Prince William Sound Natural History Symposium to be held May 13-14
The Prince William Sound Stewardship Foundation (PWSSF) is hosting their sixth annual Prince William Sound Natural History Symposium May 13-14, 2024, at the City Building in Whittier and online.
This year’s theme is “Hope for a Sustainable Prince William Sound.” Sessions on Monday, May 13th, are from 1-5 PM at the City Building in Whittier; this half day is geared towards the outdoor education and guiding community. Sessions on Tuesday, May 14th, will be presented in hybrid format (9AM-5PM at the City Building in Whittier and online via Zoom) and will feature the latest PWS news and research, including cultural history, marine life, landslide updates, and more. Both days are free and open to the public. Please register at https://princewilliamsound.org/2024nhs2024nhs. Recordings will be posted on princewilliamsound.org in June.
“PWSSF initially started the Natural History Symposium to provide high-quality information for the guides and other educators bringing visitors to our region. It quickly became popular with the general public and is now a highly anticipated annual community event with attendees from communities around Prince William Sound (PWS), the state of Alaska, and the Lower 48, as well as international viewers online,” shares Dr. Charla Hughes, PWSSF Executive Director. “The Symposium audience is not limited to day-of attendees: the session recordings we post each year are an excellent free community resource for educators and anyone interested in learning more about PWS.”
"I am so happy to see the Natural History Symposium continue to grow and evolve each year. This year we are expanding to two days of presentations with more than 25 experts. If you work or spend time in Prince William Sound, there is no better way to get informed and excited about the year ahead," says PWSSF Board Chair William Melton.
The PWS Science Center will also be hosting a watch party in Cordova on Tuesday, May 14th.
PWSSF is grateful to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, the Oil Spill Recovery Institute at the PWS Science Center, the PWS Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, and their many partners and members for making this event possible.
(Article courtesy of Prince William Sound Stewardship Foundation)
Avalanche at Alyeska Resort prompts Closure of Tram and two lifts
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
A small avalanche broke loose in the early morning hours from Alyeska's headwall prompting the ski resort to close two ski lifts and its tram on the last day of the company's spring Slush Cup carnival.
"Just in the manner of safety," said Duane Stutzman, mountain manager for the Resort. "There were no injuries, no damage, nothing like that. Just a pure safety and cautionary move on our part to enhance the safety of our guests and our resort employees."
The slide, which occurred at 2 a.m., will not impact Sunday's Slush Cup activities and the Resort will still have its "Passholder's Day" Monday, albeit with only Chairs Three and Seven open, Stutzman said.
He said closing the lifts and the tram was a collaborative decision of the Resort's snow safety team and its mountain operations department.
"It's not how we wanted to end the season," he said. "We debated whether to not continue those two events [Passholder's Day and an employee party] and thought we should just go ahead and continue it just on a limited basis."
The slide is the second on the mountain in a year. An avalanche May 11 swept down the mountain from its north face to just behind Alyeska's hotel, displacing pond water from two kettles above.
In its final forecast for the season, the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Centerhas rated avalanche potential as "considerable" for the area.
"This is a spring wet slide, mother nature-triggered," Stutzman said.
Girdwood 2023 Budget Shows Surplus
By: Brooks Chandler
TN Contributor
Girdwood's local government had a surplus of nearly $400,000 in its 2023 budget, savings that are a result of lower than expected costs for road maintenance, lower expenses for parks and the fire department's decision to hold off on buying a new fire truck.
Actual expenses for the Girdwood Valley Service Area in 2023 were $388,288 under budget.
This happy state of Valley financial affairs was reflected in a budget report prepared by Service Area Manager Kyle Kelley. The report was presented to the Girdwood Board of Supervisors on March 20.
Kelley identified several causes of the surplus, including lower than expected “intra-governmental charges”, a decision to retain $74,821 the fire department originally budgeted for an initial payment on a new truck, and lower than anticipated payments to the road contractor Western. Intragovernmental charges are what one Anchorage department charges the Girdwood Valley Service Area for work performed that either directly or indirectly benefits the service area. One example is maintenance work on buildings and equipment done by the Public Works department.
