Author: Robert Woolsey

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.

The '09 budget for the City of Sitka is balanced – after some determined cutting on the part of both the assembly and the city administrator. The assembly entered the budget process with a deficit in the general fund of about $4-hundred thousand dollars. Over the course of three special meetings in May, the assembly worked to close that gap, but ended up divided over their role in the process.

The Food Network's Alton Brown, and Bon Appetit food editor Kristine Kidd spent an afternoon (5-22-08) trolling for kings in Sitka Sound, and touring the Seafood Producer's Coop. Both say they plan to promote Alaskan salmon to their audiences.

Sitka’s rural status may be in jeopardy, again. Under federal law, rural communities in Alaska have a subsistence priority in the management of wild resources. But for communities or areas that straddle the eligibility requirements, that priority is up for review every ten years. The Federal Subsistence Board held its last decennial review in 2006. At that time, Sitka narrowly retained its rural designation. The Alaska Outdoor Council is calling that decision into question. The Council last year appealed the Board’s ruling. That appeal is now up for review.

With the help of seventh-grade science students in Brenda Papoi’s class at Blatchley middle school, resource specialists in the Sitka Ranger District are beginning to study ways to rebuild the Starrigavan watershed, to once again allow fish and other species to thrive. The students spent a morning last week (Wed 5-14-08) gathering baseline data on the insects, stream bed, water quality, and forest in the valley – information that will benefit resource managers for decades to come. An audio postcard by student reporter Sage Saunders.

The Takatz Lake hydro project is back on the table for Sitka. The Sitka assembly met Wednesday evening (5-21-08) to discuss next year’s budget for the electrical department, but it may as well have been the first meeting of a local, sustainable energy task force. The discussion of the day-to-day costs of operating the electric utility took a back seat to planning for the day when Sitka is almost completely powered by electricity.

The declared candidates for the House District 2 seat currently held by Peggy Wilson met for the first time together in an on-air forum last week in Petersburg. The forum, hosted by public radio station KFSK, was part of the community’s Little Norway Festival. Robert Woolsey prepared this look at some of the issues the candidates addressed during the program.