Author: Katherine Rose

A nonprofit volunteer organization will officially resume its role supporting Sitka’s animal shelter, after the assembly unanimously signed off on an agreement Tuesday night (2-25-25).

After months of uncertainty, a nonprofit group of animal shelter volunteers and the City of Sitka have drafted an agreement for shelter operations moving forward.

The city’s admission that a Sitka police officer euthanized several animals in the local shelter by gunshot late last summer has generated a strong response from the community’s veterinarians.  Seven vets – both practicing and retired – dispute the administration’s claim that shooting the dogs and cats was an acceptable practice under guidelines of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Sitka’s mayor says that cruise industry leaders are worried about the effects of an upcoming ballot initiative, which would limit how many of their visitors can come to Sitka. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz attended the Pacific Northwest Symposium in Vancouver, BC in January. He said his meetings with cruise executives were marked by both positivity and angst.

Near the end of its two-week meeting on Sunday, the Alaska Board of Fisheries considered a proposal to close off a small bay north of Sitka to commercial herring fishing. Proposal 179 earned considerable support from Sitka’s subsistence community, but ultimately was rejected by the Board of Fish on a split vote.

The maximum harvest level for Sitka’s commercial herring fishery has been reduced, despite recent increases in the biomass. State fishery managers point to research from Canada that suggests more caution is needed in setting harvest rates than the 20-percent target used up until now. The Alaska Board of Fisheries adopted the new strategy – to mixed reviews – at its meeting in Ketchikan, which wrapped up on Sunday.

Four cats and two dogs were euthanized by the Sitka Police Department following a break-down of shelter operations last summer that left police supervising the facility without an animal control officer or volunteers. These details were included in an internal investigation emailed to the Sitka Assembly over the weekend (2-8-25). 

Three Southeast Alaskans delivered “traditional knowledge reports” to the Alaska Board of Fisheries this week (2-3-25). It’s the first time Indigenous perspective has been officially incorporated into Southeast fisheries policy deliberations.

Starting this summer, the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce will no longer provide visitor services for the city. 

The nation is still mourning the loss of late President Jimmy Carter, who died earlier this month at the age of 100. Now, one Sitkan who has a special connection with the former president is organizing a tribute in his memory.