The fire chief had been concerned her department would run short of operating funds so the capital transfer for the fire truck was not made, Kelley told the Girdwood Board of Supervisors.
Ordinarily when it turns out the operating costs were on budget the planned transfer to capital would have been made before the end of the year. In addition, the budgeted initial loan payment of $80,000 anticipated to be paid in 2023 will not be due until the new vehicle is actually delivered in either late 2024 or early 2025.
Accounting staff shortages in the Anchorage Fire Department plus the need for the Anchorage Assembly to officially approve fund transfers prevented the pre-year-end transfer, Kelley said, adding that he anticipates the transfer will be made in 2024. The spread between budgeted and actual expenses for law enforcement was miniscule. The $807,619 police budget had a surplus of $3,703.14, an excess accounting for less than one-half of one percent of the budget. Mr. Kelley told GBOS the contract with the Whittier Police Department enables precise budgeting.
The Parks and Recreation budget had a 10 percent surplus of nearly $40,000. This surplus resulted in part from lower-than-expected intra-governmental charges and from the award of a grant from the Kenai Mountains Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area. The grant offset budgeted costs for work on the Beaver Pond trail.
Despite the vast amounts of snowfall in late 2023 the are road maintenance budget also had a 10 per cent surplus of $131,000. The road budget covers both plowing, grading and capital projects such as culvert replacements.
There will be a change in how capital projects are accomplished in 2024. Instead of working directly with the GVSA road contractor under the terms of a road contract, larger capital projects will be competitively bid Kelley told the board. He said this process is less efficient and whether it is more costly remains to be seen.
The entire $388,288 surplus is available for spending if GBOS makes a specific request to use the funds that is approved by the Anchorage Assembly.
Kelley said he recommends GBOS keeps $250,000 in “undesignated” funds for unanticipated expenses such as an equipment failure. Any amount above this could be kept in the bank, used for the first payment for the new fire truck, or spent on a capital project, Kelley said
During the March 20 work session GBOS members universally praised the fiscal management of Kelley and Margaret Tyler.
The full year end report can be accessed at https://www.muni.org/Departments/operations/streets/Service/GBOS/GVSA%202023%20Year%20in%20Review%20packet.pdf
Getting ‘In The Loop’ for Girdwood’s First Friday Art Walk
By Chase Berenson
TNews Contributor
On the first Friday of every month, six businesses on Girdwood’s Olympic Mountain Loop welcome the new month by opening their doors from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday evening for an art walk titled Girdwood’s First Friday in the Loop.
Typical participants are Alpenglow Coffee House, Girdwood Center for the Visual Arts (GCVA), Jack Sprat, La Bodega, Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, and Powder House Ski and Bike Shop. The businesses are going to try to maintain these events on first Fridays through the summer, and we checked out the event on Friday, April 5, to see what the experience is like.
There is no wrong way to approach the Loop on a first Friday, but we planned on starting at GCVA since it is arguably the most arts-focused of the participants and it’s conveniently located on the top of the Olympic Mountain Loop. We were surprised to see that GCVA was closed and wasn’t participating in this month’s event, and that feeling was shared by many people we ran into throughout the evening.
Read the entire story at:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/getting-in-the-loop-for-girdwoods-first-friday-art-walk
POACHER’S LAST RUN
By Jim Sweeney
TNews Contributor
The helicopter hovers eighty to hundred feet above the valley floor creating a tornado of snow. Each time it tries to land, it is engulfed in white, so that the pilot has to pull back to see.
The helicopter is small, with a blue bottom, a white top and an Alaska State Trooper badge on its side.
