The Way We Were

July 14, 1921

The movement which began here late in May to ask for an open season on beaver and marten for Southeast Alaska is gaining momentum, and the city council is asking other cities and towns of Southeast to help in the matter. At a meeting held by the citizens of Wrangell, resolutions set forth the fact that beaver and marten have become so plentiful that there is no longer any need for their protection, and that the damage they cause to the fishing industry is going to work a hardship on the area’s residents. An open season on these animals would relieve the pressure, said a resolution sent to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. The city clerk has been instructed to prepare resolutions and to send them wherever they would help the matter.

July 12, 1946

Just like old times, the Farwest Cannery whistle blew Thursday morning at 7 o’clock to call its crews to work after the previous day’s opening of the fishing season at Anan Creek. Many boats from town, carrying fisherman, fish buyers and sightseers, made the trip Wednesday and on returning reported Anan fishing as the best in several years. Estimates put the fish at 100,000 in the creek, and Wrangell’s Farwest Cannery brought in 6,000 the first day with about the same number being brought in each day since. A total figure of the fish take from Anan was not available today, but it was reported there were 23 buyers on the grounds the opening day. Those who walked up the creek said the creek was thick with fish, which bodes for a good escapement.

July 16, 1971

A contract for design of a citywide sewage collection, treatment and disposal system has been awarded by the city council to a Ketchikan firm. Councilmen on Tuesday named Engineering Associates Hill, Ingman & Chase to prepare the plans. The firm, in a proposal to the city, estimated the cost of design at $15,000. The contract also will call for preparation of applications for state and federal grants to help finance the system. City Manager Kester Dotts said Wrangell is complying with a federal directive that calls for communities to have sewage disposal systems by 1972. Currently, Wrangell discharges raw sewage into the strait and into the harbor. Health officials have warned that the sewage is polluting area beaches. It is anticipated that state and federal grants will pay for most of the system construction.

July 11, 1996

This year, the Alaska legislature considered a 10-year master plan for state prisons, asking for $219 million for expansion and renovation of the state’s existing 12 prisons. Among the places mentioned as possible sites for a new

prison were Adak (the former military base in the Aleutians); Delta Junction and its

soon-to-be deactivated Fort Greeley; and Wrangell. Since the initial visit last year, neither state Sen. Robin Taylor nor Mayor Doug Roberts have been in contact with the private prison operator interested in operating the new facility. The proposal remains simply a possibility — one of many to bring an economic base back to Wrangell. Mayor Robers is intrigued by the idea of building a prison on Wrangell Island, but said there are many questions that need to be answered. Would residents here support the idea? Wrangell residents will be asked for their opinions in a city community survey due out soon.