Category: Alaska News

The state of Alaska is starting to plan where new trails or roads may branch off the Dalton Highway in Interior Alaska.

The choices made during the process likely have implications for hunting, fishing and tourism access, as well as the hundreds of people who live in the sparsely populated area.

On Wednesday, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources announced that it will take public input through late June about “public access routes to and across state selected lands” near the Dalton Highway.

The proposed Ambler Road intersection with the Dalton Highway is authorized under a separate program and is not being considered in this new effort, a DNR employee said.

State law says the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has the authority to authorize branch access from the Dalton Highway between the Yukon River and the southern boundary of the North Slope Borough.

This week’s announcement comes after the federal government withdrew claims to more than 2.1 million acres of land along portions of the highway. That withdrawal would allow the state to claim the land under the Alaska Statehood Act and take ownership.

Environmental groups have filed suit to stop the transfer, and the case remains in court.

No public meetings on potential intersections and trail access have been scheduled yet, but DNR said they will be subject to public notice and listed online.

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Reporter James Brooks regularly requests public information under the Freedom of Information Act and uses public documents, including those available through Alaska’s Court system, to do his job. As we observe Sunshine Week, an annual event that highlights the importance of open records and transparency in government, he shares a few thoughts.

This month, the state of Alaska filed lawsuits against six national crowdfunding websites, accusing them of illegally using the identities of Alaska charities and illegally raising money on their behalf.

These are big cases with major national implications.

They’re also going to be difficult to follow.

The Alaska Court System does an excellent job of listing new cases — it publishes lists of new civil and criminal cases daily — but when it comes to automatically notifying people about ongoing civil proceedings, there’s room for improvement. 

There’s no way to be automatically notified when there are updates to civil cases, such as when someone files a motion, makes a written argument or schedules oral arguments.

That might seem like a niche problem, but it’s one that has implications across the state. 

An individual Alaskan might be able to keep track of a case they care about by checking Courtview on a daily or weekly basis, but that process is physically impossible for a reporter who might want to follow dozens or hundreds at a time. 

If a reporter doesn’t know about something, they can’t report on it. While court rules set specific timelines for some filings, it’s impossible to predict the unexpected, and a reporter can’t ask for a file if they don’t know it exists. 

While PACER, the federal court system’s online portal, is an unaffordable mess that charges 10 cents per page, it at least is capable of automatic notices that instantly alert reporters of newsworthy developments.

In a perfect world, there would be enough reporters to make regular checks on all cases of interest. We don’t live in that perfect world.

Alaskans filed 2,569 civil cases in Alaska superior courts during the last fiscal year. There were more than 7,500 civil cases in district courts during the same period.

The Alaska court system has a useful system, TrueFile, for following criminal cases. There isn’t a similar system for civil cases, and there’s a reason for that: Civil courts deal with things like divorces and similar actions that are normally kept confidential. 

Alaska has a constitutional right to privacy, after all. 

But what about issues of public concern? Without a notification system, it’s impossible to stay abreast of what’s happening. 

We know the court system is working on this problem — at the Beacon, we’ve certainly pestered them enough — but because it’s Sunshine Week, we thought we should shed a little light on a problem we’ve been dealing with for a long time. 

The court system has been doing a good job of improving access. When we asked for a list of newly filed cases, they added it to their website. 

At courthouses, there are now public terminals where reporters and members of the public can examine documents immediately, in any case, without cost. That lets us easily keep an eye on things across the state.

But for all those improvements, there’s still room for things to be better.

The lack of automatic notification is a problem for accused and accuser alike. If a business is accused of violating Alaska’s law requiring good faith and fair dealing, it’s easy for a reporter to know about and report on the accusation.

But under the current system, it’s much harder to know if that accusation is dismissed or withdrawn, which makes it less likely to be reported upon.

Reporters can ask the court to add a case to a list of most requested case files, but it’s a manual process that requires a lot of work by court staff. 

The court system’s goal is to provide equal access to justice, but we note that equal access isn’t possible without information.

If the court system is reluctant to create an automatic notification system because of privacy concerns, an alternative would be to allow reporters and members of the public to ask to be added to existing email distribution lists for individual cases.

Judges might be reluctant to do this, so instead of asking for voluntary compliance, it would be better to enact a court rule change and require them to comply. 

Attorneys involved in cases are already notified automatically by email about filings in cases that they are involved in. 

