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About five years ago, a historic 165 foot schooner called the Wawona had been cut into large sections and practically written off as waste. In fact, it was headed to the landfill before sculptor John Grade (pronounced Grah-DAY), was commissioned to turn it into a 65-foot tall piece of art that weighs around 11,000 pounds. The ship had been docked next to a historic armory building in the Seattle South Lake neighborhood, the armory was taken over by the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle,...
Petersburg Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported the following information during the October 5 borough assembly meeting: Four Petersburg High School students are participating in this year’s Junior Firefighter Program. The annual Fire Prevention Program for Rae C Stedman elementary school kids kicks off this week, Oct. 5-9. EMS Director Sandy Dixson will attend the grant required Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Fall Preparedness Conference in Anchorage, Oct. 5-10. Harbor staff is winterizing the harbor f...
If you have traveled past Farragut Bay during the past couple of years, you have probably noticed the white, almost ghostly looking trees heavily peppered among what was once healthy forest. Those are dead yellow cedar, and the remarkable thing about the dead trees-also known as snags-is they can remain standing for up to 100 years. The decline in yellow cedar came on the radar of the US Forest Service (USFS) in the 1980's, but USFS research plant pathologist Paul Hennon says the problem was...
Name: Nancy Strand Age: legal Occupation: Retired Education: Graduated Petersburg High School Class of 1963, attended Oregon State University 1 1/4 years, diverse education continues daily Political Experience: Served a few times on the local utility board; Served on Petersburg City Council and Borough Assembly Why did you choose to run for the Borough Assembly? Received lots of positive encouragement from my diverse constituency to run again What are some of the biggest issues or concerns...
Catches for Alaska’s premier crab fisheries in the Bering Sea could take a dip this year based on results from the annual summer surveys. The annual report by NOAA Fisheries called “The Eastern Bering Sea Continental Shelf Bottom Trawl Survey: Results from Commercial Crab Species” (long dubbed the ‘crab map’) shows tables reflecting big drops over the past year in abundance of legal sized males for both snow crab and red king crab at Bristol Bay. (Only legal males are allowed to be retained for sale.) But there is a bright side -- both stoc...
Three concerned Petersburg and Kupreanof residents spoke out against a resolution being considered as part of last Thursday’s Borough Assembly agenda. Though three Assembly members—Mayor Mark Jensen, Bob Lynn, Nancy Strand—voted in fav or of the resolution, four votes were needed for it to pass. The resolution would have called for the governor to petition for an appeal of the Ninth Circuit court’s late July ruling which overturned the Tongass National Forest’s exemption to the Roadless Rule. The Wrangell Borough and Ketchikan Gateway B...
The 8th Annual Rainforest Festival kicks off next week and those attending the festival are going to be offered diverse opportunities, including watching an impactful documentary about a basket weaver, a field trip to listen for bats and wine-making with local ingredients followed by wine tasting. Things get started on Labor Day with the 2nd Annual Rainforest Run Half Marathon. Participants will be faced with the task of completing the 13.1 mile long course. Organizers are hoping to increase... Full story
Keith Ray Williams, 76, died on August 24, 2015 in Tuscon, Ariz. of Cancer. He was born on April 18, 1939 in Yakima, Wash. to William Buck Williams and Helen Irene Williams (Knapp), the middle child of three sons. Keith developed a life-long love for the outdoors. He worked for the Forest Service on the Rogue River and at the Wildhorse Fire Lookout in the Siskiyou National Forest. Keith was an avid skier and managed the White Pass ski lodge, forming life-long friendships with French... Full story
KETCHIKAN (AP) — Due to a lower estimate of the number of wolves in southeast Alaska, state and federal managers have reduced the combined limit for the federal subsistence and state general hunts to nine wolves in the area. In Game Management 2, the area that include Prince of Wales Island and its adjacent islands, the state wolf hunting season will run for just 10 days, if at all, according to The Ketchikan Daily News If all nine wolves are killed during subsistence hunting and trapping seasons, which begin in September and November, the s...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Crews plan to search through a debris area Wednesday for three men believed killed when a landslide described as a sea of logs and mud swept through part of an Alaska coastal town. A Sitka fire official said late Tuesday that the men are presumed dead and the search will be a “body recovery effort.” The avalanche occurred Tuesday morning but a search was hampered by unstable terrain. Sitka fire department spokeswoman Sara Peterson told The Associated Press that operations were suspended Tuesday night, until a geologist asses...
August 14, 1915 – The fast and commodious launch Trigby will leave Petersburg next Monday for Cape Fanshaw, Port Houghton, Pybus Bay, Tyee, Warm Springs Bay, Kuiu Island points, and Kake. Such is the announcement of S.L. Hogue, who this week purchased the Trigby from Conrad Dahl. It is Hogue's intention to make a trial trip to the points above listed, and if it appears that business will justify the enterprise, to make weekly return trips, carrying passengers, mail, and freight, and also to take orders for and deliver merchandise to people a...
Deer hunting season began for Alaska residents and nonresidents in much of the Unit 3 management area last Saturday, lasting through Nov. 30. Bow hunting on Mitkof Island and the Petersburg Management Area, hunting on the remainder of the Mitkof, Woewodski and Butterworth islands, and residential hunting on the Lindenberg Peninsula portion of Kupreanof Island all begin on Oct. 15, and are subject to other limitations. Outlooks for this year’s season for Sitka black-tailed deer are much the same as last year, with smaller harvests expected t...
