Young squeaks Roadless Rule exemption into Ag bill
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.
It took some doing, but Rep. Don Young squeezed the House for votes Thursday night and got an amendment into the Agriculture bill to exempt Alaska forests from the Roadless Rule. It was a feat that played out on the House floor like political cinema.
The U.S. Forest Service sued over Kuiu Island timber sale
Elizabeth Jenkins, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau
The forest service received zero bids on the timber sale in 2016. Earlier this month, it went out for bid again.
A victory for Wrangell’s tribe, state says no dumping near Pat’s Lake
June Leffler, KSTK – Wrangell
Wrangell’s tribe and city have won a year-long fight to protect a fishing stream and popular recreation site.
Troopers identified pilot in fatal crash near Whittier
Associated Press
Alaska State Troopers have released the name of the pilot killed in a crash near Whittier.
Kreiss-Tomkins backs funding for NOAA research, Sitka harbors
Emily Kwong, KCAW – Sitka
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is based in Washington state. But Sitka Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins wants to see NOAA’s Alaska-focused staff, programs and assets relocated closer to home.
How can the U.S. Forest Service keep up with Alaska’s tourism boom?
Elizabeth Jenkins, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau
As tourism increases and federal budgets shrink, a permitting backlog at the U.S. Forest Service has been growing.
Former Unalaska mayor to run state ferry system
Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau
Shirley Marquardt is the new executive director of the Alaska Marine Highway. She’s a former Southwest Alaska mayor with decades of experience with coastal businesses.
Coast Guard seeks feedback on potential impact of 6 new icebreakers
Davis Hovey, KNOM – Nome
The U.S. Coast Guard is soliciting feedback on their six new polar icebreakers, which are expected to train in Arctic waters as soon as 2023.
Kiana youth turn boring meetings into lifelong skills
Anne Hillman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Young people make all of the decisions to put together a multi-day conference in Kiana. Though some of the meetings for OPT In Kiana may not seem fun, they have lifelong effects on the young people and their abilities to face challenges.
Fishermen harvest hooligan by the bucketful on the Chilkoot and Chilkat
Henry Leasia, KHNS – Haines
Once again, the Chilkat and Chilkoot rivers are turning black with little fish scrambling upstream. The eulachon, commonly known as hooligan, are running in full force and all kinds of different species are loving it.
Vigor Alaska shipyard workers gather to watch the Tazlina get lowered into the water at the shipyard’s drydock in Ketchikan on Wednesday. (Photo by Leila Kheiry/KRBD)
The Alaska Marine Highway System’s new ferry Tazlina tasted water for the first time Wednesday afternoon. Vigor Alaska workers floated the nearly completed vessel at the shipyard’s drydock, and tested for water-tightness in anticipation of upcoming sea trials.
Floating a new ferry for the first time is a painstakingly long process that involves bursts of activity followed by a lot of waiting around and listening to the hum of machinery.
Lucky for everyone, it was a sunny day.
Sierra Callis is the shipyard’s workforce development specialist. She used to work on the shipyard floor, and helped build the Tazlina.
“I started construction on the Tazlina — in my career – I was in a bulbous bow on Jan. 20 of 2015,” Callis said.
The bulbous bow is the bulb-shaped hunk of metal that sticks out the front of large vessels.
Talking in a shipyard conference room while crews were still preparing for the big, slow event, Callis said the day went smoothly.
“Today is the big, exciting day in the shipyard that we’ve been waiting for for the last couple of years,” Callis said.
It all started early in the morning. The Tazlina was disconnected from all power sources, then rolled onto the drydock. By mid-afternoon, she said, they were ready to start lowering the ship.
“You have wingwalls in both walls of the drydock,” Callis explained. “It’s equipped with pumps and valves. Upon the dock operator’s call, the valves are opened. Both sides, port and starboard, start to fill up with water, sinks the entire structure to the bottom. That’s when we figure out if the Tazlina will float. Which it will.”
And it did. But it took a long time to get the Tazlina in the water. It was around 3 p.m. when the drydock started to almost imperceptibly descend, and around two hours later, she was floating.
The new Alaska Class ferry Tazlina floats for the first time at the Vigor Alaska shipyard in Ketchikan in on Wednesday. (Photo by Leila Kheiry/KRBD)
Callis said that’s when they do thorough water-tight tests to make sure all the welds are good. Then, they have some finishing touches before sea trials.
“We have hydraulics put in already. The bow needs to have some painting completed,” Callis said. “Just the minor little things that really finish a product up. Cosmetics, mostly.”
Southeast Conference Executive Director Robert Venables was in Ketchikan for another event, and stopped by the shipyard to see the Tazlina on the water.
“This is exciting on a number of different levels. Number one, of course, for the Marine Highway System to have the newest addition of the fleet,” Venables said. “But on another level, it’s really exciting to see how Ketchikan as a community has come together – a transformation of industry to see that we can actually construct these vessels right here in Alaska is just a great day for everybody.”
Venables said he hopes the Tazlina will be able to start some kind of service this winter.
Part of the ferry Hubbard sticks out of the Vigor Alaska shipyard assembly hall in Ketchikan on Wednesday. (Photo by Leila Kheiry/KRBD)
The Tazlina is one of two ferries Vigor is building for the state. The Hubbard is the second, and is still under construction. According to the original contract, both ferries were due for delivery this fall. The Hubbard will be late.
The two day-use ferries will be virtually identical, and will serve the Lynn Canal area. The vessels have no staterooms or crew quarters. They will have a passenger capacity of 300, and will be able to take up to 53 standard vehicles.
There are plans in the works for a big christening ceremony on July 14. Venables also is a member of the state’s Marine Transportation Advisory Board. He said the MTAB plans to have its regular meeting in Ketchikan the day before the christening, so members can stay to attend the ceremony.
