Quantcast
Channel: News - Alaska Public Media
Viewing all 17603 articles
Browse latest View live

Eielson’s F-35s will ‘save our bacon’ by offsetting economic slump, Fairbanks Mayor Says

0
0
354th Fighter Wing Commander Col. David Mineau, left, and borough Mayor Karl Kassel prepare to fly in one of the F-16s at Eielson last week.
(Photo by Isaac Johnson/354th FW public affairs)

Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Karl Kassel said the buildup associated with two squadrons of F-35 warplanes that’ll be coming to Eielson Air Force Base in a couple of years will offset decreases in population and state funding that are both being driven by Alaska’s recession-wracked economy.

Listen now

In better times, Kassel might be crowing about an expansion of the Fairbanks area’s economy that would be driven by half a billion dollars in construction and 5,000 new people who are expected to be drawn here by the F-35s. Instead, the mayor said he’s just glad that the economic benefits will basically just enable the area to hold its own.

“So, it’s huge for all of us in the borough,” Kassel said, “and it’s helping save our bacon so to speak with the changing economy and what’s going on in the state.”

What’s going on statewide is a continuation of the economic slowdown that’s been under way for more than three years now caused by plummeting oil prices and a corresponding free-fall of state revenues that come from the industry. According to the state Department of Labor and Workforce DevelopmentAlaska’s unemployment rate in August stood at 6.3 percent. In the borough, it was 5.5 percent. Statewide job growth, wage growth, GDP growth and home prices were all down by more than two percentage points in August from the 10-year average.

So Kassel said the near-term prospect of slow or no growth of the borough’s economy doesn’t sound too bad.

“We’re going to see our economy stay comparatively flat,” Kassel said. “While the rest of the state is going to be taking a pretty good hit.”

Kassel took a few minutes away from schmoozing during Tuesday’s F-35 celebration of sorts at Eielson to explain studies that suggest most of the 5,000 people coming to the area with the warplanes also will likely offset a decrease in the Fairbanks-area population that’s largely due to cuts in funding for state agencies and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“We have also been quantifying the exodus from Fairbanks as a result of cuts at the university (and) state cuts,” Kassel said. “There’s been a number of those that are resulting in people leaving Fairbanks now.”

Kassel said most of the new residents probably will find homes on the city’s east side, closer to Eielson, while much of the population loss likely will occur on the west side, around the university.


Alaska and its tribes sign child services compact

0
0
Governor Bill Walker signs the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact at the 2017 Alaska Federation of Natives convention. Health and Social Services Commissioner Valerie Davidson is on his right. (Photo courtesy of the office of Governor Bill Walker)

The state of Alaska has entered into a first-of-its kind compact to let tribes and tribal organizations take over child welfare services in their communities.

Listen now

State officials say the new Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact — signed today at the 51st annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention in downtown Anchorage — is “historic” and unique in the United States. Its aim is to preserve Alaska Native culture through giving tribes and tribal organization the ability to oversee local child welfare problems, rather than social workers coming in from outside their communities, often resulting in children being removed from their communities.

So far, 18 Alaska Native tribes or tribal organizations are a part of the new compact, and negotiations to add others will be done on an annual basis as more than 200 tribes and organizations watch, learn and make decisions on how they want to handle child welfare services.

Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Valerie Davidson said child services comprise some of the most difficult social work her department oversees. She thanked those who do it.

“You see things that no adult should ever see about things that happen to children throughout our state,” Davidson said in a speech to AFN attendees. “We know that is incredibly hard work, and so we offer our heartfelt quyana for helping to our children be, ultimately, who they are meant to be.”

The compact allows tribes and tribal organizations to assume certain responsibilities, negotiated on an organization-by-organization basis, that have been under the purview of the state Office of Children’s Services. That includes assisting or conducting investigations of child welfare cases, the placement of children in out-of-home care, and licensing foster homes, among other things. Further along, there will also be decisions on how the state funds those services through the tribes and tribal organizations.

Davidson said there are a variety of problems the compact aims to solve. One, she said, is that about 20 percent of all Alaska children are Alaska Native or American Indian, but Native kids represent more than half of those placed in out-of-home care.

“That disproportionality tells us that what we’re doing right now isn’t working and we need to do better,” Davidson said. “What we learned is that when children and families have better outcomes when care is provided closer to home.”

The compact is based on the Alaska Tribal Health Compact, a similar agreement that gives authority to tribes and tribal organizations in managing health care.

For Davidson, the health commissioner and an Alaska Native herself, the issue of providing more tailored care for kids and families in need is an emotional one. During an interview, her eyes teared up and she jokingly blamed allergies.

But Davidson had a somber tone describing the messages she says she sees on social media all too often.

“They say, ‘I’ve been told my mom is from this village. I’m wondering if anybody knows who my family is.’ And we see that all the time, it’s heartbreaking,” Davidson said. “My children’s generation? I don’t want them to see that anymore. I want our children to know who they are, to know what village they’re from, to know what tribe they’re from and have no question about their culture.”

Just before signing the compact, Gov. Bill Walker told the convention attendees there may be similar tribal state agreements in the future.

“This is just the beginning. There are more things we can do with the same process,” Gov. Walker said. “There has to be a first step. It’s a recipe for what more we can do.”

Day one of AFN sees rousing speeches on fiscal crisis and “Strength in Unity”

0
0
Sgt. Jody Potts delivers her keynote address to the AFN convention. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

On the first full day of the AFN convention, delegates heard an impassioned speech from Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott focused on the state’s fiscal situation.

Listen now

Mallott was unsparing in his criticism of state lawmakers who have failed to pass a comprehensive fiscal solution to Alaska’s massive revenues gap, instead paying for dwindling government services by drawing on billions from savings.

“We hear people say ‘no new taxes, no new taxes until somehow the government has right-sized itself,’” Mallott said. “We’re ready to do that, but let’s have a conversation, let’s not use it as an excuse to do nothing, to spend down $14 billion.”

Mallott dismissed arguments that per-capita spending on services for Alaskans is higher than throughout the Lower 48, saying it is a flawed comparison given the state’s uniquely rural demographics. He rattled off essential services throughout Alaska that have declined to the point of failing many rural residents and indigenous communities, particularly education, infrastructure and criminal justice.

“We do not have the public safety services that we need,” Mallott said. “In rural Alaska, to have a young person be murdered and lay in a rock quarry covered by a tarp for four days because police could not get there in order to begin the process of trying to bring a perpetrator to justice… where is the bloated budget for that?”

