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Oversupply from bumper harvests last year and inflationary pressures squeezing household food budgets have made it a terrible year for Alaska salmon prices. A near-record pink salmon harvest in Russia isn’t helping by adding more fish to the market. “It’s a challenging year for all Alaska seafood,” said Jeremy Woodrow, executive director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Pollock prices are down, “we’re seeing impacts on crab too, and other whitefish species,” he said Aug. 10. And now, “salmon is getting the microscope.” Th...
Nine copper-engraving students sketched out designs, squinted through magnifying goggles and slowly etched away at thin sheets of metal using handheld tools. The students were three-and-a-half hours into an eight-hour day of carving at the Wrangell Cooperative Association's Cultural Center on Saturday, Aug. 12. The class's mood was one of quiet concentration. Students took occasional breaks to stretch their legs or massage their cramping fingers, while instructor Abel Ryan offered advice and...
Visitors to the Anan Wildlife Observatory could pay much more than the current daily $10 permit fee if a proposed increase is approved later this year. The U.S. Forest Service recently proposed boosting the fee to $50 per person, per day. If enacted, the full amount would be phased in over the next four years, with the additional revenues helping to pay for work at the popular bear viewing site. According to Erica Keene, media relations specialist for the Forest Service in Alaska, Anan has not had a fee increase since 2004. “The revenue from t...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Tl’átk - Earth Branch is hoping to purchase a parcel of land next to the community garden from the borough to build a greenhouse. The greenhouse would provide fresh produce to the community year-round and create a space for people to learn about gardening and sustainable practices. The planning and zoning commission and Economic Development Director Kate Thomas both recommended approving the land sale. The port commission will discuss the issue at its September meeting before passing it along to the boro...
Aug. 16, 1923 The freighter Cordova called here the first week of August to take on a shipment of 115,000 feet of clear spruce which is consigned to London, England. The lumber will be transshipped from Puget Sound to the East Coast and from there across the Atlantic to England. The fact that the Wilson and Sylvester mill of Wrangell is constantly filling repeat orders from England speaks volumes for the quality of Alaska spruce. Aug. 13, 1948 Telephone service between Wrangell and continental United States was inaugurated last week, with many...
It's beginning to look a lot like fitness at the Parks and Recreation Department. For the past several months, department staff and work crews have been laboring to finish projects, add more amenities and make the community healthier. One of the recently completed projects was a major fix to the swimming pool, which reopened on Aug. 7. The pool had been closed since last November to repair a leak and to upgrade the ventilation system. "We haven't had any major water loss, which means the repair...
Visitors to the Anan Wildlife Observatory currently pay a fee of $10 for a day’s visit to the popular bear viewing spot during the permit season of July and August. The U.S. Forest Service, which runs and maintains the observatory, has not raised the permit fee in almost 20 years and figures it’s time to charge more. The additional income could go toward maintenance and improvements. No question the Forest Service has put a lot of money into improving the facilities at Anan over the years, including spending about $1 million to build a new upp...
Oil and water don’t mix. We learned that in high school. And we learned it again when water got into a heating fuel line. In Alaska, oil and salmon don’t mix either, unless the oil is brushed on the grill before cooking a fillet. However, oil and salmon are in the same boat — economically speaking in Alaska. They both respond to supply and demand. When global oil supplies can’t keep up with demand, the price of a barrel of crude climbs higher. A shortage — or even a fear, a hint or speculation of shortage — drives up prices for the commodity....
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing more stringent limits on the bacteria level in water that the Haines wastewater treatment plant releases into Lynn Canal. Wrangell faces a similar requirement to reduce the bacteria count in its wastewater discharge. A cost estimate this past spring put the price at $12.5 million to add equipment and upgrade the Wrangell facility to disinfect the treatment plant’s outflow. A section of the Federal Clean Water Act allows waivers for wastewater treatment plants to operate with a lower level o...
Alaska tribes, including the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks will receive more than $350,000 in federal grants to use toward bringing objects of cultural significance back to the state and tribal clans. The National Park Service announced the funding on Aug. 7, as part of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, known as NAGPRA. "It's very significant," Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson, president of the...
The borough has nearly $30 million in capital projects in its budget for the current fiscal year that runs through next June 30. The majority of funding — 58% — comes from grants, with 23% from borough coffers and 19% from loans. The costliest upcoming projects by far are related to the borough’s water infrastructure, particularly the water treatment plant and reservoirs. Preparations are underway to upgrade the water treatment plant, allowing for more consistent water quality and more production. The project went out to bid in mid-July. The b...
When was the last time you had an excuse to let loose and dance or “cut a rug” like cool people said 100 years ago. On Saturday, Aug. 19, from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, the adult prom will give partygoers the chance to live it up and help a community-based nonprofit at the same time. “It’s going to be your high school prom but better,” said event organizer Devyn Johnson. “It’s a retro disco, so you can choose any past decade you’d like to dress up as.” Proceeds from the prom will benefit Wrangell Burial Assistance, an organization John...
In an age of cash-strapped school budgets, teachers and support staff have found themselves getting creative in order to give students all the tools needed to succeed in their education. A teacher at Stikine Middle School had such success with an extracurricular class last year that she began fundraising to continue the program this year, reaching her goal in a short amount of time. Sixth grade teacher Laura Davies worked with Juneau-based Seth Bader and the See Stories program last spring. The...
