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Petersburg District Ranger Carey Case announced at the Nov. 3 Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting that the Thomas Bay timber stewardship contract has been awarded. The Petersburg Pilot has confirmed that Alaska Timber and Truss, owned in partnership by Brett Martin and Mike Duman, was awarded the contract. The stewardship project represents a significant milestone for the local sawmill and the broader second-growth timber industry in Southeast Alaska. The contract encompasses 4.6 million board feet of timber spread across approximately 140 acre...
November 13, 1925 – Harry J. Raymond, pioneer Juneauite and for many years engaged in the grocery business there, has purchased the Warm Springs Bay (Baranof Post Office) property from Doty and a health and pleasure resort. The Warm Springs Bay hot springs are said to be among the best on the coast. Warm Springs Bay is situated on Baranof Island and is a perfectly landlocked harbor. One of the prettiest fresh water lakes in the country lies just back from the bay and its outlet flows into the bay, terminating with a beautiful waterfall. Mr. Ray...
European green crabs, a particularly invasive species known for aggressively displacing native species and damaging important vegetation, have been found on Etolin Island just southwest of Wrangell. A monitoring effort that spans much of Southeast is working to identify and possibly mitigate their continued spread northward. The crabs were first found in Metlakatla in the summer of 2022. Since then, they've been found increasingly farther north, with Etolin Island the northernmost confirmed...
October 22 - An officer responded to a noise complaint on S 2nd Street. Prisoners were transported. An officer assisted the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) when an alarm was activated due to testing on 12th Street. Meat was salvaged when a vehicle hit a deer in the area of Libby Straight. An officer responded to a report of suspicious behavior on Unimak Street. It was determined to be unfounded. October 23 - An officer provided a courtesy transport to Petersburg Medical Center (PMC). Extra patrols were requested on 3rd Street. A...
SITKA — Dozens of hunters turned out to hear details and best practices meant to deter, defuse and survive bear encounters while in the field, at a presentation last week hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. In a wide-ranging discussion that touched on self-protection in active bear encounters, first aid, electric fences and communications equipment, ADF&G wildlife biologist Steve Bethune and wildlife education and outreach specialist Abby McAllister said their goal is to make sure hunters are safe when they go afield. “We wan...
Southeast Alaska’s first competitive commercial red king crab fishery in eight years opens on Saturday. Ten different areas will be open for the fishery. They’ll be managed individually based on how much crab are available in each spot. State regulations require at least 200,000 pounds of harvestable crab to be available for a commercial opener in the region. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) announced earlier this fall that over 211,000 pounds of crab are available this season. Red king crab in Southeast Alaska is a low... Full story
The 2025 moose season closed with record-breaking numbers for Game Management Unit 3, as hunters checked in 145 moose - exceeding the previous record of 141 set in 2023, according to Petersburg's office of Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The season started relatively slow, due largely to wind storms during the first two weeks. Hunters extended their hunts, slogged through miles of muskeg, and a record number were eventually rewarded for their patience, with at least one bull so...
October 15 – Property found on Fram Street was turned in to the Petersburg Police Department (PPD). Christopher Hoover was issued a citation for limitations on backing following a motor vehicle incident on North 1st Street. An officer spoke with an individual concerning a civil issue. Property found on Fram Street was turned in to the PPD. An officer provided lockout assistance on Birch Street. October 16 – There is an on-going investigation into a report of suspicious behavior on Excel Street. Papers were served. An individual completed the...
Dungeness crab fishing is back on for a full fall season that began Wednesday and extends through Nov. 30, although Alaska Department of Fish and Game harvest projections show that Southeast Alaska fishermen might not achieve the harvest threshold for a full season. The commercial Dungeness fishery opened for 55 days this summer, beginning June 15 and closing Aug. 9, six days earlier than usual. Across Southeast, 162 Dungeness fishery permit-holders this summer harvested 567,839 crab totaling 1,180,494 pounds. Participation and harvest were...
The commercial salmon harvest in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, site of the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs, held a mixture of good news and bad news this year. The run of sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, exceeded preseason expectations and totaled 56.7 million fish, the seventh highest since 2005, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported in its preliminary summary of the summer harvest. The commercial sockeye harvest was also bigger than expected, totaling 41.2 million fish. That was 18% above the preseason forecast and 23% higher t...
The first week of moose season has been relentlessly windy and rainy across Southeast Alaska, but there was a break in the weather on Tuesday, September 16 so Joe Willis pounced on the opportunity and harvested the first moose of the season on Mitkof Island. "When I left in the morning, I told my wife, 'don't expect me back till after dark,'" Willis said. "It was still really wet at daybreak... my enthusiasm level was not what you would call epic," Willis recalled. "The phone says it's going to...
Alaska Department of Fish and Game released detailed management plans this week for Southeast Alaska’s commercial red king crab fishery, which opens Nov. 1 with the region’s highest red crab populations in decades. The fishery will operate across 10 separate areas with harvest limits ranging from 5,115 to 44,705 pounds, totaling 211,573 pounds regionwide. Legal male crab populations increased 55% from last year while mature males jumped 42%. Two high-concentration areas near Juneau and at Gambier Bay will operate as 24-hour “derby” fisheri...
