Southeast Alaska trollers will now have a summer season for king salmon after all. The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this morning (on Wednesday 6-21-23) ordered a stay of an earlier lower court ruling that would have closed the fishery indefinitely.

Alaska Trollers Association president Matt Donohoe was parked in his car when the email came through. He is rarely at a loss for words, but this news left him feeling elated, and for a moment, speechless.

“I’m over the moon,” said Donohoe. “But I’m so in shock and shaky that, you know, just emotionally that you know,  I don’t know what to think… I mean, I do know what to think, it’s great news.”

Back in May, the US District Court of Western Washington had ruled in favor of an environmental group seeking to halt commercial trolling for king salmon in Southeast. The Wild Fish Conservancy argued that the National Marine Fisheries Service had failed to comply with the Endangered Species Act in allowing the fishery, and that a population of about 72 Southern Resident Killer Whales were suffering as a result.

The lower court vacated the language authorizing trolling, effectively blocking the season which begins on July 1.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, the State of Alaska, and the troller’s association asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for a stay of that ruling – no later than June 23. That the decision came two days early was almost as surprising as the outcome.

“We were fairly certain that we were going to have a decision on the motion of the stay,” Donohoe said. “But what that decision was going to be, we didn’t know.”

A call to the Wild Fish Conservancy has not been returned yet.

Hundreds of pages of motions have been filed in the federal courts since the Wild Fish Conservancy first gave notice that it intended to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service in January, 2020.

The 9th Circuit’s stay order, however, is only five pages and among the most concise legal language of the entire case, stating “A flawed agency rule does not need to be vacated on remand, and instead may be left in place when equity demands.” This is legalese for “don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.” 

Having the National Marine Fisheries Service fix its language has been the crux of this case since it was filed, rather than identifying any specific harm from a relatively small fishery on the welfare of killer whales 800 miles away. It just took three years for the courts to spell it out.

“That language has been there right  in front of us all along,” said Deborah Lyons, who represents commercial fisheries on the Northern Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission.

“That just because the ruling (NOAA’s 2019 BiOp) was flawed doesn’t mean the fishery absolutely must be closed,” she added, “although that has been like typical court procedure, that the permit has to go away if the document is flawed. But  it clearly left room to make an argument that you know, if there are extenuating circumstances, you don’t just close a fishery reflexively.”

Those “extenuating circumstances” involve a 40-percent loss in income for the roughly 800 permit holders who would put out their hooks on July 1. The total harvest for commercial trollers this season is 149,000 kings – not a large take compared to other Alaska salmon fisheries like Bristol Bay sockeye – but the kings are incredibly valuable, and central to the Southeast Alaska identity and lifestyle for over a century.

Lyons believes salmon trollers – who are sometimes confused with trawlers, an altogether different kind of industry – were slow to tell this story.

“I think a lot of people just assumed ‘Well, you’re guilty. You’re catching fish the whales need. You should go out of work,’” said Lyons. “You know it was that simple. And in people’s minds, they did not understand the tiny amount of fish that we were catching, the amount of scrutiny we’re under, and we made not a great case defending ourselves on that front.”

There was consistent support for trollers across the region as the case progressed. Alaska’s Congressional Delegation weighed in with an amicus brief, and just last week, so did Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. “They’re our first line,” said Lyons, “that’s our food source in rural communities.”

Alaska Department of Fish & Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang had praise for the state Department of Law, but he also believes that it took a group effort to win the stay. 

“I’m incredibly proud of the coalition that gathered together to get people in line and supportive of the appeal,” said Vincent-Lang, “and I’m certainly happy the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with us.”

Winning the stay doesn’t necessarily mean winning the appeal (although there’s language that suggests the appellants have a good case). There is still much work to be done, both at the agency level, and in the courts.

In the meantime, Vincent-Lang says trollers can return to their work.

“We will open the fishery on July 1,” he said.

Southeast’s troll fleet has wrapped up what’s likely to be the end of its most lucrative fishery — summer kings. Early indicators are that the chinook were abundant during the two-day opener.

Deborah Lyons has been trolling off Sitka’s Baranof Island since 1985. She agrees the chinook were plentiful this year. And it’s a welcome change from the dire forecasts of recent years with record low returns and limited openers. 

