The 2025 season of the Angoon Guide Academy (AGA) successfully concluded another summer of hands-on learning, wilderness training, and professional development for local Angoon students. This summer, four participants—Tyee Kookesh, Chayden Endicott, Justice Duncan, and Hayden Sobeloff—took part in an experience filled with training, internships, and guiding adventures designed to build skills for careers in guiding, tourism, and cultural interpretation.
The season began in June, when students attended the University of Alaska Southeast’s (UAS) Tongass Fly Fishing Academy. Guided by experts from Trout Unlimited and faculty from UAS, the students learned advanced f ly fishing techniques, wilderness first aid, and soft skills that are critical for guiding and environmental education. Later, students joined well-known bear expert Bjorne Dihle for a final training session that included bear viewing and the retrieval of wildlife cameras in Favorite Bay and Hood Bay.
By the close of the 2025 season, students had gained a wide range of skills that helped them built confidence and professional readiness as well as strengthened connections to the land and community—a cornerstone of Kootznoowoo’s mission. Looking ahead to 2026, the Academy is planning to expand its educational offerings to include dedicated training in bear biology and wildlife ecology. A new bear and wildlife tour in Corner Bay is also being developed, and AGA will continue its successful collaboration with Dihle as a lead trainer. Additionally, the program aims to expand commercial partnerships with guiding companies and the U.S. Forest Service to provide advanced internship opportunities.
