Community & Economic Development

Alaska 2036 Long Range Transportation Policy Plan Update Let’s Keep Moving 2036 Download approved plan (3.21mb) The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) updated the statewide long-range transportation plan (LRTP) in December 2016. The LRTP provides future direction for our highways, aviation, transit, rail, marine, bicycle, and pedestrian transportation. The LRTP, written with agency and public collaboration, develops Alaska’s transportation priorities based on the common interests and needs of stakeholders statewide. The LRTP aligns with the state’s policy direction, addresses statewide needs for all modes of transportation, communicates issues, and prioritizes solutions.

Alaska 2036 Long Range Transportation Policy Plan Update

Draft Borough Charter for the Prince of Wales Island
Please review the attached Borough Charter for Prince of Wales Island. The Councils for all City’s and Communities of Prince of Wales Island will soon be voting on adopting a Borough Charter for Prince of Wales Island. We encourage the public to review the charter and bring any questions or concerns to your COUNCILS. If the City/Communities of the Island adopt the Charter it will be “shelved” until a need arises to put this into place. Once the need arises, it will be up to YOU to vote on the final adoption. To view this charter simply click on the link below titled “Draft Charter December 2014”.

Prince of Wales Draft Borough Charter Download

Tongass National Forest – Land and Resource Management Plan Amendment
The Tongass National Forest (Tongass) amended the 2008 Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan through a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. The process included public involvement, analysis in an environmental impact statement (EIS) and selection of the alternative to implement in the Record of Decision (ROD) signed on December 9, 2016. 

View the Tongass National Forest Land Management Plan Here

Utility Improvement Study USKH

The purpose of this report is to provide a record of investigations and analysis conducted to develop utility improvement recommendations and plans. As part of this work the following activities have been conducted:

• Site visit and investigations by USKH Inc. (USKH) February 15‐18, 2010, including hydrant flow testing and flocculent jar testing. 
• Public meeting to present study plan to the community and Thorne Bay City Council (see Appendix A for documentation).

A 65 percent submittal of this report was made April 16, 2010, and a review conference followed on May 26th. Formal comments and responses from this draft report are provided in Appendix B.

Alaska Scenic Byways Program In 1993, the State of Alaska established a scenic byways program to recognize and celebrate the state’s most scenic travel corridors. Administered by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF), this program also recognizes routes that provide access to the state’s significant natural, recreation, cultural, and historic resources. A grassroots citizen’s group initiates an Alaska state byway designation. Once state designation is granted, the route becomes eligible for grant funding to develop a Corridor Partnership Plan. Once the plan is completed, the byway is eligible to receive National Scenic Byway grant funding to implement qualified projects identified in the Corridor Partnership Plan. If there is broad local support, the corridor also becomes eligible to apply for national byway designation under the National Scenic Byways Program.

Vision Statement

The Prince of Wales Island Corridor demonstrates the diversity of the island’s economic, cultural, and natural resources. The Byway offers a unique productive landscape supporting industries, communities, and arts, as well as the customary gathering of fish, game, and other foods and resources. The Byway corridor allows travelers to see a wide range of public and private land management techniques that meet the needs of the residents and visitors of Prince of Wales Island, the largest island in Southeast Alaska and third largest in the U.S.

Mission Statement
Through cooperative planning and continued sustainable development, the Prince of Wales Island Byway Partnership is dedicated to maintaining the scenic qualities of the corridor and respecting the land by providing a safe, comfortable, and educational adventure to be enjoyed by every traveler. We further contribute to the communities and places of interest along the corridor by promoting tourism, supporting the local culture, and enhancing the economic base of Southeast Alaska.

Scenic Byway POW Corridor Management Plan DOWNLOAD

Waterfront Master Plan 2016

Thorne Bay Waterfront Masterplan Funding Request

Overview of the Needs Assessment and the Project Partners Involved

Prepared By:

Jesse Drucker VISTA Volunteer Community Outreach Coordinator Thorne Bay Public Library

Collaboration between the Alaska State Library and the Corporation for National and Community Service created the Libraries Build Communities Project in 2015. In May of that year, the project partnered with the Thorne Bay Public Library to enhance the educational and economic opportunities of that community. In order to understand how to best serve this community, I conducted a community needs assessment. The assessment focused on finding what were the causes and effects of un- and underemployment in Thorne Bay and what programming this may suggest.

Project partners included Southeast Island School District, the City of Thorne Bay, USFS Thorne Bay Ranger District, Community Connections, and the Alaska Division of Public Assistance.

II. Brief Economic History of Thorne Bay

Thorne Bay is a Second Class City of approximately 471 people on the eastern side of Prince of Wales Island. The bay was named in the late 1891 after Frank Manley Thron, Superintendent of the US Coast Geodedic Survey. The name became misspelled in later years and the final ‘e’ became a permanent fixture.1

In the early 1950s Federal and Alaska territorial legislatures gave favorable tax incentives to pulp companies and encouraged their creation in Southeast Alaska. The Ketchikan Pulp Company (KPC) opened their mill in 1954. The Forest Service signed a 50-year contract with KPC with a pricing and regulative structure designed to keep their operations competitive.2

Community Needs Assessment Download