Surrounded by his family, Juneau Democrat Jesse Kiehl announces he’s running for the state Senate seat being vacated by Dennis Egan on Thursday near the Capitol. Nonpartisan candidate Don Etheridge recently announced he’s running for the same Senate seat. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
Two more candidates have joined the race for the state Senate seat representing Juneau and other northern Southeast communities. A third recently announced his intention to run for a downtown Juneau-based House seat.
Jesse Kiehl is the latest to announce his intentions.
The Juneau Assembly member tossed his hat in the ring at a Thursday campaign rally across the street from the Capitol.
“I’m here today to make it official,” Kiehl said. “I am running for Senate District Q to represent Juneau, Haines, Skagway, Klukwan, Gustavus and Excursion Inlet.”
On Wednesday, Kiehl resigned his job as an aide to incumbent Democrat Dennis Egan, who is not seeking re-election.
Kiehl is a Democrat and will be on the party’s Aug. 21 primary ballot. But he says he would consider working with Republicans if he’s elected.
“I think coalitions are a great opportunity to work together for Alaska,” Kiehl said. “I’ve worked as a staffer in a bipartisan majority and I think that’s a fabulous opportunity. I’ll pursue that actively.”
Don Etheridge, his wife and grandchildren take part in a Keep Alaska Open for Business rally at the Capitol June 11, 2017. Nonpartisan Etheridge is running for Juneau’s Senate seat. (Photo courtesy Don Etheridge)
Don Etheridge also recently announced his bid for the Senate seat.
The longtime labor leader and lobbyist served one term on the Assembly about 20 years ago. He’s also been an active member of Juneau’s Docks and Harbors board.
A nonpartisan candidate, Etheridge will skip the primaries and run in the Nov. 6 general election. He said not being a party member will make it easier to compromise and get things done.
“You can’t just go in there with a locked-in position and (be) not willing to work on the issues,” Etheridge said. “As a longtime negotiator with the unions you learn how to do that.”
Separately, there’s a third candidate for the downtown Juneau-based House district that also includes other northern Southeast cities. Steven Handy is a former telecommunications worker and legislative aide who will run in the Democratic Party primary. But he says he wants to look beyond party labels.
“I understand the political reality of it. But I don’t like the term ‘reaching over the aisle,’” Handy said. “I’d like to think that it’s a body of 40 people who are working toward resolution of issues that affect everybody in the state.”
Two candidates have already filed for Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley-based House seat.Republican Jerry Nankervis, Juneau’s deputy mayor and a retired police captain, will run in his party’s primary. Nonpartisan Rob Edwardson, also a Juneau Assembly member and an aide to outgoing incumbent Democrat Justin Parish, will run in the Democratic primary. Parish is not seeking re-election.
Recent party rule changes allow nonpartisan candidates to run in Democratic primaries.
Other candidates could also join Juneau’s three legislative races. The final filing deadline is June 1.
SCHINDLER: I went to school at the University of Washington, and to pay for school, I fished in the Bering Sea for a couple seasons. And when I graduated, I decided to come to Skagway to drive tours for one summer, and just never really went back. I went back down to Seattle to work that winter, and my friends had moved on, I was no longer a student and I found that I no longer fit in as well as I thought I did. So I came back up here and felt at home, and just made it my home.
When I came here, I discovered ivory carving, and I thought, “That’s a cool hobby.” And so I found a couple of artists who were willing to teach me a few things. I worked for a guy named David Present who had a gallery in town, and I made 600 pairs of earrings that winter, and worked my fingers to a bloody pulp. But it was fine, I was learning and I was very happy. It was the first time that I was able to actually make something that really had value to it.
So you hear you’re buying a product that was made by somebody that you can meet when you’re in Skagway, and it’s a pair of earrings. But the earring has its own story of the animal that went extinct 35,000 years ago, but survived in the alpine tundra for 35,000 years. So there’s the story of the animal, there’s the story of its survival, there’s my story of making it and living in Alaska and there’s the story of the person, their experience when they came to Alaska. And so it has kind of a life of its own, and it’s nice being a link in that.
In Skagway, most people here were not born here. They’re travelers. They graduated from college, came here to drive tours for a summer and eventually they stayed. And so, we’re a population of people who’ve made a conscious choice to make Skagway our home. We take a lot of ownership in this town; we take a lot of pride in this town. And it’s great being a part of a community that knows what it’s about. Yeah… we’re a tourist town, but we’ve got a lot more depth than just selling trinkets in a jewelry store.
In 1942, there were 44 people living on Attu Island, nearly all Alaska Natives. They were taken as captives to Japan, where half of them died. And after the war, the federal government forbade them from returning.
But in August, a group of 11 descendants finally visited their ancestral home for the first time.
Almost no one visits Attu Island. The only way to get there is by boat. It’s a long journey, as the island marks the westernmost point of the United States, and navigating the governmental red-tape that regulates Attu is a logistical nightmare.
But in the middle of a busy summer field season, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made time for the R/V Tiglax to ferry descendants back to their ancestral home.
“I’m Crystal Dushkin from Atka, and I’m a descendent from Attu as well,” Dushkin said. “This was something I never ever expected to happen in my lifetime. To make it all the way there.”
Crystal Dushkin never imagined she’d get to set foot on Attu. (Zoë Sobel / KUCB)
Dushkin is the mayor of Atka, and she grew up steeped in Unangan culture. She’s eager to see the old village site where her great grandmother, Mary Snigaroff (nee Prokopeuff) lived.
Had World War II not happened, Dushkin could have grown up there too. But in June of 1942, the Attuans’ lives were changed forever when Japanese soldiers landed on the island and captured all 44 residents. They were taken to Japan and held as prisoners of war. Nearly half of them died — many from malnutrition and starvation.
In the 75 years since, National Parks Service anthropologist Rachel Mason says the stories of Attu haven’t been shared.
“The descendants of those people never even had a chance to to learn about the experience in Japan or about Attu village,” Mason explained as the boat made a pit stop at Kiska Island. “Their parents didn’t want to talk about the traumatic experience.”
After the war, the U.S. government didn’t allow the Attuans to return home. Mason says it was considered too inconvenient. Many settled in Atka, but others never returned to the region. A handful went to an orphanage, and some ended up in Pacific Northwest hospitals.