The speech didn’t place explicit blame on either political party or legislative chamber, but set a severe tone just as lawmakers are heading to Juneau next week for a fourth special session that will deal in part with the fiscal situation. Both Mallott and Governor Bill Walker received a warm response from the crowd of delegates.

The day’s other powerful speech came from the keynote– Sergeant Jody Potts, Director of Public Safety for the Tanana Chiefs Conference. Dressed in full Gwich’in regalia, Potts recounted growing up in a modest dirt-floor hunting cabin in Eagle — and how pieces of that traditional lifestyle helped her heal after a family tragedy this year.

“In March my children lost their father to suicide. And in the first several months it was very hard, as you can imagine, getting through the fog of that grief,” Potts said.

Potts took months off work, spending time with her kids, hunting and visiting family. She gestured towards the convention’s theme on an overhead banner – “Strength in Unity”—and said that idea was an essential part of how she began to gradually enjoy life again.

“The greatest strength that we found was when we came together, me and my three children. We found strength in unity,” Potts said. “And I see that among our people. Everything we’ve gone through, we really have strength in unity, we have a joint story that needs to be told.”

Tara Sweeney, who was recently nominated for an assistant secretary position in the Interior Department. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

The convention saw a recorded statement from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who’d had to scrap a planned live video address in order to attend a funeral. Zinke said Alaska Natives have been fortunate under the Trump Administration’s efforts to streamline regulations, advocate for veterans and protect the right to sell walrus ivory. He also said Alaska has scored “major victories” on the personnel side. AFN President Julie Kitka said the recent appointment of an Alaskan to a high-level position in the Interior department is evidence the Trump Administration has an interest in working with the Alaska Native community.

“One of the first significant outcome(s) of our work with the new Trump Administration has been the nomination of Tara Sweeney to the high office of Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs,” Zinke said.

Sweeney is the first Alaska Native woman to be put up for the position, and will go before the senate in order to be confirmed.

Ana Hoffman of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region was re-elected as an AFN co-chair, running for the two-year position unopposed.

Television coverage of both the AFN convention, as well as the Quyana cultural festivities, is on 360 North and ARCS through Saturday.

U.S. Senate passes budget that could open ANWR

0
0
Environmental groups held a rally at the Capitol Oct. 17, 2017, urging senators to vote against drilling in ANWR. Photo: Liz Ruskin.

The prospect of drilling rigs in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge just got a little more realistic. The U.S. Senate voted on a budget resolution Thursday night that includes a provision that that might, if the cards fall just so, achieve the long-held dream of Alaska’s political leaders to open ANWR to oil development by the end of the year.

Listen now

“We got one step,” Sen. Dan Sullivan said as he left the Senate chamber. “It’s an important step. And a strong vote. Really strong. And it was bipartisan.”

But it’s far from a done deal.

The full budget resolution, which passed narrowly, doesn’t have the force of law. It does, though, get senators to the next stage, a reconciliation bill. According to Senate rules, this kind of bill cannot be filibustered so it requires only 51 votes to pass.

Democrats tried to strike the ANWR-related measure from the resolution Thursday. That amendment failed 48-52. Two senators crossed party lines: Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, voted with the Republicans, helping those who want to open ANWR. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted with the Democrats.

The next forum for the ANWR debate is likely to be the Senate Energy Committee, chaired by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a champion of drilling in the refuge. She said she plans to hold a hearing on it within the next few weeks.

If ANWR makes it into the final bill, it would be bundled with Republican tax cuts, which are controversial on their own.

“I do recognize that it’s part of package,” Murkowski said after Thursday’s vote. “So we will have to work aggressively to not only make sure that ANWR carries its weight, but that other aspects of the package are good and sound.”

Democrats and environmental groups have pledged to work just as hard to keep ANWR closed to development.

Newtok says state agency blocked access to disaster funding

0
0
Erosion has brought the local river within 40 feet of structures in Newtok, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of Romy Cadiente, Newtok Village)

Residents of the village of Newtok say a state agency blocked its application for federal disaster funding, directing millions of dollars to other Alaska communities.

Listen now

Newtok had planned to use the money to buy out more than a dozen homes at risk of destruction in the rapidly eroding village. Now, that funding will likely go to communities in the Mat-Su Valley.

Village leaders say state and federal agencies have made it almost impossible to access funding.

To get a sense of what Newtok is facing, tribal administrator Andrew John pointed to a photo from a storm earlier this month. He said in just that storm, the village lost more than 20 feet of land. The local river is now within 40 feet of the nearest structures.

But the village council said the relevant state agency has abdicated its responsibility to prepare for what’s coming.

“Basically the Division of Homeland Security has a ‘no-action’ option with regards to the destruction of Newtok,” Mike Walleri, Newtok’s lawyer, said.

Despite years of working with the village, Walleri said the state has no plan to relocate people if their homes are destroyed this year or next.

Newtok has been trying to move for more than a decade, as a combination of thawing permafrost and coastal erosion has brought the water closer and closer. The village has a new site picked out upriver. The big problem is money.

In 2015, the state approved a plan to use about $3 million of state and federal disaster funding to relocate a dozen of the most threatened houses. But then, the village lost its barge landing to erosion. Moving the homes became impossible. So, the Newtok Village Council asked to use the money to buy out the existing homes, and build new houses at the new site.

This summer, the state agency in charge of administering the grant, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, ruled that Newtok’s application was incomplete. The Division refused to submit the plan to FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

So the money Newtok was counting on will likely go to Butte and Sutton in the Mat-Su Borough, instead.

Walleri said residents are dumbfounded.

“We believe that was dishonest,” Walleri said. “We believe that was basically bureaucratic subversion of the plan. And we think that essentially Homeland Security is attempting to abandon the village.”

Mike O’Hare runs the Division of Homeland Security. He said Newtok’s application was missing key elements, and the Division ran out of time to fix the problems.

“It’s bureaucratic. I get it. I’m a bureaucrat,” O’Hare said in an interview Wednesday. But, he said, “we have rules that we have to follow from the federal government.”

O’Hare said he understands the village’s frustration.

“We’re all frustrated, we all want them to succeed. But we have bureaucratic requirements that we have to fulfill. Otherwise we’re being irresponsible with the people’s money,” O’Hare said.

O’Hare said the state faced an August deadline before it would have to return the money to FEMA, so it opted to redirect the funding to communities with complete applications. The funding comes from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which aims to reduce future risk after a major disaster declaration.

