Juneau Independent

The ‘Roadless Rule’ has prohibited new road construction, a prerequisite for large-scale logging, on vast swaths of federal land since 2001.

Tidal Network, which is looking to expand the reach of its wireless internet service in town, is considering its next steps after the planning and zoning commission unanimously rejected the tribal nonprofit’s permit application to install a 250-foot-tall signal tower back from the highway near 13-Mile.

Fisheries managers cut short this summer’s Southeast Alaska commercial dungeness crab season by six days because initial harvest projections fell below the required threshold for a full season. But now, after determining that a high number of soft-shelled crabs contributed to low harvest projections, managers have opted to open fall dungeness fishing for its full length.

Pickup using helicopter occurs two hours after emergency transmission from Chilkat mountains.

Close call in Tracy Arm 50 miles south of Juneau on Aug. 10 is the latest sign that as glaciers melt, risks may rise.

A plan to upgrade the early warning and alert systems in Haines and Skagway is on hold after a federal grant program issued a stop work order to KHNS, which was in the middle of ordering equipment for the upgrades.

Some assembly members are hoping to reconsider their vote last week to hire a new federal lobbyist after learning that the candidate they thought they were voting on is not a lobbyist at all — and is also the managing director of a mining company. 

Hatchery managers had hoped that June’s steady rainfall would spare them from having to intervene in this year’s king salmon run, allowing fish to reach the Crystal Lake Hatchery in Petersburg naturally, without the stress of human handling.

Wrangell Police Chief Gene Meek has started a public safety campaign to enforce new e-scooter regulations through education and enforcement.

After a historic land buyback by the US Forest Service, Tlingit crew members are demolishing culverts to restore streams, salmon runs and cultural history deep in the national forest.

Sockeye counts in the Upper Lynn Canal are down, and the run is yet to arrive in full force. As the weeks tick by and numbers stay low, some fishermen are worried the full run might not materialize at all. 

Haines and Skagway residents have been dealing with weak or no cell service for several days this week. At least two carriers – AT&T and Verizon – say the outage is due to Juneau’s glacial outburst flood.