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Don and Karen Cornelius are a family of local artists, and this summer the Petersburg Public Library hosted back-to-back retrospectives for the two. Don Cornelius walked through the exhibition this week with the Pilot and reflected on decades of art – wildlife and landscape oil paintings from across Alaska, portraits of his children, a humorous and distinctive series of gnome paintings, and his two newest paintings completed this summer – all on display through the end of the month. Cor...
Petersburg's Rainforest Festival added a new event last Saturday - a Bear Mini Fair - which drew Fish and Game wildlife education and outreach coordinator Abby McAllister from Juneau to talk with residents about living in bear country. In a follow-up interview, McAllister told the Pilot that her central message for Petersburg is that conflicts with bears are almost entirely avoidable. "All of the interactions that can be perceived as negative - whether it's a bear dumping trash out on the sidewa...
Commercial red king crab fishermen in Southeast Alaska are getting a competitive fishery this year, the state Department of Fish and Game announced last week. The fishery starts Nov. 1. It’s the second year in a row that the fishery will open, after several years of not having one. Adam Messmer, regional shellfish biologist for the department, said it’s the first time since 2001-03 that the region is getting a consecutive fishery. “So, you know, 20-plus years since we’ve had fisheries back to back,” Messmer said. There needs to be at least 200...
"Great news," said Anna Belback, a natural resource technician with the U.S. Forest Service Wrangell Ranger District. Surveyors have not found any invasive European green crabs in their shoreline walks and traps on the northwest coast of Etolin Island. Even more good news: None of the destructive crabs have been found around Anan Bay either, reported Paul Robbins, public affairs officer for the Tongass National Forest. "It was really good habitat in general for crabs that like intertidal areas,"...
Summer is coming to a close, the kids are back in school, the Xtratufs are on and September has arrived. That can mean only one thing: The moose hunting season is upon us. The season for the Wrangell and Petersburg area kicks off Sept. 15 and will run until Oct. 15. So hunters will have exactly one month to bag their moose. Those looking to participate must get a valid hunting permit for the area they’ll be hunting. “First off, they want to get an RM 038 permit that covers Unit 3 and 1B for most people going up the Stikine River,” said Wrang...
The Rainforest Festival returns to Petersburg Sept. 10-13 for its 19th year, with a lineup organized around island biogeography — the study of how wildlife reaches, adapts to and lives on island systems like the ones that define Southeast Alaska. “We have this really unique system of islands that we live on in Southeast Alaska,” festival volunteer Sunny Rice said. She pointed to the Coast Range walling the region off from the rest of the continent, and to the rivers that thread the mainland to the islands — “big rivers … that serve as corridor...
August 26 – An officer responded to a fire alarm activation on N 12th St. A trailer was impounded and released after its owner paid fines/fees. Papers were served. A vehicle on Wesley St. was impounded. An officer responding to a report of suspicious activity on Cornelius Rd. determined it was a civil issue. Two vehicles on N 2nd St, determined to be impediments to snow removal, are to be removed by their owners. An officer responding to a report of dangerous driving on S Nordic Dr. followed the described vehicle and found no evidence of i...
August 12 – A warning was issued for unsecured garbage on Sandy Beach Rd. An officer assisted a citizen. A black bear on Excel St. was reported three days after it was seen. An officer responded to a report of suspicious activity onChief John Lott St. and determined it was unfounded. An officer responded to a report of children trying to flip over a skiff on hammer slough and found no children at the scene. An officer responded to a report of a rental car left in a no parking zone. The responsible party was contacted and the vehicle was m...
August 5 – A caller reported shooing a black bear out of the city shop area at the end of S 2nd St. and towards Hammer Slough. Corey Wilson was arrested for 2nd degree felony misconduct involving a controlled substance and on three counts of 2nd degree felony misconduct involving weapons. An officer provided a highly intoxicated individual a courtesy transport to Excel St. An intoxicated individual at Bushmann Park made a report that was determined to be unfounded. A vehicle parked on the Birch St. sidewalk was moved at the direction of an o...
Pink salmon - the backbone of Petersburg's seine fleet - have finally started to show up last over the past week, after what state biologists were comparing to the poorest early returns on the books. "Pink salmon's been, up until this last week - in particular Sunday - pretty poor so far," Troy Thynes, the Southeast Alaska management coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told the Pilot. He described strong escapement and harvest in District 13 near Sitka, and a dramatic jump in...
June 25, 1926 – Although it was declared impossible to dredge inside the docks, we are going to have deep water in front of the two big docks. This means that the large boats may stop here in any tide, as well as come through the Narrows when the dredging is finished. It will mean a boost for Petersburg as it makes the town easy to access for any sized boat. Petersburg has always had the reputation of having the best harbor for small craft in Alaska. Sheltered from the winds, it is an ideal stopping place for fishing boats. The only trouble has...
Mitkof Island, like much of Alaska, is home to black and brown bears. Living in bear country, securing trash is a vital management procedure in the fall. This was seen last year, when, due to bears entering town and going through trash cans, several were killed by local law enforcement. Petersburg has time now to prepare for the fall season. Wildlife Biologist at Fish and Game Frank Robbins stresses that keeping trash secured is the most important thing for residents to manage the bears coming to town this year. “The solution is not p...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish, is opening the entirety of Blind Slough to king salmon retention and increasing harvest opportunity. The following regulations will be in effect for the Blind Slough/Wrangell Narrows Terminal Harvest Area from 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 18, through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, August 15, 2026: Resident Anglers: 3 king salmon per day, 3 in possession, any size, no annual limit; Nonresident Anglers: 2 king salmon per day, 2 in possession, any size, no annual limit; the area upstream of a...