But the engineering firm DOWL, which is working with Newtok to manage the relocation effort, said the application was complete – and the state dragged its feet, which ran out the clock. DOWL coordinated final revisions to the application, which was originally prepared by the firm CRW Engineering. DOWL’s Adison Spafford worked on the application for Newtok.

“I don’t know how to say this, but, it’s just, it’s not right,” Spafford said. “Given the tribe’s involvement and investment, to try to get these funds to save the people living in Newtok, it’s just pretty unacceptable.”

O’Hare said the village can apply for other funding. But that will take time. And Newtok had hoped to use this money to build in 2018.

The Newtok Village Council said the bigger problem is that state and federal emergency management agencies are making it almost impossible to access funding. This is the third time in the last two years that Newtok thought funding was on its way, only to be disappointed.

Last year, the Obama administration denied Newtok’s request for a federal disaster declaration, along with one from the village of Kivalina. FEMA said coastal erosion, flooding and thawing permafrost do not meet the requirements of federal disaster law. The Department of Housing and Urban Development also rejected Newtok’s application for funding through the National Disaster Resilience Competition. That application was prepared in part by O’Hare’s division.

Newtok relocation coordinator Romy Cadiente said agencies keep moving the goalposts.

“We didn’t do this, or we still need to do that…These are real people’s lives that they’re dealing with,” Cadiente said. “If this is a doable thing, tell us what we need to do. If it’s not, tell us.”

Newtok residents worry one or more homes may be lost this winter. Village Council president Paul Charles and vice president George Carl both live in houses near the edge of the river.

Carl said Newtok needs help now.

“If you come to Newtok, you’ll see the truth of the village,” Carl said. “They’re in critical condition, some of the houses are ready to fall in the river.”

After Alaska’s Energy Desk called the state with questions this week, the governor’s office intervened.

The Newtok Village Council was called to a meeting Thursday morning with the governor’s chief of staff, Scott Kendall, and Major General Laurie Hummell, who oversees the Division of Homeland Security.

Walleri said both committed to making Newtok’s relocation a priority. They proposed committing Alaska National Guard units to assist with an effort to move temporary barracks from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to the new village site. The proposal would be one way to provide housing at the new site. The governor’s office also agreed to look at options for other funding.

Walleri said Director O’Hare apologized to the village on behalf of his division.

Newtok is introducing several resolutions at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention this week to address issues related to relocation. One resolution asks for changes in federal disaster law to include problems like coastal erosion and thawing permafrost. Another asks President Trump to redirect funds originally committed under the Paris climate agreement to help developing nations adapt to climate change, and instead send that money to Alaska Native and Native American communities.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated the engineering firm DOWL prepared Newtok’s application to the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. In fact, the firm CRW Engineering prepared the original application. DOWL worked with Newtok to submit final revisions this year. 

On Alaska day, lawmakers and staff met on oil and gas taxes

0
0
Anchorage Democratic Rep. Geran Tarr, co-chair of the House Resources committee, gestures during a House floor session earlier this year in Juneau. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/Alaska’s Energy Desk)

Wednesday was Alaska Day, a state holiday, but some lawmakers and their staff meting for an all-day crash course on oil taxes.

It’s somewhat of a habit for Alaska’s Legislature to wade into a fight over the state’s oil and gas tax system. There have been seven major changes to the tax system over the last 12 years. And each time, the issue has been bitterly divisive.

Lawmakers are gearing up to go at it again in January. But first, members of the House and Senate are trying to make sure everyone is speaking the same language.

Anchorage Democratic Rep. Geran Tarr led the oil and gas tax working group. Her office helped coordinate the meeting.

“The point is, the more everybody is on the same page, the more productive the conversations can be,” Tarr said.

To that end, they planned to hear from consultants and an advisory board made up of members of the industry, analysts and state regulators.

And the meeting was public — sort of.

It wasn’t easily accessible. There was no way to call in. The legislative information office, or LIO, was closed for the state holiday. So the meeting wasn’t streamed like others are during the legislative session.

And while the LIO technically serves at the pleasure of the Legislature and could be opened for a meeting, a spokesperson for the office said it would be uncommon to do that outside the regular legislative session.

Instead, they held the meeting at the BP Energy Center.

A staff member from Anchorage Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel’s office said about 40 legislative staffers registered to attend.

There was a webinar, but lawmakers didn’t share how to register. The meetings were recorded and will be made available for viewing at a later date.

Tarr said she didn’t think anyone would mind if members of the general public showed up, but the meeting wasn’t geared toward them.

49 Voices: Clintonette Gregg of Anchorage

0
0
Clintonette Gregg of Anchorage. (Photo by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

This week we’re hearing from Clintonette Gregg of Anchorage. Gregg grew up in Kotzebue and is the leader of the Anchorage Northern Lights dancers. The Inupiaq dance group opened the first day of the AFN convention on Thursday.

Listen now

GREGG: I have been Inupiaq dancing since I was about 14 years old. The beauty of it, watching my girlfriend — who’s no longer with us anymore, she had passed on — watching her dance and just watching the fluent graceful movements of the song and the dance, and watching how it enlightened the audience, and how it drew them into the dancing… I felt that was such a beautiful thing. And the songs are so beautiful to listen to.

I have too many favorites. Growing up, I would have to say, when I first started out, it would have to be the boat paddling song. The tone of the song itself and how it relates to being out in the water and just being one with the water, and being able to do your subsistence with just a small boat and your two hands just amazes me.

We also have a seagull dance. In Inupiaq we call the seagull nauyak. And in this song, it depicts the seagull soaring over the ocean looking for fish. And it depicts not only the Inupiaq people going out and subsisting, but it also tells stories of how the animals did the same.

So it makes me very proud to know that my teaching is actually being instilled in the youth, and it makes me feel good to know that it’s going to be carried on in the future when they’re adults.

To know where they come from. There’s always that question in everyone’s mind: Who am I? Where do I come from? What is my background? And when you don’t have that information, and you have to go and search for it, you’re spending more time trying to find out who you are than knowing who you are, and being able to share that with others.

AK: Volunteers work to rebuild damaged landscapes on Flattop Mountain

0
0
Local students volunteered with Alaska Geographic, including Jasmine Mina (center) and Education Specialist Reth Duir (bottom right). (Photo by Emily Russell, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

Anchorage is home to one of Alaska’s most popular peaks—Flattop Mountain.  But all those hikers have done a lot of damage to the landscape. So this summer and fall, volunteers have been working hard to rebuild the final section of the trail.

