Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 324
WRANGELL — The regional forest supervisor with the United States Forest Service issued a final decision on the Wrangell Island timber sale project on Monday. Addressing a number of objections to the project as it was proposed last year, the scope of the sale approved by the Tongass National Forest supervisor’s office in Ketchikan will be but a fraction of what it had been. Among five alternatives presented, it was Alternative 2 which the USFS opted for. Of the plans, it had the greatest amounts of acreage and timber deemed to be sus...
WRANGELL — At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Borough Assembly approved moving ahead with seeking a consultant on the hospital’s future, while members also learned city computers had been targeted by a hacking attack. A letter recommending hiring a consultant had been submitted to the city by the Wrangell Medical Center governing board last month. Currently the hospital is a municipal service, but recent cash flow troubles and sizable costs for a replacement facility have had administrators and elected officials alike considering other alter...
WRANGELL — A final decision on the Wrangell Island timber sale is expected out next week, wrapping up years of deliberation and planning. Citing objections to the economics and ecological impacts of its preferred plan, the United States Forest Service has indicated it will be reducing total harvest for the proposed sale on Wrangell Island to around 428 acres, or 5- to 7-million board feet (mmbf) of timber. These would be sold piecemeal over the course of several years. Of five alternatives put forward, Alternative 2 had proposed around 55....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Tourism leaders in Alaska are asking Congress to increase U.S. Forest Service recreation funding. Tourism leaders representing 49 businesses in Southeast Alaska wrote in an open letter last week that the U.S. Forest Service’s budget has shrunk by nearly half in a little more than a decade, hampering growth in southeast Alaska’s visitor industry. The U.S. Forest Service’s funding for recreation on the Tongass and Chugach national forests declined 46 percent from 2004-2014, the businesses said. That’s hurting businesse...
The First Baptist Church in Petersburg started its search for a new pastor last week, coming after Don Higgins resigned due to health reasons. The first step for the search committee is to find an interim pastor to replace Pastor Higgins. Butch Young, who is the chair on the search committee, said the Southern Baptist Convention in Anchorage will assist in finding a likely retired pastor to step in. "We are praying that Don Higgins recovers completely and is able to return to preaching," Young s...
Oct. 1 — the Alaska State Troopers arrested Brittany Diaz, age 27 of Craig, in the 3500 block of Tongass Avenue. Diaz was taken into custody on a warrant for Petition to Revoke Probation stemming from the original charge of Attempted MICS III (2 counts). She was transported to the Ketchikan Correctional Center without incident. Oct. 2 — Prince of Wales based State Troopers arrested Curtis Demmert, 31, in Klawock on an outstanding felony probation warrant. Demmert was remanded to the Craig jail and held on $5000 bail pending arraignment. Oct. 2...
September 21, 1917 – The blue clay under the concrete foundation at the light and power plant having become soaked up during the recent heavy rains, the light service is now somewhat “on the blink”. At a special meeting of the council it was decided to have L. J. Isrealson make temporary repairs by wedging up the foundation under the engines; also to change about the exhaust pipes to go straight through the roof, and to dig deep ditches on three sides of the building. It is planned to keep one engine in operation at night only while repair work...
PETERSBURG, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Mental Health Trust and federal government have a bunch of work that needs to be done before a land swap approved last year can happen_ work that has to be completed within the next two years. KFSK-FM reported Thursday that the legislation set a two-year deadline on completing surveys, appraisals and other studies of the land. The federal government is giving the mental health trust about 31.3 square miles (81 square kilometers) of the Tongass National Forest near Ketchikan on Prince of Wales Island. W...
WRANGELL, Alaska (AP) – State plans to store contaminated soil near a recreation area in the Alaska Panhandle could be stalled by the U.S. Forest Service. CoastAlaska News reports, state officials seek to move nearly 20,000 cubic yards (15,291 cubic meters) of lead-laced soil in a rock quarry south of Wrangell. Officials say they want the soil moved because it poses a threat to marine environment and have prepared it with phosphate-based product so the lead won't leach into soil or waterways. To move the soil, the state needs a road permit, w...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) – The U.S. Forest Service and an Alaska-based Native corporation announced the transfer of 12 square miles (31 square kilometers) of land from the Alaska Native corporation to the Admiralty Island National Monument. The land is part of the 34 square miles (88 square kilometers) Sitka-based Shee Atika Corp. logged between 1984 and 2002 after the Sitka urban corporation selected it as part of its land entitlement under the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act. Under an agreement between the Forest Service and Shee Atika s...
(Juneau, AK) – The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities proposed Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) schedule for fall, winter, and spring 2017-2018 is now available for public review. With the timing of the budget, the public comment period is slightly shorter than those in recent years, to allow the public sufficient lead time to make reservations for sailings that begin on October 1st. The draft schedule is based on established community service needs and events. It is available online with accompanying documents at dot....
June 29, 1917 – After July 3, according to a law passed at the late session of the territorial legislature, a preliminary to marriage will be the securing of a marriage license. This is to be furnished to contracting parties by the U.S. commissioer of the district in which they reside. Both parties are required to be identified by the commissioner before issuance of license. If either party is under legal age, consent of parents or guardian must also be furnished to the commissioner. The license costs $2.50, and the commissioner collects $...
