Category: Alaska News

(The Center Square) – A 50,187-acre wildfire in Colorado has been declared the nation’s No. 1 firefighting priority.

Thursday night, showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low 46F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Friday, cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 54F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Thursday night, rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Friday, partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High around 70F. Winds WSW…

Thursday night, partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 51F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Friday, cloudy early with partial sunshine expected late. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 60F. Winds WSW at…

If you kneel in a patch of early summer tundra and listen closely, you may hear a faint, steady buzz rising from the mosses and dwarf shrubs. It’s the sound of Alaska’s native bees — a diverse, resilient group of pollinators that have evolved to survive some of the harshest conditions on the planet.

While many people picture honeybees when they think of pollinators, Alaska’s story is different. The state’s pollination work is carried out almost entirely by native bees, not managed honeybee colonies. These wild species have lived here for thousands of years, adapting to cold temperatures, short summers and unpredictable weather.

More than 100 species of native bees have been documented in Alaska, and researchers believe more remain undiscovered. These bees come in a surprising variety of shapes, sizes and colors — from large, fuzzy bumblebees to tiny metallic sweat bees no bigger than a grain of rice.

Among the 22 species of bumblebees in Alaska, these five are the most common pollinators:

Bumblebees (Genus Bombus) Bumblebees are the most visible and charismatic of Alaska’s pollinators. With more than 20 species statewide, they are essential to berry crops, wildflowers, and alpine plants. Species such as Bombus polaris and Bombus hyperboreus are specially adapted to Arctic conditions and can generate heat through rapid muscle vibrations. This allows them to fly in temperatures that would ground most insects.

Mining Bees (Family Andrenidae) These solitary bees nest in the ground, often in sandy or well‑drained soils. They emerge early in spring — sometimes before the last patches of snow have melted — taking advantage of the first available blooms.

Leafcutter Bees (Genus Megachile) Leafcutter bees are master builders. They cut circular pieces of leaves to construct nests in hollow stems, wood cavities, or abandoned burrows. Their strong jaws and efficient pollination behavior make them important contributors to both wild and cultivated plants.

Sweat Bees (Family Halictidae) Small and often metallic in color, sweat bees are abundant across Alaska. Some species nest in soil, while others use rotting wood or plant stems. Their small size allows them to forage in tight spaces and on delicate flowers.

Cuckoo Bees (Genus Sphecodes) These parasitic bees lay their eggs in the nests of other species. While their behavior may seem harsh, cuckoo bees are important indicators of ecosystem health — they can only survive where host species are thriving.

Alaska’s bees use a wide range of nesting strategies. Some dig burrows in soil warmed by the sun. Others occupy hollow stems, abandoned rodent tunnels or natural cavities in moss and tundra hummocks. These nesting habits make them vulnerable to habitat disturbance — even small changes in soil structure or vegetation can affect their survival.

Their foraging patterns are tightly synchronized with the short summer bloom period. When flowers emerge, bees must work quickly to gather nectar and pollen before the season ends. A delay of just a few days in spring emergence can mean the difference between a successful colony and a failed one.

Despite their resilience, Alaska’s native bees remain understudied. Many regions of the state have never been surveyed, and new species records are still being discovered. Programs like the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Alaska Bee Atlas are helping fill these gaps, relying on volunteers and researchers to document species across the state’s vast landscapes. Agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have noted the importance of these efforts in understanding pollinator health.

Understanding Alaska’s native bees is essential for protecting the ecosystems that depend on them. These insects are more than pollinators — they are indicators of environmental change, partners in food security and a vital part of Alaska’s natural heritage.

In the quiet hum of a bee moving through a patch of wild geranium, there is a reminder of the resilience and beauty of Alaska’s smallest wildlife.

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Sophia DeMarco was introduced  to the wild and wonderful world of square-dance calling in 2024. On Sunday she found herself teaching the foundational building blocks of the dance to about 148 people, her largest group to date. The Haines Art Confluence hosted the free dance at the Fort Steward art park on Sunday. Organizer Helen Alten says that this is the second year for the event which drew in about 50 square-dance enthusiasts the first year. DeMarco was bitten by the square-dancing bug at a Boise, Idaho square-dancing convention. She credits her sister, an old-time fiddle player, with the initial interest in the music style and a workshop in Boise for the newfound skills. She has been a guest caller at events but this is only her third time calling a square dance by herself. When she is not guiding dancers through various formations she is guiding kayak tours and driving a bus here in Haines. 

Craig Franke was at it again last weekend, helping with another community event. He was heaving bulky items into a dumpster side by side with neighbors at the Four Winds Resource Center’s annual junk collection event Saturday.

