The Bureau of Land Management is soliciting comments from Haines residents as it starts work again on the Ring of Fire Resource Management Plan. Eight BLM representatives hosted an open house April 4 to gather comments and answer questions on the “Haines Block,” which encompasses about 320,000 acres of BLM-managed lands mostly northwest of town […]
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Do political whims hamper commercial tour permits?
The Haines Borough Assembly voted last week to approve an ATV tour permit for Alaska Excursions after a process pregnant with controversy. One assembly member voted to support the tour, even though he was against it, because he feared the borough would be sued should it deny the permit. But if the borough can be sued for […]
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Northwest Wild Sheep and Goat Council data back in ordinance
The Haines Borough Assembly voted 5-1 to include Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council management recommendations for borough staff to overlay when it considers amendments to the commercial heliski terrain map. Members of the parks and recreation advisory committee and the tourism advisory board voted 6-5 at a joint meeting earlier this year to strike the language from the […]
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Borough candidates differ on police, Tier 3 protection
Haines Borough Mayor and assembly candidates differed on policing outside the townsite and Tier 3 designation for the Chilkat River at a Wednesday forum at Mosquito Lake School Community Center. Incumbent Mayor Jan Hill and opponent Joanie Wagner, as well as assembly candidates Michael Fullerton, Sean Maidy, Diana Lapham and Brenda Josephson answered questions from community members up the highway. Assembly candidates […]
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Long-awaited studies meet with mixed reviews on how to apply data
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game presented its findings from a seven-year study on mountain goat habitat, and three-year study on brown bear denning habitat in the Chilkat Valley Sunday and Monday. The new information will affect decision-making on heliski map revisions. Biologists Kevin White and Anthony Crupi worked to create maps identifying critical winter habitats […]
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Freeride cancelled
The Freeride World Tour will not return to Haines this winter, officials said this week. “For the moment, we do not have the finances to come back to Haines,” said general manager Julien Hess. The Freeride World Tour, an international skiing and snowboarding competition that has brought about 30 athletes to Haines for the last […]
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‘Wild and free’: Tourism video is a hit
The new promotional video for the Haines Borough’s Tourism Department is drawing raves – and more importantly, views. Released Thursday, July 6, the five-minute video was getting 1,000 views an hour during its first 24 hours online. “I got a message from Italy today,” said Rich Cooper, whose Anchorage-based Frostline Productions created the piece for […]
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Tourism director says job exceeds description
Haines tourism director Leslie Ross will leave her position June 8, but may do extended work to finish ongoing projects and contribute to the hiring process. Ross told the Tourism Advisory Board May 11 that she has requested to continue working on projects like borough code Title 5 changes and a promotional video. Ross also […]
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Early data on goats presented
Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Kevin White presented Thursday preliminary findings of a seven-year study on regional mountain goat habitat, results which he said could help policy makers better identify and map heliski terrain. One heliski company operator this week said he disagreed with the state’s assessment of the location of goats. Local heliski mapping within the Haines Borough has faced […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Keep common-sense development alive
Thank you to everyone who wrote letters and spoke in support of the Skyline Subdivision conditional use permit. It was powerful to see so many residents unaffiliated with the project speak in support of Haines’ economy. Gov. Bill Walker was a guest speaker at a meeting I attended recently. During the meeting, he stated, “The […]