“We had fish coming aboard four at a time on a line — and these are king salmon,” she said Thursday morning.

Lyons is also with the group Chinook Futures Coalition which advocates for higher salmon quotas for Alaska’s troll fleet. She says when the sun set on the fishing grounds, it was clear that the fleet was out in force.

“At night in the anchorage, it was just beautiful,” she recalled. “There was like 40 mast lights anchored behind Saint Lazaria. …You could see out behind Stika Point, other boats were out drifting. It was wonderful to see the numbers of fish.”

Conservation measures implemented in accordance with the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada limit the opportunity for the fleet to target king salmon. 

Southeast’s trollers had five days to target chinook in July. Under the Department of Fish and Game’s Southeast Alaska King Salmon Management Plan, that left 24,000 chinook to be caught in a second opener this August.

Sitka-based state area fisheries biologist Grant Hagerman says that target’s likely been hit in two days — but the agency won’t know for several weeks.

“We may possibly have a third chinook retention period for troll,” Hagerman said. “But that’s still to be determined.”

The troll fleet will continue to fish for other salmon species like coho and chum. But under regulation, fishermen must shake off the more lucrative kings that they might hook.

That’s not the case for non-resident anglers. Fish and Game had planned to limit visitors to catch-and-release until mid-September. But that’s been moved up. 

Bob Chadwick, Southeast’s regional coordinator for sportfish, says as of Friday, August 16, non-residents will be allowed to retain one king salmon that’s at least 28-inches long — for the rest of the year.

“We can resume the non-resident fishery and still stay within our allocation,” Chadwick said.

The management plan allocates about 25,800 chinook for the sport fishery. The waters around Haines and Skagway will remain catch-and-release for non-residents for another month. And regulations for Alaska resident anglers also remain unchanged.

“Take our fish, you take our lives,” shouted rally organizer Caven Pfeiffer. He, along with Deborah Lyons, Pat Kehoe, and other members of the Chinook Futures Coalition are calling for a federal review of Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Over 200 fishermen and supporters gathered at Eliason Harbor on Sunday with signs and voice raised. They made a direct appeal to President Donald Trump to get involved with Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations. Alaskan fishermen fear the state will agree to another cut to their king salmon allocation with Canada.

Downloadable audio.

Fishermen don’t tend to seek the limelight. But troller Caven Pfeiffer was advised that if he wanted attention on Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations beyond the fleet, he should consider lighting something on fire.

(Flare sounds)

He lit a flare, a common signal of distress, while standing on the bow of his boat before a crowd. He holds the red flame to a stack of paper. “This is my boat payment,” he said with relish while lighting the edges. The crowd laughed with grim recognition of the financial hardship they’ve experienced in the last few years.

Caven Pfeiffer lights paper copies of his boat payments on fire, to illustrate the financial hardship of being a troller. He shared with the audience he’s $500,000 in debt. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

King salmon runs are abysmal, and changing ocean conditions may have something to do with it. With state conservation measures leading to early closures and more restrictions, fishermen – and trollers especially – are being squeezed financially from all sides.

David Richey, who fishes off the Albee Rose, says it’s more than just their livelihoods at stake. “Hoonah, Juneau, Ketchikan, Craig…I mean all the coastal communities that have trollers that live within their ranks, all of those people…we actually live here. I believe it’s 88% of commercial trollers live in the communities of Alaska, so we’re your neighbors and we’re your friends. And if we’re driven out of business, it hurts us obviously, but it’s going to hurt communities too,” Richey said. The Alaska Trollers Association puts the resident count at 85%.

Organizers of the rally called for a federal review of the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Since the treaty was formed in 1985, Alaska’s share has been cut over 60%.

Taking the microphone, Deborah Lyons of the Chinook Futures Coalition recapped the history of these cuts and said the treaty process was broken. “If this is our future, every time we go the treaty, we give up fish, we’re dead. Our industry is history,” Lyons said.

Around 200 people gathered for the rally, which had chanting, live music, carrot cake, and speeches given off the bow of the F/V Sword. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

At a state-led Chinook Symposium in Sitka last month, Alaskan fishermen were told they may be cut again – between 5 and 10% for the next decade (depending on abundance). Lyons called on elected officials at every level to get involved.

