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The U.S. Forest Service announced in the Federal Register Wednesday, Feb 18, that it is preparing to update the Tongass National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan to align with executive orders that President Trump issued when he took office last year. Also on Feb. 18, the Forest Service opened a 30-day public comment period on the planned update. The current Tongass plan has been in place since 1979, and the last major revision of the management plan for the 16.7-million acre national forest was in 1997. Amendments to the plan in 2016...
February 26, 1926 – There will not be an issue of the Herald next week, nor can we say at this writing whether or not there will be another issue. Henry Phillips, who has had charge of the mechanical end of this office is leaving for Skagway where he will dismantle the Skagway Daily Alaskan plant and ship it here. The Daily Alaskan, which was purchased by the Alaskan Native Brotherhood, will be set up and operated here in March giving news and job service to the local and outside business. Mr. Sidney Charles has assigned his interest in the H...
Young growth Sitka spruce from Mitkof Island, milled at Alaska Timber and Truss and shipped via the Alaska Marine Highway, now forms the timber-frame structure of an outdoor learning shelter at Pacific High School in Sitka. The impressive posts and beams of the pavilion showcase what Southeast Alaska's 50 to 60-year-old second-growth trees can produce. The structure will serve as an outdoor classroom for the alternative high school's garden-based education program. Andrew Thoms, executive...
European green crabs, a particularly invasive species known for aggressively displacing native species and damaging important vegetation, have been found on Etolin Island just southwest of Wrangell. A monitoring effort that spans much of Southeast is working to identify and possibly mitigate their continued spread northward. The crabs were first found in Metlakatla in the summer of 2022. Since then, they've been found increasingly farther north, with Etolin Island the northernmost confirmed...
On the Three Lakes trail system south of Petersburg, hikers can follow miles of mostly boardwalk pathways around lakes and trees that lead deep into the Tongass National Forest on Mitkof Island. Some sections of the trail system got upgraded this summer, with help from seasonal workers contracted by the U.S. Forest Service. Recreation Specialist Tyler Shaw said some of the wooden boards that make up the Three Lakes trail system were installed in the 90s. That style of trail is called...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, parent agency of the U.S. Forest Service, announced Wednesday that it is moving ahead with plans to rescind a rule that has restricted logging and construction on millions of acres of federal lands in the American West for more than two decades. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a written statement that the agency intends to open public comments Friday on its proposal to end the so-called “Roadless Rule,” an act that will affect as much as 45 million acres of federal land as well as mil... Full story
The U.S. Forest Service has received approval to resume aviation operations in Southeast Alaska after a flight moratorium that halted much of the forest management work across the region's remote federal lands. "The Tongass National Forest has recently received approval to move forward with securing aviation support for its work," Paul Robbins Jr., Public Affairs Officer for the Tongass National Forest told the Petersburg Pilot on Friday. "Due to the geographic layout of Southeast Alaska and...
The recently passed budget reconciliation bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump last week, does not include U.S. Senator Mike Lee's (R-Utah) withdrawn proposal that could have potentially sold off areas of the Tongass and Chugach National Forests and parts of the Interior in Alaska. But even so, the Petersburg Borough is going on the record against selling public lands. At a meeting on Monday, assembly members and community members voiced support for the borough resolution that formall...
The U.S. Forest Service will seek to repeal a rule that has effectively blocked the logging of almost a third of America's national forests, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told a meeting of Western governors on Monday in New Mexico. The "Roadless Rule" has blocked the construction of new roads in wild areas of most states' national forests since 2001, when it was imposed in the closing days of President Bill Clinton's presidency. "In this administration, we are taking a look under the... Full story
A U.S. Senate committee has proposed selling more than 3 million acres of public lands in Alaska and several other Western states to support new housing development. The idea has alarmed conservation groups and others in Alaska who fear portions of, say, the Chugach or Tongass national forests, and other treasured areas would be auctioned off to developers. The proposed language in the budget reconciliation bill was released last week by the Republican leader of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. The...
JUNEAU — President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders in recent weeks to expand logging in the nation’s forests, but stakeholders say the recent mass firings of U.S. Forest Service employees could hinder the administration’s plans in Alaska. Trump’s actions are the latest chapter in a decades-long tug-of-war between conservation and development in Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest — by far the largest of the nation’s forests. On his first day back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order to boost development o...
