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WRANGELL - Members of the community were invited to the Wrangell Ranger District Office on Jan. 13, to meet and greet with some of the minds behind the latest proposals for the future Tongass management plan. The United States Forest Service is amending the current Land and Resource Management Plan for the Tongass National Forest, which is the largest in the country. Covering 16.7 million acres in Southeast Alaska, 3.4 million acres of that has been set aside for resource development. The...
The U.S. Forest Service announced Dave Zimmerman as the new Tongass National Forest Petersburg District Ranger. Zimmerman will arrive from Medford, Ore. where he served as the Timber and Special Forest Products program manager for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. "My current national forest is 1.8 million acres spread across five districts, so working on a district of similar size to my former forest will be exciting," Zimmerman said in a press release. "This will necessitate continued...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A federal agency has concluded that a southeast Alaska wolf affected by logging and hunting does not merit placement on the endangered species list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that Alexander Archipelago wolves on Prince of Wales Island and neighboring islands do not warrant additional protections. “Although the Alexander Archipelago wolf faces several stressors throughout its range related to wolf harvest, timber harvest, road development, and climate-related events in Southeast Alaska and coastal Brit...
Laura L. Nelson, 70, went home to heaven on November 17, 2015, in Cape Coral, Fla. after battling pancreatic cancer. She was born on March 14, 1945 in Gore, Ohio to Dolly and Hazel (Breeze) Hartman. She grew up one of five siblings in rural East Clayton, Ohio, graduating from Nelsonville York High School in 1963. Following a cross-country move with her two children, she met and married Lester Nelson of Eugene, Ore. in 1978. Enjoying a career with the U.S. Forest Service that spanned decades,... Full story
Sealaska has shamed themselves To the Editor: Last week in Petersburg, Alaska's newest environmental group 'The Greater Southeast Alaska Conservation Community,' (gsacc.net) gave a slide show on the latest industrial logging now taking place on state land, Sealaska land and other land grant interests. The slideshow consisted of images from 'Google Earth' satellite overviews of Sealaska lands on the Cleveland Peninsula, and also on P.O.W.'s Election Creek and other examples. Needless to say, the push to privatize land from the Tongass National...
In a media release last month, the United States Forest Service Alaska Region announced it is proposing a system-wide cabin rental fee adjustments for the Chugach and Tongass national forests. The two forests are managed by 13 ranger districts, which together maintain 184 cabins year-round for public use. For visitors and residents alike, public cabins become the hub for a variety of recreational trips, from nature walks, family gatherings, hunting and sport fishing to subsistence use. Cabins are most regularly booked during the summer and...
Last month, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) agreed to withdraw their plans to harvest over 28 million board feet from designated sites on Mitkof Island by use of helicopters. The proposed logging sites, located south of Petersburg, were stretched out among just over 4,100 acres. The withdrawal comes after five environmental groups brought a lawsuit against the USFS to block the sale. Greenpeace, Alaska Wildlife Alliance and Greater Southeast Alaska Conservation Community (GSACC) were among the environmentalist groups responsible for the...
Three concerned Petersburg and Kupreanof residents spoke out against a resolution being considered as part of last Thursday’s Borough Assembly agenda. Though three Assembly members—Mayor Mark Jensen, Bob Lynn, Nancy Strand—voted in fav or of the resolution, four votes were needed for it to pass. The resolution would have called for the governor to petition for an appeal of the Ninth Circuit court’s late July ruling which overturned the Tongass National Forest’s exemption to the Roadless Rule. The Wrangell Borough and Ketchikan Gateway B...
An ordinance changing the language and fee structure of cemetery services will go before the Assembly at today’s regular meeting. The changes are both to reflect Borough incorporation and to establish fees to place an urn in one of the 320 burial niches of a new columbarium erected at the cemetery last month. The new proposed fee for urn placement is $175, with an additional $75 charge for placements occurring on weekends or holidays. The proposed fee for burials—opening and closing a grave—would be raised from $650 for an adult and $300 for a...
Sorry, there is no resemblance To the Editor: Can Alaskans trust the government of British Columbia to act honestly, responsibly and openly as B.C. authorizes and proposes to manage a series of mines (up to six of them) in the watersheds of some of the greatest, wildest and most productive watersheds in North America? Is BC “basically the same” as Alaska, as Mines Minister Bennett claims, when it comes to process and regulation of industrial activity? There is no question B.C. has a “mine approval” process, but make no mistake, it is vastly...
