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A changing climate is altering rain and snowfall patterns that affect the waters Alaska salmon call home, for better or worse. A first of its kind study now details the potential changes for Southeast Alaska, and how people can plan ahead to protect the fish. One third of Alaska’s salmon harvest each year comes from fish produced in the 17,000 miles of streams in the Tongass rainforest. More than 50 species of animals feed on spawning salmon there, and one in 10 jobs is supported by salmon throughout the region. “Global climate change may bec...
PETERSBURG – Southeast Alaska biomass experts believe that the low price of oil shouldn’t put wood heat projects on the chopping block. When the price of diesel remained higher than $4 a gallon, wood-fired boilers were sold as a relatively cheap heating option for public buildings in Southeast. The campaign to promote wood heat has been successful in Southeast – especially in the Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island areas – as all levels of government, tribal governments and private enterprise invest millions of dollars into biomass project...
Suzanne Wood, co-founder of Mitkof Highway Homeowners Association, on Sept. 1, sent a letter to the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority seeking records for the 11 August 2016 Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority’s Resource Management Committee Meeting and Executive Session and for the 24 August 2016 AMHTA Board of Trustees Special Meeting. The documents, according to the letter, “are necessary for us to ascertain how the Trust could transition from the ongoing and forward-moving AMHTA-US Forest Service administrative land exchange process to s... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly agreed to send a letter urging an alternative route to logging Alaska Mental Health Trust (AMHT) lands south of town at its Tuesday meeting. The land in question is on steep hillside located above Mitkof Highway, and the borough would rather see land exchanged than logging. Last month, the AMHT board announced plans to go forward with timber sales of lands near Petersburg from Scow Bay to south of Twin Creek, if a land exchange is not approved by Congress on Jan. 15. There is also AMHT land near Ketchikan. The...
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (AMHTA) board approved the sale of timber on two parcels they own in Ketchikan and Petersburg on August 24. According to the Trust, the sale will move forward if Congress does not pass legislation this session requiring the U.S. Forest Service to exchange land with equal timber values for the parcels. According to the Trust the two land parcels will be rendered valueless if they are not marketed soon. The parcel of land near Petersburg runs along a section of uplands along Mitkof Highway that is prone...
LeConte Glacier is a treasure many locals might overlook, but PHS students have been gaining a new respect for the icy giant for over 30 years now, thanks in large part to Paul Bowen. He is not a glaciologist. He is not a certified surveyor. Bowen was simply a science teacher who's been intrigued by glaciers ever since 1952 when he spent three months living on one while conducting fieldwork. In 1962, Bowen's first year teaching at PHS, it only took a week or two before he asked his new students...
tWRANGELL – The City of Wrangell is applying to the United States Forest Service to give a historic boat a new home. The M/V Chugach was one of 11 ranger boats operating in the state during the first half of the 20th century. Built at the Lake Union Dry Dock and Machine Works in Seattle in 1925, the vessel was assigned to Cordova for work in the Tongass and Chugach national forests. It remains the last of its kind in the USFS fleet, continuing service until last year. The boat was restationed in Petersburg in 1953, it served from there more t...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A brown bear mauled two wilderness guides who were leading a hiking excursion in Alaska after the group came between the female animal and her cub in the Tongass National Forest, state troopers said Friday. The guides a man and a woman were rescued by the Coast Guard after being injured Thursday on a trail on Chichagof Island about 30 miles north of Sitka in southeast Alaska. Troopers said the bears left the area after one of the victims used pepper spray. Authorities said they have no plans to hunt down the bear, and t...
WRANGELL – Last week a new public cabin was added to Wrangell Ranger District’s list, with the U.S. Forest Service’s administrative camp at Deep Bay converted into a two-building recreational site. The cabin will be the district’s 23rd, and its first on Zarembo Island, located about five miles to Wrangell’s southwest. Due to its proximity and size, Zarembo is a popular destination for locals in the mood for activity, be it hunting, camping or taking the all-terrain vehicle out for a spin. The cabin is primarily accessible by two approache...
In 1925, the M/V Chugach launched in Seattle and it ended up being the last wooden ranger boat used in the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) fleet. The vessel faithfully remained in service until 2015, transporting scientists, government officials, supplies, and guests throughout Southcentral and Southeast Alaska. Up until 1953, the historic ranger boat was based out of Cordova then it was relocated to Petersburg. The vessel is currently out of the water in Wrangell for scheduled repairs. The Chugach i... Full story
Bill Overdorff died suddenly on July 22, 2016 in Brownsville, OR, one week short of his 84th birthday. William Roy Overdorff, Jr. was born to Jessie (Olson) and William Roy Overdorff, Sr. in Washington D.C. on July 30, 1932; he was an only child. They moved while he was quite young to Grand Island, Nebraska, which was where he grew up. After he graduated from high school, he attended the University of Montana in Missoula, earning a Forestry Degree. He moved up to Juneau, Alaska to work for the... Full story
WRANGELL – Events for the 7th Annual Bearfest are already underway, with the first two workshops and symposium presented yesterday at the Nolan Center. The annual activity was started in 2010 by Sylvia Ettefagh, an outfitter with Alaska Vistas and commercial fisherman. Drawing a number of notable speakers and participants each year, Bearfest serves to highlight the local bear population, particularly that found at nearby Anan Wildlife Observatory. About 30 miles southeast of Wrangell, the o...
