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Ripple effect To the Editor: It is my hope that when you read my words that you resolve to do better things. We need to start fostering our own indigenous lands and people. This man made aquifer is failing underneath our feet. Recognize that if we don't do more the Black Lives Movement is a moot point. Indigenous people are never going to be able to start healing if we don't do more. As whites we fear loss because the veil of shame is a thing our forefathers gave to us, shame based guilt is a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service issued a deadline to the operator of an Alaska island boat shop to tear down the historic complex and leave, but the owner said the agency’s demands are unrealistic. The federal agency ordered Sam Romey to vacate Wolf Creek Boatworks on Prince of Wales Island, CoastAlaska reported Thursday. Tongass Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart said in an Aug. 14 letter that the boathouse and shop building must be removed by Dec. 15. Ownership of the land parcel occupied by the shop is scheduled to be tra...
After over a decade of filing applications, Doug Leen can begin building a micro hydro project this month on both private and federal property. The micro hydro project's turbine and powerhouse will be placed on Leen's property, but a six inch wide, 458 foot long plastic pipe will run from the powerhouse to an unnamed stream on U.S. Forest Service land. The stream forks into an east and west branch where intake boxes will feed water to the powerhouse to turn the turbine. Leen said the turbine...
Despite the gloomy weather last week, nine students explored the natural world in this year's summer science camp. Every year, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Sea Grant and the Petersburg Marine Science Center host a summer camp for middle school aged kids in town to expose them to career opportunities in science right here in Petersburg. Normally, the weeklong camp includes hikes, camping trips and whale watching, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic Sunny Rice, of the Alaska Sea...
Construction on the Kake Access Road project was expected to start in early to mid-July, but Joseph Kemp, Alaska Department of Transportation engineering manager for the project, said one last permit is needed before stretches of new road can be built. Permits from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, United States Forest Service and the United States Army Corps of Engineers are needed in order to undergo the project. Kemp said he is waiting for a permit from the USACE to be authorized,...
Alaska State Troopers continue to investigate a fatal accident that claimed the lives of four seine boat crewmembers sometime after 10 P.M. on Monday, July 27. A Ford Excursion driven by Siguard Decker drove off the roadway near the 27-mile marker of Mitkof Highway at a high rate of speed, according to Alaska State Troopers. Megan Peters, communications director with the Alaska Dept. of Public Safety said Siguard Decker, who was driving, seems to have had lost control of the vehicle and then...
WRANGELL - The Wrangell Ranger District is beginning the planning process for a restoration of the Roosevelt Harbor area. The harbor, located on Zarembo Island west of Wrangell, is graded inadequately and has poor drainage. According to a document provided by District Ranger Clint Kolarich, this leaves the site and the harbor itself vulnerable to pollutants and erosion. A rough outline of the plan is to add base surface material to the existing grade of the existing Forest Service...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A conservation group has filed a petition seeking endangered species status for a subspecies of Alaska wolves. The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on July 15 for the protections for Alexander Archipelago wolves, which live in southeast Alaska, CoastAlaska reported. “These wolves are being devastated by trapping and by clear cut logging of their forest home,’’ said Shaye Wolf, a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. “And they need some stronger...
Can't afford boondoggle To the Editor: Senator Stedman's diatribe defending his second road to nowhere is totally unpersuasive (Petersburg Pilot, July 2, 2020). His persistent opposition to public involvement smacks of a backroom deal gone wrong. But that does not matter. We simply cannot afford this boondoggle given Alaska's deficit spending and more pressing needs. This road was a last-minute addition to a capital budget done without adequate public hearings. True to form, Senator Stedman...
A visitor from outside of the state with COVID-19 was identified at the testing site at the James A. Johnson, according to a joint-statement between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual arrived in Petersburg on June 30, but overloaded laboratories in Washington led to a delay in the results of the test. According to the joint statement, the individual spent a few days with friends who were also non-residents at a United States Forest Service cabin in Beecher's Pas...
Upgrades to the Raven Trail are about 80 percent done, with construction expected to be completed by the end of the summer, said Petersburg District Ranger Ted Sandhofer. Reconstruction of the trail first began last summer. The second and third mile of the current Raven trail will be reconstructed to address steep, muddy and slippery locations on the trail, according to a decision memo released by the USFS. Sandhofer said the remaining work consists of replacing wooden steps with aluminum steps...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A Colorado company agreed to a $7 million cleanup plan for Alaska’s only uranium mine, which has left radioactive waste in the Tongass National Forest. Newmont Corporation is expected to fill the former Ross-Adams Mine in the Prince of Wales Island area, CoastAlaska reported Monday. A plan has been in the works for decades to close and clean the open pit mine area on the slopes of Bokan Mountain at the head of Kendrick Bay. The remote area is used by residents for fishing halibut and other activities, said Eric Rhodes of...