This Congressional legislation was enacted for the purpose of establishing an area within the Tongass National forest in Southeastern Alaska for the preservation and continuity of nature and wilderness. This action was honorable, noble, and vital and there was complete agreement among the people most associated with nature, as the U.S. Forest Service, hunters, fishers, nature lovers, and the general public that could enjoy it. At this time the Forest Service allowed the public use of these...
Petersburg was paid a visit by longstanding United States Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) on Monday, part of a wider tour of Southeast that includes Ketchikan and Juneau. Extra chairs had to be brought into the Borough Assembly chambers to accommodate the audience, and people stood at the room's back and sides. Seated front and center, Young explained the session would be an informal way for people to give input and ask questions. "I'm here primarily to hear what's on your mind and what you'd like to...
Fluoridation proven safe To the Editor: The safety and effectiveness of community water fluoridation has been scientifically proven and documented for 60 years. Dental decay is still the number one disease of children. Water fluoridation can greatly reduce decay across the population. The safety and efficacy is supported by over 100 National and International organizations, the American Dental Association, the American Medical Association, the U.S. Public Health Service(CDC), the American Cancer Society, the World Health Organization, and the...
WRANGELL – The Stikine River Birding Festival celebrates the spring arrival of migratory birds, including hundreds of thousands of shorebirds to the Stikine River Delta. The 20th year of this Wrangell festival takes place April 27-30, 2017. This year’s schedule is now available online at www.stikinebirding.org. Highlights include family activities, photo and art competitions, birding excursions, bird banding demonstrations, and guest speakers. Presenters this year include Dan Ruthrauff from the USGS Alaska Science Center, who will share his...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a resolution opposing H.R. 232 — an act sponsored by Alaska Congressman Don Young that would transfer up to 2 million acres of Tongass National Forest to the state of Alaska. The assembly voted to table the resolution during its last meeting and rewrite some of the language member Bob Lynn said wasn’t in the best interest of the borough. The rewritten language, in part, states, “…transferring ownership of major portions of the Tongass National Forest within the Petersburg Borough to the State of Alaska w...
We find the Borough Assembly’s opposition to H.R. 232 to transfer up to 2-million acres of the Tongass National Forest to the State of Alaska very short sighted. According to their Resolution #2017-07 they would trade shrinking numbers of government jobs, dwindling federal handouts in the form of Payments in Lieu of Taxes and Secure Rural Schools funding for the opportunity to move acres of federal land into State ownership. Make no mistake. Government is a poor landlord. But with the transfer of Federal land into State hands, the landlord m...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly tabled a resolution opposing H.R. 232—an act sponsored by Alaska Congressman Don Young that would transfer up to 2 million acres of Tongass National Forest to the the state of Alaska. The land that would go into state control includes subsurface lands, roads, campgrounds and cabins and the resolution cited concerns that logging would supersede other land uses. “Whereas, the Alaska Timber Jobs Task Force from which this federal land transfer strategy originated was heavily weighted to timber industry rep...
Rethink flouride To the Editor: I would like to request the Borough reevaluate its practice of adding fluoride to our water supply. It is time to investigate what the current research is on the safety of fluoride after so many years of public use. I found that fluoride in drinking water does give dental benefits to people across the board, and over and over I read, “the benefits outweigh the risks.” But that made me wonder, if there are recognized risks associated with fluoride introduced into the drinking water of municipalities, why don...
The bill giving the green light to an exchange of thousands of acres of land between the Alaska Mental Health Trust and the U.S. Forest Service was introduced in Juneau this week. Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan, filed House Bill 155 on Monday. It authorizes the trust to go ahead with an exchange of more than 17,000 acres of trust land for 20,000 acres of rural Forest Service timber land. In the process, the exchange would eliminate the possibility of logging on trust-owned land on Deer Mountain and above the Mitkof Highway in Petersburg. Those...
A snag in Sitka that was holding up progress on a state bill to help the Alaska Mental Health Trust with its land exchange — and thereby prevent logging on Deer Mountain — has been resolved, putting the bill on track to be introduced this session. State and federal lawmakers, at the behest of the trust, have been working on legislation that would mandate the U.S. Forest Service exchange more than 20,000 acres of rural timber land for approximately 17,000 acres of trust land located near Ketchikan, Meyers Chuck, Petersburg, Wrangell, Sitka and...
WRANGELL – In its first meeting of the new year, the governing board for Southeast Alaska Power Agency looked ahead to political reshufflings at the state and federal levels. Meeting in Petersburg February 8, members of the board learned from SEAPA executive officer Trey Acteson a change in administrations at the federal level could be useful to the agency’s future operations. For example, only two commissioners sitting on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission – which licenses hydropower projects – remain in place since the swearing in of P...
WRANGELL – The Forest Service (USFS) announced its permits for visiting Anan Wildlife Observatory this summer will be available at the start of next month. At 8 a.m. on February 1 members of the public will be able to reserve permits at the Recreation.gov website. Twenty permits will be made available for each day of the season, which runs from July 5 to August 25. Visitation outside this time frame does not require a permit. Reservations and payment can also be made by phone, at the 1-877-444-6777 hotline. Permits for 2017 cost $10 api...
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...