Community Waste Solutions collaborated with Stacie Powlison at the Four Winds Resource Center for the fundraiser, now in its fourth year.  Franke brings a dumpster to the Mosquito Lake School for community members to dump bulk trash. Community members donate to FWRC and CWS takes away the big stuff. This year some of the “big stuff” included flooring, a pile of water hose that was described as “generational collection,” cumbersome doors, sofas that have seen many a rest, all manner of broken tools and yard equipment, and a locked safe with no key. Neighbors discussed what might be in the safe while assisting with heavy lifting.

As residents of the upper valley descended on Mosquito Lake for the trash day event on Saturday they also could catch a glimpse of Jim Stanford improving the neighborhood. He was trimming the lawn on his zero-turn mower, as he has done for years at no cost to the community. He and Deb Stanford have lived at Mosquito lake since 1984. They raised a family there and enjoy seeing the recreation area used. The Stanfords donated their time and equipment to add a pickleball court recently. The upgrade will include equipment storage in the future, according to Stanford. They put up the net and painted the lines on the court and added a free-standing sign to share laminated official rules. He asks that the community keep it tidy and share equipment in a responsible way. See you on the court. 

Celeste Grimes led a nine-person moccasin-making class at Fort Seward recently. The four-day class included hands-on instruction for about 20 hours and was organized by Cory Grant at Tlingit & Haida. Grimes said she has been making moccasins for three years and this was her first time instructing the class. She was very impressed by the participants’ finished products. They learned how to make a pattern from each person’s foot and used leather and fur to handsew each pair.

Patty Campbell and a couple of Haines Little League board members worked together to insure that the Little League had uniforms for the season opener. The shipping situation was looking grim, as some have experienced here. The uniforms were stowed last minute in luggage returning to Haines following a vacation and hustled off to Campbell. She screenprinted and embroidered 60 shirts and 18 hats in just a couple of days. The Haines Little league home opener saw the Pirates beat the Mariners, 7-5. 

Sixty-year Haines resident Marilyn Wilson died on Friday, June 26 in Anchorage. Wilson grew up in Skagway in the 1950s but moved to the Chilkat Valley and went on to become the Alaska Native Sisterhood chapter secretary, then president. She was also a longtime organizer of the local Elizabeth Peratrovich Day celebration. Family members say they are working on funeral plans but don’t have a set date yet.

The post Duly Noted: Square-dancing, recycling and more appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

The board of the Four Winds Resource Center would like to thank Craig Franke and his staff at Community Waste Solutions for providing another wildly successful “Junk Day” on Saturday. Folks brought everything from defunct lounge chairs to the kitchen sink and the big dumpster was full to the brim by noon. Craig’s generosity and support for our center resulted in much appreciated donations. We, upper-valley residents, are so thankful for community leaders like Craig who go out of their way to make our lives easier with his recycle trailer and his “Junk Day” both provided at the Mosquito Lake School. Here’s to people helping people!

Julie Korsmeyer, FWRC Board President

The post Thank you for successful Junk Day appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Do you think political parties should choose who gets to run for public office when more than half of all registered Alaskans don’t belong to one? Do you think political contributions made by the super-rich and giant corporations should be anonymous? Do you prefer having more extreme candidates from the left and the right instead of candidates more willing to try and find common ground? If your answers are yes to all of the above, then by all means vote to repeal Ranked Choice Voting, RCV. 

RCV opponents claim it’s too complicated, but it is actually very straightforward. After an “open primary” in August where anyone can run for any office, the top four candidates are placed on the general ballot for the November election. You can vote for just your favorite candidate or choose to cast a second, third or fourth place vote for the other people in the race. If no candidate gets a majority of the first-place votes, the candidate with the fewest first-place votes drops out. If the dropped candidate was your first choice, your vote is transferred to your second choice and the ballots are counted again. The process repeats until one candidate receives a majority of the total remaining votes. 

Our candidate options should not be controlled by small, private clubs (political parties) the best representatives are open-minded and willing to consider different perspectives, and elections should not be for sale to unidentified deep pockets. If you agree, vote NO on repealing RCV.

Gershon Cohen

The post Vote No on the Repeal of Ranked Choice Voting      appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

10 Years Ago

After more than an hour of testimony from residents, the Haines Borough Finance Committee last week recommended to let voters in the fall municipal election decide the fate of the 1 percent tax for tourism and economic development.

Committee members Ron Jackson and Diana Lapham supported the recommendation; Tresham Gregg was opposed. The assembly will take up the question as a discussion item at its Tuesday meeting. 

