Sorted by date Results 226 - 250 of 726
The US Forest Service announced on December 8 that it has authorized silvicultural treatments on 105,224 acres of land in the Petersburg and Wrangell Ranger Districts to improve the ecosystems of young-growth stands. The goal of the treatments is to improve habitats and timber production in young-growth stands which face issues caused by overstay trees blocking light as forests regenerate after being clear-cut according to Petersburg Ranger District Silviculturist Ben Case. Problems include...
Birders canvassed Mitkof Island on December 18 as part of the National Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count as they looked to collect data on local bird populations. It was a smaller group of people than usual according to Brad Hunter, the coordinator of Petersburg's bird count. Of the 23 people who participated, 10 people watched bird feeders while 13 split up to cover the group's regular routes near Hungry Point, Sandy Beach, the Beachcomber Lodge, and Blind River Rapids. "It's a lot...
December 23, 1921 Mrs. W.J. Pigg, wife of Dr. Pigg, left for the south on the Spokane this week and will visit for several weeks before returning to Petersburg. G.W. Trubey, of the Department of Agriculture, who has been making a tour of inspection of the dairy herds of the Territory, was in Petersburg this week and inspected all of the milch cows in this section. He left on the Spokane for Wrangell. He reported the herds in this section in good condition. A one ton Ford truck, with pneumatic tires and worm gear arrived and was delivered to...
The new cabin at the end of the Raven's Roost Trail was opened for reservations on December 16 and has already seen use according to Cabin and Trails Program Manager Paul Olsen with the U.S. Forest Service. Built by Rainforest Contracting, it is larger than the previous cabin and about 1.2 miles closer to the trailhead which was also reconstructed to make it more accessible to hikers. The new cabin is more family-oriented than the previous one, which was showing signs of decay. It also features...
An unexpected, strong weather system sent high winds tearing through Wrangell, snapping three Southeast Alaska Power Agency poles which blocked the highway at City Park and knocked out power to most of Wrangell for much of Tuesday and Wednesday. Petersburg buildings, businesses, and homes also went dark Tuesday afternoon from approximately 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. At 2:19 p.m., Utility Director Karl Hagerman reported that Petersburg was running on diesel generators while awaiting a report from...
The United States Forest Service announced plans Monday to improve three sites within the Tongass National Forest's Petersburg Ranger District. According to decision memos released by the USFS and signed by Petersburg District Ranger Ted Sandhofer earlier this month, the three sites include the Blind River Rapids, Crane Lake Trail, and Ohmer Creek. The first memo authorized the construction of a replacement shelter at Blind River Rapids and the addition of a picnic table. According to the memo,...
Petersburg's annual Parade of Light and Christmas tree lighting ceremony will take place on Friday. The parade portion of the event was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic according to Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Administrator Mindy Lopez, but it returns this year and will feature beloved characters spreading holiday cheer. The parade will start at 5:30 p.m. near Trading Union and will head south along Nordic Drive towards the municipal building. 15 minutes before the parade,...
Former and current secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack, who was instrumental in reimposing the 2001 roadless rule on the Tongass National Forest in 2011 and is planning to reimpose it again before Nov. 1, has announced “a new Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy “to help support a diverse economy, enhance community resilience, and conserve natural resources.” This is to be “a collaborative process to invest approximately $25 million in financial and technical resources in sustainable opportunities for economi...
Proposition #2 passed during the October 5, 2021 municipal election, allowing the Frederick Point East subdivision to be removed from Service Area One after it gathered the necessary majorities of Service Area One voters and Frederick Point East voters. The next step in the process is to code properties in the subdivision to the right tax code according to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht who said the tax assessor is in town if the borough needs a second pair of eyes to help with the...
The United States Forest Service is proposing to combine three Resource Advisory Committees in the South Tongass region according to Alaska Region Secure Rural Schools Coordinator Kevin Hood. The Wrangell-Petersburg, Prince of Wales, and Ketchikan committees face problems with lack of quorums at meetings, preventing business such as approving recommendations for the allocation of federal Secure Rural Schools funding. The merger would see the three RACs be consolidated to form a new South Tongass...
WRANGELL-The U.S. Forest Service got to most of its Wrangell-area work projects this past summer, with one big job pushed into next spring. The Anan Wildlife Observatory— which has reached the end of “its structural lifetime and needs replacement,” the agency’s website says — was supposed to be torn down in October, Corree Delabrue, U.S. Forest Service information assistant at the Wrangell Ranger District, said. Tory Houser, the recreation, lands, minerals and heritage staff officer for the Wrangell and Petersburg Ranger Districts, said deco...
Petersburg Borough's Service Area One boundaries could shift depending on how people vote on Proposition 2 on the October 5, 2021 ballot. The proposition seeks to remove Frederick Point East Subdivision from Service Area One by reducing the service area's boundaries. The proposition can be voted on only by residents of Service Area One. The proposition requires a majority of residents in Service Area One and a majority of residents in Frederick Point East to vote yes to pass. Proponents of the...