The helicopter flies off, circles once and comes back for another try. No cigar this time, either. The obnoxious bird takes off on another loop and this time slows down as it flies over. The garble from the helicopter’s loudspeaker is swallowed by rotor wash but Mark Norquist and Matt Howard get the message. It’s too dark and there is too much snow flying around for the helicopter to land.
Dave "The Poacher" Pettry will spend the night of March 14 next to Tincan Creek.
Read the entire story at:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/poachers-last-run
Girdwood Trails Plan Gets Assembly nod
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
The Anchorage Assembly adopted a trails plan for Girdwood last week that maps out a network of interconnecting trails in the valley.
The decision follows four years of wrangling a continually morphing plan through dozens of public meetings, competing demands of different user groups and a sometimes bitter public process that resulted in ethics questions and charges of harassment.
In the end, the plan comes closer to a future when residents can "leave our cars in our garage," Girdwood Nordic Ski Club President Deb Essex told the Assembly.
Read the entire story at:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwood-trails-plan-gets-assembly-nod
Girdwood Homeless Population Doubles
By Brooks Chandler
TNews Contributor
There are more than 47 persons living in tents, trees, cars, trucks, trailers and campers on the street or in the woods of Girdwood, according to a local survey.
A year earlier the number was 22.
The 2024 “count” was conducted January 29 through in person interviews, Girdwood resident Linda Mankoff told the Girdwood Board of Supervisors at Monday's meeting.
Only persons who volunteered their names were included.
Mankoff, who is a patient assistance program coordinator at the Girdwood Health Clinic, coordinated local participation in conjunction with a nationwide homeless survey.
She estimated another 20-25 unhoused residents declined to be counted.
The official count will be reported to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development by the Clinic. Based on the data, homeless Girdwoodians may qualify for federal assistance later in 2024.
Who are these people? Ms. Mankoff said many are employed in the Valley—in the service industry and as young professionals. She said some of the working homeless told her market rate rents would consume 50 percent of their income.
Mankoff told GBOS many live with some fear of being forced to leave their “spot”.
Three candidates file for open GBOS seats
Three candidates will appear on the ballot for Girdwood Board of Supervisors in the April 2 municipal election.
Well-known locals, Brian "Burntski" Burnett and Brett Wilbanks, have filed for—appropriately—Seat "B", while current GBOS co-chair Jennifer Wingard will run unopposed for Seat A.
Both Burnett and Wilbanks are fixtures in local governance and are running in for a seat left vacant by out-going member Amanda Sassi.
Burnett, who filed for the open seat 11 days after Wilbanks, is the former mountain manager at Alyeska Resort and is currently a ski technician at Powder Hound Ski Shop in Girdwood.
Wilbanks, owner of Polar Marine in Whittier, is serving as chair of Girdwood's Housing and Economic Committee.
Editorial: Bury Holtan Hills
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
Once again, a short-sighted and terrible land use plan comes marching in from a few Anchorage personalities.
And, once again, it must be stopped.
The idea to level a significant chunk of Girdwood rainforest for an ugly eye-sore of subdivisions, many more times larger than "Cabana Land", caught all of us off-guard a year ago.
The plan came from nowhere--a small group of selected "investors"--and was unanimously rejected at every public meeting, in surveys, through hours and hours of testimony, and by our local Land Use Committee and Girdwood Board of Supervisors.
And it wasn't just Girdwoodians who were abhorrent to Holtan Hills. When local volunteers fanned across Anchorage to speak at community councils, the idea was ridiculed. Girdwood was supported by resolutions from 20 community councils.
Read more of the editorial. at:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/editorial-bury-holtan-hills
Public Hearing for Holtan Hills Scheduled for Jan. 9 and 23
By David Nyman
TNews Contributor
Anchorage Assembly Chair Chris Constant and co-Chair Meg Zaletel announced public hearing dates for the controversial Holtan Hills real estate transaction on Jan. 9 and 23.