“We’re asking for a coordinated effort between congressional delegation and the governor. And we’re doing it for you, the hardest working people in the world,” Lyons said with emotion in her voice. “And my family. You’re my family,” she added.

Pfeiffer, taking the mic back, wasn’t shy about appealing directly to the top. “Mr. President. We need your help. On Easter Sunday, my deckhand Sean Poffenbarger was lost at sea,” Pfeiffer said.

Poffenbarger, age 45, and Sean Elliot of Elfin Cove, age 49, went missing on April 1st near Peril Strait while attempting to salvage the grounded fishing vessel EH. Poffenbarger’s skiff was later found, along with Elliot’s body. Poffenbarger was never found.

Pfeiffer told the crowd that, in a different year, he and Poffenbarger would have been fishing winter kings through April 30th instead. The state closed that fishery early in mid-March of this year out of a concern for salmon stocks.

Pfeiffer’s point is that decision left fishermen like Poffenbarger without a job to do. “There’s no Walmart around here. There’s no Sam’s Club to work at. We’re Alaskans and we feed ourselves. All I got to say is, ‘You take our fish, you take our lives,” Pfeiffer shouted. The crowd echoed his words. “You take our fish, you take our lives!” The rallying cry spoke not only to the financial stress fishermen have endured, but the emotional toll too.

During a “Down on the Docks: Save Our Salmon: rally on Sunday (06-24-18), fishermen gathered in Eliason Harbor and marched through Sitka with signs. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

The crowd then fanned out, marching down Katlian Street with signs. Jackie Foss pushed her kids – ages three and five – in a wheelbarrow. Her worst fear is that her family will have to quit fishing, depending on the outcome of treaty negotiations. Her biggest hope is that the treaty delegation shares more with the public of what’s being discussed behind closed doors.

“We’re a young fishing family. The thought of taking on more debt to get a smaller and smaller piece of the pie…it’s frightening. I can’t settle myself with that. I can’t put my kids future in jeopardy for something that might be there,” Foss said.

This is the second rally Sitka has seen this week condemning the treaty process, which is still underway. Alaska’s negotiator, ADF&G Deputy Commissioner Charles Swanton, lives in Juneau and was not present at the rally to offer comment.

A former salmon troller himself, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott agrees that the cuts in the king harvest that Alaska has taken over the years shouldn’t be considered the new “floor” for renegotiating the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada. Nevertheless, he doesn’t agree that the state’s negotiators are being “outgunned” at the treaty table, as the Chinook Futures Coalition claims. (KCAW photo/Katherine Rose)

Alaska Lt. Governor Byron Mallott supports Alaska’s Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiating team, although he believes Alaska fishermen have been disadvantaged by the international agreement in the past.

The Pacific Salmon Treaty is up for renewal this year. It’s coming under close scrutiny as Alaskan fleets are looking at deep cuts to their traditional harvests, to protect stocks.

Downloadable audio.

Lt. Gov. Mallot was in Sitka recently (3-21-18) at the invitation of the Chinook Futures Coalition, which was holding a forum about what it perceives as a critical overlap of conservation concerns and the treaty — which the coalition’s executive director, Deb Lyons, considers seriously flawed.

Mallott didn’t attend the forum itself, but he did sit down for lunch with the panelists ahead of the event, and listened to their message.

As a former salmon troller himself out of Yakutat and Sitka, Mallott likely wasn’t hearing anything he didn’t already know.

He stepped away from the table for a few minutes to speak with KCAW.

KCAW – Do you think the treaty process has been unfair to Alaska in the past, and do we need to be tougher at the negotiating table?
Mallott – Alaska has been disadvantaged. The harvest levels for particularly chinook salmon have been reduced by 50-percent roughly over several decades of treaty management. And the concern among fishery leaders is that if that reduction now is used as the floor for continuing management or for treaty policy, that it disadvantages Alaska in a manner that is outside what the science might show.

But Mallott agrees that while some have real concerns over the treaty process, it’s the process we have, and it’s in the best interests of Alaskans to be on the same page.

Mallott – So we need to have that conversation, so that when decisions are made people know upon which basis — scientific, policy, management, stock assessments — that those decisions decisions are being made. And even if there is disagreement, people respect the process. And it seems that right now there is some concern with process.