Comments from Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht's performance evaluation reflects strong support from the assembly. The ratings on the evaluation suggest some of Giesbrecht strongest skills are managing resources and problem solving. Assembly Member Dave Kensinger said Giesbrecht has done an excellent job with the borough's budget. Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor said his Parks and Recreation fee schedule was a great idea that allows children to access all the facilities. Assembly Member Jeff...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A Canadian mining company has been looking for precious metals on Chichagof Island in southeast Alaska. Millrock Resources, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based company, several years ago applied to the U.S. Forest Service for drilling permits to renew exploration on claims that once made up the historic Apex and El Nido gold mines. However, the exploration never happened. CEO Gregory Beischer said the company wasn’t able to secure financing. The mines produced precious metals in the early 20th Century. Some exp...
September 2, 1921 The fall term of the Petersburg Public Schools will begin September 6, 1921. The Junior High School as organized, consists of grades Seven, Eight, and Nine. The primary object in this plan is to make less noticeable the step from the eighth to the ninth grade, and so lessen the mortality that occurs in the school life of the child. Although the average length of the school term in the United States is a little over 160 days, the average child attends 120 days or about three-fourths of the time. With no schooling the child has...
Construction on a new cabin along the Raven Trail is currently in progress according to Cabin and Trails Program Manager Paul Olsen. The 16' by 20' cabin is about 1.2 miles closer to the start of the trail than the old cabin and is being built by local contractor Rainforest Contracting. The cabin has a covered deck which faces the small pond below it and an outhouse nearby. "It's more family oriented, you know, it's got a lot of space down low and then it's got sort of a loft area for...
The United States Forest Service has ended its comment period for 2023 outdoor project proposals. The comment period, which closed on July 6, allowed for the USFS to receive input from members of the community on what projects they would like to see completed in the near future. There are over a dozen 2023 project proposals listed in the Petersburg District, which includes Mitkof Island, Kupreanof Island, and Thomas Bay, with suggestions for even more given by the community. "We have an...
Baird Glacier's large glacial outwash could be seen on Sunday, consisting of ice, gravel, and sand. The outwash supports plant and animal life in the ecosystem according to the United States Forest Service. People can no longer climb onto Baird Glacier from the terminal moraine as flooding has broken up the terminus. Small rafts must be used to paddle across the lake to access the ice fields...
July 22, 1921 The coal famine, which has been in force in Petersburg since almost the first week of the steamer strike, was broken last week when the freighter Redondo arrived from the south and unloaded several hundred tons of Nananimo coal for local dealers. The delivery cars of the Trading Union and Hogue & Tveten have been kept busy since that time delivering the stack of coal orders which have been piling up. Practically every business house and residence in the city were entirely out of coal but fortunately the weather has been extremely...
July 15, 1921 Buschmann’s first addition to Petersburg will be placed on the market within the next few weeks, according to John Thormadsater who is in charge of the land. H. P. Crowthert, civil engineer, arrived from Ketchikan on a recent boat and is in charge of the platting of the land which will be laid off into lots and blocks. The lots will be 50x100 feet and the streets will be of the same width as the present streets in town which they will be a continuation of. The land being platted is located on the Buschmann homestead south of town...
Susan Erickson was unable to hold onto her title of womens' logrolling champion. This year Anna Early (a summer worker with the Forest Service) rolled Erickson into the water and became the new womens' champion....
A lease the United States Forest Service holds on a plot of land near the 8 mile marker of Mitkof Highway that was once the site of an experimental fur farm will be ending in June 2022, ending a 43-year occupation of the site. District Ranger Ted Sandhofer said the decision to end the lease wasn't the Forest Service's, but the University of Alaska's, who holds the title of the property. The local Forest Service activities haven't been as prominent on the site since the early 1990s when its tree...
June 24, 1921 In the United States district court the jury in the case of Dr. George F. Dickinson against the Town of Petersburg brought in a verdict for the plaintiff. The plaintiff asked for $1,857 plus 8 percent interest for professional services rendered to the people of Petersburg during the epidemic of smallpox at the town in the fall and winter of 1919. June 21, 1946 The Civilian Conservation Corps buildings at Twin Creek are to be sold to the highest bidder, it was announced this week by the local Forest Service office. Started in...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The federal government announced plans Friday to “repeal or replace” a decision by the Trump administration last fall to lift restrictions on logging and road building in a southeast Alaska rainforest that provides habitat for wolves, bears and salmon. Conservationists cheered the announcement as a positive step. Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy criticized it and vowed to use “every tool available to push back.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plans were announced on a federal regulatory site with little deta...
The Borough Assembly held a work session with staff from Alaska's federal delegation to discuss Alaska Natives Without Land legislation that will be introduced to the United States Senate in the coming weeks. The meeting is part of a series of work sessions the delegation is hosting throughout the region to gather feedback regarding the latest version of the Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act. Sen. Lisa Murkowski originally introduced the act in...