That includes Theresa Deal. Raised by two white parents in Vancouver, Washington, she never really learned about her birth mother’s life on Attu or her captivity in Japan. But Deal always got questions about her background.
“They think I’m Polynesian,” Deal said. “They think I’m Mexican. They think I’m all sorts of stuff and then I tell them, ‘No, I’m from the Aleutian Islands.’ Then you get the blank stare, so they get a lesson in geography when they meet me.”
Theresa Deal passes time on the Tiglax playing Sudoko. (Zoë Sobel / KUCB)
This is her first time in the Aleutians — her first time being close to the history of her mom’s family.
“I wish I knew more about the culture so I could tell my sons,” Deal said. “My sons know that they are Aleut, but they know less than I do.”
A stop in Atka gives Deal a glimpse of what her life could have been like had her mom, Marina Hodikoff, grown up there after the war.
From the second Deal steps on shore, Niigugim Tunuu — the western dialect of Unangam Tunuu — fills the air. A brief church service is held to bless the cross bound for Attu. And over at the school, she watches students perform traditional songs.
“It was really quite eye-opening to see the love that they have for their culture,” Deal said. “I wasn’t immersed enough. I didn’t get that. So I do wish that Marina would have been relocated to Atka. Then my life would be different.”
For the descendants, the days spent on the boat feel like a big family reunion. But after two days of travel, it’s time for the part of the trip that everyone is looking forward to.
“We’re here!” Christine Kiehl said. “We’re getting ready to land on Attu! It’s very exciting. If I could dance, I’d totally dance right now.”
The old site lies in a protected cove encircled by lush green mountains. The grasses grow long and wild, interspersed with purple and yellow flowers. But there’s no sign of the former village.
As they take in the land, the descendants find the foundation of the old Russian Orthodox church, plant the cross, and hold a ceremony to honor their ancestors and their lost community.
The old village of Attu was in Chichagof Harbor (Zoë Sobel / KUCB)
From there, many gather grass for traditional baskets — and Kiehl heads to the shore.
“I’m bringing dirt back to my sisters,” Kiehl said. “They’re going to be able to touch Attu, too. Just not in the same manner I did.”
Kiehl was raised in Port Angeles, Washington. Her mom, Agnes Prossoff, was from Attu, but she died when Kiehl was nine years old. Kiehl says she grew up without any exposure to the culture — no subsistence, no traditional dance or dress, nothing.
As she carries a plastic bag up the beach — filling it with sand, rocks and other treasures of the past — Kiehl is joined by Deal. They start to unpack some of the complicated emotions this trip has brought up.
“Christine, what do you think about being back here?” Deal asked.
“It made me cry because this was where my mother was born,” Kiehl said. “She was denied her life here, which would’ve been so much better. A different quality than she got in Washington.”
Theresa Deal (L) and Christine Kiehl (R) peruse the beach for treasures to remember Attu. (Zoë Sobel / KUCB)
“I agree,” Deal said. “The people who were born out here and got to stay out here — they have such a different culture. They’re very proud of their culture, whereas we just grew up as regular Americans.”
“It makes me angry because –” Kiehl said.
“Because our lives were also stolen,” Deal replied.
“Very stolen. It makes me angry,” Kiehl said. “And I don’t believe in racism or casting judgment. But it’s been really hard to not be angry at the Japanese for taking [my mother and the other Attuans]. They were just here minding their own business and living their lives.”
“Did your mom teach you that anger at the Japanese or is it just you?” Deal asked.
“No, I think it’s me,” Kiehl responded. “If she did teach it to me, I was too young to remember. It’s just really hurtful, but I know that they were just doing their job.”
“My mom taught me that we have to feel empathy for the Japanese internment,” Deal said. “Because it was just wrong. You know, the Japanese internment was even more cruel than our parents as prisoners of war.”
Both of them agree that hate isn’t productive. Deal says she’s made a conscious choice not to hate the Japanese. Instead, she feels sad for them. And for Kiehl, she realizes that her mixed emotions stem from loss.
“There’s a million thoughts going through my mind because I’ve wanted to step foot on this island since my mother died,” Kiehl said. “I really feel that she died as a result of the war. She became an alcoholic and she was an anorexic and that ultimately took her life.”
But Kiehl says spending time with other Attuans is exhilarating. Because of this trip, she’s motivated to make her own regalia and bring grass back for her sister who weaves.
Deals says it’ll be hard to immerse herself in her culture, living outside of Alaska. But she’s hoping to return for a regional culture camp and learn more about her heritage.
Janilyn Heger mixes a cocktail at the Skagway Spirits distillery in July, 2017. (Photo by Abbey Collins)
The Alaska Legislature gave distilleries the green light to continue serving cocktails last week. The move was made through a last-minute bill amendment, after major legislation that would have overhauled the state’s alcohol laws was killed for now. It comes after months of uncertainty for manufacturers throughout the state.
Skagway’s one distillery, Skagway Spirits, will mark it’s first anniversary in June.
Lucas Heger’s family owns the business, that started serving drinks just as confusion began developing over the practice of mixing cocktails in tasting rooms.
A new interpretation of the law that allows tasting rooms to operate, by the state’s alcoholic beverage control board, called into question whether mixed drinks could be part of that operation.
Heger says he has “mixed emotions” about the legislature’s clarification.
“Definitely frustration to one degree or another,” Heger said. “But we’re happy that we’re still able to mix cocktails at this moment and are hopeful that in the next session things will go a little more smoothly and we won’t have so many things just kind of coming out of left field.”
The new language came through a last-minute bill amendment by a lawmaker and beverage dispensary license holder. Fairbanks Democratic Representative Adam Wool offered the language after legislation known as SB76, that would have overhauled the state’s alcohol laws, was taken off the table for now.
The bill was killed after a move by some legislators to reduce the amount breweries and distilleries can serve in tasting rooms. That was introduced in the House Labor and Commerce Committee where Wool is vice chair.