If members of the public and reporters can be added to those distribution lists, it would fix the issue and lead to better reporting.

That’s in the interest of all Alaskans, not just those of us here at the Beacon.

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At least one Canadian brewery, Yukon Brewing, is skipping this year’s Great Alaska Craft Beer and Home Brew Festival.

Yukon Brewing marketing coordinator Kateryna Osypova said the reason was simple: “We are not sure if we can guarantee the safety of our employees,” Osypova said, pointing out the ongoing tension between the U.S. and Canada.
Brewer Paul Wheeler and local Chilkat Valley residents say it’s a sign of declining Canadian tourism numbers at local events that they expect to see continue for a second year.

Wheeler, who owns Haines Brewing, said in previous years three Whitehorse breweries – Yukon Brewing, Woodcutter’s Blanket and Winterlong Brewing – would typically come to Brew Fest.

Woodcutter’s Blanket co-founder Scott Shailer said that the brewery was still planning to attend the festival. Winterlong Brewing staff were traveling and could not be reached by press time.

Wheeler said he has noticed a decline in visitors to the Haines brewery last year.

“We were 30 percent down here at the brewery,” he said. “Our friendly neighbor won’t come to visit us.”

In previous years, registration and ticket sales for local events has been a metric for measuring local tourism numbers.

However, this year Southeast Alaska State Fair director Jessie Sanders refused to share how many tickets have been sold for Brewfest events so far and would not provide details about how many breweries had registered. He said he did not want to share numbers for fear that they would be “interpreted by some audiences as a direct response to the current political climate.”

According to Haines tourism director Rebecca Hylton, Brew Fest typically sells around 1,700 general admission tickets. She said that attendance at both Brew Fest and the Kluane to Chilkat International Bike Relay were down approximately 20 percent in 2025 compared to previous years.

However, registration has also opened for the fifth annual Chilkat Challenge Triathlon, which is scheduled for the morning of May 23, before Brewfest festivities are set to begin. Steering committee member Gershon Cohen said that, so far, 35 people have registered. Last year’s triathlon had 60-65 participants.

“We would have had more, but we had more than 20 people cancel registrations who were from Canada, because of all the political craziness,” Cohen said.

There are currently seven Canadians signed up for the event, which is fewer than in previous years when Cohen said a third or even half of race participants were from Whitehorse or Haines Junction.

Most of the people who have registered thus far are from around Alaska, including Fairbanks and Sitka.

“There are still, obviously some tensions between our country and theirs, which it’s unfortunate that it spills over into something like this,” Cohen said.

Wheeler echoed Cohen, saying “It’s just going to be less people coming to town, supporting… any of the events Haines puts on.”

He said he hopes the Canadian breweries return; it might just take a little while.

The post For second year, Canadian participation dips in Haines events appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

A controversial oil and gas federal lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska generated a new bidding record, according to results released on Wednesday. It was the first auction held in that Arctic Alaska territory since 2019.

The lease sale produced $163 million in high bids, beating the $104 million mark set during the first competitive oil and gas lease sale in the Indiana-sized reserve, which was held in 1999 during the Clinton administration.

Eleven companies submitted bids for more than 1.3 million acres of the nearly 5.5 million acres offered in the auction.

Kevin Pendergast, Alaska state director for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, called the results “historic.”

“This is the strongest sale we have ever had in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska by nearly every measure. It makes clear that for the NPR-A, despite all the successes to date, the best days are still ahead,” Pendergast said at the conclusion of the bid opening, which lasted about two hours.

In statements issued after the bid reading, federal and state officials hailed the results.

“Today’s lease sale underscores the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska’s vital role in strengthening America’s energy security while fueling economic growth across Alaska,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement. “The Reserve was created to support our nation’s energy needs, and this successful sale demonstrates what’s possible when we align responsible development with that original purpose.”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy celebrated the results in a Facebook post that thanked President Donald Trump “for believing in the great State of Alaska.”

“Today’s record setting NPR-A lease sale is a major win for our state and our country. It reinforces Alaska’s role as a reliable energy producer, supports high-paying jobs for our families, generates additional revenue for the state, and strengthens American energy security at a time when energy security is more important than ever,” he said in the post. “Alaskans have demonstrated that we know how to unlock our vast resources while protecting the land for future generations. This is exactly the kind of balanced, commonsense progress Alaskans have been calling for.”

