As we welcome our first visitors to Haines for the heliski season, the Borough is taking steps to safeguard our community with Covid mitigation protocols. The Borough should also be taking steps to safeguard our wildlife from the impact of recreational helicopter activity on public lands. The Alaska Dept of Fish & Game has documented a decline […]
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Heliski operators mark return of tourism
All three Haines heli-ski companies—Alaska Heliskiing, Alaska Mountain Guides (AMG) and Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA)—are planning to operate this March. Operators have filed COVID-19 mitigation plans with the borough, but it’s unclear how many guests and guides will travel to Haines. One operator said they are keeping guests from traveling to town. This year, […]
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Fish and Game advisory group asks state, BLM to restrict heliskiing
Asks borough to request flight path data The Upper Lynn Canal Fish and Game Advisory Committee (ULCFGAC) Monday voted 6-2 to ask state and federal land managers to restrict heliskiing in the Takhinsha Mountains and Kicking Horse region in an effort reduce mountain goat population decline. According to protocols outlined in the Bureau of Land Management’s land […]
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Assembly ends heliski map committee work
The assembly voted down the heliski map committee’s request to continue work for another year. At a meeting earlier this month, the map committee voted 3-2 to ask for an extension through Sept. 30, 2021 to give members time to come up with map recommendations that balanced heliski industry needs with environmentalists’ concerns about dwindling mountain goat populations. The […]
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Heliski map committee asks for another year to address concerns
Another contentious meeting of the heliski map committee ended with a recommendation to the borough manager that members be allowed to continue committee work until Sept. 30, 2021. This is not the first time the committee’s deadline has been extended. Under borough code, the committee meets on a three-year cycle to consider potential changes to the heliski map. For […]
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TAB approves changes to heliski tour GPS reporting requirements
The Haines Borough Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) approved staff-recommended changes to heliski code and administrative policy at an Oct. 8 meeting. Tourism director Steven Auch, the point person for the revisions, said the changes are largely minor tweaks to ensure code and borough administrative policy clearly articulate requirements for heliski operators. “The intent and point of all of this was not […]
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Heliski map committee to consider terrain closure recommendations
The borough’s heliski map committee is awaiting industry data before settling on a recommendation that could limit heliski activity in the Takhinsha mountain range after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed the region to mountain goat hunting due to conservation concerns. Committee members and the industry representative sparred over which data the industry would provide. Fish and […]
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SEABA investigated for heliskiing in Glacier Bay National Park
Heliski company Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA) had “significant activity” on Glacier Bay National Park land on March 17, according to the Haines Borough’s 2020 heliski season-end report. “If it occurred, it wouldn’t be a gray area for us. There’s multiple violations of law,” Glacier Bay National Park superintendent Philip Hooge said, adding that the park is […]
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Heliski companies shut down despite banner snow season
Heliskiing operators are suspending their seasons during one of the better snow years in a decade to help slow the spread of coronavirus in Haines. “It’s the heliski operator’s dream forecast,” Alaska Heliskiing owner Sean Brownell said last week of recent conditions and forecasts of sunny days intermixed with snow. “To wrap things up when it’s so […]
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Heliski company offers terrain near Petersburg
Beginning in January, adrenaline junkies heading to Alaska for heliskiing can now launch off a boat moored at the foot of untouched mountains in Petersburg. After three consecutive bad winters, Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA) has secured a two-year permit with the U.S. Forest Service to operate in Petersburg and partnered with a boat to […]