Wool says when SB76 failed to move through the legislature, he looked to address the cocktail issue elsewhere.
“I really thought Title IV was going to pass with the cocktail language on it,” Wool said. “But since it didn’t, I told people I would do my best to get cocktails out there and that was the best place to do it.”
Wool’s amendment was ultimately included in a surprising place, in SB45.
“Which is a contractor’s sort of licensing bill,” Wool said. “And because they all have licensing in them, the amendment was able to be put on there.”
The new language allows distillery license holders to combine the distillery’s product — alcohol manufactured on site — with other ingredients. It specifically mentions mixers, liquids or garnishes.
It does not allow distilleries to serve drinks mixed with alcohol not produced on site. That means drinks like manhattans or martinis made with vermouth are still off the table.
Pete Hanson is President and CEO of Alaska CHARR — Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant and Retailers Association. He says he sees the new language on cocktails as a necessary clarification.
“The rules have been confusing up until now,” Hanson said. “Some regulations were put in place. But weren’t actually enforced. And people have been confused as to what can actually go on. So frankly, this needed to be clarified. It’s a good thing it’s clarified. And distilleries can essentially go on what they’ve been doing already.”
Heger, from Skagway Spirits, says his business is looking ahead to when Title IV comes back to the legislature.
“We’re hopeful we’ll get the support we need from our lawmakers and legislators to help grow this business, because that’s what we want,” Heger said. “We want to be able to contribute to the community and to the economy of our state.”
For now, the states ten distilleries are cleared to continue shaking, stirring, mixing and selling most cocktails.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, flanked by more than 30 law enforcement officials at a press conference Friday, May 18, 2018 (Casey Grove/Alaska Public Media photo)
The state of Alaska is set to receive millions of federal dollars to combat illegal drugs after a recent “high-intensity drug-trafficking area” designation.
Alaska is the last state to get the designation, which allows access to a total nationwide funding pool of $250 million. Public safety officials say the money will help facilitate collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement.
It remains unclear how much funding Alaska will receive or when it will be available.
Gov. Bill Walker announced the designation and touted his administration’s public safety action plan during a press conference Friday at the state crime lab. Walker, who is running for reelection this year, was flanked by more than 30 officials from various law enforcement agencies.
Walker said the state is in a position where it needs to rely more on federal resources for drug enforcement programs.
“In the past, we haven’t, and we haven’t gone after some things that perhaps we should’ve gone after,” Walker said. “So it’s a matter, I think, of prioritizing. You know, applying for grants takes time, it’s a lot of work, and we’re applying for a lots of grants and lots of different funding from the federal government.”
Despite that increasing reliance, Walker says he appreciates the state Legislature’s recent action to fund certain requests under his public safety plan.
“Not just funding, but also specific positions, prosecutors,” Walker said. “And so I think they recognize the need, the urgency of it, so I think they did the right thing on that. We could always use more, we would always appreciate more, but we’ll celebrate what we have.”
The legislation includes money to hire five new state prosecutors and $12 million to fight drug abuse.
Governor prepares trade Alaska delegation for China business trip
Rashah McChesney, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Juneau
Dozens of Alaskans are headed to China. They’re part of a trade delegation spearheaded by Gov. Bill Walker called “Opportunity Alaska.” The ten-day trip puts a spotlight on the state at a time when the trade talks between the U.S. and China are tense.
Late bill amendment allows distillery cocktails to continue
Abbey Collins, KHNS – Haines
The Alaska Legislature gave distilleries the green light to continue serving cocktails last week.
Federal designation puts Alaska in touch with millions to fight drug-trafficking
Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Alaska is the last state to get the “high-intensity drug-trafficking” designation, which allows access to a total nationwide funding pool of $250 million. Public safety officials say the money will help facilitate collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement.
Juneau Assembly member Kiehl, labor leader Etheridge run for state Senate seat
Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau
Two more candidates have joined the race for the state Senate seat representing Juneau and other northern Southeast communities: Juneau Assembly member Jesse Kiehl and longtime labor leader Don Etheridge.
Ferry Tazlina floated for the first time
Leila Kheiry, KRBD – Ketchikan
Floating a new ferry for the first time is a painstakingly long process that involves bursts of activity followed by a lot of waiting around and listening to the hum of machinery.
AK: After 75 years, a bittersweet homecoming for Attu descendants
Zoe Sobel, KUCB – Unalaska
Seventy-five years after Japan invaded the furthest tip of the Aleutian chain, Attuans are returning home.
49 Voices: Bruce Schindler of Skagway
Abbey Collins, KHNS – Haines
This week we’re hearing from Bruce Schindler from Skagway. Schindler moved to Alaska in the 90s and is a mammoth ivory carver.
Two moose walk along the side of Mt. Eklutna, which you can hike to from the Peters Creek trailhead in Chugach State Park. (Emily Russell/Alaska Public Media)
Alaska has the largest state park system in the nation. And with the summer season about to launch into high gear, Alaskans are preparing for state park adventures. On the next Talk of Alaska we’ll hear from park managers on what they’re doing to make even the most remote parks more accessible. And we’ll discuss the future of the park system as the state continues to make budget cuts.
Pacific halibut on the F/V Vigor. (Photo courtesy Rudy Gustafson)
As prices and demand for Pacific halibut have fallen in Alaska, commercial fishermen say a new Canadian competitor is to blame. Since 2012, Canadian imports of fresh Atlantic halibut have grown roughly 60 percent.
Historically, Atlantic halibut has not competed with its close relative on the West Coast since New England and Canadian fishermen overfished stocks in the late 1880s. But as the catch continues to grow north of the border, fishermen in New England are working towards restarting a fishery in U.S. waters.
That could have a serious impact on Alaska’s halibut industry.
Atlantic halibut seems to have been on the tip of the commercial fishing industry’s tongue in Alaska as imports from Canada continue to carve out a significant slice of the New England fresh halibut market.