The lease sale was one of five mandated in the reserve over the next 10 years by the sweeping budget and tax bill called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” That mandate calls for lease sales to be conducted under a Trump administration management plan that opened 82% of the reserve to oil development. Previously, the Obama administration held annual lease sales in the petroleum reserve, but that administration’s management plan protected about half of the land through the designation of “special areas” considered important to wildlife and to Native cultural practices.

Prominent bidders were energy giants ConocoPhillips and Repsol, which are already active in the area. ConocoPhillips is developing a huge project within the reserve, the Willow Ppoject, that is expected to produce up to 180,000 barrels a day after its expected startup in late 2029. Repsol is a partner in another huge oil field, Pikka, which is on state land bordering the reserve and is set to start production this year.

The petroleum reserve and adjacent state and Native-owned lands along its eastern border are considered highly prospective for new oil finds because of a geological feature called the Nanushuk Formation that underlies it.

Federal officials auctioned tracts of protected land

Much of the bidding in Wednesday’s sale was for territory that was previously off-limits to oil development under protections that date as far back as the Reagan administration.

The inclusion of long-protected land in the sale, predominantly the area around ecologically sensitive Teshekpuk Lake, made the lease sale contentious. It is the subject of two lawsuits filed by Native and environmental groups.

Bids were accepted even for tracts within an area encircling Teshekpuk Lake, the North Slope’s largest lake, despite a federal court order issued Monday that reinstated development prohibitions there.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason on Monday issued an injunction reinstating a right-of-way agreement with Nuiqsut Trilateral Inc., a partnership of Nuiqsut’s city and tribal governments and Kuukpik Corp., the village for-profit Native corporation.

Nuiqsut, an Inupiat village of about 500, is the community closest to oil development occurring in the reserve, including the Willow project. Under the agreement, oil development is banned within the right-of-way territory, though the Nuiqsut Trilateral Inc. has the right to waive that ban.

The court ruling was not mentioned Wednesday when BLM officials in Alaska opened the bids.

But in a statement issued later in the day, the U.S. Department of the Interior acknowledged that BLM did sell tracts that lie within the Nuiqsut right of way and that legal issues concerning those tracts remain.

“We can confirm that lease offerings within the right of way are included in today’s sale. Any lease issuance for tracts within the right of way will be consistent with the court’s order,” the statement said.

DOI officials did not elaborate on how they would follow the court order. 

Criticism of expanded lease offerings, but praise as well

The Trump administration’s decision to auction off long-protected land, and especially its decision to press forward with leasing of tracts within the Nuiqsut right of way, dismayed critics.

Among them was Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, leader of one of the plaintiff groups suing the Department of the Interior over its management of the petroleum reserve. She criticized the Trump administration for abandoning protections deemed important for several generations of Indigenous North Slope residents.

She cited in particular a narrow corridor of land northeast of the lake that is important to migration of the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd. The BLM accepted a $2 million bid from a company called Epoch Oil and Gas LLC for a large block within that migration corridor.

“It’s very concerning that they’re not putting a better foot forward in protecting what’s important about this area,” said Ahtuangaruak, a resident of Nuiqsut and leader of the group Grandmothers Growing Goodness. “For me, it’s really important that we push back on the activities that are encroaching around us.”

She said it was hard for her to watch the latest lease sale unfold because it added to a pattern of development encroaching on the village and resulting problems like air pollution and the January accident that overturned a huge drill rig intended for ConocoPhillips work in the area.

“It’s painful every time I watch these because these are important traditional land use areas. And the further they get into the Teshekpuk Lake area, the more traditional land use areas are going to be impacted,” Ahtuangaruak said.

The Trump administration’s decision to press ahead with auctioning land within the area protected by the Nuiqsut Trilateral right-of-way agreement drew particular ire from critics.

A plain reading of the right-of-way agreement shows that leasing in that area is not allowed without a waiver from the Nuiqsut group, said Andy Moderow of the Alaska Wilderness League.

“For the administration to not even acknowledge that is absurd,” he said.

In contrast, a different organization representing Indigenous people of the North Slope, Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, praised the Trump administration’s management of the lease sale and celebrated its results.

“Today’s lease sale proves what we have been saying for years: when there is meaningful policy in place supporting responsible onshore development, industry interest will follow,” Nagruk Harcharek, Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat’s president and chief executive, said in a statement. “Over the past year, we have supported the Trump-Vance administration and Congress’s efforts to build more durable policies affecting our homelands. This successful NPR-A lease sale is a gratifying reminder (of) our work that will strengthen our self-determination for generations to come.”