Listen now

AKPM: “Alright so I’m just 20 minutes into the hike and so far I’ve seen two forks in the trail and the one that forks left looks like it’s in rehab. It’s covered with what looks like a white linen cloth or carpet that stretches up the side of the mountain.”

“That carpet you saw is called jute mat,” Joe Hall, the Park Specialist for Chugach State Park, explained. “It just kind of reduces the chances of it being eroded. It also kind of makes it look like not a place you want to walk.”

Hall said the impact on the old unorganized trail is “monstrous.”

“If you were to go up and put a drone up in the sky– just the amount of vegetation we’ve lost– it’s pretty remarkable,” Hall said.

Chugach State Park Specialist Joe Hall screws in the final signage for the trail up the backside of Flattop. (Photo by Emily Russell, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

Mike Morganson, a volunteer with Alaska Trail Stewards, agrees.

“From outer space it probably looks crazy to have eight or ten trails all within spitting distance of each other,” Morganson said.

Those trails that slice through the land, Morganson explained, are likely there because of decisions hikers made when the weather was wet and the trail slippery.

“So they’re like, ‘Oh, I’ll just move over here a couple feet to the right where there’s grass and I have better traction,’ and other people do the same and pretty soon your two-foot wide trail is four feet wide,” Morganson explained “And then the next time it’s wet, it becomes six feet wide and then it becomes eight feet wide and in some places it’s like forty-feet wide of just eroded [land]– kind of a scar on the mountainside.”

So, Hall, Morganson and more than 40 other volunteers are here today wearing hardhats and wielding shovels, picks, and pulaskis.

“How did you actually use that thing?” I asked. “I’ve never used a pulaski before.”

“You use your back,” Jasmine Mina explained. Mina is a freshman at UAA who volunteers with Alaska Geographic. “I like trail work,” Mina said, “Even though it’s hard and it kicks my butt,  I like it.”

Mina said doing volunteer work like this has gotten her outside more. She hiked the backside of Flattop two weeks.

“It was like this– it was pretty nice, but I forgot that we made a trail, so I didn’t use the trail,” Mina laughed. “But now that most of it is covered up, people are going to use this trail now.”

And they already are. As Mina and the other volunteers pick away, hikers pass them by. Reth Duir with Alaska Geographic said their work’s not going unnoticed.

“I kid you not– about every single person here that has been using the trail has thanked us for our hard work,” Duir said. “And it’s just amazing being able to see the fruits of our labor and have people thanking you for the work you’ve put in.”

Runners speed by with their dogs, parents pace along with their kids– it really is one of those perfect fall days. The sky is a bright blue and the tundra a mixture of pale yellows and reds.

But with all this traffic, keeping trails in good shape means some good engineering. Mike Morganson has worked his way farther up the trail, grading the slope to prevent erosion.

The view near the summit of Flattop, looking back at Peak Two and the new backside trail. (Photo by Emily Russell, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

“The trail tread, the flat part you would use, is about three feet wide,” Morganson said. “And then the backslope goes uphill to the current slope and you want that approximately 45 degrees, it’s not exact, just for drainage.”

So if it rains, Morganson said that backslope and the slight grade of the wider trail will prevent puddles from forming.

“It’s pretty amazing to see the progress coming back five, ten switchbacks behind us,” Morganson said. “And now we’re getting all the way up to the pass where it hooks up to Flattop and Peak Two intersection.”

And at that intersection, where the new trail hooks up to the old one, it’s just another ten to twenty minutes before reaching the summit.

AKPM: “One of the cool things about hiking the back of Flattop is that the big payoff comes at the very end on the summit and the entire city of Anchorage, if it’s a sunny day like it is today, you get to see it for the first time. Denali is out, the mountains are out– it’s just a stunner of a day. Doesn’t get much better than this.”


State appeals controversial ballot initiative decision to Supreme Court

0
0
Adult sockeye salmon encounter a waterfall on their way up-river to spawn. (Photo by Marvina Munch/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

State attorneys are appealing a judge’s decision to allow a controversial ballot initiative to move forward.

Listen now

The Department of Law filed a notice of appeal on Friday, asking the Supreme Court to reverse the lower court’s opinion.

In a media release, State Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth said the question of whether the ballot initiative is unconstitutional should be answered by the Supreme Court.

The initiative would go on the 2018 ballot, and would ask voters to strengthen the state’s permitting requirements for projects that could interfere with salmon streams.

Essentially the initiative would establish two tracks of development permits — one for small projects, another for large ones. Developers would have to prove that the projects wouldn’t damage salmon habitat.

Last month, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott rejected the initiative, saying it would force the state legislature to protect salmon over other types of resource development, like mining.

The state’s argument is that the Legislature should have the power to allocate state assets among competing uses, like salmon and mining or dam development.

The state argues that the initiative is too broad and could halt development of roads, pipelines and the proposed Pebble Mine.

The group behind the ballot initiative — Stand for Salmon — says the initiative isn’t designed to prohibit development. They argue that it would just strengthen the permitting process.

State Attorney General says all 229 Alaska tribes are sovereign

0
0
The Atautchimukta dance group performing at the 2017 AFN convention. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

On the second day of this year’s annual AFN gathering in Anchorage, another significant announcement regarding the relationship between the state and tribes was put forward.

Listen now

Delegates were told of a major new decision by the state Attorney General’s office, which seeks to resolve decades of legal battles by concluding that Alaska’s 229 tribes are fully sovereign entities. The move is a win for tribal and indigenous advocates who have long-contended they have equal jurisdiction and standing with the State of Alaska. The news came just one day after the governor signed an unprecedented compact with tribal entities that gives them potential control over child welfare policies.

Richard Peterson chairs the Governor’s Tribal Advisory Council and is president of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian tribes

“I don’t know if the gravity really is hitting everybody, but we’ve been arguing for recognition since statehood, and under this administration the attorney general has provided an opinion that yes tribes do exist, that we have inherent sovereignty,” Peterson said.

According to Peterson there’s little in the 16-page guiding document that will dramatically change current policy. But he offered the Village Public Safety Officers program as one example of where tribes have had lesser standing than the state in bringing safety measures to tribal communities in rural Alaska. Going forward, he said tribes will be in a better position to develop and implement policy.

“I don’t even know that it’s leverage – equity isn’t exactly leverage, it’s putting us all on the same playing field,” Peterson said. “I just look forward to being able to work together with a sense of equality and accomplish things for all Alaskans.”