The Petersburg Ranger District held a local celebration to recognize the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act last week and over 80 people attended the event. The celebration took place on Friday in the form of a picnic at the Three Lakes Shelter out the road. U.S. Forest Service employees treated guests to interpretive hikes and grilled hot dogs for lunch. Joni Johnson, a USFS botanist and ecologist provided plant identification walks and taught some youngsters how to age... Full story
Overwhelming generosity To the Editor: We, as a family, continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity and outpouring of support and love from Petersburg, our family, and our friends. Thank you. It does make a difference. I cannot say that we are doing okay, but we are surviving and slowly, more accepting of our loss. A very bright light in our lives has gone out, but we have many more. Joey and Josh, our families, friends, folks from Electra, Texas, and the amazing community of Petersburg. All of you lighten our lives, and are helping us...
June 24, 1916 – About 800 fish, the first of the season, were received at the cannery. They came from the Colpoys traps, and consisted of 40 Kings, a few humpbacks, small cohoes and chums, and the balance sockeyes. Last year the Colpoys traps were first lifted on June 21, with a catch of 3,500. A few boxes of sockeyes were also brought in a week previous to that date by seine fishermen and shipped fresh. June 27, 1941 – Sand has been hauled away from Sandy Beach in such large amounts that it has become necessary for the Forest Service to ann...
Thank You To the Editor: On Saturday evening, June 11, I was in serious health trouble while visiting Alaska on a friend’s boat, the Liliana. In severe pain, and having had open heart surgery years before, our skipper, was on the radio with the Coast Guard discussing how best to get me medical care. We were in Portage Bay, travelling in a trawler, with a top speed of 6-7 knots. A decision was made to send the police boat from Petersburg, staffed with an EMT team. The wind had come up, raising white caps in Stevens Passage, and the discomfort I...
Yesterday’s News May 20, 1916 – A request was received from the Petersburg Packing Company that water be turned on at the cannery June 1 and that the council fix the price for water service for the season. After considerable discussion and motions to make the price $2.50 per day, $50 per month for four months, and $300 for the season of four months, the rate was finally set at $75 per month for not less than four months. May 23, 1941 – The 42-foot C. G. R. Primrose II arrived in port Tuesday night to make her headquarters in Petersburg. Aboar...
WRANGELL - Four dozen elementary school students from the Wrangell and Petersburg areas partook in a field day, heading upriver for the 19th annual Stikine River field trip on May 3. Encompassing almost 700 square miles, since 1980 the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness Area has been managed by the United States Forest Service. Originating 335 miles away in Canada's British Columbia province, the winding river is a major contributor of wild salmon and home to many migratory bird species. For many in...
May 6, 1916 – A meeting of the council was held for the purpose of considering an estimate of receipts and expenditures for the year from April 1, 1916, to April 1, 1917. The finance committee's budget, which was prepared by Councilman Steberg, estimated the city's probable income for year at $8,115.43, with expenditures of $10,558.16, leaving a deficit of $2,442.73. To overcome this deficiency the council voted to base the tax levy for estimating purposes on a twenty-mill assessment which would make the total sum approximately $5,200. May 9...
April 15, 1916 – A new course of procedure in the matter of changing master's papers, which will be of great convenience to Petersburg's boats, is being arranged by the customs officials at Juneau, according to word brought from there by K. L. Steberg this week. The plan as stated by Deputy Collector Garfield is as follows: Owners of boats at Petersburg that wish to change papers without making the trip to a port of entry they will be permitted to have the master's oath taken here before a notary public. The notary is then to mail the papers t...
Bike safety To the Editor: I saw something horrible Monday night after work. I was headed down Haugen. There was a little girl on a pinkish bicycle across the street. She was ahead of me and headed downtown too. There are always cars waiting to clear the intersection this time of day. As I slowed to take my place in line, she reached the intersection. I thought she would stop and walk her bike across the street to the totem poles at the Forest Service. Instead, she turned immediately into the crosswalk. Right then, a gray car coming from...
WRANGELL - In an agreement reached March 24, the University of Alaska will be cooperating with Petersburg High School and the Wrangell Ranger District to conduct research at LeConte Glacier. Under the arrangement, the project will be undertaken by university researchers making third-party use of the high school's special use permit issued by USFS' Alaska regional office. The university's study will monitor the dynamics, glacial runoff and subglacial discharge of LeConte Glacier. It discharges...
wrangell — A crowd-drawing discussion on recreation funding held by the Forest Service Tuesday evening made the council chambers at City Hall feel unusually short for space. About two dozen members of the public met with staff of the Wrangell Ranger District to share their concerns about facilities maintenance. Listing concerns from greatest to least, residents participating at the meeting identified cabins, ATV trails and the overall recreation program as their top priorities, followed by trails, berry access, subsistence and stoves. F...
February 26, 1916 – The bait famine has tied up halibut fishing to a large extent recently. The Lovera and Mira arrived from Sitka on Thursday and reported no bait at that point. The Fram, Captain Ole Bensen, started on Thursday for Port Simpson, to get a supply for a number of boats. As the Canadian regulations require boats getting bait in that country to bring their catches to Canadian ports, there is some question whether the Fram will succeed in getting a cargo. February 28, 1941 – The Town of Petersburg now has its new fire truck – but d...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a Petersburg Planning Commission letter regarding a proposed amendment to the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan. On its website, the U.S. Forest Service stated an amendment was needed after U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack directed the Tongass to transition its management plan to be more ecologically, socially and economically sustainable. “An amendment is needed to accelerate the transition to a young-growth forest management program, and to do so in a way that preserves a vi...