Prices on the docks in Alaska have fallen about $2 per pound, and there’s a surplus of halibut in the freezer from last year that isn’t selling.
Doug Bowen works with Alaska Boats and Permits, a vessel and fishing permit broker in Homer. Bowen and others in the industry say both are a result of Pacific halibut losing out to Canadian fish.
“So it’s a kind of a new world order in the ex-vessel prices, and it might be something that we’re going to be dealing with for some time,” Bowen explained.
But Alaska’s fishing industry is not the only one noticing the growth of the Canadian Atlantic halibut fishery.
“A lot of those boats are fishing on the U.S.-Canadian line and having very good results, and it’s been going on for a while,” Mike Russo said, a New England-based commercial fisherman. “Frankly, New England fixed-gear boats are missing out on this opportunity.”
Russo has been trying to strum up support for an industry halibut longline survey in U.S. waters.
Russo said the Atlantic halibut Canadian fishermen are catching are the same fish U.S. fishermen are seeing more of as they target other species.
“Somebody is going to make us prove it, but I believe that’s what would bear out,” Russo said. “Those fish don’t know political lines on a chart.”
Information on Atlantic halibut stocks in the U.S. is minimal. There are no extensive abundance surveys, and federal fishery managers don’t actively manage the stock as a commercial fishery. Fishermen are only allowed one fish per trip as bycatch.
Chris McGuire works with the Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts, which is trying to collect information on the valuable bottom fish. He’s been working with fish biologists and management officials to see if what U.S. fishermen like Russo are saying is in fact true.
“We’re working with commercial fishermen to do biological sampling of halibut to determine age and size at maturity. We’re some DNA sampling from that,” McGuire explained. “In a separate part of that project, we’re doing a little bit of pop-up satellite tagging to figure out where the fish we see off of New England go over the course of a whole year.”
McGuire is working with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to satellite tag the fish. That will help determine whether Atlantic halibut on both sides of the border should be treated as one stock, which is how Pacific halibut are managed by the International Pacific Halibut Commission.
Richard McBride is a fisheries biologist with NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Office. McBride teamed up with McGuire and New England fishermen to collect biological samples from the halibut they’re catching.
“I mean if we’re really to manage them as a renewable resource, we want fish to spawn at least once in a quality way and maybe have the potential to spawn more than once,” McBride said. “That’s the kind of thing that really accelerates the rebuilding.”
All of this fervor around Atlantic halibut could be another significant blow to Alaska fishermen and fish buyers, who have historically controlled the market on the East Coast. But both McBride and McGuire say it could be another five to 10 years before U.S. fishery managers have enough information to start an Atlantic halibut fishery.
Still, those in the Alaskan fishing industry like Andy Wink, a fisheries analyst, say depending on how things shake out, a U.S. Atlantic halibut fishery could maintain that new world order the Alaskan fishing industry is currently coping with.
“I guess the question there is whether it adds total supply or not – if they essentially get a cut of the Canadian halibut fishery,” Wink said. “It’s a domestic fishery, so it’s much more likely to go domestic, but it doesn’t have nearly the impact as if you’re talking about adding TAC (total allowable catch) onto the Canadian TAC.”
If scientists find that Atlantic halibut along the East Coast belong to one stock, setting up an internationally managed fishery in U.S. waters could push the process down the road.
Wink said, even if New England Fishermen are able to start fishing in five years, the Alaska fishing industry’s more immediate concern is still the growing number of truckloads filled with Atlantic halibut from Canada.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (File photo by Skip Gray/ 360 North)
Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski raised the issue of sexual assaults involving minors on military bases during a Senate Defense Appropriations hearing last week.
”Investigators released a total of eight cases at Alaska installations, five of them reportedly at Fort Wainwright,” Murkowski said. “So, of course this certainly gets your attention.”
Senator Murkowski asked U.S. Army Secretary Mark Esper about how youth on youth assaults are handled. Esper responded that the Army conducts an initial investigation, but current protocol requires cases to be handed off to local, state or federal authorities for prosecution.
”We have some authority, but it’s mainly administrative. So what we could do is we could bar that kid from being on post, or we could remove the family from the post,” Esper said. “But beyond that, the authorities really reside outside the military to do that, and I think that’s something we need to take a look at.”
Esper says the Army’s focus is providing victim and family support services.
Alaska Native languages are the focus of a four-day institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks this week. The Alaska Native Language Revitalization Institute is hosted by the UAF College of Rural and Community Development. College director of Indigenous programs Sandra Kowalski says the conference reflects a new urgency to preserve Alaska’s diversity of Native languages.
“Recently, the Legislature passed a resolution declaring that our Alaska Native languages are in a state of emergency,” Kowalski said. “In addition to that, just in recent years, we’ve seen an increased interest by young people to become second language speakers.”
Kowalski emphasizes that loss of Native languages is not new.
”We’ve had elders passing away,” Kowalski explained. “Just the whole context of having a Western education system and a Western culture kind of incept in our world and our Alaska Native communities has made it challenging for Alaska Native languages to thrive and be maintained.”
Kowalski says the institute will focus on ten of Alaska’s twenty Native languages, including five from the interior region. She says participants will explore strategies for learning and teaching language from Alaska and outside experts.
”From Hawaii, where they’ve got strong revitalization efforts underway and from some experts with the Mohawk language,” Kowalski said. “They’ve been able to produce proficient second language Mohawk speakers.”
Kowalski notes that UAF’s Alaska Native Language Center has documented the state’s indigenous languages, a valuable baseline of information. Kowalski stresses that this week’s institute is also about empowering people.
”There’s this sense that we have to ask and be given permission to be who we are, and there’s a process we need to bring our communities through to take back our right to speak and promote and teach our own indigenous languages,” Kowalski said.
Kowalksi says the response to the Alaska Native Language Revitalization Institute has been strong and that registration if full. Over a hundred and fifty people signed up for the May 21 to 24 institute
Aleutian veterans, Attuan survivors and descendants, and the families of Japanese soldiers gathered to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Attu. (Photo courtesy of Lisa Hupp/USFWS)
In war, no one walks away unscathed. The Battle of Attu was no exception.