Half of the royalties derived from oil production in the National Petroleum Reserve are designated for North Slope communities through a grant program established in federal law.

A competitive auction

Lease sale bidding was competitive, with some tracts receiving as many as six different offers. ConocoPhillips focused much of its bidding on tracts near the eastern border of the lease sale area and closest to its Willow project.

ConocoPhillips did not bid for any tracts within the Nuiqsut Trilateral right of way, however,

Exxon Mobil was among the companies that bid for tracts within the right-of-way area, emerging as the apparent winner of tracts along the southern shore of the lake.

The lease sale marks a return to Alaska of sorts for Exxon.

While it maintains part ownership of the Prudhoe Bay field and the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, Exxon pared down its Alaska presence in recent years. In 2021, it transferred the operator position at the Point Thomson field to Hilcorp. Earlier that year, the company dropped its longtime corporate sponsorship of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Also returning to Alaska through the lease sale is Royal Dutch Shell. The bids submitted by Repsol were in partnership with Shell Frontier Oil and Gas Inc., a company subsidiary. Several of those Repsol-Shell winning bids were for over $2 million per tract.

Shell engaged in an expensive Arctic offshore exploration program in past years that turned out to be a failure. After spending at least $7 billion and wrecking a drill ship, Shell in 2015 abandoned its Arctic offshore program and eventually dropped its leases in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The company in 2024 relinquished leases in state offshore territory.

Another active bidder was North Slope Exploration LLC, which is a unit of Denver-based Armstrong Oil and Gas. The company was the high bidder on over 70 tracts, according to preliminary results, adding to acreage in the reserve acquired during the 2019 lease sale.

The debate continues

While there is excitement among development supporters about the big sale, legal questions about the lease sale and the management plan under which it was conducted persist.

While Gleason on Monday issued the preliminary injunction reinstating the Nuiqsut Trilateral right of way, thus erecting a roadblock to any oil development in that approximately 1-million-acre area, on Wednesday she rejected the request from Ahtuangaruak’s group for a broader injunction that would have barred leasing in a wider region around Teshekpuk Lake.

Gleason, in her Wednesday ruling, said the Grandmothers Growing Goodness-Wilderness Society plaintiffs could try for another injunction should the BLM authorize any surface-disturbing activities in the formerly protected area.

That lawsuit remains active, as does the lawsuit filed by Nuiqsut Trilateral Inc., which is seeking a permanent reinstatement of the right-of-way agreement.

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Just a few minutes after the doors of the Alaska Native Brotherhood/Sisterhood Hall in Haines opened, more than 80 people were in line for food.

Many had walked in with their own dishes to share in the final community potluck meal of the season, organized by the Haines Chamber of Commerce and local chef Travis Kukull.

By the time the night was over, more than 100 people came through – which is on track for the other two community potlucks. Kukull said people have contributed between 30 and 40 dishes each night as well.

Monday evening’s meal was co-sponsored by the Chilkat Forever initiative and the American Bald Eagle Foundation. Chilkat Indian Village (CIV) tribal councilwoman Shawna Hotch said they put out a call to Klukwan residents to share anything that showcased and celebrated their way of life, so potluck-goers wound their way by tables full of raffle items, everything from laser printed formline earrings and beaded abalone, to smoked and fresh-packed salmon, hand-tied flies, mugs from the Chilkat Indian Village and a guided voucher to the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center.

She said she saw a great turnout, and more people signing up to support Chilkat Forever, which is a group led by the CIV tribal council working to protect the Chilkat River, including fighting against the development of the Palmer mine project.
“We’re open to sharing our way of life and knowledge with people who are willing to learn,” Hotch said.
While the potlucks are over for the season, Kukull said he submitted a letter of interest to the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program seeking $90,000-$100,000 to host them once a week for six months over the next winter.

Kukull said the free event is healthy for the Chilkat Valley.

“We’re not necessarily forcing people to eat healthy during this thing, though there are healthy options. I think it’s more the wintertime gathering space, getting together, that interaction that you have with your community members that you otherwise wouldn’t have on a Monday or maybe not even for a couple of months,” he said. “It means a lot to people.”

And, he said, at a time when economic pressures are increasing, he appreciates being able to give people a free option.

