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Smokey Bear turned 80 years old on August 9, 2024. Community members joined the U.S. Forest Service and Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department to celebrate Smokey Bear's birthday with cake, crafts, and photos with the longtime icon of wildfire prevention at a birthday party held behind the Forest Service building on Friday. From left to right: Carin Christensen, Smokey Bear, Tiare Simbahon, Caroline Dowd, Alex Rodriguez-Smith....
They may be out of sight to the general public but they are never out of mind for the U.S. Forest Service. The agency maintains 35 mountaintop repeater towers within the Tongass National Forest to provide radio coverage for their field crews and first responders. A contractor is installing new repeater stations at five sites this summer in the Wrangell and Petersburg ranger districts, part of an ongoing effort to switch out older units with newer models. Of particular importance to Wrangell, a...
So, you want to see bears at the Anan Wildlife Observatory. But maybe you couldn't get one of the limited number of permits, or you live out of town and can't make the trip, or maybe you are a little more afraid of them than you care to admit. But now, thanks to the U.S. Forest Service, explore.org and 14 Wrangell high school students in the T3 Program, anyone worldwide can view Anan's fish-crazed black and brown bears. Last week, after months of preparation, planning and prototyping, the two...
Petersburg's tribe plans to add sidewalks to some streets and build a new trail in coming years. The Petersburg Indian Association approved a four-year infrastructure plan on July 17 after finalizing the project list at a public meeting earlier in the month. The tribe will partner with the Petersburg Borough to add sidewalks along residential streets near the Petersburg Community Center. Debra O'Gara is the tribal council president. "Right now, in the middle of winter, it's really dark back...
July 18, 1924 – Two men, one masked, held up Ole Jackson aboard the gasboat Jiggs shortly after midnight in Auke Bay at Pelton Cove, and made their escape with $500 ($9,186.40 today) which Jackson had in a sack to purchase fish. Ole Jackson, who is a buyer for H.R. Thompson, of Juneau, left on the Jiggs from City Dock the same evening, going over the bar to Pelton Cove where he anchored for the night. About seven o’clock, Jackson turned in to make an early start in the morning for Hoonah and adjacent places to buy fish from trollers. Som...
Former photographer and current sketcher and painter Ron Hall is having his first big art show called "Colors Speak To Me," on display July 22 through July 31 at the Clausen Memorial Museum. Ron began his art career as an aerial photographer. "I took aerial photos for the Forest Service in Southeast Alaska, California and Florida," said Hall. After moving into Petersburg Medical Center's Long Term Care several years ago, Hall took up sketching and eventually painting as a hobby. Hall has been...
Representatives of Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) and the Hutli committee and members of the Séet Ká Kwáan Dancers welcomed the public to witness the unveiling of the story totem pole at Sandy Beach Park on July 5. The totem pole was created by Tlingit carver Fred Fulmer Sr., Saat-Kaa, of Everett, WA - commissioned by PIA for the Hutli project. "Hutli is a Tlingit work roughly translated to Thunderbird and the thundering sound of the wings," Brenda Louise told the sizeable crowd on hand for...
Coast Guard Sector Southeast received a call Tuesday morning, shortly before 10:00 a.m., that the Petersburg-based seiner the Pamela Rae was taking on water in Anita Bay, located on Etolin Island near Wrangell. The call came from the F/V Confidence, relaying a call from their sister fishing vessel Barbara which was on the scene and providing samaritan support, U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Matt Naylor told the Pilot. The Pamela Rae was taking on water fast and was rolling over. They had...
WRANGELL — A large audience turned out to hear an evolutionary biologist explain the connection between a dime-size piece of 3,000-year-old human bone found in a cave near Wrangell and present-day Alaska Natives, who welcomed the opportunity to return a distant ancestor to her final resting place. Charlotte Lindqvist, a professor in the department of biological sciences at the University of Buffalo in New York, gave the presentation June 13 at the Nolan Center. The event focused on a bone fragment discovered in a cave on the mainland, across B...
This pack board, consisting of a wooden frame and a canvas body, was owned by Petersburg fisherman Per Sather Senior. Originally from Norway, Sather owned the fishing vessels Gjoa and Zarembo. The pack board's label reads, "Trapper Nelson's Indian Pack Boards." The was designed by Lloyd F. Nelson and manufactured by the Traeger Manufacturing Company in Monroe, Washington. While working in Alaska in the 1920s, Nelson set out on a hike into the woods with an old Inuit backpack made of sticks and...
June 20, 1924 – Earl Ohmer has received from Delegate Sutherland a copy of the treaty and law for the closed halibut season. The following is underlined by the Delegate for special consideration: “The Nationals and inhabitants are the fishing vessels and the boats of the United States and the Dominion of Canada, and respectively are hereby prohibited from fishing for halibut, both in the Territorial waters and in the high seas of the western coasts of the United States, including the Bering Sea, and the Dominion of Canada, from the 16th day...
In the past week, four informational signs were installed on a newly constructed plaza at Sandy Beach Park - bringing to life the first phase of the Hutli Project. The Hutli Project -a collaboration between the Petersburg Indian Association and an advisory committee including members from PIA, the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, Petersburg Parks & Recreation, the US Forest Service, and others- aims to tell the story of Petersburg's Indigenous population through the further development of...