But 75 years after one of the deadliest battles fought on north American soil, representatives from all affected parties joined together to ensure this history is never forgotten. This weekend, former Attu residents, as well as veterans of the Aleutian campaign and descendants of the Japanese soldiers joined together to commemorate the tragedy and honor the legacy of those lost.
The closing ceremony was held in an airplane hangar at the Alaska Aviation Museum.
While the Aleutian campaign is not well known and often called the forgotten war, Mayor Crystal Dushkin says that’s not true for her.
“I’m here to tell you that for our people – the Unangax people of the Aleutian islands and those descendants of the people of Attu — it has never been forgotten and it never will be,” Dushkin said.
Dushkin’s grandmother Mary Snigaroff (nee Prokopeuff) was born on Attu and later moved to Atka.
Forty-two Attu residents were taken to Japan and held as prisoners of war – nearly half died of malnutrition and starvation. After the war, the U.S. government would not allow them to return home to their island.
Unangax from other Aleutian communities were rounded up by the federal government and placed in internment camps in southeast Alaska.
Dushkin says during World War II Unangax were caught in a crossfire between the U.S. and Japan.
“It was not our fight to begin with, not our battle, not our war,” Dushkin said. “Yet our people suffered immeasurably both at the hands of the Japanese and at the hands of the U.S.”
Dushkin hopes that the commemoration can help ensure the Aleutian campaign does not continue to be the forgotten war – in Japan or in America.
Retired Lt. Colonel Bob Brocklehurst agrees. He was the first fighter pilot on Attu, but he didn’t learn about what happened to the Unangan people until last year.
Brocklehurst wants the documentary film, When the Fog Clears – which premiered at the commemoration – to be widely distributed. It showed him that the opposing Japanese soldiers weren’t any different from him.
“The film showed the Japanese with the same love for family. The same worries about their son in combat and army units, and the same respect that the son in uniform had for his wife back home,” Brocklehurst said. “Exactly identical to an American family.”
Motoaki Asano came from Japan to attend the commemoration. His father Hiroo Okazaki died on Attu and is still buried there alongside more than 2,000 other Japanese soldiers. He spoke through a translator.
“My father’s body is still on Attu, so I would like to bring him back as soon as possible,” Asano said.
Asano says he learned about the suffering the Attu people endured during WWII, and is honored to work to make sure future generations never forget the forgotten war.
“Some people in Japan are just looking toward the future and they’re not trying to look towards the past, so I have to work hard to keep this memory alive,” Asano said.
This request to return the Japanese soldiers remains to Japan has been made of the Japanese government three times.
Returning the remains would be complicated, but Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge manager Steve Delehanty says not impossible.
After the closing ceremonies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service got their own request from Attu Descendant Helena Schmitz.
“I want my children’s, children’s children to be able to go back to Attu with no cost to us,” Schmitz said. “That’s the justice that needs to be done on our people. The U.S. government, the Japanese government and the Russian government took our culture away. And we need your help since [the USFWS] owns the island.”
Schmitz says while the return trip last summer was an important step, it was not enough.
Principal Deputy Director Greg Sheehan said he didn’t know what the options are, but said he’s open to talking more about the idea.
Members of the IGU board, along with members of the Siemens Government Technologies team and AIDEA board member Gary Wilken and others, meet Tuesday in the Mt. McKinley Bank Building conference room downtown. (Photo by Tim Ellis, KUAC)
An affiliate of the Germany-based industrial giant Siemens is offering to build an LNG plant near Wasilla and transport the gas it processes there to Fairbanks at no cost to the Interior Gas Utility – if the IGU board of directors agrees to a long-term LNG-sales contract. Officials with Siemens Government Technologies outlined the proposal to the IGU board during a special meeting Tuesday.
IGU board Chairwoman Pam Throop says there’s a lot to like about the Siemens Government Technologies proposal, but she says it all comes down to helping the IGU “get cheap gas real soon so we can get conversions immediately and start building.”
Siemens proposes to bring natural gas to Fairbanks from a plant it would build near Wasilla by the end of next year at a price that’s about the equivalent of $2-per-gallon heating oil, the price point IGU officials say it must attain to attract enough customers to convert from oil to gas heat to make the project viable.
“The other thing that I think is really, really attractive about Siemens’ (proposal) is bringing in other users, big users, possibly military, hospital, university,” Throop said in an interview after the meeting.
The Siemens team pitching the proposal said in addition to developing gas projects, the company has marketing expertise to help IGU promote conversion to gas. And they said it also has experience working with the federal government and Native American organizations.
Throop says the Siemens plan would enable the IGU to avoid cost overruns it may encounter in buying and refurbishing the aging Pentex Alaska gas-liquifaction plant at Point McKenzie that the IGU plans to buy from the Alaska Industrial Development and Expert Authority.
“Any cost overruns have to be absorbed by us,” Throop said. “Therefore, they will affect the price of gas at the end of the day. I have a huge concern about that. And I also have a concern about us running a plant that’s 300 miles away.”
The Knik-Siemens 40-acre parcel is located just off the intersection of Pittman Road and Parks Highway near Wasilla. (Interior Gas Utility graphic)
The Siemens plant would be built in increments, based on demand, on land owned by Knikatnu, a local Alaska Native village corporation that Siemens is partnering with on the project. Using that facility would save IGU from having to incur bond debt to expand the Pentex plant to meet future demand. Instead, it would become a backup for the Siemens facility.
Throop also likes Siemens’ plan to use Alaska Railroad cars to transport gas, instead of the trucks that Pentex uses to deliver to its subsidiary, Fairbanks Natural Gas.
“I also am concerned about having all the trucks on the highway to serve the number of customers that we’re supposed to be getting,” Throop said. “I would much rather that gas be on iso-tainers on the railroad.”
