Recovery and rebuilding were the watchwords of 2021 as residents navigated life in Haines among the wreckage left by the December storms and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Also in this year's news, the borough secured a $20 million grant to repair the Lutak Dock, a new borough manager was hired, incidents of bear and human interactions, including bear mortality, decreased, king salmon returns continued to improve, a new way of managing heliski operators is in the works, borough officials began looking into the lack of affordable housing and the Haines Sheldon Museum's ownership transferred to the museum board of trustees and a Mosquito Lake man who was trapped beneath a pile of snow and firewood was rescued by his neighbor.

Disaster recovery

Elected and public officials dealt with federal and state disaster recovery agencies and eventually worked to restore power and access to Beach Road residents who ceaselessly advocated for their return home. A coalition of volunteers, the Haines Long Term Recovery Group (HLTRG), facilitated recovery for more than 100 impacted residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed, some of whom remain displaced. In September, it helped 17 households dispose of nearly 440,000 pounds of disaster debris including Steve Virg-In's Lutak home which was completely destroyed by slides.

"Thirty-two years of our life, gone," Virg-In said. "(We were) feeling pretty ragged after nine months. The people (who helped) were amazing. There was genuine love and genuine concern all the way around. The Long-Term Recovery Group has been the greatest asset to us."

The Chilkoot Indian Association (CIA) played a key role in disaster debris removal and in bringing funding to support rebuilding efforts. CIA received $900,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to spend on houses that were damaged.

Team Rubicon, a mostly veteran-led volunteer group, came to Haines and helped clear debris from houses including Lemmie Spradlin's. Her Mathias Avenue house received substantial flood damage. She continues to live in a converted garage.

Residents also came to grips with the knowledge that recovery will take years and that federal and state aid would not be enough to rebuild houses badly damaged or destroyed by the storms.

A state specialist and borough staff said in October that Haines can't apply this cycle for FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant because the program requires an up-to-date hazard mitigation plan, which the borough doesn't have. That likely will be ready by next year, and the borough could apply then. The millions of federal disaster mitigation dollars could help compensate Beach Road residents for landslide damage and buy out properties threatened by future slides.

"It does put a huge financial burden on everybody who's still paying mortgages and not living there or deciding to move back in there even though they feel unsafe," Beach Road property owner Steve Wishstar said. Six residents own property in the area's "red zone," and some, like Wishstar, he said, are still paying mortgages on houses they don't plan to move back into due to concerns about safety.

Beach Road resident Phil Pink,71, moved back to his house on Dec. 18, 2020 when the borough removed the area that his house lies in from the mandatory evacuation zone. By February, Pink had been spending between five and seven nights per week living at his house with limited ATV road access and without power, water and a septic system. Despite the hardships of learning to live off the grid in his early seventies, he told the CVN he couldn't bring himself to leave the house. "I can't. I just can't."

The borough assembly later approved the construction of a road through the slide zone. In August, power was restored to the bulk of the Beach Road houses that had been cut off from electricity. Alaska Power and Telephone (AP&T) waited to reinstall service until the borough had cleared debris from the road.

The geotechnical firm Landslide Technology finished its subsurface field work in November. Collected data and analysis from the investigation will be published in January 2022. Through analysis of soil composition and groundwater flow, the study will provide insight into the nature of the December slide, pinpointing where and why the hillside collapsed, and estimating the likelihood of future slides.

Residents heard remarks from pastor Matt Jones and mayor Douglas Olerud and heard songs from Holly Davis and the Haines Threshold Choir at an anniversary memorial event in December. Speakers focused on attempting to find meaning amidst tragedy and recovering from trauma.

"The hardship has taught both ourselves that are older and our younger generation of having the capacity of resilience, of finding a purpose together and to unite in having the strength of commitment," Jones said. "Those things don't come in easy times. They come and they develop through hardship, unfortunately."

COVID

The FDA emergency-authorized Moderna and Pfizer vaccines arrived in Haines in the early months of 2021 and were administered by SEARHC clinic staff. Aside from one large outbreak in August after the Southeast Alaska State Fair, COVID-19 cases remained low. Three residents have been hospitalized since the pandemic began and one, David Land, died.

Although independent travelers came to Haines and a few small cruise ships docked throughout the summer, the tourism industry felt the impact of the lack of visitors. The Magpie Gallery closed its doors. Other businesses faced pandemic-related supply shortages, decreased revenue and a lack of employees despite high unemployment rates.

The summer 2022 cruise ship calendar projects around 88,000 passengers coming to town, the most in 20 years.

The soaring price of lumber and construction materials nationwide forced Haines residents to delay summer projects, eat the high cost of materials and buy more locally sourced rough-cut wood.

