Wrangell's Economic Development Committee met for the first time in almost a year last Thursday, Aug. 22, according to EDC Chair Julie Decker. Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore said that the committee is meant to meet quarterly, but that she didn't want to call together meetings just for the sake of having meetings. With two recent developments that are likely to impact Wrangell's economy, though, a meeting was finally organized.
The two main items on the evening's agenda were in regards to the Wrangell Cooperative Association's community prioritization survey, and the Forest Service's Central Tongass project.
The community prioritization survey was the conclusion of several months of work by Ruby McMurren and Talea Massin of the WCA, working under an Administration for Native Americans grant to combat the outmigration of Wrangell's native community. The survey they recently put out, with the help of Rain Coast Data, garnered over 400 responses from across the community. These responses are designed to help figure out what the public wants to see improved around town, especially in the areas of housing, economic development, and healthcare.
Among some of the ideas being put together, according to McMurren and Massin, include increasing the amount of outdoor recreation activities for youth, repairing aging infrastructure around the city, providing vocational training in the maritime industries for high schoolers, and organizing a tourism company within the WCA to promote Wrangell's historic and cultural assets.
Another item that was heavily discussed in the meeting was development of the old Institute property. Turning the property into a residential area, for example, could help alleviate some of the city's housing demands.
"We are looking at that as a potential partnership [with the city] there," McMurren said.
McMurren added that the ANA grant expires in late September, so she and Massin are working hard to wrap up their project as soon as possible. A full comprehensive action plan, of what the WCA hopes to accomplish, is expected to be ready for release in the near future.
Another topic covered in the meeting was the ongoing Central Tongass Landscape Level Analysis. This is a large project that is being undertaken by the Forest Service, covering both the Wrangell and Petersburg ranger districts. Klint Kolarich, Wrangell's new district ranger, Supervisory Forester Austin O'Brien, and USFS Team Leader Carey Case were present to answer questions.
The Central Tongass Project is looking at a series of long-term projects the Forest Service can do that seeks to improve recreational and economic opportunities within the two districts, while also maintaining minimal impact to the wider environment. The project is looking at a wide variety of projects over a 15 year period. All of these projects fit into four broad categories, Case said: Watershed restoration, vegetation management, recreation management, and access management.
Projects within the watershed restoration category include stream restoration, culvert replacement, and possibly stream or subsistence enhancements for fisheries. Vegetation management projects include things like timber harvests, Case said. Recreation management could include trail and cabin construction, facility maintenance, and future project development. Lastly, Case said, access management includes things like road management, subsistence needs, and shore-to-water access.
"So with the Central Tongass Project what you're seeing is something different where we're not planning out, 'Hey, here's all the specific things we're going to do in all these specific places,' but rather saying, 'Hey, we'd like to be able to better respond to things you'd like us to do over a longer term,'" Case said. "So we're trying to do a lot of our planning effort up front, but then provide more of a framework on how we can then implement certain types of projects as we move through the implementation phase."
"One of our challenges is how do we do more work, or plan for more work across the landscape, in a more efficient manner?" added Kolarich.
A draft environmental impact statement of the Central Tongass Project was released back in July. There is a 45-day comment period open to the public, the Forest Service representatives explained, which closes on Sept. 16. There will also be public meetings regarding the project and the environmental impact statement in Wrangell and Petersburg soon. According to a letter from Petersburg District Ranger Ted Sandhofer, the Wrangell meeting will take place on Sept. 3 at the Nolan Center beginning at 5 p.m. The Petersburg meetings will take place on Sept. 4 at the Petersburg Lutheran Holy Cross House at noon and again at 5 p.m. Hearings regarding subsistence users and the project will take place after the public meetings. More information regarding the Central Tongass Project can be found online at http://www.fs.usda.gov under the "Land Resources and Management" tab.
Reader Comments(0)