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John Glenn, owner of Stikine River Forest Products, announced Monday evening his plans to build a mill in Petersburg. “I have contacted several property owners and we are in the process of sending offers or accepting offers of sale,” Glenn said during his announcement to the borough assembly on Monday. Glenn said he has located a piece of property near the airport that exists within industrial zoning and has power and water connections. He said the construction of the mill would be done in two phases. Phase one would consist of a full bre... Full story
The announcement at Monday’s borough meeting that construction of a new sawmill could begin as early as this spring, was good news. The employment of 35 to 50 employees will bring new people and new dollars to Petersburg. With the departure of Petersburg’s largest sawmill in 1987, which relocated to Haines, Petersburg lost over a million dollar annual payroll. Salmon and crab harvests were so substantial; the town’s economy barely felt the loss of the timber income. Both Stikine River Forest Products owner John Glenn and Forest Service Range...
Petersburg district school enrollment numbers have decreased by 44 percent since 1997—almost double that of Wrangell and Sitka. It’s a number that Petersburg Superintendent Rob Thomason has been concerned about for some time. “It’s been a concern in the back of my mind ever since I’ve been here,” Thomason said. “The whole staff knows we’re always looking at the idea that this year does not preclude what it will look like next year. We always have to rethink that.” The district has seen about a two percent decrease in student enrollment each y...
The Petersburg borough assembly unanimously voted in Bob Lynn by paper ballot to serve on the assembly seat left vacant by Sue Flint after she stepped down in early November. Lynn served on the committee charged with developing the borough charter the assembly now has the task to implement as it continues with borough formation. Lynn said he was actively against borough formation initially. “But now that it’s done, it’s time to move on and see what we can do to make the charter represent all the people who live in the borough,” Lynn said. Lynn... Full story
November 22, 1913 – What is believed to be a new species of salmon has appeared in the Skeena river this season, says a report; and fishermen are puzzled at the strange fish. It has never been seen before, either in the Skeena or any other British Columbia river. In appearance, the new salmon resembles both the sockeye and the humpback, being described as a cross between the two. Its markings seem to include characteristic spots and colorings of both fish and the dorsal fin, while distinct f...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Two environmental groups say the federal government is taking too long to decide whether a subspecies of gray wolf found in southeast Alaska old-growth forests should be considered for endangered species protection. In a letter Tuesday, the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether additional protections are needed for Alexander Archipelago wolves, which are found on Prince of Wales Island and are genetically distinct from other wolves in the Tongass National F...
KETCHIKAN — The changing face of visitation on the Tongass National Forest, along with the reality of shrinking budgets, has prompted Tongass managers to begin strategically planning for the future of the forest’s 152 recreation cabins. Increasing costs and declining funding resulted in a $600,000 budget shortfall in the forest’s cabin program this year. In the strategic plan, managers aim to identify cabins that are underused, dilapidated, or otherwise unsustainable, and explore how the forest can refocus available funding on those cabins whic...
More than ten business leaders in the Petersburg tourism industry met Monday to discuss how the season fared this year and what could be done better in the future. Although the general consensus was that last summer was a success, there are some kinks to work out. Sally Dwyer, Chamber of Commerce director, said one of the complaints she heard from tourists was the lack of public phones in town. “There are no public phones in town,” Dwyer said. “We were letting them use our cell phones.” Public phones were taken down due to vandalism and lac...
WRANGELL — Local U.S. Forest Service employees express frustration with the ongoing government shutdown this week. The Wrangell Unit of the Tongass National Forest has been closed for 15 days following negotiations between the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate Oct. 1. The office’s 28 employees have been instructed call a 1-800 phone number each day to determine whether the office will be reopened, according to Forest Service Ranger Bob Dalrymple. Dalrymple himself and one other per...
The lights are off and a closed sign is scotch taped to the door of the Federal Building in downtown Petersburg. Jason Anderson, U.S. District Ranger, is the lone occupant. On Tuesday, he looked as if he had come into the office during time off, garbed in hiking pants and a black t-shirt rather than a forest service uniform. But his desk was stacked with piles of papers looking very much as if there is still work to be done. “We were told not to spend a lot of time finalizing other project work... Full story
Thirty-seven moose have been checked in to Alaska Department of Fish and Game this season. Rich Lowell, Area Wildlife Biologist for Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said nineteen moose were checked in during the first week, which is close to average for the last 10 years “Most of the harvest occurs within the first two weeks of the season,” Lowell said. As of yesterday afternoon, 12 moose have been harvested from the Stikine, 12 from Kupreanof and six from Mitkof. Although 12 moose were taken from Kupreanof only six were taken from the Kak...
The Petersburg Borough is seeking legal advice as it considers drafting an ordinance requiring agencies, including the state of Alaska, using broad based spraying methods to deliver herbicides and pesticides to require the approval of the borough assembly. The state adopted regulations this past spring that would allow agencies to apply herbicides and pesticides on state property without obtaining a permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation and without public review. Petersburg, Skagway and Haines have all written letters to the...
