The Alaska Department of Fish and Game put out a call earlier this month, seeking volunteers to help monitor for the small but destructive invasive European green crabs moving into Southeast. The U.S. Forest Service has stepped up to help look at Anan Creek and elsewhere in the Wrangell area.

Forest Service staff set up traps last week at Anan, where the agency maintains a summer crew for the bear-viewing season.

The state agency provided half a dozen crab traps for the Forest Service Wrangell district.

“We’re just trying to help with the monitoring effort,”  said Anna Tollfeldt, a natural resource specialist with the Wrangell Ranger District. “The biggest thing is knowing how to identify them.”

“Despite their name, European green crabs are not always green — they can range from orange, yellow and red to brown or grey,” according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. “The most definitive way to identify them is by counting the five sharp spines behind each eye, and the three rounded bumps directly between the eyes.”

The crabs, which were first discovered in Alaska in 2022 at Annette Island, have spread northward and were discovered last October at a bay north of Cooney Cove on Etolin Island.

“The green crab is considered one of the most invasive species in the marine environment,” according to the federal fisheries service. “It has few predators, aggressively hunts and eats its prey, destroys seagrass and outcompetes local species for food and habitat.”

“It has been documented that green crab devour juvenile king crab as well as juvenile salmon,” the fisheries service says. “They also destroy eelgrass habitat that larval fish use to hide from predators and outcompete Dungeness crabs for food and habitat.”

The post Wrangell Ranger District to Help Monitor for Green Crab appeared first on KSTK.

The fundraising kickoff for Wrangell’s Fourth of July royalty ticket sales is set for 6 p.m. Sunday at City Park.

The chamber of commerce, which sponsors the annual ticket sales to raise money for the July 4th fireworks, will serve free hot dogs, snacks and soft drinks at the kickoff event, said chamber executive director Lora Lee Mason.

Kalee Herman, this year’s sole Fourth of July royalty contestant, will start her ticket sales at the kickoff, continuing nonstop through July 2nd.

People should mark their calendar for one big change in this year’s holiday celebration in Wrangell — the fireworks will go off the night of July 4th, instead of July 3rd in recent years.

The holiday celebration and events will run from July 1st through July 4th.

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The Irene Ingle Public Library is conducting a survey this month to help staff better understand what the community wants to see for library programs.

The short survey, which is available online and on paper at the library — asks age, what kind of programs most interest the person and what days they would prefer for programs.

The survey is at: https://tinyurl.com/ireneinglesurvey

It also asks what makes it hard for people to attend library programs, such as lack of child care, work or transportation.

The survey will run through Sunday, May 31.

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The annual Wrangell fishing derby opens June 7 and will run through September 7.

Not only will the derby run three full months, but it will actually be three derbies in one.

As Larry Persily reports, there will be cash prizes for the largest king salmon, coho salmon and halibut caught over the three-month derby — $1,000 to each of the three winners.

Cash prizes also will be awarded in each of four designated weekends for the catch closest to a secret weight.

The “hidden weight” prizes will be $300 each for the winning king salmon, coho and halibut June 20 and 21 (Father’s Day weekend), July 5, August 8 and 9 (Bearfest weekend) and September 6 and 7 (Labor Day weekend), said Lora Lee Mason, the chamber’s executive director.

An addition to prizes this year is the chance to win two round-trip tickets to anywhere Alaska Airlines flies in North America. Everyone who buys a ticket to the derby will be entered in the airline travel raffle.

Derby tickets, at $35 each, will go on sale at several downtown businesses next week.

The post 2026 Wrangell Chamber Fishing Derby appeared first on KSTK.

Michael Ottesen, who was elected in 2023 to serve a three-year term on the borough assembly, resigned his seat last week. He had about six months left in his term.

He did not provide a reason for his resignation in his May 8 letter to the assembly, which took effect after the May 12 meeting.

The assembly has started the formal process to fill the remaining months of Ottesen’s term, which will expire in October.

Residents interested in filling the seat need to submit a letter of interest to the borough clerk’s office before 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 4.

The assembly will vote to select a new member at its June 9 meeting. Municipal code instructs the remaining members of the assembly to decide on a replacement by majority vote, to serve until the next election.

The next election is Oct. 6.

The post Ottesen Resigns Assembly Seat appeared first on KSTK.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game knows that invasive European green crabs are coming, and they would like to know where and when they arrive.

Larry Persily reports that the department is looking for a volunteer in Wrangell to serve as a frontline monitor for the invasive green crab, as state officials remain wary of the destructive species reaching local waters.

“Unfortunately, with no one being in place to look for the green crabs, we can’t know whether or not they’re in Wrangell,” Tammy Davis, the Juneau-based invasive species coordinator for the Department of Fish and Game, told the Sentinel.