Southeast trollers are still feeling the sting from last summer’s decision to not open the king salmon season a second time.  (And they took additional cuts in the winter and spring fisheries, following action by the Alaska Board of Fisheries.) Although the closure was designed to protect critically-low escapement in three of the region’s major river systems, Deb Lyons and the Chinook Futures Coalition think the closure was a blunt tool — and hurt far more fishermen than save chinook.

In a public presentation that she’s given at least three times, Lyons is putting some of the blame for the closure on Deputy Commissioner of Fish & Game Charlie Swanton, who is also one of Alaska’s lead negotiators on the Pacific Salmon Treaty.

The treaty team is appointed by the governor’s office. Mallott says Swanton has his full support.

Mallott – I believe that the negotiations that are underway now, that Commissioner Swanton and his team will continue to act in Alaska’s best interests. However, they will come back and have conversations here in Alaska with those that are affected, and Alaska’s principal policy makers, and that their views and their determinations will be considered as vital to the final decision-making process.

The Salmon Forum in Sitka took place (3-21-18) while treaty negotiations were occurring in Portland, Oregon. Sitka troller Dennis Longstreth advises the Pacific Salmon Commission on its Northern Panel. He’s unhappy with the timing of the forum, and with the schism that others in the fleet are trying to create around Swanton.

In an email to KCAW from Portland, Longstreth describes a polar opposite view of the situation:

“It is important that our Treaty commissioner have a high position in ADF&G so that he can direct the resources that we need.” he writes. “The Treaty team totally supports Charlie as our commissioner and lead negotiator. It is a great team and we work very closely together. There is no one prepared to take Charlie’s place.”

Longstreth says Alaska takes its “brightest and best” department staff to negotiations, and he disputes the assertion by the Chinook Futures Coalition that Alaska is “outgunned.”

Mitch Eide is a seiner, and the president of the Pacific Salmon Treaty Coalition — which last year dismissed Deb Lyons as its executive director. He’s not willing to discuss whether personal politics are in play, but he points to broad support for Alaska’s negotiators from seiners, gillnetters, and the sport fishery. “The rest of the stakeholder groups support the treaty team,” he said, in a recent phone call with KCAW.

Although trollers by far have the largest stake in chinook, the net groups won’t have an agreement with Canada on other species like sockeye — until king salmon is settled. Eide is an alternate on the Northern Panel, and a fully-informed bystander in what are otherwise closed-door negotiations.
He thinks Alaska’s team is doing its job, under the extraordinarily difficult challenging circumstances of having negotiate for allocation, while also contemplating extreme closures to protect chinook.

“It’s horrible what’s happening (the closures), but the alternative is to watch the stocks go away.”

Trollers tied up in Sitka’s ANB Harbor. Under an action plan approved by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, winter trolling for kings closed in Southeast on March 15 — a full 6 weeks earlier than usual. The Chinook Futures Coalition supports conservation measures to protect dangerously-low stocks in Southeast’s big river systems, but director Deb Lyons believes politics are in play as well. (KCAW file photo)

Southeast salmon fishermen are pushing back against deep restrictions in the king harvest this season, saying the problem is as much political as it is biological.

The fishing advocacy group Chinook Futures Coalition is holding a forum in Sitka this Wednesday afternoon (3 p.m. – 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, Harrigan Centennial Hall) to shed light on how negotiations with Canada have disadvantaged Alaskan fishermen — even as the state works to address a serious conservation problem.

Downloadable audio.

At least half of January’s state Board of Fisheries meeting in Sitka was dedicated to hashing out a fishing plan for the winter, spring, and summer that would protect king salmon trying to return to the Chilkat, Unuk, and King Salmon rivers.

Dozens of salmon fishermen testified that last season’s emergency closures were unwarranted — coming too late to benefit the fish — and only harmed the fishing industry, to the tune of almost $3 million.

At a February meeting of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce, speaker Deborah Lyons with the Chinook Futures Coalition, argued that Southeast trollers gave up 31,000 kings to allow only 160 to escape into their home rivers.

Salmon fishermen historically have had a good working relationship with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, but the decision to never hold a second king opener in August — when the fleet usually catches about 30-percent of its allocation — Lyons believes was unjustified.

