Southeast Alaska has seen several geohazards recently – glacial flooding last month in Juneau, a landslide-driven tsunami last year in Tracy Arm, and a deadly landslide in Wrangell in 2023. That followed deadly landslides in Sitka, Haines and Ketchikan in the last decade.

To learn how to prepare for such events, Wrangell residents gathered at City Hall last week for presentations from experts on earthquake, tsunami and landslide risks and preparedness.

The first presentation, given by the Alaska team for the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, showed attendees how earthquakes can drive tsunamis and why the waves are so destructive.

I think it’s important to stress that it is a misconception that communities in the Southeast are completely protected from tsunamigenic earthquakes.

Barrett Salisbury is the hazard program manager at the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

Salisbury says several earthquake scenarios could directly affect Wrangell Island, including quakes from the Aleutian subduction zone, the Haida Gwaii [HYE-duh GWHY] section of the Queen Charlotte Fault offshore British Columbia and activity in the Cascadian Subduction Zone in the Pacific Northwest.

These scenarios will be included in a report that Salisbury and his colleagues are preparing, along with draft maps to provide the borough with the information needed for hazard planning.

Once approved, those maps will also be published for the public [Web: at DGGS.Alaska.gov.]

The report will also show potential tsunami inundation lines, where the top of the flood waters may reach on the island, which will allow the borough to establish tsunami evacuation routes.

The landslide presentation was given by Jill Nicolazzo [Nee‑KOH‑LAt‑Soh], a geological engineer with the Alaska Landslide Hazards Program. Nicolazzo shared models created after Wrangell’s landslide three years ago that killed six people.

The maps showed that – like most other islands in Southeast – the risk for landslides is higher on the western-facing slopes, which are more exposed to ocean winds and storms. This is also where most of the island’s population resides.

The modeling also found that the steeper the landscape, the higher the landslide risk – and that there is a high correlation of landslides and proximity to creeks and waterways.

Landslide Program Manager Molly McCreary says that someone asked after the presentation why they mapped the whole island.

Doing the whole island is good because also people recreate and they drive anywhere there’s a road. So just to keep people aware of the hazards in these areas, I think is the main purpose. But also maybe they can use the map in a productive way to one, be informed and also two, maybe I was thinking of building here and maybe I want to alter my plan.

She says that while the maps’ intended purpose is to inform development, they can also be used to inform people recreating in the backcountry where there may be increased danger during periods of high rainfall.

Mike Lucio [LUCY-OH] is the geohazards mitigation coordinator for the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

We want everyone to be aware of what’s going on, but we also want people to be well educated, understand what’s going on, so we’re not talking from a place of fear or a place of misconceptions or bad information.

[Optional: Residents can learn more about tsunami hazards at K S T K-dot-org and see those inundation lines once published at Tsunami.Alaska.edu.]

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The Wrangell Ranger District has recently wrapped up a large goshawk survey to prepare for potential timber sales. There is a push to increase logging on federally managed lands in Alaska following President Donald Trump’s executive order to “unleash Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential”

Ahead of any logging operation, there are a variety of wildlife surveys required before anything can be cut, including goshawk surveys. Anna Belback is a natural resource technician for the U.S. Forest Service.

We’ve gone kind of all around Wrangell Island, a ton of different areas. Part of the island that I never thought I would see, and some places that I quite frankly don’t really want to hike back into because they’re man, they’re pretty wicked.

Despite her efforts – and two other crew members – no goshawks were identified by this survey. She says that the surveys must happen in two separate years prior to a timber sale, but they don’t have to be consecutive.

To do the surveys, field technicians hike into areas of land, often with no trails, to play bird calls to trigger responses from goshawks and other birds of prey that may be in the area.

In June, Belback says the calls mimic the goshawk alarm call, one a female might give her partner when there is danger in the area. In July, they play a mixture of alarm calls and fledgling begging calls. The ones a baby goshawk would make when asking their parents for food.

They repeated this process over most of the potential federal timber units.

This might seem like a lot of effort to go through to identify some hard-to-locate, sparsely populated birds, but this hawk has a history of contested protection in the Tongass National Forest.

In 1994, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned for this subspecies, the Queen Charlotte gosshawk to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. The petition in some ways led to the renaming of the Northern goshawk to the American goshawk and the Eurasian goshawk, according to Forest Service biologist Joe Delabrue.

The way I understand it, back when it was proposed for listing, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service separated out the two populations: the one in Southeast Alaska and the ones in British Columbia and the ones in B.C. got listed, but the ones in Alaska didn’t.