“Everyone has a right to affordable, nutritious foods. In rural parts of Alaska this is becoming increasingly untenable. If you don’t practice subsistence or farm, and you’re on a tight budget, then there is little assistance available to help feed your family. The potlucks are basic community stewardship, which addresses a real problem and invites everyone to participate,” he said.

The post More than 100 gather for final winter potluck, organizers seek funding to expand program appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Two assembly members say their use of Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence engine could be a model for future local government use; others have raised questions about errors in the document.

Assembly members Kevin Forster and Gabe Thomas last week introduced a package of potential regulations for heavy industry dubbed the “Safety Belt.” It’ll serve, they say, as a wide-ranging “menu” of policy proposals that have been put into place elsewhere in the state. The proposals range from toxic-materials-handling regulations to requirements for specific consultation with local tribal governments. 

Forster acknowledged after last week’s assembly meeting that the two used AI to help generate the 35-page package.

In interviews this week, Forster and Thomas described Gemini as a key tool for both research and drafting of the package. 

The initial research phase consisted of compiling heavy-industry regulations already on the books elsewhere in the state. Forster and Thomas said they leaned on personal experience, for instance Thomas looking for regulations in Tok after personal trips to the town. 

Forster spent time pulling from Juneau’s code — a neighbor and often a model for Haines’ municipal government. 

That step, pulling sections of code, involved Gemini. For Juneau, Forster said he prompted the AI engine to “give us some examples that could work (in Haines), and break down in layman’s terms what they did and the strategy behind them.”

That resulted in ideas for regulations like requiring heavy industry to pay all administrative costs associated with their business, which he said could have, for instance, paid for a Haines Economic Development Corporation mine-impact assessment done in 2019. 

Forster said they also fed broader prompts into the engine, like asking “what kind of precedent is there in the state for municipalities regulating heavy industry.” 

In addition to sourcing and distilling possible regulations, Thomas said Gemini helped write the package that was posted for the public, though he emphasized he and Forster “shifted it, changed it, worded it differently,” after getting the engine’s results. Forster described interactions with Gemini as a “constant back and forth.”

In their eyes, the heavy-lifting Gemini did was what made the package possible, allowing for a home-run swing on big, comprehensive policy options in a borough short on government capacity and resources. 

“We’re just two good old boys from Haines,” Thomas said. “We’re just trying to figure out how to protect our home.”

“Is (the draft legislation) at the same place as if you hired an administrative assistant and they spent a month and eight- or ten-thousand taxpayer dollars on it? No, it’s probably not at that same place,” Forster said. “But it’s the most robust thing we’ve gotten so far to start a community discussion.”

Some question the trade-offs made for the sake of efficiency. In a public comment at last week’s assembly meeting, former assembly member Natalie Dawson said she frequently works with AI, and saw errors in the document characteristic of the technology, or at least improper use of the technology. 

“AI models do a very poor job of interpreting legal cases, and there were some comments made about specific legal cases in that document that are not correct,” Dawson said. 

Another section of the Safety Belt lays out a timeline for the public hearings and votes on the package. Next to each event on the timeline is a “reference” to policies or sections of code requiring or justifying the event. 

In one instance, the document cites a section of borough code, 2.04.070, that doesn’t exist. When prompted to summarize the nonexistent section of code, Gemini writes a full summary, but links as its sole source the assembly documents about Safety Belt. If told that the section doesn’t exist, Gemini responds that “upon closer inspection of the actual Haines Borough Code, Section 2.04.070 does not exist.”

In another section, members of the public are instructed to connect input to the “Chilkat Valley Vision.” But there’s no indication of what the Chilkat Valley Vision is, and it doesn’t appear in other borough documents like the Comprehensive Plan.  

Forster said they were aware of the possibility of these errors, including when the AI engine gave them a version of a Skagway ore-containerization regulation that hadn’t passed. Forster said he noticed and directed Gemini to re-search for the version that had passed. 

But largely, the two sponsors are leaning on the Safety Belt’s status as a “draft” document. When asked about Dawson’s statement that she had found multiple errors characteristic of AI in the document, Thomas responded that “none of (the document) is set legislation.” 

“We just wanted something to start the discussion,” he added. “These are all things we’re explaining we can do as a community. We just want the community to have the discussion before something happens.”

