Author: Melissa Marconi Wentzel

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. issued a temporary restraining order on June 3rd against the one-halibut-a-day bag limit imposed on the Southeast Alaska charter industry.

A sales tax exemption for residential renters will stay on the books. On a split vote, the assembly last night (Tue 6-10-08) left in place the one-year old rental tax break, even though it has cost local government a half-million dollars. Most assembly members felt that now was not the time to shift a financial burden on to renters.

The sale of the former pulp dock and warehouse at Sawmill Cove has become a $3-million dollar proposition. In a purchase agreement approved last night (Mon 6/9/08) by the Sawmill Cove board of directors, the city of Sitka will still refund the $1-million-dollar purchase price of the property – but Silver Bay Seafoods will be compelled to invest another $2-million of its own money for additional repairs within the next ten years.

High gas prices won’t be an issue for at least two more Sitka motorists – and neither will the vehicle registration problems that have dogged the first electric car owner in town. Students in a community schools class are mid-way through retrofitting a Nissan pickup truck and a Geo Metro passenger car with high-power electric conversion kits. When these two vehicles roll out in a few days, there will be no telling them apart from any other car on Sitka’s roads. For complete information about the kits used by the class, visit http://e-volks.com/index.html

Naturalist Richard Carstensen thinks that the conservation movement’s emphasis on protecting roadless watersheds in the Tongass may have come at too high a price. The Forest Service in January released an amendment to the Tongass Land Management Plan that calls for re-opening timber harvests in the remaining old growth stands in previously-logged watersheds – areas Carstensen calls “hammered gems.” In the second part of a two-part interview, Carstensen talks with KCAWs Robert Woolsey about why he believes logged areas should be conserved, and why that opinion presents a challenge to the environmental community. Part 2 of 2. To read the 29-page essay by Carstensen, and co-author Bob Christensen, go to http://www.seawead.org/content/view/31/9/

The state Department of Education and Early Development has named Sitka resident William Hutton as Director of the state-run boarding school in Sitka, Mt. Edgecumbe High School. Hutton will take over the helm on July 1st. He replaces Bill Denkinger, who announced his retirement in February.

One of Southeast Alaska's leading naturalists believes that some of the region's most-heavily logged watersheds remain some of its most ecologically productive. After spending three years ground-truthing decades-old clearcuts, Richard Carstensen says many prime watersheds are damaged -- not destroyed -- and should not endure the additional logging called for in the recently-amended Tongass Land Management Plan. Part 1 of 2 with KCAW's Robert Woolsey

A landmark Southeast fishing lodge has bounced back, after a fire destroyed a major portion of the facility last September. Melissa Marconi Wentzel reports how Leonard’s Landing in Yakutat is rebuilding and anticipating a good season.

The Forest Service recently wrapped up a log cabin construction project in Sitka that could represent a shift in how the agency manages the Tongass. With a dwindling timber economy, the Sitka Ranger District is looking for new ways to maximize the forest’s resources, while supporting fish and wildlife. The agency last month (May) hosted a two-week log cabin construction class utilizing young growth Sitka spruce trees. The trees were harvested as part of a watershed restoration project in Sitka’s Starrigavan Valley. Melissa Marconi Wentzel reports how Forest Service staff and others hope the project will jump-start a new wood products industry in the nation’s largest national forest,

A Sitka resident’s efforts to register her electric car may lead to a change in state law. About three months ago KCAW’s Robert Woolsey took a spin with Megan Pasternak in her new ZENN car when it arrived in Sitka. Although the ZENN, or Zero Emmission No Noise vehicle, was equipped to travel at speeds up to 35 miles per hour, Pasternak has had to settle for a much less convenient 25 miles per hour in order to get the ZENN registered. Pasternak believes Alaska should join two other states in paving the way for medium-speed cars.