Wrangell will host the annual Alaska Recreation & Parks Association conference Sept. 19-22 for the first of two consecutive years. The conference will bring over 40 recreation professionals to town from around Alaska and the United States to swap ideas, build their skillsets and make connections among parks and recreation departments. The conference’s workshops will be geared toward industry insiders, not community members at large, but Economic Development Director Kate Thomas hopes that the conference will give Wrangell “an opportunity to...
An insidious, invasive crab is multiplying in numbers on the southern shores of Annette Island. As of Friday, Aug. 11, Metlakatla Indian Community teams have recovered 1,622 invasive green crabs from Tamgas Harbor, a large, open bight in the southern end of the island, as well as from Muskeg Beach just outside and west of Tamgas. The invasive green crab is a destructive predator that can change and degrade habitat and threaten native species. The crab adapts well to most ecosystems, and has boomed on the coast of Oregon, Washington and British...
Sockeye and chum runs have been hovering around average this season, according to local fishers, and the upcoming coho season is showing signs of promise. For gillnetters Jacob and Keisha Rushmore, this year’s sockeye run has been underwhelming. “I think it’s hit and miss,” said Keisha. “One week it’s pretty decent, and another week there’s none to be found. It’s kind of a weird year. … You never really know what to expect.” Jacob, who has been fishing for about 15 years, said sockeye have been “trickling” in this year, rather than appearing i...
WAILUKU, Hawaii — In the hours before a wildfire engulfed the town of Lahaina, Maui County officials failed to activate sirens that would have warned the entire population of the approaching flames and instead relied on a series of sometimes confusing social media posts that reached a much smaller audience. Power and cellular outages for residents further stymied communication efforts. Radio reports were scarce, some survivors reported, even as the blaze began to consume the town. Roadblocks then forced fleeing drivers onto one narrow d...
The destruction came as a glacial dam burst in Alaska’s capital city on Aug. 5, swelling the Mendenhall River to an unprecedented degree. The bursting of such snow-and-ice dams is a phenomenon called a jökuhlaup, and while it’s relatively little-known in the U.S., researchers say such glacial floods could threaten about 15 million people around the world. “We sat down there and were just watching it, and all of a sudden trees started to fall in,” said Amanda Arra, whose house still hung precariously over the riverbank two days after the floodin...
Monday, Aug. 7 Bar check. Citizen assist. Disabled vehicle. Tuesday, Aug. 8 Agency assist: State Troopers. Intoxicated person. Wednesday, Aug. 9 Ex parte order served. Thursday, Aug. 10 Report of suspicion of driving under the influence. Friday, Aug. 11 Intoxicated person. Agency assist: Fire alarm. Paper service. Theft. Traffic stop. Suspicious person. Saturday, Aug. 12 Traffic stop. Sunday, Aug. 13 Bar check. Agency assist: Parks and Recreation. Traffic stop. During this reporting period there were seven agency assists for the ambulance,...
Thousands of tourists spill onto a boardwalk in Alaska’s capital city every day from cruise ships towering over downtown. Vendors hawk shoreside trips and rows of buses stand ready to whisk visitors away, with many headed for the area’s crown jewel: the Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier gets swarmed by sightseeing helicopters and attracts visitors by kayak, canoe and foot. So many come to see the glacier and Juneau’s other wonders that the city’s immediate concern is how to manage them all as a record number are expected this year. Some residen...
As Alaska grapples with a shortage of teachers and high turnover rates, a regional nonprofit is recruiting Alaska Native educators to a new statewide program designed to support and retain them. Amber Frommherz, of Sealaska Heritage Institute, said the new initiative, called the Community of Practice program, is a place for educators from around the state to support each other. “The goal is really to increase their job satisfaction,” said Frommherz, who directs SHI’s education program. “It’s going to be some professional development with this...
A conditional-use permit for a $150 million development proposed on nearly three acres of Juneau’s downtown waterfront received approval Aug. 7 from the city planning commission. The action follows the commission’s vote in early July to approve another permit related to the same development for construction of a cruise ship dock located along Gastineau Channel just off Egan Drive as the thoroughfare nears downtown. The two projects, proposed by Huna Totem Corp., are part of the Alaska Native corporation’s large vision for its downtown water...
Environmental groups have asked a federal appeals court to overturn the Biden administration’s approval of exports from the proposed $44 billion project to sell North Slope natural gas. The Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition with the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, Aug. 11, seeking to reverse the Department of Energy approval granted in April to the state-led project that would send North Slope gas to Asian markets. The environmental groups argue that the massive project would unleash t...
SERVIES OFFERED Piano turner coming in late August from Corvine Piano Care in Palmer. Cost for regular tuning will be about $200. To get on the list, call or text Alice Rooney at 907-305-0007. LAND FOR SALE Two Stikine River properties on the west side of Farm Island in King Slough: 200-foot frontage, 6-plus acres, $80,000; 8-acre backlot, lots of good access, $60,000. Can access the main river at any stage of tide. Willing to finance. Call 907-518-0101. TOOL FOR SALE Snap-on torque wrench for 200-600 lbs. Leave a message and will get back to...