Federal employees across Southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest received termination notices over Presidents Day weekend, part of what union leaders are calling an "intentionally dishonest" nationwide purge of civil service workers that has hit Alaska's rural communities particularly hard. In Petersburg, as of Sunday evening, at least nine Forest Service probationary employees were terminated, with seven more terminated in Wrangell. Most of those affected were early-career professionals... Full story
Forest Service terminations To the Editor: 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees have lost their jobs across the nation. 10 of those FS employees live in Petersburg. These firings were not based on performance. That is a false agenda this administration is pushing to make you not care and look away. These terminations were inflicted on employees that were still in their probationary period, usually their first year of work. They are predominantly young, motivated people starting out their careers. This will not only leave a gap in the Forest...
A vintage briefcase sits against a wall in the Clausen Memorial Museum, displayed alongside weathered timesheets from bridge inspections conducted decades ago. The well-worn leather case, donated by Tom Laurent, carries a family history of Forest Service dedication – passed down from his father, who himself was a second-generation Forest Service scientist, Tom continued using the leather case for bridge inspections until just last year. This simple briefcase, representing three generations of s...
February 13, 1925 – At the meeting of the chamber of commerce last evening a resolution was adopted calling on the government to make use of its boats in Alaskan waters hereafter to feed deer every winter. For practically no cost to the government it is estimated that thousands of deer can be saved every winter from starving. The Seattle Times wired to the chamber here for information and were informed that it was estimated there were some 3,000 deer in this region needing attention and that at least 35 tons of hay would be needed for t...
Lawrence Lee Blank was born on August 17, 1932, to Albert and Leta (Wenala) Blank in Seattle. He was told he was part Sioux and a descendant of Chief Sitting Bull. Growing up on the streets of downtown Seattle, he learned early on to get himself a hustle. His first hustle, shining shoes during World War II for servicemen hitting the bars on First Avenue, was an honest one, but as he got older his hustles turned darker, including auto theft and check forgery. Though he was never violent and...
Rural schools, mostly in Southeast Alaska, are facing a major funding shortfall this year after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to reauthorize a bill aimed at funding communities alongside national forests and lands. The bipartisan Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act was first passed in 2000, and enacted to assist communities impacted by the declining timber industry. It provided funds for schools, as well as for roads, emergency services and wildfire prevention. The award varies each year depending on federal lan...
It seemed everyone in Wrangell piled into to the Nolan Center to witness the blessing of the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. Led by the Wrangell Cooperative Association, the event was moved indoors after a persistent storm turned a cloudy afternoon into a rainy one. The event was attended by folks from Wrangell, from throughout Alaska and from Washington, D.C. Even Smokey the Bear made a surprise appearance. Kate Thomas, the borough's economic development director, played emcee for the afternoon,...
Travis Kukull receives a lot of messages from friends, family, and randos up and down the Upper Lynn Canal every year around this time. “People text me pictures of things all the time.” They take pictures of fungi and send them to Kukull’s phone to see if they’re edible. But Kukull is the first to admit he doesn’t know everything and that he’s not a scientist. “I’m just a chef, but I am a mushroom nerd,” he said. It’s true – Kukull has been a chef for 25 years. Right now, he owns Malo Nista Catering in Haines. But his fungal fascination reigns...
Southeast Alaska subsistence users who want current information on sockeye escapement numbers, deer seasons and detailed maps now have a single website providing all the information. The U.S. Forest Service on Sept. 2 went live with its new subsistence dashboard. "This tool was created in response to feedback and requests by tribal organizations and subsistence users throughout Southeast Alaska," Tongass Subsistence Program Manager Robert Cross said in a prepared statement. "We heard how... Full story
Alaskans still making ornaments to hang on the Capitol Christmas Tree now have a little more time. The original submission deadline of Sept. 16 has been extended two weeks to Sept. 30. "Sept. 16 ... that was the deadline we were given about a year ago when we started planning this," said Claire Froelich, interpretation and education specialist with the U.S. Forest Service in Wrangell. "But because we are now working with Alaska Airlines, our shipping is going to take less time, so now we have... Full story
A sitka spruce from the Wrangell Ranger District was selected to represent Alaska as the 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree. "This is the first time the Capitol Christmas tree has come from the Tongass National Forest," Public Affairs and Partnerships staff officer Paul Robbins Jr. told the Pilot in an email. According to Robbins Jr., the tree will be transported over 900 miles by sea and 2,899-mile cross country to Washington D.C. Alaskans have been asked to provide over 10,000 handmade...
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...