Southeast Alaska's commercial red king crab fishery will open Nov. 1 after stock assessments revealed the highest red crab populations in decades. Last week, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced a regionwide guideline harvest level of 211,573 pounds for the 2025/2026 season, exceeding the 200,000-pound threshold required for a traditional competitive commercial fishery. The biomass numbers and the available surplus for harvest, came as somewhat of a surprise to fishery managers fishermen who had been preparing for a different type o...
The 2025 Southeast Alaska Purse Seine Fishery closed in early September with just under 20 million pink salmon landed - well below the forecast of 29 million and marking the lowest odd-year harvest since the 1980s. "Fair to say that the season was a disappointment as far as pink salmon harvest goes," said Troy Thynes, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Region I Management Coordinator. The disappointing harvest adds pressure to an industry already facing high fuel costs, inflation, and low...
Each Southeast troll fisherman can harvest another 15 Chinook salmon during a “limited harvest fishery” opening that’s set to begin Thursday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Monday. In the ten-day fishery, which is the third limited harvest opening of the summer season, trollers can take about 5,400 Chinook that remain in the allocation for all the commercial gear groups that harvest Chinook in Southeast. By state regulation, ADF&G at the end of the summer season may give trollers the opportunity to harvest any Chinook alloc...
August 28, 1925 – The Alaska Fisherman in its August number makes some very serious charges about the waste of herring that should be investigated. It mentions the names of several persons and alleges that these dumped large quantities of herring into the bay. Herring as a food fish is as valuable, if not more so, than salmon. Its fine qualities are becoming known. It is being put up for the market in increasing quantities each year. Over $12,000 was this season expended in Petersburg by one firm alone for herring for the middle western m...
After six years of collecting data using trail cameras, radio collars, and DNA analysis, a deer population research project on Mitkof Island, currently led by Ketchikan-based Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Tessa Hasbrouck, is entering its final phase. Historically, deer population monitoring in Southeast Alaska relied on relatively simple methods. Biologists would walk through the woods each spring counting deer pellets, or fly over alpine areas in summer tallying visible...
The elementary school's new counselor Dave Fonken comes to Petersburg from Southern Oregon. He says he found Petersburg's thriving school community and endless local outdoor recreation opportunities very appealing. "I was looking for a combination of a really healthy district with a lot of places to play," Fonken explains. "Both of those things really came together here." Fonken brings eleven years of school counseling experience to his new role. His journey in education began as a Spanish...
Fisheries managers cut short this summer's Southeast Alaska commercial dungeness crab season by six days because initial harvest projections fell below the required threshold for a full season. But now, after determining that a high number of soft-shelled crabs contributed to low harvest projections, managers have opted to open fall dungeness fishing for its full length. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Monday that the fall dungeness crab season in Southeast Alaska will proceed f...
Help Wanted: Unique opportunity to lead the largest state in the country, with more miles of coastline, taller mountains, more fish and game, more dreams and less reality than those other 49 pipsqueaks. Dynamic, convincing decision maker with strong personality needed to lead the second youngest state in the nation into the future, albeit without enough money to meet all its needs. It’s a fixer-upper job; the current employee has let a lot of things go bad, never learned to get along with co-workers, and hasn’t been working all that hard. Whi...
Hatchery managers had hoped that June's steady rainfall would spare them from having to intervene in this year's king salmon run, allowing fish to reach Crystal Lake Hatchery naturally without the stress of human handling. Those hopes evaporated in late July when a few hot days right at the wrong time caused a significant mortality event for king salmon transiting the shallow waters between Blind River Rapids and Crystal Lake Hatchery. On July 20, after observing a hundred or more king salmon...
August 7, 1925 – There was a time when trollers in Alaskan waters lived on a crust of bread and enjoyed few luxuries and far between, but now ‘all the comforts of home’ are available for the fleet, even unto a fresh milk diet. For instance the Dairy and Grocery of Petersburg ships some 90 gallons of fresh milk on every mail boat to Port Alexander. Whether trollers do better on a ‘milk diet’ than they formerly did on ‘sourdough goulash’ or whatever they could rake together quickly on a gasboat for a meal, is something for the scientists to...
We Deserve More Than Shrugs To the Editor: I’m writing because my patience has completely run out. For months, my garbage cans have been pillaged by bears while the troopers and Fish and Game do absolutely nothing – unless you count shrugging, handing out useless advice as ‘action’ and threats of fines. Frankly, I’m tired of watching my street turn into a dumpster buffet for wildlife while the powers that be don’t lift a finger. It’s bad enough that I have to spend my mornings cleaning up after oversized, uninvited guests. Worse, our kids have...
In a new administrative action, Gov. Mike Dunleavy is ordering “efficiency reviews” of state agencies and asking departments to use artificial intelligence software as part of an effort to identify budget cuts. The reviews will take place annually, according to Dunleavy’s new administrative order, published Monday, and would become part of the state’s annual budget process. The reviews will initially focus on “grants to non-State of Alaska entities” and “accounts payable,” according to a copy of the text available online. The reviews are int... Full story
The opportunity is growing for home builders in Petersburg to use locally milled Tongass timber in their new building projects. The sawmill on Falls Creek Road - Alaska Timber and Truss, owned in partnership by Brett Martin and Mike Duman - is offering complete home and cabin kits using locally harvested timber. The operation produces solid wall and timber frame cabin kits and larger stick-built home packages. "The cabin kits are kind of more of a traditional size ... generally speaking, under...