“So people were questioning the department. ‘How many fish do you think you’re saving for a conservation concern? Those fish are already in the rivers.’ Then here comes another reason, ‘Oh, we had to do it for the treaty.’”

That’s the Pacific Salmon Treaty, and Lyons is an expert on the subject. She served on the Northern Panel from 1995-1999 — one of four regional panels which advise the treaty commissioners, and she also served on the Alaska State Board of Fisheries from 1990-1993.

The Pacific Salmon Commission estimates the abundance of king salmon in the Gulf of Alaska, and negotiates the harvest allocation between the United States and Canada.

Lyons told the Sitka Chamber of Commerce that over the last three decades Alaska had already negotiated away 49-percent of its historic harvest, to protect stocks in Canada.

She believes that preventing Alaskan trollers from harvesting those 31,000 kings last August only meant that they would be caught in Canada and Washington. She told the Sitka Chamber that it was a blunder.

“So this was a classically horrible error in judgment from the people we love so much at the Department of Fish & Game. It really hurt our community.”

The current agreement negotiated under the treaty went into effect in 2008 and will expire at the end of this year. She’s calling on Gov. Walker to up Alaska’s game during negotiations this time around, because “we have been terrible negotiators in the past.”

“We keep doing the same thing, and expecting a different result. We send a fisherman and a scientist into a negotiation room against professional diplomats, federal officials from Canada, tribal attorneys from the Pacific Northwest Tribes, and government attorneys from the National Marine Fisheries Service. We are outgunned.”

One of the U.S. treaty commissioners — Charlie Swanton — holds the number 2 job at the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, and is in charge of the state’s commercial fisheries. Lyons suggested that Swanton’s overlapping duties as treaty commissioner and a state fisheries manager influenced ADF&G’s decision to close both commercial trolling and sport fishing for kings last August, and may have circumvented the state’s traditional management process.

Lt. Governor Byron Mallott is scheduled to attend the Salmon Forum in Sitka, if developments in the legislative session in Juneau don’t keep him away. Other members of the panel include Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association director Linda Behnken discussing the economics of the small-boat fleet, Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association general manager Steve Reifenstuhl will talk about the challenges of “marked select” fisheries, a program suggested by the Department to tag the majority of hatchery-raised king salmon. Jim Moore will represent the Alaska Trollers Association, along with fellow trollers Eric Jordan and Matt Donahoe.

Deborah Lyons won this year’s Raven Radio raffle, earning two tickets from Alaska Airlines. Her name was pulled from the bunch by Development Director Kelsie Barbour. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Deborah Lyons is the winner of Raven Radio’s annual raffle, winning two tickets anywhere Alaska Airlines flies with no blackout dates.

Lyons’s name was drawn by our new Development Director Kelsie Barbour on Friday, October 20th, which happened to be Barbour’s first day of work. The host of Off the Cuff and former board member was hired this month to fill the big shoes of Amy Kramer-Johnson, who was Raven Radio’s Development Director for 14 years. Welcome aboard Kelsie!

As for Lyons, she is considering using her tickets for a transcontinental trip en route to Ireland, a beach getaway to California, or somewhere else down south. We appreciate everyone who purchased a raffle ticket. All proceeds benefit Raven Radio. Thank you to Alaska Airlines for making this raffle possible.

Despite the poor salmon forecast for 2017, winter trolling has meant another payday for many of these trollers in Sitka’s ANB Harbor. Through April 10, trollers have landed 20,000 winter kings, about half of them in Sitka. (KCAW file photo)

King salmon fishermen in Southeast Alaska will see a significant reduction in their harvest this season.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced on Monday (4-10-17), that trollers will be allowed over 100,000 fewer fish than last year, under management guidelines negotiated under the Pacific Salmon Commission.

And it’s unlikely that trollers will be able to make up the difference in their fallback species — chum — if forecasts prove correct.

KCAW’s Robert Woolsey attended the spring troll meeting in Sitka and filed this report.

Downloadable audio.

Weak wild returns, plus treaty politics combined to reduce the projected troll harvest of chinook salmon in 2017.(Flickr photo/Kegger)

Trollers were clearly discouraged by the announcement, but it was not unexpected. King salmon, or chinook, are not returning to their home rivers in Southeast to spawn in sufficient numbers. Four of the region’s six major chinook-producing rivers are forecast to fall at-or-below escapement goals this summer, continuing a downward trend that began in 2012.