Twenty-six moose have been checked in to Alaska Department of Fish and game this season. Rich Lowell, Area Wildlife Biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said nineteen moose were checked in during the first week, which is close to average for the last 10 years “Most of the harvest occurs within the first two weeks of the season,” Lowell said. As of yesterday afternoon, nine moose have been harvested from the Stikine, seven from Kupreanof and five from Mitkof. Although seven wer... Full story
A crew filmed Axe Men promotional videos at the Tonka Logging site on Kupreanof Island last week. Sean Moody, Assistant Production Supervisor for The Arsenal Film & Creative, said they lucked out during last week despite all the rainy days. “We got really lucky on the first shoot day, the bigger day, when we were out with all the machines. We even got a little bit of sun in the sky.” The film crew used a remote controlled helicopter camera to do some of the shooting. “We kind of shoot thing... Full story
JUNEAU (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service plans to take a portion of the timber payments it has promised or paid out to 22 states, citing federal budget cuts. Collection letters from Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell went out to governors around the country Monday, saying money would be taken from funds used for habitat improvement and other national forest-related projects that put people to work under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. Oregon stands to lose the most in the move, with nearly $4 million in reductions....
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski intervened on behalf a Wrangell daycare operator after a US Forest Service officer issued her a citation in July for picnicking with her daycare children at Middle Ridge in the Tongass National Forest. US Forest Service Law enforcement officer Doug Ault fined Marilyn Mork $375 for operating a business on federal land without a permit. Mork said former U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski caught wind of the situation, made a copy of the citation and sent it to his daughter, Senator Murkowski. Murkowski happened to be meeting...
The Banana Point floating dock project has been canceled after conflicting interpretations within the U.S. Forest Service concerning the use of grant funds. The Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake Resource Advisory Committee, or RAC organized the project that was two years in the making. RACs fall under the authority of The Secure Rural Schools Act, which is meant to provide collaboration between local communities and federal land managers to create projects on federal land. Each U.S. Forest Service region in the country has a RAC. The local RAC...
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Petersburg residents had a conversation Tuesday night in the Sons of Norway Hall about community, regional and state issues. The first subject Murkowski brought up was the less than ideal condition of the Petersburg jail. “You were in the running with Bethel for the worst city jail,” Murkowski said. “And now Bethel’s (jail) is looking pretty good. You win the prize in my view, of all the communities that I’ve gone to, for the worst conditions.” Murkowski f...
SITKA — Half a century of Sitka history in a 61-foot steel hull is being auctioned off by the U.S. Forest Service. The M/V Sitka Ranger, which entered service in 1959 as the floating presence of the Forest Service in the Tongass National Forest, is on the auction block. Roy Mitchell, deputy regional fleet manager for the Forest Service in Anchorage, said the Sitka Ranger and its sister ship the M/V Tongass Ranger are being auctioned off because there’s no longer enough field work in the cou...
Dean John Weeden, 82, passed away on July 17, 2013 at St. Mary's Assisted Living in Eureka, Mont. He was born on November 7, 1930 in Lynn, Mass. to Dagny Thoresen and John Sven Weeden (Widen). Age five to seventeen he lived in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his mother and step-father Ole Olsen. Dean hopped a train out west when he was seventeen years old launching his first job in the Forest Service doing seasonal work in Idaho. In 1951 he served in the Air Force as a Surgery Technician for the 452 Bomb...
Kake Access Committee Chair Cindi Lagoudakis updated the Assembly during Monday night's meeting regarding the latest progress in the Kake Access Environmental Impact Study and Purpose and Need draft. The Kake Access project is to bring better access to the community of about 500, and could include the construction of a new road, the development of new ferry connections, or a combination. The State in 2012 appropriated $40 million for the project. A project to bring more affordable power to Kake is also in the works as part of support to the... Full story
July 26, 1913 – Strange things happen these days, even in Alaska. For instance: we all have heard of the man who catches the “bug,” or in other words, gets “buggy” on something. Of course there are different kinds of bugs. The “potlach bug” we heard infesting Seattle lately, was thought to have been the latest discovery in “bugdom,” but that is a mistake. The latest, as far as we know, is the “fishing bug.” Strange things never happen singly but in pairs. So in this instance, the other strange thing in connection with this “fishing bug” is...
The Borough Assembly voted to award the gymnasium floor refinishing contract to Alaskan Industries based on a recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Dept. Alaskan Industries is the company that has worked on the floor for the last 15 years, said Parks and Recreation Director Donn Hayes. The cost for the floor refinishing will be $32,400, or $35,900 with the Petersburg branded logo installed in the middle of the gymnasium floor. Part of the funding, $13,000, has been provided by a grant...
Tonka facts To the Editor: U.S.D.A. Forest Service has led the public to believe pre-commercial thinning (PCT) creates wildlife habitat but conversely PCT promotes nothing of extended value but potential timber harvesting opportunities. For the Tonka Timber Sale the U.S. Forest Service never cites Cole etal. (2011) which was an agency research project that demonstrated the main positive effects of pre-commercial thinning (PCT) are short lived, about 7 years, which includes the time needed to collapse the slash enabling deer access to food. Inst...