The US Forest Service and Korpela Construction crews have broken ground on a new half-mile portion of the Raven's Roost Trail. Construction began July 17 on the section which will connect the new trailhead that was built last year-beginning across from the Sandy Beach parking lot-to the existing trail that winds through the muskeg behind the airport up into the Tongass National Forest. The new portion of trail will be similar to the half-mile portion of easy-grade, gravel trail built last year.... Full story
The United States Forest Service (USFS) announced the next step has been taken in a land deal with Alaska Mental Health Trust (AMHT), after signing an Agreement to Initiate on June 30. The agreement as currently envisioned could see the transfer of nearly 40,000 acres of state and federal lands between the two agencies. For AMHT, the deal will allow it to develop the lands’ timber and mineral resources. Founded by Congress in 1956, AMHT is a state corporation set up to assist the state in funding its mental health program. The trust manages l... Full story
A limited number of Anan Wildlife Observatory permits will be made available at the Wrangell District Office. Visitors are required to obtain a permit to visit the observatory from July 5 through August 25. Earlier this spring the United States Forest Service began using the National Reservation System for those wishing to visit Anan, 30 miles to Wrangell’s southeast. To facilitate the transition to this new system, up to four permits per day will still be offered through the Wrangell District Office using a weekly lottery. To apply for one o...
July 24, 1915 – The Glacier Fish Company, which was organized by a number of substantial Tacoma business men about six months ago, has engaged Nels Nelson as buyer for this vicinity. Joseph Maddock, manager for the company, was a passenger for the north on the Admiral Watson last Monday evening. He was en route to Icy Straits, where the company has “The Glory of the Seas” stationed and fitted up as a cold storage plant. Mr. Maddock plans to stop over in Petersburg on his return south. The Tacoma company expects to do a considerable busin...
KETCHIKAN – As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, residents, visitors and campers are reminded that all fireworks, including sparklers, are prohibited in the Tongass National Forest. “People assume the restrictions apply just to developed recreations areas managed by the Forest Service, including campgrounds, picnic areas and day use areas,” said Forest Fire Management Officer Tristan Fluharty, “but no fireworks or pyrotechnic device of any kind may be discharged anywhere within the National Forests, regardless of weather conditi...
WRANGELL — The United States Forest Service this month released a new fact sheet regarding wild salmon populations in the Tongass National Forest, available online and at the agency’s various offices. “It’s to demonstrate to the public just how important salmon are,” explained Martin Hutten, a supervisory biologist with the Wrangell Ranger District. The facts speak pretty clearly for themselves. The waters of the Tongass National Forest produce more wild salmon than all other national forests combined. Supporting these populations, TNF biologis...
With less than an inch of rain, May of 2015 is officially the driest on record. Meteorologist Richard Lam, with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Juneau, said Petersburg only recorded 0.26 inches of rain last month. The former record was set in 1996, when there was 1.15 inches of precipitation, according to NWS data. This May set a second record in the longest stretch of consecutive days without measurable precipitation at 22, Lam added, beating the 20 day record set in 1958. The reason was a broad high pressure system that kept storm... Full story
At least a portion of the Hungry Point Trail extension will be elevated boardwalk, similar to that of Blind River Rapids Trailhead. The Petersburg Indian Association board decided on June 1 to construct the boardwalk trail from 14th Street up to the ball field section of the trail. The decision was a combination of economics, zoning and environmental regulation concerns, Transportation Director Susan Harai said. The Petersburg Planning and Zoning Commission will likely discuss the lower route at its August meeting. It’s in an unplatted s...
WRANGELL — A skull found by a hunter near the Stikine River almost three years ago has yet to be interred. Wrangell resident Vena Stough discovered the skull while at Government Slough on Oct. 5, 2012, and brought it to the local police department. From there it made its way to United States Forest Service offices in Petersburg for further analysis. “What we try to do is figure out if it’s Native American ancestry,” explained Jane Smith, an archaeologist for the USFS for 23 years. The repatriation process is governed by the Native America...
Two men were rescued south of Petersburg in Sumner Strait last week after the boat they were in capsized. Alaska Wildlife Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters said police received the call at 3:29 p.m. on Thursday, June 4. Joseph Hedlund, 57, of Petersburg, and Richard Shepson, 61, of Tacoma, Wash., were pulled from the water by troopers in the patrol vessel Moen, U.S. Forest Service and National Marine Fisheries Service personnel. Peters said the men were fishing when their boat capsized and they signaled for help. Neither were wearing their...
Petersburg has moved from its wettest April on record to what’s looking to be its driest May. Despite rain Wednesday and more precipitation forecasted for today (Thursday), this May is “definitely still looking like it’ll be the driest,” said meteorologist Geri Swanson with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Juneau. Petersburg still had less than 0.3 inches of rain Wednesday afternoon, and was expecting less than a 10th of an inch with the day and Thursday’s forecast — the area’s “best chances” for rain before moving back into a high pressur...
Not common for the area, a short-lived thunderstorm caused a minor disturbance in Petersburg on Tuesday. At about 3:10 p.m., a lightning strike hit a tree, transformer line and transformer, putting "the whole island in the dark," Petersburg Municipal Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson said. "The tree was kind of hurt bad, the transformer line is OK, the transformer was destroyed and had to be replaced," he added. That work took about an hour and a half before power was back on. The transf...