Neal Foster addressing AFN as part of the state house Bush caucus. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

The opinion, authored by Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth, says that ambiguity has come in part from misinterpretations over whether or not the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act nullified tribal sovereignty in Alaska. The guidance clarifies that ANCSA did not.

Delegates heard from the Legislative House Bush caucus. Representative Neal Foster of Nome laid out work the group has done for Alaska Natives, including protecting the VPSO budget from cuts, keeping the minimum student enrollment number for rural schools at 10, and trying to secure more drug treatment options. Foster said that going into lawmaker’s fourth special session next week, caucus members are opposed to fiscal measures that will have a disproportionate impact on residents living off the road system.

“Part of that means we must not balance the budget on the backs of rural Alaska,” Foster said.

The convention saw a panel on climate change immediately after a presentation from a Newtok resident about a resolution going before delegates. If passed, it would support putting disaster relief resources towards dozens of communities facing erosion and near-term effects from climate change.

Ethel Lund, recipient of the Della Keats Healing Hands award given to people who have played a role in bringing healthcare to indigenous communities. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

And AFN’s most prestigious awards were announced. They included the Della Keats “Healing Hands” award for providing health care in native communities. This year it was given to Ethel Lund, one of the founders of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, or SEARHC. Lund flew up Friday morning from her home in Juneau, and in spite of difficulties speaking from Parkinson’s, she said that at her august age, she sees indigenous causes improving.

“I remember the first time I was called an elder, and I wasn’t ready for it yet. I was only 72,” Lund exclaimed.

AFN wraps up on Saturday, when delegates will hear from all three members of Alaska’s congressional delegation and vote on this year’s draft resolutions.

Investigation shows BP Alaska reckoning with multiple accidents and leaks

0
0
An oil rig contracting for BP looms on the horizon at Prudhoe Bay this spring. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk)

An investigation published Friday by Buzzfeed News revealed BP Alaska was responsible for a series of safety incidents on the North Slope this year, some of which put workers at risk.

Listen now

BP isn’t disputing that the incidents took place. The company has already taken extreme steps to address the issue.

As part of its report, BuzzFeed obtained a recording of Jeff Kilfoyle, health and safety manager for BP Exploration Alaska, talking to workers this September.

“Obviously any gas release is not a good thing. But a gas release of that magnitude inside a structure with people is obviously a major concern to us within Alaska and within the business,” Kilfoyle said. “That’s not a place we want to be.”

Kilfoyle was talking about a previously unreported safety incident that happened on September 10. According to BuzzFeed, two workers were exposed to a gas leak inside a building at one of BP’s drill sites. The workers weren’t injured, but the situation could have led to a deadly explosion. This was one of five spills or leaks — called Tier 1 events — that BP Alaska was responsible for this year, BuzzFeed reports.

It also reports that BP dealt with 27 worker accidents in Alaska as of Sept. 12. Buzzfeed obtained emails showing BP’s leaders were so alarmed by the incidents they forced many of their employees to halt work for the first 12 days of October. BP operates Prudhoe Bay, the biggest oil field in Alaska.  All work was halted except operating the field, drilling wells and operations required to meet regulatory and safety standards.

In an email to the company workers, BP Alaska President Janet Weiss said, “I am deeply concerned that with these trends, we are not in a stable state.”

Cathy Foerster, who sits on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said the incidents described in the report are troubling, but she also thinks BP is taking the right steps to address the situation.

“Of course it’s concerning and you can tell Janet [Weiss] is concerned,” Foerster said. “When you see a trend of either unsafe or un-environmentally sensitive events, then you definitely need to step back and take a time out, take a look at what you’re doing and assess what you need to change. And that’s what BP did.”

Foerster did dispute Buzzfeed’s implication that two of the incidents it described were caused by human error. Foerster said her agency is investigating those incidents and believes they were mechanical failures.

Foerster said because her agency only has jurisdiction over two of the incidents, she couldn’t comment on whether the age of BP’s facilities was a factor.

Richard Sears, a professor of energy resources engineering at Stanford, said the fact that Prudhoe Bay has been online for 40 years could be leading to issues, but that’s likely not the full story.

Sears, who advised the presidential commission that investigated the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, thinks BP is right to be worried. But he added that not all five of the leaks outlined in Buzzfeed’s report are equally serious.

“The bottom line: Is BP some kind of a scoundrel because of all this? Not really. Have they possibly let maintenance and good safety practice lapse a little bit in the last few years? That’s very possible,” Sears said. “Does it mean that something really bad is about to happen on the North Slope? I don’t think so. I always think that when a company recognizes they’ve got a problem, that’s the first step, right?”

Lois Epstein of the Wilderness Society said she’s disturbed that the public didn’t know about these incidents before Buzzfeed reported on them.

“There’s a lot of information in this report that says things were going badly for BP, and we didn’t know anything about it — the public didn’t know anything about it,” Epstein said.

In response to the report, BP sent Alaska’s Energy Desk the same written statement it sent to Buzzfeed. According to the statement,  safety and protecting the environment are the company’s “top priorities,” and its pipeline assurance program performs close to 300,000 inspections each year.

“BP reports all incidents in accordance with state and federal laws, including two natural gas releases earlier this year at a Prudhoe Bay drill site and Flow Station 3,” spokeswoman Dawn Patience said in the written statement. “While the goal is to have no releases, both of these incidents occurred during planned maintenance and were halted quickly, and neither resulted in injury to workers or impact to the surrounding environment.”

The protesters of the Vietnam war

0
0

For many Americans, the PBS documentary on the Vietnam war brings up memories of past divisions between those who supported sending U.S. military and those who did not. It was an emotional topic for families and as the number of war casualties grew, so did the protests across the country.

Listen Here

HOST: Lori Townsend

GUESTS:

  • Michael Carey – longtime Alaska reporter
  • John Spitzberg – Veteran and member of Veterans for Pecae
  • Bil Bartee – Vietnam veteran and protestor
  • Statewide callers 

Participate:

  • Call 550-8422 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-8255 (statewide) during the live broadcast
  • Post your comment before, during or after the live broadcast (comments may be read on air).
  • Send email to talk@alaskapublic.org (comments may be read on air)

LIVE Broadcast: Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. on APRN stations statewide.

SUBSCRIBE: Get Talk of Alaska updates automatically by emailRSS or podcast.