King salmon trolling is divided into three seasons: spring, summer, and winter. With only 155,000 kings to catch over the entire year, Southeast trollers could have an especially short summer season.

Grant Hagerman is the regional troll fish biologist for ADF&G.

“Well, a lot of it depends on where we’re at after winter and spring closes, if we carry tens of thousands of extra fish in, but yeah, we could be looking at somewhere less than five days.”

Summer king trolling opens on July 1, and sees around 900 boats on the water. Last year, summer kings averaged about 12 pounds dressed, and brought in an average of $5.10 per pound.

Managers try to limit trollers to about 70-percent of the summer harvest in that first opener. Sitka-based troller Eric Jordan has co-authored a proposal to the Alaska Board of Fisheries to further restrict the July king harvest to 60-percent. Jordan’s hope is to see better value on the kings caught later in the summer.

“The fish are worth more, they’re bigger, and the catch rates are less in August, so please, do not end up catching the whole quota in the first few days of July.”

Winter king trollers get the best value for their harvest. As of April 10, trollers had landed almost 20,000 kings — about half of them in Sitka. The price for winter kings hit $10 per pound in January, and has remained high. Managers expect the strong harvest to continue through the end of April, when trollers will have landed about 45,000 chinook.

Some of this year’s reduction in Alaska’s share of king salmon has less to do with poor escapement, and more to do with the politics of the management arrangement with Canada, or the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Although Alaska’s wild stocks are in a down cycle, hatchery production coastwide is sufficient to support a larger harvest. But because some chinook runs outside of Alaska are in trouble, treaty commissioners ratchet down the chinook Abundance Index (AI), which then draws down the harvest targets.

Deb Lyons is a troller, and the executive director of the Pacific Salmon Coalition, which represents Alaskan interests before the commission.

“We know the treaty’s badly broken, when you take depressed stocks that we don’t even catch, and use it as a way to restrict our harvest on components of our stock that are robust, hatchery-enhanced fish. They limit our access to fish at every turn. That was a big thing when the treaty was signed was that it was a rebuilding program, and fishermen in Alaska would share in rebuilding. And it’s one of the most bitter things I think for everyone here to see what this thing has become.”

The low abundance index and low wild escapement amount to a combination punch for trollers who target chinook in the spring fisheries, beginning May 1. ADF&G biologist Hagerman says the department is limiting fishing days, or delaying the spring trolling seasons around Juneau, Petersburg, and Ketchikan to as late as June — and closing the Baht Harbor fishery altogether.

As a result, more boats may be converging on the Sitka area, where there are no planned restrictions since spring fisheries target primarily kings produced in hatcheries.

And with kings down this year, it’s unlikely that chum will save the day. The Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association still hasn’t unraveled the mystery of weak returns at its Hidden Falls Hatchery, where chum once poured in by the millions. NSRAA is forecasting a return of only 500,000 chum at Hidden Falls this year, and a combined run of 2.1 million at all its projects.

The news prompted Dale Kelley, director of the Alaska Trollers Association, to turn her thoughts to coho: “We’ve got to hope the coho are abundant, vibrant, and huge because we’re going to need them this year.”

Downloadable audio.

Lynne Brandon, parks and recreation manager for the city of Sitka, stands outside the city office. (AP Photo/Daily Sitka Sentinel, James Poulson)

After thirteen years as the City’s Parks and Recreation Manager, Lynne Brandon will assume a new role as Executive Director of Sitka Trail Works next month. She will be taking over for longtime director Deborah Lyons.

Brandon talked about her passion for recreation and creating accessible walking opportunities that provide benefit for the greatest number of Sitkans. She spoke proudly of expanding the Starrigavan Recreation Area, creating a skate park at Moller Field, and working alongside Lyons on the final phase of the Cross Trail Multimodal Path. At Sitka Trail Works, she hopes to attract new walkers to Sitka’s trail systems.

For further information, please contact Lynne Brandon of the Sitka Department of Parks and Recreation at 747-1852, or Deborah Lyons of Sitka Trail Works at 747-7244.