The press release is as follows:
"Assembly Vice Chair Meg Zaletel introduced a new proposal to dispose Heritage Land Bank (HLB) property in Girdwood to CY Investments for a multi-use residential development, “Holtan Hills," at the December 19 Regular Assembly Meeting. The new version would require the developer to designate a multifamily unit to a future Girdwood housing trust or non-profit entity and the(n) engage the Girdwood Board of Supervisors throughout the project."
Holiday activities in Girdwood and Alyeska Resort
By James P. Sweeney
TNews Contributor
Girdwood and Alyeska are a winter wonderland right now. New Years is right around the corner and this is a list of activities in Glacier Valley for your enjoyment..
On December 29, the Jeffries will be playing the Sitzmark Bar. 9 pm $10, 21+.
On December 30, the Tyson James Band will be shaking the Sitzmark Bar. 9 pm $10, 21+.
Jack Sprat’s and The Spoonline will be serving a New Years Eve dinner with reservations.
On December 31, New Years Eve the annual Alyeska torchlight parade winds its way down the mountain between 9 and 10 pm!
Also on New Years Eve The Roland Roberts Band will be rocking the Sitzmark Bar starting at 10 pm.
Gear Up! Gear Exchange Buys and Sells
Calling all gear lovers! Gather up your gently used outdoor gear and clothing. Girdwood has a new business in town. The Girdwood Gear Exchange opened this past summer giving Girdwoodians an opportunity to buy and sell gear.
It is owned and run by Mara Hall who followed the consignment model when creating her new business. This model benefits the consignor, who makes money by selling used items, while the buyer gets quality gear at a discounted price.
Mara, who loves thrift shopping and clothes, started her career selling women’s clothing at markets. When the commercial space at her current location opened she bought it hoping to expand. Instead of going to Anchorage, her hope is that locals will utilize her store.
The Gear Exchange is located at 599 Alyeska Highway. December hours are: Friday & Saturday 11-5; and Sunday & Monday 11-3.
The Gear Exchange is currently taking winter clothing and gear, but will transition to summer gear when the seasons change.
Go check out the Girdwood Gear Exchange and you might just walk out with a new Patagonia jacket that you didn’t know you needed
CoasT Pizza Goes Bigger
CoasT Pizza is renovating its Old Girdwood location and hopes to serve beer and wine in the future.
The pizzeria has expanded its kitchen, removed walls and scraped away an old, tiled floor to give employees more room to work and customers more room to dine.
For its signature bar, it took owner Amanda Tuttle “months of time and a lot of extremely hard work” to culled and reclaimed lumber from a nearby property.
"The end of the bar is a perfect place to watch the sunset," said CoasT manager Jen Morse. "It's the corner where locals hang out.”
Girdwood hosts Homer Police forum on ‘Parenting in the Digital Age’
On a recent Friday evening in Girdwood, a much anticipated guest speaker came to Girdwood thanks to outreach and support from the Public Safety Advisory Committee and Girdwood Board of Supervisors. Lieutenant Ryan Browning of the Homer Police Department engaged parents and youth in a frank conversation about the real life risks of youth social media usage, cyberbullying, sexting.
Lt. Browning’s time as a police officer, and personal experience as a father of two teens himself, inspired him to create his two hour presentation “Parenting in the Digital Age.” Over the last year Browning has traveled all over the state of Alaska sharing his thoughtful, engaging, and at times provocative, two hour program with the goal of helping parents and teens open up a dialogue about what they’re seeing and experiencing online.
Girdwood's Ava Earl Releases New Album, Helps Power Northwestern U. Running Team
In fourth grade at Girdwood Elementary, Ava Earl had to write a self-reflection on her school performance: "What are you good at? What are your weaknesses?"
Assessing her strengths wouldn't be hard, she was an exemplary student, star runner and already showed a proclivity in music.
But there was one thing she scolded herself on, something that could cause her teachers' "mild frustration", and something, as it would turn out, for which women are typically chided for more than men.
Talking--being--too much.
That accusation became the title of Earl's latest album, her fourth, released Sept. 15