As king runs lag, fishers consider cause and prevention

0
0
The intersection of the Sockeye run and the Chinook run. (Photo by Ingrid Taylar / Flickr)

Concern over poor king salmon runs across the state drew a panel of fisheries experts together at a recent meeting in Anchorage.

The event focused mainly on a better understanding of the science behind population declines.

Panelists addressed the elements that play into ocean survivability, like fishing, predation, and warming waters.

National conservation nonprofit, Trout Unlimited, hosted the panel. Austin Williams, the group’s legal and policy director in Alaska, said there are still a lot of gaps in knowledge.

Williams said there’s a real need for continued research to address some of the reasons king runs are weaker.

“It’s an issue not just confined to Cook Inlet or the Anchorage area,” Williams said. “The Southeast Alaska Chinook runs have decreased dramatically and were entirely shut down this year and then some of the runs in Western Alaska have also been declining at alarming rates.”

Williams said, overall, the state has successfully managed its fisheries.

“We need to continue to do that and we need to continue to recognize that in the lean years when we don’t have as many fish returning as we’d like, we need to curtail back fishing and when we have years of abundance, we need to make sure that we go fishing and enjoy that,” Williams said.

Williams said there’s an overlay of politics and policy when managing the fisheries, but the panel looked at the things people have more control over, like how ensure that the fisheries remain productive and sustainable.

Panel moderator Dave Atcheson, a sport fisher and journalist, called the event “a start.”

“We’re hoping that this will spawn a whole lot more action and maybe to have a whole full day symposium in the future and also to get groups like Trout Unlimited and other organizations to see what we might do to help support studies that might be needed and that sort of thing to keep our fisheries healthy,” Atcheson said.

Other speakers touched on the importance of freshwater habitat in conserving fish stocks and public involvement in protecting natural resources.

On re-election bid, Gov. Walker says he’s made difficult decisions that he must own

0
0
Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott greet supporters gathered for the campaign kickoff event Oct. 22, 2017, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall in Juneau. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)

Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott’s re-election campaign kicked off Sunday afternoon in Juneau. About 100 community members showed up to Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall for music, face painting and food, including a new ice cream flavor from Coppa made specially for the campaign, called Unity.

The independent governor took a few of questions from KTOO’s Adelyn Baxter about his outlook for the upcoming 2018 campaign.

BAXTER: So I wanted to ask you specifically about, in your 2016 State of the State address, you said, “I did not run for governor to keep the job, I ran to do the job.”

WALKER: Right.

BAXTER: And so I was wondering if when you were first running in 2014 if you had ever intended to seek re-election, if it was even in your frame of mind then?

WALKER: You know, it wasn’t on my mind, and it isn’t now in the decisions I make. Many times people will say, “Well we can’t do this because we have an election coming.” I don’t believe in that. I was hired for four years I’m going to work hard for a solid four years. And if I get an opportunity to continue on for another four years, I will be greatly honored. If I don’t, I’ll be greatly honored I served as the governor of Alaska for four years. I just don’t believe in running for three years and then just sort of gliding for a year. That’s not what I was hired for.

BAXTER: And what are the biggest changes this time around, this campaign season or upcoming campaign?

WALKER: Well, this time around I have made some difficult decisions and I need to own them. And I will own them. I mean, I don’t hide from anything I’ve done. And so what’s different for me now, you know when I began running, the first poll that was taken I had a name recognition of 2 percent. And I was pretty excited about 2 percent, “Hey that’s … you know!” So I had a long ways to go. Now that’s not the issue anymore. The issue is I need to talk about what I’m going to do and I also need to justify the decisions I’ve made.

So, you know for me, I can, whatever happens on election or re-election, I need to live the rest of my life living with the decision I’ve made. And I can do that. It’s the decision I didn’t make that I don’t want to worry about. I don’t want to ever look back and go, “You know, I didn’t do this because I was worried about that. I didn’t do this …” No. I’m all in. And so that’s not a politically wise thing to do, I understand that. But I would much rather lose fighting for Alaska every day than be very careful and increase my chances by not doing this. I just don’t believe in that. I think that’s how we got into the situation we’re in right now, the fiscal situation. People so focused on their next election. It’s the next generation we need to focus on, not the next election.

BAXTER: And so was the decision to run again as an independent in the next election an obvious one, given the success last time?

WALKER: It is. That’s how we got here and it feels very comfortable because I can draw from all different sides of the aisle for input. I’ve never felt that any particular party had a monopoly on good ideas. I think everybody should have an equal say on that. So we, uh, foster that. We encourage that.

BAXTER: And has there been any discussion given the recent ruling about open primaries and the Democratic primary to running in that primary?

WALKER: You know, we haven’t had any discussion about that. Of course we’re not involved in it at all because of the obvious conflict (of interest). So we haven’t had any discussions about that and as I stand here today I’m not, uh — we’re doing it the way we did it last time and until that changes we’ll keep doing that.

BAXTER: OK. And final thoughts on how this event went?

WALKER: I thought it went very well. I was very, very pleased with it. Juneau had been a big part of our campaign last time and it certainly will be this time. So on a Sunday afternoon with a lot of things competing, with the Seahawks football game going on and the Juneau Symphony, you know, having events today, I was very, very pleased with the turnout. Very happy.

This Juneau homeowner’s energy savings afforded the ultimate way to beat the chill

0
0
Traci Heaton points a remote up at her wall-mounted heat pump. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/Alaska’s Energy Desk)

Hundreds of Juneau homeowners will stay warm this winter using an improved technology. Heat pumps are nothing new. But upgrades over the past 30 years have made the systems a lot more reliable. Now local installers are racing to keep up with growing demand.

Listen now

Inside Traci Heaton’s home, next to a pair of snowshoes hanging on the wall, is a white rectangular box.

“At first I really didn’t like it,” Heaton said. “But now it just blends in with the house.”

Heaton had this wall-mounted air source heat pump installed about a year ago. She used to keep her house warm with a combination of electric baseboard heating, a wood pellet and oil stove. But these days, the $10,000 heat pumps are mostly doing the job. Though, she says there are times when the backups come in handy.

To pay for the heat pumps, Heaton tapped into a state program that awarded homeowners money for efficiency upgrades. That program was cut in 2016 because of Alaska’s budget deficit. Heaton said that’s too bad, because installing them has meant big savings.

“They have cut our heat bill down dramatically,” Heaton said.

Last winter, Heaton’s monthly bill fell by half. The savings can be very different from home to home. Still, there’s growing demand for heat pumps in Juneau and for companies that do the installations, this is a busy time of year.

