A group of skiers triggered a wind-slab avalanche Sunday just northwest of Mount McDonell in the Haines Pass, killing one person and injuring another, according to a preliminary report released by Avalanche Canada. The avalanche triggered as a group of five descended a slope northwest of Mount McDonell. The fourth person to descend triggered it […]
Posted inSports
Haines starts strong at Gold Medal
Through two rounds, the Deishú Merchants look like a team to beat at this year’s Gold Medal basketball tournament in Juneau. The tournament could not have started more comfortably for Haines’ B Bracket team, which steamrolled Klawock 98-58 to open the tournament. The Merchants this year return a number of Gold Medal veterans, including Kyle […]
Posted inThis Week in History
This Week in History: Average Haines age, extreme ski contest and border relocation
10 years ago After a drop of 84 people in 2013 and an increase of 21 in 2014, the population of Haines has reverted to a downward trend, dropping 58 people in the last year to a total of 2,493, according to state statistics. The town is also continuing to get older, maturing from a […]
Posted inNews, Local News
One dead in an avalanche near Pleasant Camp
One person died Sunday afternoon in an avalanche near the Canadian border in British Columbia. Atlin Royal Canadian Mounted Police received a Garmin SOS alert from a remote location near the Klehini River and Pleasant Camp, according to a news release. When they got the call, one person was reported unconscious and receiving CPR. Atlin […]
Posted inSoutheast News
Rough draft of revised Tongass plan envisioning more resource development released for public comment
An early look at Tongass National Forest management plan revisions intended to suit the Trump administration shows, as pledged, a focus on expanding timber and other natural resource development. A 117-page document referred to as “Preliminary Draft Plan Content” was released Monday by the U.S. Forest Service. Among its extensive recommendations are expanding second-growth timber […]
Posted inLocal News
Listen: Assembly to consider accessory dwelling units, bulk ore containerization and a contentious heliport permit decision
Chilkat Valley News reporter Will Steinfeld sat down with KHNS news director Melinda Munson to talk about the upcoming Haines Borough Assembly meeting. Melinda Munson: Will, let’s start by talking about what you’re doing in Juneau right now. Will Steinfeld: I’ll be here for a month, and I’m covering the state legislature while they’re in […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted: Carving, Canada, Snowboarding and more
Joe Aultman-Moore found himself on a homestead a couple of hours outside of Rio de Janeiro doing chores, building custom shelves and discovering the spectacular birds of the southern rainforest. He spent a week hiking on a jungle island, and dodging rattlesnakes and Armadeira spiders. Aultman-Moore went on to spend about a month riding riverboats […]
Posted inSoutheast News, Environment & Natural Resources, Economy
USFS to release details on formulating forest plan
The U.S. Forest Service’s Tongass Plan Revision Team announced in a press release on Monday, March 16, that it would be releasing a document online March 23 detailing the process of formulating a forest plan and a proposed Species of Conservation Concern list. The plan, still in its drafting stages, will be outlined in what […]
Posted inNews, Mining
One of Alaska’s flagship mines soon could draw energy from the sun
The operator of Alaska’s massive Red Dog mine says it wants to use the sun to help power the sprawling zinc operation, which currently burns expensive, imported fossil fuels. If built, a newly proposed 8.8-megawatt solar farm at Red Dog would have slightly more capacity than the state’s largest existing farm, in the Susitna Valley […]
Posted inSoutheast News
Forest service staffing in Southeast down 30% from a year ago
U.S. Forest Service leadership is in flux as the agency takes sweeping actions in managing the 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest, and making regulatory and administrative changes at all levels, Alaska-based officials reported this week. At the beginning of a four-day federal subsistence Regional Advisory Council meeting in Juneau on Tuesday, Tongass Supervisor Monique Nelson spoke […]