"Lumber and plywood is going up. Metal roofing is going up. Windows. Every month we get announcements of (prices) going up. Availability is terrible," Lutak Lumber owner Chip Lende said in May.

The U.S. opened its land and ferry borders to fully vaccinated foreigners in November. The first Canadian visitor was welcomed at the visitor center by the Haines Marching Band, a police escort and the Mayor.

Thanks to the border reopening, high school senior Trygve Bakke Jr. and his father, a Haines Junction resident, reunited in person on a snowy evening in November for the first time since the pandemic began in March 2020.

"It's been a few years so I got him Father's Day gifts and birthday gifts," Trygve said. "I got him a blue polo shirt because he's getting into golf."

"I had to get into something to take my frustrations out," his father said.

Manager hire

After a 15-month process that included two rounds of searches and a job offer that was turned down in March, the borough assembly voted in July to offer the manager job to Annette Kreitzer, a retired Juneau resident who spent 18 years working as an aide and chief of staff in the legislature and as commissioner for the Alaska Department of Administration.

"Perception sometimes rules the day," Kreitzer told residents at a meet and greet. "Fear gets out before the facts. My focus is really trying to make sure that the facts get out first."

In March the assembly had settled on two finalists for the position, borough clerk Alekka Fullerton and Tennessee real estate investor George Zoukee. The assembly offered the job to Zoukee who said he would commit to the position for 10 years. He later rejected the offer, citing the high cost of moving expenses.

Lutak Dock

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski called the Mayor in November with some long awaited news: The borough had been awarded a $20 million federal grant to revitalize Lutak Dock.

"I'm ecstatic. This is huge for Haines," the Mayor said. "We've been working on this for a long time."

The grant, which is from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, will cover almost all of the design and construction needed to make the dock, which is in dire straits, operational again.

The $20 million will cover phase one and most of phase two of a four-phased dock reconstruction project. The borough assembly in June approved a plan to seek funding for the first two phases, after the borough struggled for years to obtain funding for a complete renovation, estimated at about $40 million.

The first two phases involve design and prep work, filling in tidelands next to the existing dock to create more space, demolishing the old dock face and constructing a bulkhead.

Heliskiing

A heliski operator's application for a fourth permit triggered a discussion over whether the borough should change code that limits the number of permits to three.

In June, Stellar Adventure owner Reggie Crist appealed the borough's denial of his permit application. Crist has guided clients for years with his company by paying Haines operators to use their equipment and permit.

In a series of public meetings, Crist argued that Haines' heliski industry has room for growth because only a small fraction of available skier days have been used in recent years. Fewer than a third of 2,600 allocated days were used in 2020. Crist, who has been guiding in Haines for more than a decade, is seeking 500 skier days but hasn't requested that the borough increase its total cap. He said his business, which plans, if permitted, to build a lodge at 18 Mile, would spur Haines' winter economy.

Representatives of the borough's three current operators - Alaska Heliskiing, Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA) and Alaska Mountain Guides (AMG) - said they oppose permitting Stellar because they think Haines' already limited skiable terrain can't support more crowds. They argued that they haven't been using all the available skier days due to a string of poor weather years and the pandemic. A fourth operator, they argued, would increase conflict among guides, reduce safety and degrade the industry's product-untracked powder.

In October, the assembly introduced an ordinance that would remove the permit cap. In December, after public hearings on the permit cap removal, a new idea piqued the interest of assembly members. The borough could limit the number of helicopters per operator and abolish its current restriction on skier days. The idea was advanced by SEABA.

Although the assembly didn't formally endorse the shift to limiting helicopters, and while they cannot introduce amendments to the draft ordinance until its next meeting, which is scheduled for Dec. 22, the proposal appeared to gain traction. SEABA suggested removing the boroughwide 2,600 skier-day limit and establishing a limit of two helicopters per operator. Sean Gaffney of Alaska Mountain Guides, Rhianna Brownell of Alaska Heliskiing and Reggie Crist of Stellar Adventure Travel all backed SEABA's suggestion.

Bears

Residents reported fewer bear-related complaints in 2021 compared to 2020, when a record number of bears were killed by police and residents. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists credited better salmon returns.

Police received 153 calls about bears by September, compared to 350 by that time in 2020.

"It has been weeks since I've had someone notify me of a formal concern," said Fish and Game wildlife biologist Carl Koch in September. "This time last year, every week it just kept going. If I remember correctly, it was almost like this (time of year) was the peak. August to now was...a dead bear a week."