Northern Refrigeration opened in 2013 and since then, owner John Howard said his business has installed around 300 heat pumps.  He said the fervor over heat pumps spread quickly. By his second year in business, he was doing three  or four estimates every week.

“It was crazy,” Howard said.

The capital city, like the rest of region, doesn’t have a natural gas distributor. So it’s common to burn heating fuel or rely on standard electric heating to stay warm.

Heat pumps first came on the market in the 1970’s and 80’s as an option for regions with a temperate climate. There are a lot of different types; everything from air source to the more expensive ground source or geothermal.

But Howard said the older generation of heat pumps gave the technology a bad rap.

“They’re extremely noisy, they’re big and they cost a lot of money to operate,” Howard said.

Howard said today, the units run a lot more efficiently. If you’ve eaten ice cream you probably already know how the science works. He explains it to his clients like this: When you bring a gallon of ice cream home, maybe it sat in your car too long and melted a bit.

“Well, you put it in the freezer and pull it out the next day and it’s hard again,” Howard said.

Howard said your freezer is actually pulling the heat out of the ice cream — making it cold. Similarly, heat pumps can pull warmth from the ground or air. That warm air might not be detectable to the human touch, but it’s there.

The heat pumps themselves run off of electricity. And as more people get them, Juneau’s local utility is monitoring the electric demand closely. The utility says it hasn’t noticed a large impact yet since the past few winters have been normal to mild. But it is keeping tabs, as fewer people fire up their stoves.

Traci Heaton, from before, says overall she’s happy with the technology.

“I thought I’d take out the baseboard heaters,” Heaton said. “But we have had to use them a couple of times.”

John Howard didn’t install Heaton’s unit. He said there can be some sizing issues with heat pumps but it is possible to find the right fit.

Even so, Heaton said using heat pumps saved her about $250 dollars a month. With the extra money, she was finally able to beat the chill. She took her family on winter trip to Mexico.


Alaska Native tribes unite to oppose mega-mines

0
0
Groups rally against mine and other development during the 2017 Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage. Southeast and Bristol Bay tribal officials signed an agreement during the convention to combine fisheries-protection efforts. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)

Tribal groups from opposite ends of the state have formed an alliance to fight mines they say threaten traditional fisheries.

Listen now

Organizations representing about 30 Southeast Alaska and Bristol Bay tribal governments signed a memorandum of agreement Oct. 18 during the Alaska Federal of Natives convention in Anchorage.

The United Tribes of Bristol Bay opposes Southwest Alaska’s Pebble Mine project. The Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission is critical of mines and exploration projects in British Columbia watersheds that drain into state waters.

Frederick Olsen Jr. chairs the Southeast coalition.

“To combine with several tribes from the other part of the state should send a powerful message to everyone and especially the federal government that we want the federal government to uphold its fiduciary trust responsibility and its government-to-government relationship with its federally recognized tribes,” Olsen said.

Olsen said the organizations agreed to back each other’s efforts to protect their regions’ fisheries.

Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission Chairman Frederick Olsen Jr., left, and United Tribes of Bristol Bay President Robert Heyano hold canned salmon after signing an agreement Oct. 18. (Photo by United Tribes of Bristol Bay)

United Tribes of Bristol Bay President Robert Heyano said what he calls mega-mines are threatening indigenous people.

“Our tribes are under siege, but the unification of our people is a powerful move to defeat these toxic projects,” Heyano said in a news release.

Olsen said the two regional efforts have similar goals, but some differences.

“With our issue, the mines are in a different country. Maybe our fight’s a little more uphill,” Olsen said. “It’s hard to say which one’s harder, of course. The grass is always browner on the other side of the fence in this issue.”

Olsen said the coalition hopes to expand the alliance to tribal groups in other parts of the state.

Developers of mines in both areas say they’re safe and will not damage fish or wildlife habitat.

Troopers recover missing pilot’s body from Yukon River; plane crash under investigation

0
0
A Cessna aircraft in the skies above Nome. (Photo: David Dodman, KNOM)

Missing pilot Kyle Stevens of Russian Mission has been found deceased at the bottom of the Yukon River.

According to Alaska State Troopers, a Cessna 205, Stevens’ aircraft, was found last week in the Yukon River about 10 miles away from Russian Mission, but the pilot was unaccounted for.

Tim DeSpain, a spokesperson with AST, said around 7 p.m. Friday, Stevens’ remains were recovered along with other parts of his plane from about 20 feet of water:

“There were still parts of the plane that were not pulled out of the river initially,” DeSpain said. Alaska State Troopers using a boat-mounted SONAR were able to get a better map of the bottom of the river, and the location of the wreck, and locate the remaining portion of the plane that was still in the river.”

DeSpain could not comment on the cause of death but says Stevens’ body has been sent to Anchorage for an autopsy.

In regards to why Stevens’ plane crashed, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Alaska is looking into that. Noreen Price, aviation accident investigator with NTSB, said two investigators made it to the crash site and completed an on-scene examination.

Price stated that the investigation is in the beginning stages, and a report of NTSB’s preliminary findings is expected to be released within a week.

Iditarod committee names Dallas Seavey as musher whose sled dogs failed drug test

0
0
Dallas Seavey, pictured at the Willow restart, during Iditarod 2016. (Photo by Ben Matheson / Alaska Public Media.)

After weeks of speculation over a top Iditarod contender doping sled-dogs, the race’s governing body has announced the name of the musher. Four-time champion Dallas Seavey’s team had four dogs that tested positive for the banned substance Tramadol, a pain-reliever, according a release from the Iditarod Trail Committee.

Listen now

On social media, Seavey wrote that he has withdrawn from the 2018 Iditarod race, and in a video posted online denied intentionally doping his team.

“I have done nothing wrong,” Seavey said. “I have never knowingly broken any race rule. I have never given any banned substances to my dogs.”

A request for an interview with Seavey was not returned in time for broadcast. In the video, Seavey said he expects further sanction from the Iditarod for speaking out against what he sees as a flawed process and callous mistreatment — including potentially being banned from all future races.

“Out of the blue, I can be thrown under the bus this quick by the Iditarod,” Seavey said. “And they will do nothing to protect you.”