There are multiple timelines at play with the Safety Belt. One is the prospect of heavy industry on the horizon. Getting regulations on the books before significant tree cutting or mining arrives — being proactive, rather than reactive, as Thomas puts it — is a major goal. 

The other timeline is more definite, and likely happening far sooner. That’s this October’s election: Forster and Thomas have laid out their timeline in such a way that the regulations can make it onto the ballot as a ballot measure for voters to decide on this year. 

The rationale, Thomas said, is that Forster’s term is expiring. 

“I want to be able to champion it with him,” Thomas said. Thomas described himself and Forster as partners from opposite sides of the aisle — a display to the community that the regulations are a pragmatic middle ground. 

“Him and I, we see eye to eye on a lot of things and don’t see eye to eye on other things, but we can work together. After the next election I don’t know if I’ll have someone to help me champion it.”

Aiming for this year’s election introduces a set of tight deadlines for ironing out the rough edges of the draft document. 

Borough Code requires the assembly take a final vote approving a ballot initiative at least 40 days before the election, in this case late August. All public hearings and amendments would have to go through before then. 

The schedule for the approval process the assembly signed off on last week sets an April 9 deadline for an initial round of public input on the draft. 

The Haines Borough Planning Commission is then set to hold a Safety Belt public hearing some time in June. The assembly’s public hearings are planned for July, before a final vote in August. 

If public input at hearings does result in substantive changes, assembly practice is to schedule additional public hearings to ensure the public can consider the final form of the bill, borough clerk Mike Denker said. For instance, recent cell-tower regulations went through six public hearings due to repeated amendments. Those additional public hearings, however, are not required by borough code, Denker said. 

The package will also go in front of the borough’s lawyers for a legal review. 

Beyond the results of the October election, the Safety Belt could serve as a test case for AI use at the borough level. 

“This is a different way to go about it and it’ll be a learning process about whether it’s appropriate or not,” Forster said. 

The post Despite errors, drafters see promise in AI assistance on new regs appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Californian Ross Tester has made a career hurtling off mountain faces across the world.  Standing above the Chilkat Valley’s Little Jarvis Glacier Friday morning was something different. 

From the starting gate of the 27-year-old skier’s Freeride World Tour run, Tester said the steepness of the pitch meant the mountain “rolled over” out of sight below him, meaning he was dropping in mostly blind. 

“A little scary,” is how he described it afterward. 

“A lot of the time we’re skiing stuff that’s a lot more low-key, whereas around here it’s such sustained, steep pitches. It’s very, very different from what a lot of us normally ski.” 

Down below, Craig Loomis watched the run at the Harbor Bar, where a TV showed a helicopter shot of Tester — just a speck and smudge of powder on the otherwise blank mountain face. 

It made Loomis emotional, seeing on the international broadcast the peaks he grew up on, around places like Big Boulder, Little Boulder and Muncaster creeks. As a kid, Loomis said he’d crawl on his stomach to look over the edges of the alpine spines. Never did he imagine people going over on skis and snowboards. 

It was Loomis who, late last winter, kicked off the start of a long chain of events: Stopping into the Fogcutter to practice for the Aaron Nash memorial pool tournament, he got to talking with someone who introduced him to a Freeride World Tour executive who also happened to be in the bar. 

Some time down the line, after communication between the Loomises and Freeride CEO Nicolas Hale-Woods and negotiations back and forth with the borough, freeriders were dropping in a couple thousand feet above the Klehini River.

Of course, it wasn’t just the pool-table brokering. Freeride and Hale-Woods had reason to come back to Haines after last holding the world tour in town in 2017. Hale-Woods this week called the Chilkat Valley’s terrain “some of, if not the best, mountains in the world.” 

Another ingredient in Freeride’s return was $75,000 Haines Borough residents paid in borough funds to the company, making it financially viable for it to stage an event in Haines. Still, according to the budget in the company’s contract with the borough, it expected to take a loss on the event. 

The borough’s payment has prompted questions about what kind of return residents might see on their investment. Some during the watch party at the Harbor Bar expressed frustration while watching the event. 

“Look at this,” resident Suzanne Vuillet-Smith said, pointing at the shots of the terrain on the broadcast. “We don’t need to beg people to come here.”

It’s true, many of the freeriders said, that they did not need to be begged to come. The existing skiing fame of Haines throws some doubt into the idea that the event might be impactful marketing for winter tourism in Haines.

Tester said he had been hearing specifically about the skiing in Haines since he was 10 years old, and called finally making it a “dream come true.” 