The assembly changed its bear-attractant code in March. Under the new law, a bear-attractant nuisance is "more than one-half gallon of any putrescible material," or livestock, excluding cattle and horses. The law says these are no longer considered attractants if they are secured with a certified bear-proof container, enclosed in a structure, or surrounded by an electric fence.

The Chilkat Valley Historical Society also secured $12,000 in grant funding from the Rasmuson Foundation to provide electric fences for residents.

"We're trying to discourage food conditioning in bears, and encourage creative food producers," said Burl Sheldon, project leader for the CVHS effort. 

Fish and Game biologists also traveled to Haines to conduct bear-spray training with residents and planned proper hazing-technique training for police after the police chief wounded a black bear so badly with a hazing round that it had to be killed.

Koch closed the Upper Lynn Canal brown bear hunt in mid-October after six bears were taken, the first time the hunt has ever closed that early. The hunt ended because a new quota was implemented after the record bear mortality. The season typically lasts until Dec. 31.

Fish

For the third year in a row, the Chilkat River's king salmon run has met the state's escapement goal, according to preliminary estimates. 

Between 2012 and 2018, the Chilkat stock failed to hit escapement targets every year but one. The last two years, and now 2021, have been a different story.

"It feels like the Chilkat stock is rebounding. It feels like we're turning the corner," said Brian Elliott, research biologist at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Fishermen in Lutak Inlet saw a bumper run of sockeye salmon in the last two weeks of August as more than 24,000 fish passed the weir between Aug. 22 and Aug. 31-a trend that reminds old timers of the run's historic strength. Longtime fisherman Jim Szymanski, now retired, said years ago the run used to include what's known colloquially as "blue backs."

"It was the most marvelous shade of blue found in nature, the prettiest sockeyes in the world," Szymanski said.

For the second consecutive year, Ocean Beauty Seafoods' Excursion Inlet cannery won't process fish next summer. The plant's continued closure likely will mean another year of relatively little raw fish tax revenue for the Haines Borough.

After the 2020 season, when Excursion Inlet operated at reduced capacity during a historically low salmon harvest across Southeast, the borough's fish tax revenue dipped to $37,240, the lowest since 1990.

This past season, with Excursion Inlet closed, local processor Haines Packing Company experienced a spike in business. The company's Letnikof Cove plant processed 2.5 million pounds of salmon-the most since Harry Rietze took over in 2013. Forty gillnetters, or about two-thirds of the Haines fleet, sold their fish to Haines Packing, marking a 60% increase from 2020.

The state estimates this year's chum salmon escapement in the Chilkat drainage to be about 170,000 fish, within the target range, according Fish and Game biologist Nicole Zeiser. 

The chum run was good for migrating eagles and the eagle count, which last year was a record low.

Stacie Evans, science director at Takshanuk Watershed Council, tallied a season-high of 626 birds around Haines on Nov. 9, compared to 279 on the peak day last fall. "I'd say they bounced back," Evans said. "The numbers aren't soaring this year. But they're reasonable. They're within the parameters of what we'd expect to see during a normal year."

The Chilkoot River eulachon run has yet to materialize and could be the lowest on record since Chilkoot Indian Association and Takshanuk Watershed Council began monitoring runs in 2010. Researchers and fishermen say cold water is a possible culprit and that eulachon that typically spawn in other rivers ran up the Chilkat River instead.

Haines School and other resident accomplishments

In October, the Haines Glacier Bears cross-country teams won the 2021 state championships in Anchorage on Oct. 9 and became back-to-back state champions.

Freshman Ariel Godinez-Long was the fastest among small-school runners with a time of 20 minutes and 31 seconds.

The Haines track and field team won nine medals at the Alaska state meet in Anchorage on May 28 and 29. Sophomore Eric Gillham and senior Haley Boron earned first-place medals. Both athletes were given the honor of running 50 meters while waving the Alaska flag.

In May, Wesley Verhamme brought home his second state wrestling championship title after defeating three heavyweights at the state tournament in Anchorage.

All five Haines Glacier Bards made it to the final round and earned top finishes for the second year in a row for the debate, drama and forensics state championship. Glacier Bard junior Stella Ordonez qualified for the National Speech and Debate Tournament. She was one of two Alaskans who competed virtually against performers from all 50 states.

Haines High School senior Haley Boron was accepted to the U.S. Air Force Academy, a goal she'd set her sights on as a freshman. Boron was one of 10 Alaskan students U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski nominated to the Air Force academy this year. Each state has a limited number of students it can send to military academies. The U.S. Air Force Academy allows up to 15 Alaskans to be enrolled at any given time.