When the Iditarod Trail Committee originally announced they’d found a positive drug test from among a top-finishing team in last year’s race, it was in the context of a change to rule 39. That shifted the burden of proof onto the musher, which ITC said is a less ambiguous and more easily enforced standard for keeping banned substances out of the sport. Officials say the way the rule was previously written they did not have enough evidence to justify sanctioning the offending musher. But in the process they’d refused to name the team in violation, fueling what race officials called “unhealthy speculation” about the incident. Earlier today a group called the Iditarod Official Finisher’s Club, wrote a letter signed by dozens of race veterans demanding the musher be named within 72 hours

ACA enrollment: Better rates for Alaskans but less time to find them

0
0
While the feds have slashed advertising for the ACA enrollment period, the state a has a print-it-yourself option to get the word out. Image: www.commerce.alaska.gov

President Trump is fond of saying “Obamacare is dead.” That negative advertising from the White House is just one of the obstacles Alaska’s health care navigators are trying to overcome ahead of the Affordable Care Act enrollment period that starts Nov. 1. But for Alaskans who buy their own health insurance on the individual market, there’s also good news.

Listen now

Jessie Menkens is a health care navigator and coordinates the program for the Alaska Primary Care Association, one of the non-profits that get federal money to help people sign up for insurance through the federal marketplace. Premera, the sole marketplace insurer in Alaska, has announced a rate decrease for next year, and Menkens said that’s especially good for Alaskans who earn too much to qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

“For the very first time the cost of plans is going down significantly,” Menkens said. “This is new information to a lot of folks when we start talking with them about their opportunities.”

For those who do qualify for financial help, Menkens said the discounts will be applied, same as before, even if the government doesn’t reimburse Premera.

“Nothing is really going to change how open enrollment operates this year there will be subsidies available to Alaskans to reduce the cost of their insurance and their out-of-pocket expenditures,” Menkens said.

But some things have changed, and they’re a challenge to those trying to lower the number of Alaskans who don’t have insurance. For one, the Trump administration has shortened the enrollment period. It was three months. Now it’s six weeks.

“We finally have an opportunity to perhaps add some stability to our market place. But in order for us to be successful with that we need to be able to get the word out and share this information with Alaskans,” Menkens said.

And now they have less money to get that word out. The federal government suddenly cut funding for her program by 25 percent. Alaska navigators have had to scale back their marketing campaigns. The federal government used to help with its own advertising of enrollment periods, but the new administration slashed that budget by 90 percent.

Menkens said the navigators who work for Alaska Primary Care Association have had to cut their hours, though they aim to remain on duty as much as possible during the critical enrollment period.

And there’s another challenge: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it plans to shut down the Healthcare.gov website for 12 hours nearly every weekend during the open enrollment period, for maintenance.

Sue Brogan heads the navigator program at United Way of Anchorage, which is focused on Anchorage residents. She said the website outages will be hard for Alaskans who don’t need navigator help and want to sign up on their own.

“We’re really extremely concerned and disappointed if that is the way that that will move forward,” Brogan said.

In Alaska, the outages will hit during some prime evening hours. They are scheduled for every Saturday night except Dec. 9, starting at 8 p.m. Alaska time. In addition, the government says it will have an “overnight” outage on the first night of open enrollment, Nov. 1. No time was provided.

The Health and Human Services Department said the site was down for maintenance during enrollment periods in the Obama administration, too, and for nearly as long.

The individual market enrollment period runs Nov. 1 through Dec. 15. It does not affect most Alaskans, who get their insurance through employers.

How to reach the health care navigators in Alaska: 

Alaska’s congressional delegation addresses AFN on final day of convention

0
0
Sen. Dan Sullivan addressing the AFN convention. ()Photo by Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)

The 51st Alaska Federation of Natives convention wrapped up in Anchorage on Saturday. Delegates passed a number of resolutions and heard from all three members of the state’s congressional delegation.

Listen now

AFN’s last day saw a flurry of activity, starting with an informal and unwritten speech by Congressman Don Young. He touched on the history of AFN and some of the ills confronting Alaska, including social isolation he said is the result of overusing technology. Young told the crowd one antidote from the dizzying pace of news and information is taking time to just visit with friends. And, the 84-year-old said he avoids social media.

“I’m the smartest congressman in Congress,” Young said. “And you’ll say ‘how could he dare say that?’ And I’ll tell you why! I’ve never Twittered, wiggled or giggled – I have no idea what I’m doing. That makes me really smart as a congressman because everyone gets in trouble in Congress because of their cell phone.”

Senator Dan Sullivan’s address covered a number of topics, including veterans, the opioid crisis and Alaska’s relationship with the Trump Administration. Sullivan counted off Alaskans recently appointed to prominent federal positions, including Tara Sweeny, Joe Balash and Chris Hladick. And he described a high-level meeting earlier this year with
President Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke focused on development opportunities in Alaska. Sullivan said during the encounter Trump asked if he should scrap the last administration’s executive action that officially restored the name of North America’s tallest mountain back to Denali.

“And Senator Murkowski and I jumped over the desk and we said ‘NO! No, don’t wanna reverse that,’” Sullivan said. “And he looked at me and he said ‘Well, why?’ And I said, ‘Well, Mr. President, with all due respect to previous presidents, Alaska Native people named that mountain over 10,000 years ago. And by the way, that was the Athabascan people, and my wife’s Athabascan, and if you change that name back now she’s gonna be really, really mad.’ So he was like ‘Alright, we won’t do that.’”

Delegates approved dozens of resolutions spanning a broad range of topics. The body voted to change how it will endorse political candidates in statewide elections, putting the matter before delegates instead of the AFN board. The Native Village of Savoonga brought forward a successful measure asking that legally obtained walrus ivory and marine mammal products be exempted from state-level ivory bans, an issue coastal communities say is still hurting livelihoods. And a proposal from the Chenega Corporation to transfer municipal lands held in trust by the state to local tribal and corporate entities was tabled and referred to the AFN board.

Groups rally against mine and other development during the 2017 Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage. Southeast and Bristol Bay tribal officials signed an agreement during the convention to combine fisheries-protection efforts. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)

Outside the convention center, a protest organized by a group called Defend the Sacred rallied against proposed development projects in Bristol Bay, the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and trans-boundary mines in Canada.

Between 50 and 100 people gathered in a light snow to chant, wave signs and listen to speeches.

Earlier in the week, AFN saw two major legal victories, with the Governor signing a compact to give tribal entities more control over child welfare services. And the state Attorney General also issued an opinion officially recognizing 229 tribes in Alaska as fully sovereign – recognition the State of Alaska has avoided for decades.

Viewing all 17603 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images