May 30, 1924 – E.J. McKechnie, one of the U.S. Forest Service stationed at Petersburg, says that four miles will be added to the road at Farragut Bay this year. He hopes to have his equipment and men ready around June 5 so that work can then be started. The roadway now begins at the Wallace Homestead and runs toward the river. More settlers are moving into the Farragut Bay section. Mr. McGregor is prospecting along the river and there is a chance that paying mines may be added to the resources of the district. June 3, 1949 – At the May 26t...
May 23, 1924 – The first Fordson tractor for Farragut Bay for J.O. Wallace pioneer rancher there, arrived this week from the outside. Mr. Wallace took the first horse to Farragut Bay two years ago and the animal has grazed its own livelihood the past two winters. Farragut Bay is similar to many other bays and inlets in Southeastern Alaska, with marsh, meadow and tidelands at the head, consisting of rich soil and which will someday support a considerable farming population alone. Several ranchers have located there. The Forest Service has b...
Rodney Lee Anderson was born on el Día de los Muertos, November 2, 1965, in Davenport, Iowa, to Ronald Gene and Victoria Lee (Dawson) Anderson. His lifelong best friend and brother, Ronnie, was 21 months old and with Rodney's birth the family was complete. As a little boy Rodney showed an affinity for all animals, but he especially loved birds. He was mesmerized by them. Perhaps all those quiet hours of observation were the genesis of Rodney's unique sense of time. He was never in a hurry and... Full story
"I want to thank the crew serving today, and all who served aboard Anacapa over these many years, for their dedication and service to our country," said Rear Admiral Charles Fosse, commander of United States Coast Guard District 13, during the decommissioning ceremony for USCG cutter Anacapa on April 26 in Port Angeles, Washington. Commissioned in 1990, Anacapa spent 32 of its 34 years homeported in Petersburg, and the last two years in Port Angeles. The 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter carried a... Full story
The USDA Forest Service is starting the process of revising the Tongass National Forest Land Management Plan, which will shape local and regional management for years to come. Over the past 27 years since the Forest Plan was developed, the land and lifestyle in Southeast Alaska has changed significantly. As a result, the Forest Service is seeking input from the public to ensure that the revised plan reflects the evolving needs and concerns of the community. The current Forest Plan was developed... Full story
The U.S. Forest Service plans to build six new cabins and a new campground in Southeast Alaska and wants to hear from the public on proposed fees for the facilities. One of the new cabins, the Woodpecker Cabin, will be on Mitkof Island, accessible by road and a 300 ft trail, about 30 miles away from downtown Petersburg. The site features a south-facing view of Sumner Strait. It has a fish-bearing stream nearby, and is in close proximity to a marine boat launch. It is likely to be used...
Irene June Nichols was born in Port Alexander, Alaska, to Anna and Arne Iversen on August 7, 1928. Her parents immigrated from Norway to fish out of Port Alexander and moved to Ketchikan when she was five. After graduating from Ketchikan High School Irene attended Pacific Lutheran College in Seattle, Washington, for a year before returning home to marry her high school sweetheart, Carl Anthony Manzoni, a bush pilot. They enjoyed ten happy years before Carl was tragically killed in a plane crash... Full story
Susan Gail (Wamback) Jennings was born on March 2, 1955, in Saginaw, Michigan. In 1973, Sue moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to begin her undergraduate studies at Michigan Technological University (MTU). During the summer of 1975, while working at Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior, she met her husband-to-be, Rich Jennings. They married on May 31, 1976. In May 1977, Sue graduated from MTU with a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries Management. The following year, she moved to... Full story
March 28, 1924 – The Glacier Sea Food Company bought from the Olympic Fisheries a floating cannery on March 15. A scow which is at present located near Johnny Sales’ chicken ranch. The scow is now being painted and repaired. Earl Ohmer says they expect to float it on next month’s high tides. The scow will be used as a floating cannery to pack shrimp. The location for the packing of shrimp is yet undecided. Next door to Glacier Seafood Company Paul Owens of Scow Bay is building a plant for making poultry feed out of shrimp shells. Mr Owens...
Emergency federal government assessments are being sought for a spill of more than 105,000 gallons of tailings slurry at the Kensington Mine that occurred Jan. 31, although officials with mine owner Coeur Alaska say no damage to nearby salmon habitats occurred and there are “no long-term effects from this spill.” The spill occurred at a welded joint in a pipeline that likely started as a “pinhole” and increased in size due to pressure from the slurry flow, resulting in a leak that lasted 23 hours, according to a report of the incident published...
Over the next five years, the Division of Forestry & Fire Protection (DOF) is proposing to harvest timber on thousands of acres of state lands in southern Southeast Alaska - including 1,213 acres on Mitkof Island. This preliminary plan was revealed in a Five-Year Schedule of Timber Sales (FYSTS) scoping document outlining the timber sale activity on state land in southern Southeast proposed by DOF, which is available for public comment until early April. It can be viewed at the Petersburg...
Hosted every other year to promote health and wellness in the community, the Petersburg Medical Center Health & Safety Fair takes place this weekend -and this year's theme is "Nurture Your Health With Nature." The main health fair event will take place on Saturday, March 23 at the community center. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. there will be over 25 fair booths available to visit in the community gym. "We have a lot of local people, as well as some regional folks coming in from out of town that will be...
Shots fired by a person other than an officer may soon be allowed in the Frederick Point East Subdivision area. As it stands, Petersburg municipal code prohibits the discharge of firearms in the area of Frederick Point East Subdivision - calling it "unlawful for any person, except a peace officer or other state or local official performing a lawful duty, to fire or discharge any firearm within the [area]." The Petersburg Borough Assembly passed an ordinance to amend this section of code in its...
