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After officials from the United States Forest Service presented their six alternatives to the Roadless Rule at a public meeting last week and stated the agency preferred a full exemption of the rule in the Tongass National Forest, community members in the audience overwhelmingly spoke out against the exemption. Alternative six, the preferred alternative, would exempt all 9.2 million acres of the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule that set out to protect and preserve inventoried...
November 21, 1919 The Red Cross Roll Call for the 1920 memberships is now under way in Petersburg under the direction of J. W. Maakesad, membership chairman of the local committee. Subscription lists have been placed at various places and the girls of the High School are canvassing the town. The roll call is for the purpose of having the members renew their memberships for the year 1920. It is not a campaign to raise money, but is merely one to keep the membership up. Every true American, whether by birth or adoption, should subscribe one...
Representatives from the United State Forest Service presented a draft environmental impact statement at a public meeting last week that listed a full exemption of the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest as the preferred alternative. In Jan. 2018, then Gov. Bill Walker submitted a petition to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue requesting that Alaska be exempted from 2001 Roadless Rule, according to Dave Schmid, regional forester for the Alaska region. Perdue instead asked the USFS...
The federal government’s plan to raze more roads through the Tongass National Forest is facing strong headwinds from fishermen, Native groups and coastal communities throughout Southeast Alaska. Over 220 Southeast Alaskan fishermen signed a letter to the Trump Administration last week opposing the abrupt push to exempt the Tongass National Forest from a roadless rule in place for over a decade. The exemption would release more than 9 million acres from protection and open nearly 200,000 acres to logging. The U.S. Forest Service made the a...
Rainforests under siege To the Editor: The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists notes it’s 2 minutes to midnight. They list the unfolding climate catastrophe to be just as much an existential threat as that of nuclear war. A nuclear war can start with one push of a button. But our unfolding climate catastrophe started long ago with daily acts of denial by our elected officials in the service of extractivism — rather than the public interest. Regardless of whether it is raining outside, Southeast Alaska has been facing “se...
Mike Payne, a local resident was part of a hunting trip last Friday when a skiff capsized in Duncan Canal around 1 A.M. that resulted in the death of Doug Larson. Payne said that Larson and Charles King were bringing the rest of their hunting buddies warm pizza when the wind and tide became too strong and pulled the skiff back to shore. Payne couldn't see the duo in the dark, but at one point he heard a yell. "We called out, but through the wind and tide they couldn't hear us or us hear them,"...
WRANGELL - Monday, Oct. 7, members of the Forest Service and high school oceanography students, boated over to the east side of Wrangell, near Channel Island, to retrieve the remains of a gray whale that washed up back in June. The whale, a 30-foot male, was one of the victims in a UME, or "unusual mortality event" that has seen numerous gray whales die. According to NOAA, as of Sept. 30, there have been 47 gray whale strandings in Alaska, or 212 across the whole American, Canadian, and Mexican...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge in Alaska has halted a timber sale planned within the country’s largest national forest while the merits of the case are argued. In a written order, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason said conservation groups had raised questions about the adequacy of a review underlying the planned sale on Prince of Wales Island. Gleason barred the U.S. Forest Service from activities implementing the sale, including opening any bids or awarding any contracts, until further order from the court. She acknowledged age... Full story
Members of the United States Forest Service met with the public last week to receive feedback and discuss the Central Tongass Project. The project encompasses many different projects in four categories: watershed restoration, recreation management, vegetation management and access management. Project Leader Carey Case said by lumping multiple projects together, the forest service will be able to work more efficiently. Goals and objectives of the project were identified in the 2016 Tongass Land...
James Richard Schramek, 70, died at Providence Medical Center in Anchorage on August 28, 2019 from an unexpected GI bleed. On November 9, 1949 Jim was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Richard and Elaine Schramek. He was raised in Richfield, Minnesota. Attended Richfield High School and played Football and Baseball. In summers, he worked on the Arndt family farm in Owatonna, Minnesota. Jim followed the Schramek family's passion for camping, hunting and fishing. Deer, ducks, geese, squirrels, if... Full story
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska has been America’s canary in the coal mine for climate warming, and the yellow bird is swooning. July was Alaska’s warmest month ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sea ice melted. Bering Sea fish swam in above-normal temperatures. So did children in the coastal town of Nome. Wildfire season started early and stayed late. Thousands of walruses thronged to shore. Unusual weather events like this could become more common with climate warming, said Brian Brettschneider, an assoc...
August 22, 1919 On last Saturday afternoon, the local committee which was investigating to find evidence of profiteering among the local merchants met and reported that they could find no evidence of anything in that line in Petersburg. In fact, some things were selling here cheaper than in Seattle. It was found that rents were not unreasonable, that coal was selling for $16 per ton when actual costs to the merchant delivered to the home was $14.78 per ton, and meats and staple groceries were all found reasonable. August 18, 1944 For...