Klukwan resident and Diné (Navajo) artist Clara Natonabah wrote and sang a Navajo song that was featured this month in a Disney Junior Shake Your Tale with Chip 'N Dale music video. The song, titled "Hózhóogoo Dahwiit'áál" (We Will Sing in Beauty), was released on YouTube and appears in the cartoon where the popular Disney cartoon characters dance to Natonabah's song.

An article by 11-year-old CC Elliott was published in the latest issue of The Week Junior, a major weekly magazine for young readers across the country. Elliott was one of twelve students between the ages of 8 and 14 selected nationwide to be on The Week Junior's "Junior Council," a group mentored by magazine staff to become better researchers, writers and community leaders.

Haines Volunteer Fire Department Emergency Medical Services (EMS) director Julie Anderson was named EMS Educator of the Year for the 2021 Governor's EMS Awards.

A rescue

operation, gun rights debate and other news

Funny Farm manager Mark Kelly, 50, relied on a weak wifi signal and the iPhone's Siri voice command app to call for help after he was buried and pinned underneath a pile of snow, ice and firewood on Jan. 4.

Kelly was listening to a podcast and collecting firewood to feed the boiler of the lodge on Mosquito Lake Road, 30 miles north of Haines, at around 11:30 p.m. Several feet of ice and snow had collected on the woodpile to the point that a cornice had developed.

Neighbors Shelby Flemming and Charles Peep came to the rescue after receiving Kelly's call. Kelly said as he was buried, he wondered what he would be thinking, in what could have been his last moments, if he had turned away a homeless man that he had clothed and fed earlier that day.

"As I lay there trapped and hurting, my mind was free of guilt and regret which enabled me to sort out a solution," Kelly said. "Be helpful. Be kind. The rewards may not be immediate or apparent until a moment like this, but they are there."

In May, the Haines Borough became a Second Amendment sanctuary city. The borough assembly voted 4-2 to join an ever-growing list of municipalities nationwide vowing to uphold the Second Amendment in the event the federal government enacts what the assembly views as unconstitutional gun regulations.

Those in favor said they worried the time will come when the government tries to take away people's right to own guns.

"In these extraordinary times we can no longer depend on the federal government to protect our rights as U.S. citizens. We can no longer depend on the president to defend our rights as guaranteed under the (U.S.) Constitution," wrote Mike Armour.

Those opposed said they worried the resolution would send the wrong message and served no purpose.

"Does this assembly really want to spend its time pushing our community to take sides on one of the most divisive issues in our country for purely political and symbolic reasons that hold no legal bearing whatsoever?" asked resident Aaron Davidman.

The planning commission voted 5-2 this month to forward to the assembly a draft ordinance that would codify definitions of yurts and container homes and restrict them in the townsite.

The proposal, which was recommended to the commission in November by the Government Affairs and Services (GAS) Committee, would allow yurts in the townsite's rural residential and rural mixed use zones but would prohibit them as primary residences in the rest of the townsite. The structures still would be unrestricted in the Mud Bay, Lutak and General Use zoning districts.

The idea to limit yurts emerged again at a planning commission meeting last summer. The assembly referred the issue to the GAS Committee, which last month recommended that code define "yurt" as "a dwelling with a fabric covering over a frame of wood or other material." That would include teepees and tents. "Container home" would be defined as "a shipping container or Conex that has been converted into a dwelling."

Klukwan School enrollment fell below 10 which sparked discussion from the Chatham school board about how to move forward in the face of reduced state funding. The school board could close the school unless another solution is advanced. Chatham's superintendent, Bruce Houck, died in December and a new interim will now be at the helm as discussions continue.

Reported deaths

The CVN reported 38 deaths in 2021 including Hal Mathews, Kathy Lake, Daniel Lakeman, "Jo" Kauffman, Doris Ward, Alexandra Feit, Sue Jurgeleit, Louise Smith, Rosalie Cohen, Sally Burattin, Betty Holgate, Virginia Scovill, Diane Highsmith, Donna Murphy, Judd Mullady, Diane Sly, Glen Mielke, Tom Mathews, Carla Brott, Robert Lawson, Fred Phillips, Scott Hibbard, Benjamin Herndon, Peter McDonald, Michael Rooney, Nicole Edwards, Nicki Hopper, Alex Nickerson, Leslie Whittington, Jake Goenett, Agnes Armour, David Land, Nicole Studley, Donna Peel, Hank Jacquot, Frederick Hakkinen, Tony Strong and Smith Katzeek.

*This story has been updated to correct an inaccuracy. The story originally reported that Lemmie Spradlin moved back to her Matthias Avenue home. She continues to live in a converted garage.

Sept. 9: Team Rubicon vets muck out Lemmi Spradlin's house on Young Road. It's been damaged since the December storms. Photo courtesy of Janine Allen.