Last month, the Constantine-DOWA partnership submitted a permit application for the Palmer Project’s newly designed waste management system. The last application they submitted for this permit proposed a system that would have violated the Clean Water Act by functionally discharging wastewater — exceeding state water quality standards — into Chilkat River tributaries, including Glacier Creek. The Alaska […]
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Posted inNews, Timber
New forest management schedule released; public comments due June 7
The state last week released a five-year management schedule for the Haines State Forest that includes more than a dozen timber sales and plans to develop recreational trails and cabins. The biggest sales would be for harvests of about 20 million and 15 million board feet of timber on Chilkat Ridge, east of Chilkat Lake, […]
Posted inNews
Environmental orgs request public review for new Palmer wastewater plan
Several environmental groups submitted a letter to the state last week requesting a public comment period for Constantine Metal Resources’ revised wastewater management plan, which the company submitted two weeks ago. The groups also asked the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to make a final decision about its 2019 remand of Constantine’s waste management […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted
The marriage of Lenore “Nori” Nash and Brian Pindell was celebrated on May 12 in Portland, Ore. Lenore is the daughter of Nancy and Dwight Nash. Brian is the son of Jim and Mary Pindell of Waterford, Wis. The wedding and reception were held at Portland’s Polish Community Hall, where Nancy played the processional music and Dwight walked his daughter down the aisle. Nori’s attendants included […]
Posted inDuly Noted, Mining
Duly Noted
Stevie Lynn Young was born to Carlee Heinmiller Young and Will Young at 3:45 a.m. Saturday, April 16 in Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colo. Stevie weighed 6 lbs., 13 oz., and measured 20 inches. Grandmom Judy Erekson was on hand for the birth and said Carlee was a “birthing rock star,” delivering Stevie less than two hours after arriving at […]
Posted inNews
Details from decades-old U.S. census give glimpse of local history
Full details from the 1950 U.S. Census were released earlier this month, intriguing historians from around the country and providing a snapshot of the people who called the Chilkat Valley home more than seven decades ago. While the federal government makes public population statistics and demographic data upon completion of each decennial census, the specifics […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Not an environmentalist, don’t want ore trucks
I’d like to address the subject of foreign mining companies operating in the Chilkat Valley. I am not an environmentalist, but imagine the traffic and road damage on the highway caused by ore trucks or the effect of even one spill in the Chilkat River. Imagine a mine on a glaciated mountain “NOT” leaching into the […]
Posted inNews
Contaminated soil cleanup continues at 15.5 Mile
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is resuming cleanup of soil contaminated by a fuel spill more than 50 years ago at 15.5 Mile Haines Highway. The soil removal project began last spring but was put on hold in mid-June when surface water and groundwater levels rose enough to create an “unfavorable condition for continued […]
Posted inNews
Locals explore renewing Big Boulder creek salmon incubation boxes
Locals are exploring the possibility of bringing back a king salmon incubation facility on Big Boulder Creek in an effort to bolster a history of falling Chinook returns. The long defunct incubation operation began in 1991, after the state reconstructed the bridge spanning the creek, in an attempt to mitigate spawning habitat loss after the […]
Posted inNews
Hooligan chose Chilkat over Chilkoot last year
New data confirms observations Several rivers near Haines, including the Chilkoot, an important subsistence area for Tlingit residents, saw abysmal eulachon runs last year, according to recently analyzed Chilkoot Indian Association (CIA) data. But the fish didn’t disappear; instead many of them ran up the Chilkat River, environmental DNA (eDNA) samples show. The results of CIA’s […]