Forty years ago, before there was a Haines tourism department, before there was a 1 percent tax for tourism, before there was even much of a tourism industry, there was an idea that the annual eagle migration to the Chilkat Valley could become a tourist attraction. That potential, in fact, was one of the arguments prompting the State of Alaska…
The Haines 5-Year Economic Development Plan is a good one. Let’s see if we can do anything with it. The Haines Borough has paid for good plans in the past, including a downtown plan. Follow-through is the hard part. That requires commitment and a ton of meetings. People lose interest. The economic plan holds no big surprises. It’s a good…
An apparent breather in the University of Alaska’s plans for a huge timber sale in the Chilkat Valley is an opportunity the Haines Borough shouldn’t pass up. Officials with the university’s land office say they’re taking another six months before moving ahead with a contract to cut up to 150 million board feet of trees here in the next 10…
The Haines Borough Assembly is being asked to gamble with $30,000 in public money. The request is coming from the borough staff. This is what’s going on. Public library supporters are seeking up to $2 million in private grants for expansion of the facility, and they’ve been told by the Alaska-based Rasmuson Foundation – the presumed provider of the $2…
The voters in the rural areas of the Haines Borough have spoken, and they’re not interested in on-call service by the townsite police department, even at the relatively low starting price of $70,000. Does this mean residents in outlying areas don’t want police, or that they don’t want to pay for it? It’s difficult to know, but a good rule…
Let’s have a round of applause for the Chilkoot Indian Association. While no one was paying much attention, the Haines-based tribe did as much for public recreation as has been done in a decade or more. The CIA recently completed two miles of trails and boardwalk that snakes through the wetlands across the Old Haines Highway from the Haines School.…
Should the Haines Borough build a new assembly chambers attached to the public library? That’s the question that’s before the Haines Borough Assembly during its next two meetings. If you have an opinion, get hold of an assembly member or show up at the assembly meetings Nov. 6 and Dec. 4. On a 3-3 tied vote broken by an affirmative…
Christy Tengs Fowler wants to be done with the Pioneer Bar and Bamboo Room. Many people think the Haines Borough shouldn’t be awarding grants to nonprofits using tax dollars. Here’s an idea. A generous benefactor or the Haines Borough buys the bar-restaurant and gives it to an existing or new nonprofit. That nonprofit takes over the business, with proceeds after…
I urge fellow residents of the rural areas of the Haines Borough to vote against expanding police service to the town’s road limits. Although the ballot proposition calls for only “on-call” service at $70,000 per year, the recent history of the Haines police reflects a desire for more officers and a bigger budget. Starting two years ago, borough police have…
The Haines Borough Assembly has little choice but to pursue suspension or revocation of the Alaska Excursions tour permit for canoe tours at Davidson Glacier. The assembly also should consider suspending the company’s ATV tour at Glacier Point. Detailed and unsolicited statements made to the assembly by a dozen or more former employees in February established that Alaska Excursions has…