July 9, 2026— King Salmon: King salmon fishing in the Wrangell Narrows/Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area (THA) has gone quite well. If you have not given it a try, you should get out there as the king season is winding down. While we are past the peak fishing time, there are still bright kings moving into the system. The area open to king salmon retention outside of the THA has also seen decent catches. If looking to target wild king salmon, an angler in the Wrangell could fish Steamer Pt, Earnest Sound, or Bradfield Canal. If starting from P...
Invasive European Green Crabs first showed up in Alaska on July 19, 2022, and have been slowly but surely advancing north, with Etolin Island just south of Wrangell being their northernmost sighting. Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program Agent Sunny Rice and her Community Engaged Fellowship intern Bergen Kludt-Painter checked traps kept on Mitkof Island on July 2, 2026 to see if any European Green Crabs had arrived. To their relief, there were no Green Crab in the traps at Woodpecker Cove....
HAINES — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game last week increased the king salmon take allowed for non-resident anglers this summer, in response, department officials say, to lower-than-expected harvest. Previously, non-residents across Southeast had been permitted to keep one king salmon from July 1 onward. With the new regulations, non-residents will be permitted two, with king salmon caught before July 1 counted toward that limit. The new regulations make no changes to other user groups; resident anglers may keep two king salmon per day w...
King Salmon King salmon fishing in the Wrangell Narrows/Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area (THA) is going well, with many anglers reporting early catches. We have creel technicians both on the docks and out at Blind Slough. A few minutes of your time may be asked for to record your catch and effort. If you caught a fish, it may be sampled by one of our technicians. This information helps support healthy and sustainable fisheries. Harvest should increase over the next few weeks throughout the THA, usually peaking around the third week in June....
An Arizona hunter was cited last month for unlawfully taking a brown bear on Kupreanof Island after mistaking it for a black bear, the second such mistaken-identity case involving a non-resident hunter in the area in roughly a year, according to Petersburg-based Alaska Wildlife Trooper Sgt. Cody Litster. William DeGrave, 38, of Vail, Arizona, was cited May 19 for taking a brown bear in Game Management Unit 3 without the proper tag, registration permit or guide while hunting black bear at Duncan...
May 29, 1926 – No organized campaign has been started but nevertheless Petersburg is enjoying a “clean-up” and “paint up” period. Springtime with fine, sunshiny days has brought the painters out in flocks. Boats, houses and other buildings are all beginning to tone up. Some of the buildings downtown which have been feeling the painter’s brush are the Salvation Army hall, M.A. Missick’s tailor shop and the superintendent’s residence of the Petersburg Packing Company. A marked improvement on the latter is especially noticeable on account of the...
King Salmon: King salmon fishing began on May 15 in the Wrangell Narrows/Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area (THA), where Alaska hatchery-produced king salmon are returning. We will have a creel technician on the docks starting this weekend, asking anglers about their catch and taking biological samples. I have heard of king salmon being caught in the saltwater portion of the THA. I have not heard of a king salmon being caught in the freshwater portion (Blind Slough), where we have a creel technician this summer, but I have heard the trout...
Sport fishing on a popular slough south of Petersburg is open to all anglers this summer. Recreational anglers can harvest hatchery-produced king salmon in the Wrangell Narrows-Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area from May 15 to Aug. 15. The area includes a stretch of the Wrangell Narrows saltwater and the Blind Slough freshwater that the salmon travel through when instinctually returning to the Crystal Lake Hatchery upstream. Resident anglers can harvest up to two king salmon a day of any size.... Full story
The federal government has rejected a request to list three populations of Gulf of Alaska king salmon as endangered, according to a public notice scheduled for publication on Thursday. The listing was requested in 2024 by a Washington state conservation group amid long-term declines in king salmon numbers in Alaska. If the listing had been approved, it could have resulted in new limits on development in Alaska as well as major restrictions on commercial, sport and personal-use fishing in the state. State officials opposed the listing, and in a... Full story
The Petersburg Public Library and the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program are offering two youth programs this summer, backed by a new grant that will help cover the cost of both — part of a broader menu of learning and outdoor opportunities available to Petersburg kids in the coming months. The library’s annual reading program is returning in a new form this summer, rebranded as the Great Summer Challenge and running from June 5 through July 19. Program Coordinator Kari Petersen said the six-week initiative is open to children ages zer...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish, announced the sport fishing regulations for Alaska hatchery-produced king salmon in the areas near Petersburg and Wrangell. Anita Bay Terminal Harvest Area, described as the waters of Anita Bay south and west of a line from Anita Point to 56° 14.26' N. lat., 132° 23.92' W. long. The following regulations will be in effect Monday, June 1, through Sunday, June 14, 2026: Residents: Bag and possession limit of two king salmon greater than 28 inches in length; Nonresident: Bag and p...
18 – There are no issues in the archive until May 19, 1926. Thank you for your patience. April 27, 1951 – In November we may berate the weather. In January we may say, “I’ve had enough of this damn country.” In January more than one man came home to announce, “Yep, I’ve given up fishing.” But as May 1 rolls round Alaska is a thrilling and a good place to be. The fleet’s going out and most of those men who quit fishing are going down the dock with a bedroll on their shoulder, ready to take their chances with their brother fishermen. Here’s...