Whatever you call them, the ones in Alaska were not listed as endangered, at least in part, because of the Tongass resource management plan. 

Cooper Freeman is the Alaska director of the Center for Biological Diversity. He says with surveys only occurring ahead of timber sales, there isn’t consistent population data to compare.

He says that, with the renewed push for logging in the second Trump administration, there have been more surveys, but the methods were not very effective at locating the hawks.

The environmental group is pushing to protect old-growth forests, not only the goshawks, but for many species that Freeman says rely on unfragmented habitat in the region.

I think it would be an error to paint this as birds versus the economy I mean… It’s time for the Tongass to move on and start taking care of its forests and protecting them for their highest value, which is leaving these old-growth trees standing.

He says they would like to see an emphasis on other types of economic activities like hunting and recreation to create a more sustainable Alaska economy.

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The assembly has voted to donate 2.7 acres of borough-owned land to WCA for construction of a memorial park, which the tribe wants to build in honor of the Native children who were “lost or traumatized” at the federally operated boarding school on the same site.

The memorial also will honor Aleuts “who suffered while forced to stay at the internment camp on the same grounds” when they were removed from their homes during World War II, Wrangell Cooperative Association Tribal President Ethan Petticrew wrote to the assembly.

 Last week’s assembly decision approves the transfer of land near Institute Creek, directly north of the Alder Top Village Keishangita.’aan residential subdivision near Shoemaker Bay.

The future memorial and the residential subdivision are on land occupied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Wrangell Institute boarding school, which operated from 1932 to 1975. The federal government later gave the property to the municipality.

The assembly action Aug. 25 reverses an earlier commitment to give two smaller parcels within the subdivision to WCA for construction of the memorial. In lieu of those lots, the borough and tribe agreed on a larger piece of land just outside the subdivision.

Petticrew, who spoke to the assembly at the Aug. 25 meeting, said the land carries deep cultural and historical significance for the region. Long before modern boundaries were established, Tlingit families lived, gathered and raised their children on the land.

He emphasized the profound meaning of the land transfer during the meeting.

“Tonight we are welcoming land home,” Petticrew said.

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Cruise berths visiting Wrangell almost doubled this season from last year. Visiting ships are providing capacity for nearly 75,000 guests over the season, up from almost 42,000 the previous year.

The borough directly profits from the vessels docking here through a variety of taxes and fees. Businesses also navigate how to make money from this seasonal increase in visitors that varies greatly from week to week and ship to ship.

I don’t expect that everybody that comes off the boat, you know, buys stuff from every store from me or whatever. I like to see people here. I like to see the boats here because we know that they bring money.

Bonnie Ritchie has been selling jewelry near the cruise ship dock for five years and says she has noticed an increase in her sales this year. But she says not every boat is created equal. American Cruise Lines vessels are usually pretty good for her, but guests from the Ritz-Carlton’s Luminara luxury cruise vessel show no interest in her jewelry.

Kristy Herman, who owns the Canoe Lagoon oyster farm with her husband Brian, says business at their storefront off Front Street is actually down this year. The hit-or-miss business can make it hard for her to schedule between having the storefront open or working her other job at the grocery store.

I’ve had one day with the Queen in. I did $60. Doesn’t pay me to be here. Doesn’t pay the electricity. I should have worked at IGA that day.

She’s talking about the Queen Elizabeth, a 2,000 passenger vessel that doubles the population of Wrangell when it arrives.

Because of the type of business license Canoe Lagoon has, they can’t shuck their shellfish for customers. Herman said that can drive away those looking for fresh oysters.

Instead, the Hermans have been looking for other ways to work with cruise companies to make money, in addition to the four restaurants they ship oysters to each week.

Recently they have teamed up with local companies Alaska Waters and Oceanview Gardens to provide food-based shore excursions for passengers on the Luminara. Herman says it has been pretty successful so far, but they are still feeling it out.

Herman says when the Luminara docked in late August, only four guests took part in the excursions. That equaled around $1,000 per guest, split between the three businesses.

For the borough, cruise ships are the primary source of tourism revenue, according to the borough’s economic development director Kate Thomas. The number of independent travelers has been declining since the early 2000s with cuts to the Alaska Marine Highway System.

The borough benefits from the ships in several ways, including wharf fees, port tie-up fees and the state commercial passenger vessel “head tax.” That only applies to ships with more than 250 passengers traveling through Alaska waters for more than one night. Wrangell receives $5 per guest of the $34.50 tax collected by the state.