Turbulent Times To the Editor: We live in turbulent times. Everywhere in the lower 48 it seems monuments and statues are being toppled. Even in Alaska I've heard talk of removing certain statues of historical figures, and many worry that vandalism or some form of statuary dismemberment may be perpetrated I hope our local constabulary is keeping close watch on our own local statue, that bronze likeness of Bojer Wikan that dominates the Memorial Park. In his lifetime he frequently expressed his...
Highway robbery To the Editor: Senator Stedman's so-called "Kake Access" Road is a colossal and shameful waste of $40 million dollars of public funds, which could be better spent on legitimate needs-especially during Alaska's protracted fiscal crisis. Construction mobilization is reportedly underway, despite the construction contract being listed as "pending" on the project awards page (http://dot.alaska.gov/procurement/awp/awp-cas.cfm). The lucrative contract is poised to go to out-of-state...
June 11, 1920 The Petersburg Hospital Association has secured the services of two trained nurses and they are both now on duty at the local institution. Miss Nellie Thomas of Ketchikan and Mrs. Flower of Wrangell are the two who are on duty. Miss Thomas has spent several years in Ketchikan and has recently completed her course of training in the Swedish Hospital training school at Seattle. She comes highly recommended by all of the doctors in Ketchikan. Mrs. Flower is well known here having been in charge of the hospital during the time Dr....
Construction on the Kake Access Project is expected to begin in mid-July and depending on conditions in the upcoming year, the project should be completed by late summer 2021, according to Joseph Kemp, engineering manager for the project. The Alaska Department of Transportation's contractors for the project, Kiewit Infrastructure West, will be arriving in Portage Bay in early July and will start construction on the road in the following weeks, said Kemp. The contractors look to have the project...
Since the mid-80s, Pacific Wings has been offering air taxi service for tourists and locals alike throughout Southeast Alaska, but economic hardships that the company has been facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the business to shut its doors. "This COVID thing hit us pretty hard," said owner Tyler Robinson. "Between the COVID thing and all the travel mandates, we pretty much lost all our springtime visits." Pacific Wings had been anticipating a busy spring and summer this yea...
WRANGELL — The local Resource Advisory Committee, which covers the areas of Wrangell, Petersburg, and Kake, held a series of meetings last week. The RAC, for those who are unaware, is a committee of residents of these three areas that advise the Forest Service on what projects to pursue. There were a variety of interesting and pertinent projects covered in the recent RAC meetings. In their meeting on May 27, the RAC elected committee co-chairs Kim Powell and Patrick Fowler. They also approved of a proposal to spend $40,000 on dock repairs in t...
The Reduce Plastic Use Petersburg Group got together last week to talk about what its members have done to promote awareness of the problems of plastic usage. "Our goal has been to increase the awareness of the problems of plastic and the marine plastic in particular and try to influence behavior, which is a challenge," said Sunny Rice at the virtual meeting last week. Gina Esposito began the presentation with a talk on plastic items that have escaped the waste stream and made its way into the e...
Anne Lewis, 94, a longtime resident of Petersburg, Alaska passed away on May 7, 2020 at the Petersburg Medical Center. She was born Sept. 5, 1925, in Petersburg, Alaska, the daughter of late Tom and Lucy Kito. She was proud to say she came into this world while her parents were processing their fish at Blind Slough during the late salmon run at their campsite. She graduated from Petersburg High School in 1943. She enrolled in the Armed Forces as a nurse cadet and attended St. Joseph School of... Full story
The borough assembly approved a public health emergency directive at a special meeting on Tuesday that implements a temporary quarantine and isolation program for first responders, healthcare works and homeless individuals and families to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 in the community. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said just after the formation of the Emergency Operations Center, the team identified a need to create a plan on how the borough could help the homeless populatio...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Conservationists have asked the federal government to provide better protection for a wolf population in Southeast Alaska. A letter sent to the supervisor of Tongass National Forest says a record number of 165 wolves killed by trappers threatens wolves on and around Prince of Wales Island, CoastAlaska reported Monday. The April 13 letter to Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart was signed by representatives of advocacy groups Defenders of Wildlife, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and the Center for Biological Diversity. ...
The Local Emergency Planning Committee held its third meeting last Friday as a weekly effort to update local businesses and borough officials on how the community is reacting to and taking precautions against COVID-19. Since the previous week's LEPC meeting, Petersburg Public Health Nurse Erin Michael said she has begun conducting contact investigations for people in the state who have been exposed to COVID-19. Some of her investigations have also included local residents who have potentially...
WRANGELL - As any resident of Southeast Alaska knows, rain is a common occurrence. This is no different for Wrangell. One Wrangell resident, Bill Messmer, has made a hobby out of tracking the amount of rainfall the island receives. He has now collected 35 years of data, showing trends and changes to rainfall Wrangell has seen. "Originally I worked for the Forest Service, and there was people that lived in different parts of Wrangell, and we had rain gauges out and there was a variety of v...