The Siemens officials declined to comment and referred queries to their corporate headquarters. Throop says her concerns include Siemens projections that show the natural gas retail price rising over the next several years to a level that’s higher than the $2-per-gallon heating oil equivalent.
But overall, Throop is inclined to support the proposal, and she says some of her fellow board members are, too. Some had questions at Tuesday’s meeting, especially Jack Wilbur, Mike Meeks and Steve Haagenson. And so did Gary Wilken, a former state lawmaker from Fairbanks who now sits on the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority board of directors. AIDEA’s board also would have to approve Siemens’ proposal. Wilkens says it would have to offer the certainty of bringing in gas at the lowest price possible, as he says AIDEA’s plan does.
Wilkens says it would have to offer the certainty of bringing in gas at the lowest price possible, as he says AIDEA’s plan does.
“The Siemens challenge is to bring the certainty that we have with our other proposal to the table, to decide whether it is indeed a viable one,” Wilkens said after the meeting.
Wilkens says he and the other AIDEA board members haven’t had a chance to fully review the Siemens’ proposal. He says AIDEA officials will do that, and will be especially mindful of its impact on keeping prices low for IGU customers.
“Our focus is on the family on Badger Road,” Wilkens said, referring to the typical IGU customer. “The meter price. And everything you want to talk about is just detail.”
Throop says the IGU board must decide whether to accept Siemens’ proposal by May 29th, when the board is scheduled to vote on going ahead with the $58.2 million dollar Pentex purchase.
A wolf carries a caribou leg in Denali National Park. (Photo: NPS)
The Trump administration is trying to erase another part of President Obama’s environmental legacy in Alaska: It wants to roll back a National Park Service ban on several controversial methods of killing bears and wolves.
The methods include luring bears with bait, taking wolves during the denning season and shining a spotlight into dens to shoot black bears. The methods are legal under state law, but the Park Service has objected to them for years.
Jim Adams, Alaska director of the National Parks Conservation Association, said Park Service lands aren’t a suitable place for predator control.
“The state of Alaska has 100 million acres of its own. It manages hunting regulations on BLM land, on Fish and Wildlife Service land,” Adams said. “I think it’s appropriate to leave some place where we try to maintain natural population levels, of both predators and prey.”
The long-running dispute boils down to a conflict between the National Park Service and the state on the purpose of wildlife management.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game manages for “sustained yield” for human hunters. It has opted for lethal methods of predator control, to support moose and caribou harvests.
The Park Service, on the other hand, has a policy against killing predators to improve hunting opportunities. The Trump administration’s proposal acknowledges that policy, but says the 2015 rule went too far by assuming the state’s intent in expanding the methods of predator hunting was to suppress predator populations, rather than to meet public demand for harvesting wolves and bears.
Rod Arno is director of the Alaska Outdoor Council, which supports state control of predator management. He’s happy to see the start of the process to undo the Obama administration rule.
“But it still doesn’t preclude in the future the same type of rule-making by the Park Service,” Arno said.
Arno said Congress may have to pass an amendment to clarify the state’s authority to manage fish and game throughout Alaska.
The proposed rule change is to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register. The Interior Department will accept comments for 60 days.
Along with 37 other attorneys general, Alaska’s Jahna Lindemuth signed onto a letter sent to the top senators on the Judiciary Committee and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, urging them to expedite passage of the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act 2.0 sponsored by Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman. The bipartisan bill continues funding for “evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery programs” connected to the national opioid crisis.
Within the the legislation is a provision modeled on a separate bill, the Comprehensive Addiction Reform, Education and Safety Act of 2018 introduced by Democratic Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington and Kamala Harris of California. It would increase financial penalties on companies that ignore or fail to report unusual prescription patterns that signal misuse, abuse and re-sale of painkillers. The Attorneys General letter faults companies that manufacture powerful opioids for past instances of not heeding concerns about over-prescribing, illegal sales and rampant abuse when they were raised. Under the proposed law, companies that don’t report suspicious sales activity would see the civil fine increase ten-fold to $100,000, and criminal violations for improperly reporting data double to $500,000.
Governor Bill Walker sent along his own letter to senators urging them to pass both pieces of legislation.
Trump admin sets crosshairs on Park Service predator rule
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.
The Trump administration is trying to erase another part of President Obama’s environmental legacy in Alaska: It wants to roll back a National Park Service ban on several controversial methods of killing bears and wolves.
Murkowski questions military officials over how sexual assaults involving minors are resolved
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski raised the issue of sexual assaults involving minors on military bases during a Senate Defense Appropriations hearing last week.
Alaska AG joins effort to stiffen penalties for drug companies
Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage
Lindemuth joins 37 other attorneys general asking senators for higher fines and continued funding connected to the opioid crisis.
US files plea deal in deadly Florida airport shooting
Associated Press
Federal prosecutors have filed court documents in which an Alaska man agrees to plead guilty to a Florida airport shooting rampage that killed five people and wounded six last year.
UAF hosts 4-day Alaska Native language institute to help preserve knowledge
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
Alaska Native languages are the focus of a four-day institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks this week.
IGU board considers Siemens proposal for alternative natural gas source for Fairbanks
Tim Ellis, KUAC – Fairbanks
An affiliate of the Germany-based industrial giant Siemens is offering to build an LNG plant near Wasilla and transport the gas it processes there to Fairbanks at no cost to the Interior Gas Utility.
Ferries fully funded in operating budget
Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska – Juneau
The Alaska Marine Highway System got what it asked for in the Legislature’s operating budget. Next budget year’s sailings and routes will be similar to this year’s schedule.
Alaskan fishermen aren’t the only ones noticing the rise of Atlantic halibut
Aaron Bolton, KBBI – Homer
Historically, Atlantic halibut has not competed with its close relative on the West Coast since New England and Canadian fishermen overfished stocks in the late 1880s.
American and Japanese descendants unite after 75 years to ensure Attu occupation is remembered
Zoe Sobel, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Unalaska
It’s been 75 years since thousands of young soldiers lost their lives fighting over the westernmost point of the United States. Seventy-five years since the Alaska Native people of Attu were taken from their homes never to return again.