The borough also received this year a one-time bonus of $375,000 in passenger fees collected by the state over several years that went unspent. The borough will use that money to help fund its downtown waterfront fill project.

Thomas says that increased money spent at businesses also means more sales tax to the borough.

Let’s just assume on a dollars and cents that we increase the sales tax collection for this quarter by $50 to $100,000. I mean that, year over year, makes a significant difference.

The exact amount will not be clear until the numbers for this fiscal quarter are released in November.

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Voters will see three contested races on the Oct. 6 municipal election ballot. Multiple candidates filed for the two open seats on the borough assembly, for the one open seat on the school board and for one of the port commission races.

Mayor Patty Gilbert is running unopposed for a third two-year term as mayor, and Port Commissioner Donald “DJ” McConachie Jr. is running unopposed for a two-year term.

 In the contested races, four candidates are running for two three-year terms on the assembly. The top two vote-getters Oct. 6 will win the seats.

John Yeager is seeking to remain on the assembly, as is incumbent Phillip Mach. Joining them on the ballot are challengers S.R. “Reme” Privett III and LaDonna Botsford, both making their first run for assembly.

It is a three-person race for the one three-year school board term on the ballot. Incumbent John DeRuyter is running for a second term, with challengers Franki Gablehouse and Jayme Howell going for the seat.

And while McConachie is unopposed in his run for a two-year port commission seat, there are two candidates for the three-year commission term on the ballot: They are incumbent Antonio Silva and Mechel Lynn Meek.

 Absentee voting will begin on Monday, Sept. 21, and will be available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at City Hall, through 4 p.m. on Oct. 5, the day before the election.

The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Nolan Center.

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Originally scheduled for installation before the end of this summer, the newest Kadashan pole crafted at the WCA Carving Shed may not be raised until the summer of 2027.

Mike Hoyt, one of the primary carvers on the project, said the WCA committee still has to meet to determine when it will go up — and totem raisings tend to happen during the summer.

The pole represents the fifth iteration of a design that dates back more than 200 years. The lineage began in the early 1800s, when Haida relatives presented Chief Kadashan with a five-foot carved wooden staff — known as the Kadashan Cane or Speaker’s Staff — to commemorate marriages between Haida men and Tlingit women. A few years later, Kadashan raised a totem pole modeled after the cane.

The newest carving serves as a replica of a 1940 pole, which was itself part of that succession. While nearly identical to a sister pole raised in Wrangell in July 2025, the new piece features a raven at the top rather than an eagle.

Once installed, it will stand among the other poles in Totem Park.

While awaiting a final installation date, Hoyt has started work on another piece: a replica of the Taalkunaxk’u Shaa, or Devil’s Thumb Mountain pole. He is currently roughing out the shape from a cedar log, hoping to complete it soon for eventual placement in Totem Park.

Hoyt welcomes a steady stream of visitors through the Carving Shed on Front Street, comparing the experience to a living history museum.

“And while more people come here and get educated, we are still busy working and carving for more events and placements in the future,” he said.

“The teacher side of me is always happy to share our cultural information with those who ask. And, as a carver, I’m excited to continue working on more projects

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Since Wrangell residents receive their mail at the post office, there hasn’t been much need for uniform street addressing. But without a clear system, finding properties can be hard. For emergency first responders, that’s a problem.

Next month, the borough will start the second phase of its addressing project. Teams will spread out across town to map properties so that they can be given a valid street address. Some houses will receive new addresses and potentially street names, while houses out Zimovia Highway will receive addresses for the first time.

Wrangell’s economic development director Kate Thomas said they’re only going to change what is absolutely necessary.

We are going to maintain to the maximum degree possible every street name and every street or address number that is already in our database, and there are instances where that’s not feasible because it’s not going to follow the new ordinance requirements.

Thomas said situations like duplicate street names will have to be addressed. For example, there are two Grave streets and two Grief streets.

Residents receiving new addresses will eventually need to update personal identification, like driver’s licenses and passports. Land ownership documents, such as titles, are defined by their legal descriptions and should not be affected by street address changes.

Homeowners will also be responsible for making sure their new address is clearly displayed on their property as would be required by a new ordinance. Once the maps are completed, they must be approved by the borough assembly and become law before the end of the fiscal year.

We are looking at providing the high visible, high visible adhesive style stickers that people can place on their property, so that kind of takes one burden off of the property owner.

