The U.S. Forest Service has awarded an unusual timber contract to supply Petersburg’s Alaska Timber and Truss with enough logs from Thomas Bay for several years of operation, while also improving moose and deer habitat.

The 2025 Southeast Alaska purse seine fishery closed in early September with just under 20 million pink salmon landed — well below the forecast of 29 million and marking the lowest odd-year harvest since the 1980s.

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.