“We just can’t know if the green crabs have arrived yet without having someone to monitor for it.”

The crabs, a particularly invasive species known for aggressively displacing native shellfish species and salmon fry and damaging important vegetation, were discovered last October at a bay north of Cooney Cove on Etolin Island, across Clarence Strait from the Blashke Islands.

The crabs were first found in Southeast Alaska in Metlakatla in the summer of 2022. Since then, they’ve been found increasingly farther north.

The volunteer position in Wrangell involves a minimal time commitment, requiring a volunteer monitor to set out five or six traps at low tide at least once a month, Davis said.

Anyone interested in helping or who sees what might be a green crab can call the department’s Invasive Species Hotline 1-877-468-2748.

The post ADFG Seeking Green Crab Trappers appeared first on KSTK.

Wrangell’s borough assembly unanimously approved changes to the town’s sales tax and business license laws.

The new language updates definitions and penalties for local sales tax, including a 5% penalty for unpaid taxes after one month past the reporting quarter. It also establishes a registry of local businesses through license applications, which are free.

One change met with some pushback. The borough initially proposed sales tax exemptions for churches and nonprofits for “occasional” business lasting less than three days per year. So, sales from most nonprofit auctions, bazaars, and bake sales would be exempt. But nonprofits’ sales that last more than three days in a year would not be exempt.

At the assembly meeting on May 12, resident Joan Sargent spoke against the proposed change.

“Those definitions really, really, really tighten things for essential nonprofits in our community who run on. . .a thin margin. Three days is just not enough for these people, such as KSTK, Salvation Army to make enough money to function,” she said.

Sargent helps run Wrangell’s St. Francis Animal Rescue. She said the shelter doesn’t get discounts on veterinary services, and they pay $400-$800 to treat each new animal.

After the public hearing, Borough Manager Mason Villarma suggested amending the proposed language to exempt all nonprofit fundraisers from the sales tax.

Assembly members didn’t speak about the proposed sales tax changes, but voted to support the amendment and the overall ordinance.

In a related change, the assembly unanimously approved an update to the business license law, requiring all local businesses to maintain a local license.

Villarma said the borough needs an updated registry of local businesses for accountability.

“We’ve had problems in the past of applying sales tax equitably,” he said. “And making sure that one business is remitting and another’s not is a key function of the borough.”

The business license requirement will take effect on July 1, and licenses will be valid for two years. Local businesses can get more information through the borough’s finance office.

The post Wrangell updates local sales tax and business license laws appeared first on KSTK.

Though the state Legislature is not scheduled to adjourn until sometime Wednesday, House and Senate negotiators have settled on a budget that will send $1,200 to every eligible Alaskan this fall — a $1,000 Permanent Fund dividend plus a $200 energy relief payment.

As Larry Persily with the Wrangell Sentinel reports, the $200 add-on is intended to share the wealth of increased state oil tax and royalty revenues. The state treasury is benefiting from higher oil prices due to global supply constraints caused by the U.S.-Iran war.

Last year’s dividend was $1,000, with no energy relief add-on.

The budget deal, which was expected to win final approval in the House and Senate before adjournment, also includes a one-time boost in education funding that includes state aid to help school districts cover their higher heating fuel bills and extra money for school operating expenses.

The one-year increase in state funding for schools, along with every other item in the legislative budget plan, is subject to reduction or a full veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy before the state’s new fiscal year starts on July 1.

The post PFD Plus appeared first on KSTK.

The Nolan Center will invite craftspeople, hobbyists and other sellers to set up tables in front of the civic center on two days this summer when large cruise ships are in port.

As the Wrangell Sentinel’s Larry Persily reports, the outdoor market days are still being determined but will be announced soon.

The outdoor market will be in addition to the Nolan Center’s usual monthly indoor market.

“These markets are designed to help local vendors capitalize on high-volume cruise ship days,” the Nolan Center announced.

“We’re not sure what the attendance will be. This is a brand-new thing,” Nolan Center Director Jeanie Arnold said.

“If these go well … we’ll probably take a look” at maybe a third day later in the summer, she said. “This is a bit of a tester program.”

The plan is that the table spaces for the outdoor markets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, at $10 per day.

The outdoor market likely will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

The post Outdoor Market on Large Ship Days appeared first on KSTK.

The Wrangell school district is losing two more teachers.

As the Wrangell Sentinel reports, tonight’s school board agenda includes several personnel actions, including the resignation of special education teacher Ryan Howe and first-grade teacher Michelle Clark.

The information accompanying the agenda does not provide the reasons for their resignations.

Special education teacher Mikki Angerman turned in her resignation earlier in the spring, effective at the end of this school year. She reported her family was moving out of state.

The school board meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. at Evergreen Elementary School, Room 101.

The meeting is open to the public.

The post Two Teacher Resignations appeared first on KSTK.