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It was a month of learning, exploring, brainstorming and playing in the wilds of Alaska that left one Wrangell youth with a lot to think about. Andrei Bardin-Siekawitch was the only teen from Southeast to join other students from across the state on the latest Upward Bound and Teaching Through Technology Alliance (T3) trip, giving him an opportunity to make new friends and start plotting a course for his future endeavors. From May 31 through June 30, Bardin-Siekawitch, 13, traveled to the...
Up until last year, Southeast Alaska's Mitkof Island was home to a creek with some unique salmon: They only turned left. Officially, anyway. There is a fork in Ohmer Creek, on Mitkof Island. On the west side, the state's Anadromous Waters Catalog, or AWC, reported the presence of all five species of wild Alaska salmon, as well as Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout. On the east side of the fork, according to the AWC, there were only steelhead. One afternoon last summer, U.S. Forest Service fish...
As commercial fishermen traveling to and from the fishing grounds, we saw an increase in air and water pollution by the cruise industry — the summer of 2019 was very concerning. The mixing zone between Chatham Strait and Frederick Sound where it is legal for the cruise ships to dump their gray water was streaked with blackish, foamy water pollution miles long and hundreds of feet wide. The hillsides were lined with blue smoke from their exhaust scrubbers that clung to the trees all summer long. The Department of Environmental Conservation o...
Earlier this week, the Alaska House of Representative passed the operating budget. It took the House 43 days of session to pass the budget, which is the fastest we have passed one since 1993. I am proud with how quickly, efficiently, and cooperatively we worked to get it done. The budget is $4.45 billion in Unrestricted General Funds (UGF), which reflects total state spending. It is a relatively flat budget that is similar to last year and within $10 million of the Governor’s proposal. Despite the limited spending, we were also able to add b...
Each session, the Legislature’s biggest responsibility is to pass a budget for the State of Alaska. The House Budget Subcommittees - which examine the details of each department budget - have finished their budget recommendations. I serve as Chair of three budget subcommittees, and we submitted the following budget actions to the House Finance Committee for further review. The subcommittee for the Department of Environmental Conservation restored the Ocean Ranger program and protected funding for commercial shellfish PSP testing. The s...
On Monday, August 19th, Governor Dunleavy released his full list of Special Session budget vetoes. The Alaska Legislature passed two special session budget bills in July with the primary intention of restoring the Governor’s original vetoes and protecting certain funding sources, such as the Higher Education Investment Fund and the Power Cost Equalization Fund. In the original budget passed in June (HB39), we included continued funding for the Senior Benefits Program, the University of Alaska, early learning programs, and the Alaska State Counc...
In an agreement reached March 24, the University of Alaska will be cooperating with Petersburg High School and the Wrangell Ranger District to conduct research at LeConte Glacier. Under the arrangement, the project will be undertaken by university researchers making third-party use of the high school's special use permit issued by USFS' Alaska regional office. The university's study will monitor the dynamics, glacial runoff and subglacial discharge of LeConte Glacier. It discharges icebergs and meltwater into the nearby bay each year, and...
A new mayor, renovations to the Shakes Island Tribal House and Marine Service Center, and the ongoing Wrangell Medical Center debate – all of these stories were newsmakers in 2012. Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest stories in Wrangell over the past year. JANUARY A late night blaze destroyed a trailer and sent a woman to Wrangell Medical Center with severe burns on Dec. 22. The fire, which began at 10:30 p.m. in a small pull-behind trailer near the top of the park, severely inj...
Hello again from Juneau. We’ve settled into a frenzied rhythm for the duration of the session. Three of my bills have been heard this week, but only one successfully passed out of committee. The other two are being held for more work. My ‘Sea Otter Management’ resolution, HJR 26 urges federal agencies to work with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Southeast Alaska Native leaders, and other interested parties to establish strategies and plans for the sustainable management of the growi...