Although this could create a period of inconvenience as homeowners update their paperwork and label their homes

Aaron Powell leads Wrangell’s volunteer fire department. He said standardized addresses will help his department’s response time

Just so we know when we get called out where we’re going. Depending on the call, seconds can matter if it’s a house fire or someone having cardiac issues.

The borough has contracted with DATAMARK Technologies for mapping services.

The company specializes in mapping for public safety applications.

When mapping starts, workers will wear designated vests and drive vehicles with the borough logo so that the community can identify them. There will also be public notices online with an official start date once it has been set.

It will cost the borough just under $120,000 to finish the project.

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Most people are familiar with Beta Sigma Phi’s Fourth of July pie booth, even if they don’t know the name of the nonprofit community service group.

Pie sales have been the annual fundraiser for the group’s mission to supply teddy bears to the fire and police departments and the hospital emergency room to give to children in crisis or distress.

The Wrangell chapter of Beta Sigma Phi has decided to disband after nearly 50 years of learning, community and service.

Alice Rooney, a long-time member, wrote that the group has been affected by a number of factors, including declining membership, the aging of current members and the shuttering of their umbrella international organization in June of this year.

Over the years, the service sorority has met once or twice a month for dessert and conversation, educational presentations and event planning.

There have been barbecues, Christmas parties and candy sales, the Valentine Ball with the crowning of a queen, and the Woman of the Year celebration, highlighting outstanding volunteers in the community.

The Fourth of July pie booth has been the stalwart fundraising activity to purchase the teddy bears.

“It will be sad not to do the pie sales,” said Olinda White, a long-time member. “People would stop by just to talk; others gave donations without taking any pie. The general feedback was that we were doing a good thing and people supported us.”

White said they have money to buy the teddy bears for the next couple of years but hopes another community group will pick up the program.

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The school district has hired Clemence Hwayire as a new special education teacher — the last of four new faculty hires for the school year that started on Tuesday.

Hwayire brings 24 years of teaching experience to Wrangell, including a decade focused entirely on special education. He began his career in Zimbabwe, teaching fifth through seventh grades for 18 years in public and private schools. He later taught in Botswana for four years before moving to Fairbanks in 2024 to teach for two years.

Though he applied to schools across several states when leaving Botswana, he felt drawn to Alaska. Adjusting to the subarctic weather, however, proved to be an initial challenge.

“It gets cold in Fairbanks — very cold,” he said.

Wrangell’s milder climate appealed to him, and he was also encouraged by the district’s reputation and vision for the future.

“Special education is different than standard teaching,” he said. “With special education, you are more focused on the individual needs of the student, and you aren’t focused on managing a classroom.”

He added that he values the strong partnerships required in his role, working alongside general education teachers, administrators and parents.

“I have been impressed with what I have seen with the administration and the faculty so far,” he said of Wrangell. “I think this is a good environment with good communication. And I want to be a part of this community. I think this will be a great place to grow professionally and personally.”

His hiring comes after a string of departures left the district needing to replace roughly 20% of its faculty for the 2026-2027 school year: special education teachers Mikki Angerman and Ryan Howe resigned; elementary teacher Michelle Clark took an extended leave of absence; and kindergarten teacher Madison Blackburn’s contract was not renewed.

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The school board has approved in first reading a policy change that would raise high school graduation requirements from 24 credits to 26 credits.

Second reading and a possible vote to adopt the change is scheduled for the Sept. 21 board meeting.

Under the current seven-period daily schedule, students who pass all their courses earn seven credits per year, totaling 21 credits by the end of their junior year. High School Principal Greg Clark noted that this pace has effectively turned the school into a “three-year school,” leaving many seniors needing only three credits to graduate and opening the door to an under-scheduled final year in school.

“What we’re trying to do with the additional two credits is to help better prepare the students for life beyond high school,” Board President John DeRuyter said. “And the focus isn’t just preparation for college, but also the workforce.”

The additional two credits would not mandate extra core academic subjects such as math or science. Instead, students could earn them through electives and school-sponsored extracurricular activities.

The expansion is designed to drive greater student involvement in career and technical education courses, vocational training sequences and on-the-job work experience programs in Wrangell.

DeRuyter and Board Member Dan Powers noted that on-the-job training and career and technical education have become more attractive options for students in recent years.

If adopted on second reading, the new credit policy would not apply to current juniors and seniors, Clark said, as those students will be grandfathered in under the previous 24-credit requirement.

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