An approximately 65-foot tall European Mountain Ash tree fell in a windstorm on Sunday, Aug. 18 in Steve and Desi Burrell's front yard at 802 N. Nordic Dr. Desi was in her living room on her computer when the tree came crashing down just after 10 A.M., narrowly missing her home. Only a second story window was damaged by the tree. Desi said the United States Forest Service took a core sample of the tree last year and found that it was over 88 years old and in good condition. Steve was back in...
Smokey the Bear was happy to pose for a picture with guests at his birthday party held behind the United States Forest Service Building on Friday. Back row from left to right: Smokey the Bear, Aurora Barker and Lucia Worhatch. Front row from left to right: Isabeau Barker and Martin Barker....
This week, nine Mitkof Middle School students are participating in a summer science camp through the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center that introduces them to science related jobs in the community, while getting them to experience the outdoors. Monday began with an introduction to the camp and safety procedures. Bjorn Stolpe with Petersburg Search and Rescue spoke to the students on how to prevent getting lost in the forest and what to do if they should get lost. A wildlife biologist with the...
For the third summer in a row, John and Margaret Grogan continue to work on their brand new home on Gjoa St., but construction is anticipated to be complete next summer. "We're in the home stretch," said Margaret. "We're getting there." For 18 years the Grogans have lived in Petersburg. John ran Grogan Aviation Maintenance and Margaret taught art at the Petersburg School District. The couple moved to Juneau in 1996, but John was soon transferred to Boise by the United States Forest Service....
Southeast Alaska is currently going through its second year of increased hemlock sawfly activity, but an entomologist with the United States Forest Service said the trees that the insects feed off of should make a full recovery after the ecosystem regulates itself. "We have experienced these kinds of outbreaks in the past," said Elizabeth Graham, an entomologist with the State & Private Forestry, which is a branch of the USFS that focuses on forest health protection. "Usually we have a big...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —The head of the U.S. Forest Service visited Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to investigate timber sales and related issues, a report said. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski hosted Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen during the July 6-7 visit, CoastAlaska reported Monday. Christiansen stopped in Wrangell, Ketchikan and Prince Wales Island as part of a flying visit with Alaska’s senior senator. The meetings were not publicized in advance. Murkowski questioned Christiansen about the service’s southeast Alaska timber sales during b...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Australia mining company is seeking permission to start exploratory drilling for the rare element vanadium in southeast Alaska. Northern Cobalt Ltd. has applied to the U.S. Forest Service for the proposed project on Snettisham Inlet, CoastAlaska reported. The site is in the Tongass National Forest about 35 miles southeast of Juneau. Vanadium is used in steel alloys, as well as rechargeable industrial batteries used in power grids and industrial plants. There are no active federal mining claims at the site. E...
The Resource Advisory Committee plans on completing most of their on-going projects in the Petersburg, Wrangell and Kake areas. RAC makes recommendations to the Forest Service on how to allocate funds that it receives from title two of the Secure Rural Schools Act. The act was created to offset the loss in funding that western states were receiving from the timber industry, according to Petersburg District Ranger Ted Sandhofer and RAC Designated Federal Officer. Fifteen percent of the funds...
Two arctic tern eggs were spotted on Sunday near Baird Glacier. According to the United States Forest Service, arctic terns have the farthest migration distance of any bird, traveling from pole to pole....
Last Thursday, June 20, members of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the Forest Service, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and local volunteers all converged on the beach of east Wrangell, near Channel Island, to dissect a dead gray whale that had washed ashore. Kate Savage, once a veterinarian in Wrangell but now working with NOAA, said that an Unusual Mortality Event is occurring all along the Pacific Coast, from Alaska to Mexico. There...
June 13, 1919 A special election will be held by the citizens in Petersburg for the purpose of ascertaining their wishes regarding the bonding of the town. It is proposed to ask Congress to allow the town to bond itself for the purpose of raising money to build a hydro-electric plant and to build a new modern school house. The town must be bonded to move ahead with raising the necessary monies. June 9, 1944 A distinguished visitor in Petersburg this week is Joergen Galbe, Royal Norwegian Consul, with headquarters in San Francisco. This is the...
Although Alaska Airlines is expecting to bring upgrades and improvements to its terminal in Petersburg through its 2020 Great Land Investment Plan, the airline company will not be increasing the number of available parking spots at the airport. According to a map provided by Lynette Campbell, chief of aviation leasing with the Alaska Department of Transportation, Alaska Airlines leases DOT land that is directly under the terminal, which extends to include several parking spots in front of the...
Six Petersburg High School students made the trip to the LeConte Glacier on May 10 for the annual survey of the glacier's face. According to the coordinator of the program, Victor Trautman, one side of the glacier is in about the same location as it was in 2018, but the other side came out about 60 to 80 feet. Trautman said the fast moving glacier can easily shift 100 feet in a day. For the students, preparations for the trip began a few years prior. Trautman said the students have to be a part...