The 8th Annual Rainforest Festival kicks off next week and those attending the festival are going to be offered diverse opportunities, including watching an impactful documentary about a basket weaver, a field trip to listen for bats and wine-making with local ingredients followed by wine tasting. Things get started on Labor Day with the 2nd Annual Rainforest Run Half Marathon. Participants will be faced with the task of completing the 13.1 mile long course. Organizers are hoping to increase... Full story
August 14, 1915 – The fast and commodious launch Trigby will leave Petersburg next Monday for Cape Fanshaw, Port Houghton, Pybus Bay, Tyee, Warm Springs Bay, Kuiu Island points, and Kake. Such is the announcement of S.L. Hogue, who this week purchased the Trigby from Conrad Dahl. It is Hogue's intention to make a trial trip to the points above listed, and if it appears that business will justify the enterprise, to make weekly return trips, carrying passengers, mail, and freight, and also to take orders for and deliver merchandise to people a...
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...
The US Forest Service and Korpela Construction crews have broken ground on a new half-mile portion of the Raven's Roost Trail. Construction began July 17 on the section which will connect the new trailhead that was built last year-beginning across from the Sandy Beach parking lot-to the existing trail that winds through the muskeg behind the airport up into the Tongass National Forest. The new portion of trail will be similar to the half-mile portion of easy-grade, gravel trail built last year.... Full story
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
A limited number of Anan Wildlife Observatory permits will be made available at the Wrangell District Office. Visitors are required to obtain a permit to visit the observatory from July 5 through August 25. Earlier this spring the United States Forest Service began using the National Reservation System for those wishing to visit Anan, 30 miles to Wrangell’s southeast. To facilitate the transition to this new system, up to four permits per day will still be offered through the Wrangell District Office using a weekly lottery. To apply for one o...
KETCHIKAN – As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, residents, visitors and campers are reminded that all fireworks, including sparklers, are prohibited in the Tongass National Forest. “People assume the restrictions apply just to developed recreations areas managed by the Forest Service, including campgrounds, picnic areas and day use areas,” said Forest Fire Management Officer Tristan Fluharty, “but no fireworks or pyrotechnic device of any kind may be discharged anywhere within the National Forests, regardless of weather conditi...
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...
JUNEAU (AP) — Congress is picking up a bill that would create corporations for residents of five southeast Alaska communities left out of a landmark land settlement decades ago. The bill authored by U.S. Rep. Don Young went before the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Wednesday, the southeast Alaska radio network CoastAlaska reported. The Alaska Republican chaired the hearing. Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced similar legislation. Haines, Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Tenakee were e...
Petersburg has moved from its wettest April on record to what’s looking to be its driest May. Despite rain Wednesday and more precipitation forecasted for today (Thursday), this May is “definitely still looking like it’ll be the driest,” said meteorologist Geri Swanson with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Juneau. Petersburg still had less than 0.3 inches of rain Wednesday afternoon, and was expecting less than a 10th of an inch with the day and Thursday’s forecast — the area’s “best chances” for rain before moving back into a high pressur...
Not common for the area, a short-lived thunderstorm caused a minor disturbance in Petersburg on Tuesday. At about 3:10 p.m., a lightning strike hit a tree, transformer line and transformer, putting "the whole island in the dark," Petersburg Municipal Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson said. "The tree was kind of hurt bad, the transformer line is OK, the transformer was destroyed and had to be replaced," he added. That work took about an hour and a half before power was back on. The transf...
After a nine month process, the Tongass Advisory Committee (TAC) has approved its recommendations for a transition to young-growth timber in the Tongass National Forest. “It’s a pretty complex set of recommendations, but there were two important pieces, I think,” TAC Co-Chair Lynn Jungwirth said: agreement on the timberland base and what to do with it. She added that TAC agreed to a no-net-loss of the existing young-growth land base last week, and to “a different kind of forestry” in which timber comes out as habitat, recreational and touri...
John Kenneth Pickens III, 60, died peacefully on April 11, 2015 in hospice care in Sterling, Va. Death resulted from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The Alexandria, Va. native lived in Petersburg, Alaska, but had returned to the Washington D.C. area last year for medical treatment. He was born in DC and grew up in Alexandria. He graduated from T.C. Williams High School in 1972 and Virginia Tech in 1977. John worked for Beiro Construction in Alexandria from 1978 to 1990 and for the U.S.... Full story
ANCHORAGE (AP) – An iconic Alaska tree may warrant protection as a threatened or endangered species due to climate warming, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday. The agency will begin a status review of yellow cedar, a tree revered and used by Native Alaska cultures and valued as of high value to the timber industry. The decision is great news for the Tongass National Forest and for yellow cedar, said Rebecca Noblin, an attorney in Anchorage for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that petitioned to list the...
