Charismatic megafauna. I first encountered this phrase a few years ago and thought the wildlife biologist I was interviewing to at the time had just made it up. It's a phrase that describes certain animals including elephants, giant pandas, penguins and other species that get a lot of popular attention. In the Chilkat Valley, we have wolves, bears, moose, sea otters and bald eagles that fall neatly into that category.

It came up again for me this week because as I was editing our stories, I realized that the through-line was the deaths of some of our most charismatic megafauna, either for subsistence as is the case with Lizzy Hahn's story about the opening of moose hunting season, or in defensive situation as was the case with my stories about a mountain goat hunt gone awry, and two bears who were hit and killed in a late-night collision on the Haines Highway. 

The latest print edition of the Chilkat Valley News hasn’t hit the newsstands yet. If you’re in town, you probably saw that low cloud ceiling that has us socked-in and our papers stuck in Juneau. This weekend’s gale force weather isn’t promising either. 

While you’re waiting on that sweet smell of newsprint, check out our coverage of this year’s local election before early voting starts on Monday. This year, we teamed up with KHNS and our profiles of the 18 local candidates are airing live each morning during Lynn Canal morning. 

You can find the full conversations as they publish on our website under the “2026 Haines Borough Election” header. And, if you missed the Planning Commission forum we held in Mosquito Lake, you can hear that again too.