A lot of people get this pretty basic question about oil wrong
Ravenna Koenig, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Fairbanks
“I have had to correct school teachers in the past who have been teaching their kids that oil comes from dinosaurs.”
Governor Bill Walker meets with Vice Premier Liu He in Beijing on Monday, May 21, 2018. (photo courtesy of Governor’s office)
CHENGDU — Alaska Gov. Bill Walker along with state gasline corporation head Keith Meyer met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Beijing early Monday morning.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He left Washington D.C. over the weekend where he led a delegation working to avert a trade war with the United States.
The result? Both sides announced on Saturday that they would stop slapping each other with tariffs and that China would buy more goods and services from the U.S.
Walker met with He early Monday morning — just hours after the China’s top economic adviser returned to Beijing. Walker touted the timing of his arrival in Beijing.
“We were absolutely first in line, I mean it was impeccable timing on our part,” Walker said. “We just happened to be there on the morning after, I mean he returned two hours after our flight got into Beijing, from Washington.”
China is Alaska’s largest trading partner. Walker hopes the state can play a pivotal role in reducing tensions over the trade deficit between the U.S. and China.
That trade deficit is massive — last year, the U.S. bought $375 billion more in goods and services than it sold to China.
Both countries agreed to increases in U.S. agriculture and energy exports to China.
Meanwhile, Walker is leading a 10-day trade mission with a delegation of Alaska companies peddling everything from seafood and the $45 billion AK LNG export project, to organic baby food, specialty teas and minerals.
As he ran between meetings with Chinese officials in Chengdu on Tuesday, Walker said Alaska is just one piece of a large geopolitical puzzle – but it’s a role he is willing to play.
“I just am happy with the result,” Walker said. “I don’t care what piece I am, I’m just happy with the result.”
Propellers shine as the Matanuska awaits repairs in 2014. It will get new engines and drive systems this year. That’s one change in the fully funded schedule for the next budget year. (Photo by Heather Bryant/KTOO)
The Alaska Marine Highway System got what it asked for in the Legislature’s operating budget.
Lawmakers OK’d the system’s request in their spending plan for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
General Manager Capt. John Falvey said despite a small decrease in funding, the total time in service for ships will actually increase by eight weeks.
“That gives us about 345.9 weeks, a little bit more, technically, than last year because of different ship configurations. Some ships are more expensive or not than others to run. So, it gives us a nice mix for the upcoming year,” Falvey said.
The full ferry operating budget for next year is about $140 million.
The marine highway faced a shutdown in April due to a lack of money. A little-known budget provision – some called it a dirty trick – diverted ferry funding to cover Medicaid program shortfalls.
The ferry Matanuska tied up this month for a full engine-and-drive-system replacement. The work will continue through half or more of the next budget year.
Falvey said its Prince Rupert sailings are being covered by the similar ferry Malaspina.
“Everything else pretty much remains the same. The Kennicott and the Columbia, they’ll also be running. So I’ll say it’s pretty much the same except the Matanuska is out of the picture,” Falvey said.
The Legislature’s capital budget for next year also includes money for ferry overhauls, certifications and terminal and dock work. That’s mostly paid for with federal funds.
The capital budget also provides $250,000 in operational funding for the Inter-Island Ferry Authority. That’s a separate, nonprofit system linking Prince of Wales Island with Ketchikan.
The Sinclair Oil Corporation’s logo is an Apatosaurus named “Dino.” Paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara says he thinks some of the association between dinosaurs and oil started with the company’s advertising. (Creative Commons photo by Jason Clor.)
There’s a pretty basic question about oil that a lot of people get wrong: Does it come from dinosaurs?
Doing a quick poll on the streets of Fairbanks, a lot of people thought it did.
Zach Lyons, a geologist with the oil and gas division at the Bureau of Land Management, Alaska, says that’s a persistent falsehood.
“Oil actually originates from plants and tiny marine organisms that sink down to the ocean floor and are buried over the course of millions of years,” Lyons said.
The plants and critters Lyons is talking about are tiny; most are only visible through a microscope.
Little by little, over millions of years, these creatures died and piled up at the bottom of the sea, mixing with mud and sand to form layers that could be tens of thousands of feet thick. And through a particular formula of heat, pressure, lack of oxygen, and hundreds of millions of years… that marine sludge became oil.
So why do so many people have the impression that we’re loading up our gas tanks with giant ancient reptiles?
Kenneth Lacovara is a paleontologist and geologist, and Dean of the School of Earth & Environment at Rowan University in New Jersey.
“I have tried to trace the history of this” Lacovara said, “And I think it largely goes back to the Sinclair Oil Company.”
You probably know Sinclair Oil by their logo: a big green dinosaur. Sinclair never actually claimed that oil came from dinosaurs, but the creatures became central to their marketing starting back in the 1930s.
But can one company single-handedly create that kind of association?
“Dinosaurs I think, in the public imagination, stand in for the ancient,” Lacovara said. “And dinosaurs are of course known to us as fossils, and oil is called a fossil fuel, and so I think it’s easy for people to make that connection in their minds.”
Lacovara says that the connection runs deep. It’s a misconception he’s still working to correct.
“I speak to school groups quite frequently,” Lacovara said. “And I have had to correct school teachers in the past who have been teaching their kids that oil comes from dinosaurs.”
So if oil doesn’t come from dinosaurs that died out millions of years ago, what does that mean for the future of oil? Could it be replenished hundreds of millions of years down the line? The answer is… maybe.
The conditions that made all that oil possible — a much warmer climate that encouraged explosive growth of those little marine critters — we just don’t see that now at the same scale.
“So while we are producing the raw material today that could later be turned into petroleum by geological processes, we’re probably not producing them as fast now as 100 million years ago,” Lacovara said.
In other words, we don’t see the conditions on Earth today that would lead to the replication of the oil we’ve used up. But geologic time is a lot longer than human time. You never know what might happen in several hundred million years…
