I asked park ranger Travis Russell this week what was the main goal of the recent work along the Chilkoot River. He said, “To fix the road.” Unfortunately, the road was never the issue at Chilkoot. The issue was people and how to protect resources there – including world-class bear-viewing and sport-fishing – amid an exponentially increasing number of visitors.…
By winning an Olympic gold medal in swimming as a high school student, Lydia Jacoby rocketed herself to the planet of Alaska Women Sports Gods. Libby Riddles lives there. So does Kikkan Randall. But if recent history is any measure, the place could get crowded soon. Since the 1972 passage of Title IX, federal legislation that gave young women the…
It’s time for Haines to break it off with large cruise ships. Twenty-six years after building a downtown dock to lure them here, it’s clear they’re not coming. And we should be glad for that. With COVID-19, the mega-ships have proved themselves virtual germ baths, as if that wasn’t already clear during norovirus and other ship-board outbreaks. Moreover, projections about…
Note to future Haines Borough Assemblies: You’re probably involved in thievery if you’re using the 1 percent sales tax for tourism promotion and economic development for purposes other than funding your tourism department and the Haines Economic Development Corporation. The theft of this fund by assemblies and managers is a little-noticed but sad story: Little noticed because most people in…
(This essay contains material included in my letter-to-the editor on Lutak Dock published in July 8 CVN.) At the Haines Borough’s July 24 open house meeting on rebuilding the Lutak Dock, the public heard a lot of grandiose statements by the Haines Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Conference and others about how important the dock was to the town, state, and…
“There’s always time for a beer and a nap somewhere along the line. Otherwise, you’re making a serious mistake.” Haines sculptor Judd Mullady The rough-hewn rock carver knew this place better than it knows itself. Ours is a nap and a beer town. Except for a few pilings seen only at low tide, the great canneries are gone. Fort Seward…
If you’re housebound or colorblind, here’s a news flash: The dandelions won. About a dozen years ago, the science people warned us of invasive weeds making their way toward town. Bad players like dandelions, hawkweed, and Himalayan balsam would take over our lawns and roadsides, strangling out our shooting stars, fireweed and forget-me-nots. This was back during the Obama administration,…
Haines Borough leaders are increasingly looking at permanent summer closures of the town swimming pool as a way of saving money in the government budget. Summer closures have occurred in the past, but most of those were scheduled primarily for conducting necessary maintenance and upgrades. The idea of permanent summer closures struck a nerve with lap swimmers, families of competitive…
Our town’s two most interesting places are in a swamp and a burnt-out building foundation. Credit the Alaska Arts Confluence and the Chilkoot Indian Association for vision, the kind we need desperately at city hall. The CIA, a Haines-based tribe, is now completing a mile-long extension to its Sawmill Creek wetlands interpretive trail. The tribe has built the best trails…
The Lutak Dock is no longer necessary for the town to receive its freight and groceries, so why is the Haines Borough Assembly looking to spend $26 million or more to rebuild it? That’s a question you need to ask your representatives on the assembly. Whose bidding is the assembly doing? And why are taxpayers paying for it? The Haines…