The issue came to the committee after commercial fisherman J.R. Churchill submitted a letter to the assembly last month asking the group to put on the November ballot via a referendum. 

“The borough needs to put its finger on the pulse of whether or not people still support this,” Churchill, who favors repealing the tax, said at the June 30 committee meeting. “I don’t necessarily think that my perspective is going to win out here, but every so often you need to – I think, anyway – give a voice to these people who haven’t ever had a chance to vote on this.”

30 Years Ago

Local calls with cellular phones are now toll-free, a cost reduction of about 75 percent. 

“Cool, huh,” said local GTE Alaska manager Greg Combs, who supervised the installation of new equipment for CellularOne. “You pay only for your air time.”

Until the switch was thrown about 4 p.m. Tuesday, local cellphone users were paying the Juneau-Haines long distance rate, about $1.50 for the first minute, on top of a 55 cents per minute air-time charge, Combs said. 

Combs said he drove around last week trying out his small cellphone in various locations around town. Despite an occasional “dead zone” – for example, the hill down to Mud Bay – he found that it generally worked.

The toll-free area extends to Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan, and might be extended in another two to three years, Combs said. “For fishermen, this is going to be super.”

50 Years Ago

There was good news and bad news for travelers hoping to go south on the rain-plagued Alaska Highway and the Alaska Marine Highway.

The good news was that the 100 miles of the Alaska Highway affected by washouts had been taken care of and no one was stranded, and that two of the three bridges which had problems as a result of heavy rains would be in service Thursday night, according to Keith Byram of the Canada Department of Public Works. 

The bad news was that the third bridge would be usable by Sunday at the earliest, and possibly Monday or Tuesday depending on how repairs go. One pier of the bridge had been ripped badly and had to be jacked up. 

The post This Week in History: tourism tax, toll free calls and washouts appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Sunday, June 21
A caller on Jones Point Trail reported a brown bear in the area. A Nixle alert was sent.
A caller in Haines reported a lost driver’s license. Name and contact information were obtained.
A caller at Ft. Seward reported ATVs speeding around on the roadway. A verbal warning was given.
A caller on Mud Bay Road reported they were being followed and filmed.
A caller on River Road reported unauthorized camping in the area.

Monday, June 22
A caller at Portage Cove reported a tent in the area for over two weeks.
A caller at Letnikoff Cove reported pots missing from the water. The caller was given Alaska State Trooper contact information.
A caller in the 50 block of Haines Highway reported a driver speeding out of a parking lot.
A caller in Haines reported a missing cell phone. Contact information and an item description were obtained.
A caller at the Fairgrounds reported a brown bear in the area.

Tuesday, June 23
An officer on Deishu Drive assisted another agency.
A caller on Main Street reported a vehicle parked overnight in a no parking spot. The vehicle owner moved the vehicle.
An officer in the 300 block of Haines Highway assisted another agency.
A caller in the 300 block of Haines Highway requested to speak with an officer about an ongoing harassment issue.
A caller in the 100 block of Sawmill Road reported an assault.
A citizen in the 300 block of Haines Highway spoke with an officer about identity fraud. A report was taken.
A caller in the 80 block of Deishu Drive requested a welfare check on a friend.

Wednesday, June 24
A caller in the 100 block of Haines Highway requested a welfare check on a friend.

Thursday, June 25
A citizen on Mt. Ripinski turned in a water bottle they found on the trail. The item description was logged.

A caller in the 400 block of Main Street requested a welfare check on a friend.
An officer on River Road conducted a vehicle stop. The driver received a verbal warning for speeding.
An officer in the 200 block of Second Avenue conducted a vehicle stop. The driver received a citation for driving without a valid license.

Friday, June 26
A caller on Jones Point Road turned in a debit card they found. The item was logged into lost and found.
An officer in Port Chilkoot performed a vehicle stop.
An officer in the 100 block of Third Avenue conducted a vehicle stop. The driver received a verbal warning for speeding.
A caller in the 200 block of Sawmill Road reported a motorcycle driving without a license plate.
A caller in the 300 block of Lynnview Drive requested a welfare check on a juvenile.
A caller in the 300 block of Haines Highway requested to speak with an officer regarding an ongoing civil matter.

Saturday, June 27
An officer at Third Avenue and Lynnview Drive performed a vehicle stop for reckless driving. One subject was taken into custody.
An officer on Lower Mud Bay Road conducted a vehicle stop. The driver received a verbal warning for speeding.

There were six 911 hang-up calls, four canine calls, eight EMS calls and 23 burn permits issued during this reporting period.

The post Blotter: June 21 – June 27 appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.