Chris Volkmann, a non-Freeride heliskier in town and a ski-patrol member at Alta in Utah, said he didn’t imagine the competition would be a big increase in exposure, at least in the big-terrain skiing community. 

“Everyone who does this knows Haines is the best,” he said.  

There was also an idea that Freeride would arrive with an influx of cash. Last year, in materials sent to borough officials, the world tour estimated it would add $416,000 in local spending the week of the event. 

Some businesses in town reported hot weekends, like Pioneer Bar and Bamboo Room owner Christy Tengs-Fowler, who said the weekend “helped pay the bills in the middle of a tough month.” 

But Freeride’s stay was shorter than expected, with competition happening two days early to catch a short window of clear weather, and athletes quickly left town afterward. Many said they were eager to get home after months of constant travel. 

While hard economic numbers aren’t yet available for this year, the last time Freeride came to Haines in 2017, direct spending appeared minimal: sales tax revenue from the month of the competition was lower than the same month the following year, without any ski and snowboard competition. 

But some say the benefits go beyond just heliskiing or short-term dollar amounts. That includes Loomis, who sees the tour as a symbol for the type of tourism economy he’d like to see grow in the Chilkat Valley. 

“I guarantee you, people watching this right now are going, ‘How can I get there? What do I have to do to see this pristine place?’” Loomis said. “As long as we don’t ruin it, as long as people want to see raw wilderness, this will last forever.” 

Likewise, borough tourism director Reba Hylton pointed to positive social media posts from Freeride athletes she said would help market Haines as an adventure travel destination. 

Loomis, an assembly member, is a vocal opponent of industries like large-scale logging and mining. In his mind, Freeride, and tourism focused on wilderness, bolsters that argument.

“To me, it’s unfathomable that we as humans don’t want to protect what we have here,” he said. “All the gold, all the timber, that’s nothing compared to what these (skiers and snowboarders) are feeling.”

The heliskiing industry has long had conflict with some conservationists in the area. But this weekend, it wasn’t just Loomis who pitched Freeride as a symbol for conservation in the valley. 

The Chilkat Indian Village’s Chilkat Forever initiative, which campaigns against local large-scale mining, posted on social media about what they said was the potential for the Palmer Project — a local mine exploration — to threaten “favored ski terrain.”  

Chilkat Indian Village tribal council president Kimberley Strong spoke at a Saturday night banquet for Freeride athletes and staff and delivered a related message. 

“When you were flying down those mountains … I was thinking about how when we look up at the mountains around us, especially when I’m in Klukwan, I was told that what we’re living in is a food bowl,” Strong said to the assembled competitors. “And you could see, all around you, the mountains that protect us and give us strength and courage to continue our way of life in the Chilkat Valley.” 

It’s not a consensus that Freeride is a symbol of an anti-heavy industry stance. Executives from the mining project were also in the banquet audience, and mine owner Viszla Copper’s logo was prominently featured on Freeride event branding after it contributed $25,000 to Freeride. 

But between mining and anti-mining, tourism and natural beauty, there did seem to be agreement that Freeride in some way symbolized what the valley was worth. 

Tengs-Fowler at the Bamboo Room talked about the different languages she heard flying around on the weekend — Italian, French, Spanish — all gathered at tables in her restaurant. 

When Freeride came to town in 2017, Tengs-Fowler’s son, Marty Fowler, worked for the competition as a photographer. After the event, Freeride asked him to stay on for the next competition in Verbier, Switzerland. 

The Fowlers then went on to Verbier, where Marty Fowler was with a camera on top of a peak in the Swiss Alps. Tengs-Fowler, meanwhile, was down below in the town center, surrounded by multi-million dollar chalets, she said, and a screen showing the competition. 

All of a sudden, on that screen in Switzerland a story or two tall, Tengs-Fowler remembers, a familiar sight popped up: “I’m standing there watching, and guess what comes up on the screen? The Pioneer Bar,” she said. “I got chills.” 

“Haines is definitely featured over there. I feel really lucky that people think of Haines that way and want to be here.” 

Same sentiment with Loomis: “I get emotional about being raised in this part of the world, about being an Alaskan. People envy us,” he said during the competition. Then he pointed at the helicopter shots panning up the long alpine spines. “People envy this.”

The pride will likely remain for some time, but what comes next? 

