification To the Editor: Thank you to the Petersburg Pilot for the coverage of the 1st annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Walk/Run. I would like to clarify that while my granddaughter Amalia was correctly identified as Alaska Native, I am not. I am however a proud member of the Seetka Kwann Dance group, founded in 1990 and led by Jeanette Ness. Many thanks to SEARHC, WAVE, PIA and Petersburg Parks and Rec for coordinating this event and to all who participated. Karin McCullough Senior exemption thorny issue To the Editor: The...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Trees soon may be cut down in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, and federal officials want the public’s input on the matter. A new rulemaking process for an Alaska — specific version of the Roadless Rule — which prevents timber harvest and the building of roads on 0.01 million square miles (0.03 million square kilometers) of roadless lands in southeast Alaska — is now open for public comment. A notice published last week in the Federal Register, the official journal of the federal government, opens the first official ve...