Freeride CEO Hale-Woods said whether the tour returns next year remains up in the air. 

“We would definitely like to come back. We’re going to debrief, check the return on investment for the borough and the media numbers, and the borough assembly will decide.” 

Editor’s note: The Chilkat Valley News’ Rashah McChesney partnered with the Harbor Bar to host the Freeride watch party. She did not take part in reporting on or writing about Freeride events as a result. 

The post Pride, and some frustration, from Freeride weekend appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Saturday, March 7

A caller on FAA Road reported flooding in the roadway. The borough Department of Public Works was advised and a Nixle alert was sent out.

Officers performed a follow-up report in the 300 block of Main Street.

An officer conducted a vehicle stop on the Haines Highway. A verbal warning was issued for headlights.

An officer conducted a vehicle stop on Main Street. A citation was issued for proof of insurance.

An officer conducted a vehicle stop in the 100 block of Third Avenue. A citation was issued for proof of insurance.

Officers performed a follow-up report in the 700 block of Fourth Avenue.

There were two EMS calls, one 911 hang-up call and six burn permits issued.

Sunday, March 8

A caller in the 200 block of Main Street reported an obstruction on the sidewalk.  An officer was advised.

A caller in the 1100 block of Mud Bay Road reported hearing an alarm at a neighbor’s house. An officer contacted the homeowner.
A caller on FAA Road reported a power line down in the area. AP&T was notified.
A caller in the 200 block of Main Street reported a possible violation of a protective order. An officer responded.
A caller in the 100 block of Main Street requested to speak with an officer regarding a civil case. An officer was advised.
A caller in the 200 block of Second Avenue requested a welfare check on a friend. An officer responded.
A caller in the 600 block of Haines Highway reported seeing two calves and a cow near the roadway and trails. A Nixle alert was sent.
A caller on the Haines Highway reported a semi-truck speeding toward town. An officer was advised.

Monday, March 9
A caller in the 50 block of Bjomstad Street reported firearms possibly missing or stolen. An officer responded.

Tuesday, March 10
A caller on Chestnut Road reported firearms possibly missing or stolen. An officer responded.
A caller in the 400 block of Main Street reported accidentally setting off a fire alarm. There was no fire.
An officer performed a follow-up report on Haines Highway.

Wednesday, March 11
An officer in the 900 block of Mud Bay Road performed a vehicle inspection.
A caller on Chestnut Road reported firearms possibly missing or stolen. An officer responded.
A caller on Piedad Road reported a moose in the area. An officer was advised.
A caller on Comstock Road turned in a found cell phone. The owner was contacted and picked it up.
An officer conducted a vehicle stop on Third Avenue and issued a verbal warning for taillight requirements.
An officer conducted a vehicle stop on Haines Highway and issued a verbal warning for taillights.
An officer conducted a vehicle stop on Haines Highway and issued a verbal warning for taillight and a citation for insurance and failure to register a vehicle.

Thursday, March 12
A caller on Four Winds Road reported a trespasser on private property. An officer was advised.

An officer performed a follow-up report in the 200 block of Main Street.
A caller in the 600 block of Haines Highway reported seeing two calves and a cow near the roadway and trails. A Nixle alert was sent.

Friday, March 13
An officer performed a follow-up report in the 100 block of First Avenue.
An officer performed a follow-up report in the 500 block of Main Street.
An officer performed a follow-up report in the 100 block of Main Street.
A caller at 18 Mile Haines Highway reported a theft from their home. An officer was advised.
Officers conducted a vehicle stop at Carrs Cove.
An officer conducted a vehicle stop on Main Street and issued a verbal warning for headlight requirements.
An officer performed a follow-up report on Union Street.
Officers in the 100 block of Main Street performed a building check.
Officers conducted a vehicle stop in the 200 block of Main Street and issued a verbal warning for headlights.
Officers on Second Avenue arrested a driver for driving while intoxicated.

Saturday, March 14
A caller in the 700 block of Small Tracts Road reported an altercation and harassment. Officers responded.
Officers in the 700 block of Small Tracts Road performed a welfare check.
An officer conducted a vehicle stop on Deishu Drive and issued a verbal warning for taillights.
An officer conducted a vehicle stop at 3.5 Mile Haines Highway and issued a verbal warning for headlights.

There were seven EMS calls, two 911 hang-up calls and 11 burn permits issued.

The post Blotter: March 7 – March 14 appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.