Albert Kookesh to run against Stedman in District Q

In what promises to be an important election for Southeast Alaska voters in 2012, District 3 State Senator and Angoon businessman Albert Kookesh has filed to challenge Republican District 1 Senator Bert Stedman for leadership of a new district created after reapportionment.

The new district, currently named “District Q,” encompasses Wrangell, Ketchikan, Haines, Angoon, Sitka, Hoonah, Prince of Wales Island and a number of other small towns and villages in Southeast Alaska.

Kookesh, a Democrat, said representing the new district, if elected, would be a big change for him.

“I’d be going from 129 communities to just about 15,” Kookesh said. “It’s a huge difference for me and it’s going to be different to concentrate on such a small number of communities.”

Kookesh grew up in Southeast and attended school in Wrangell for a period of time. He added that he is familiar with the people of Southeast for that reason – and the challenges facing them.

“I went to Wrangell Institute as a freshman when I was younger,” Kookesh. “I still have a lot of friends there. Now, I live in a small village and I’m very familiar with all the communities and areas of Southeast.”

In terms of the issues faced by the residents and businesses of the new district, Kookesh said he has a pulse on what is important to them.

“I am very supportive of the timber industry growing again,” Kookesh said. “It’s almost nonexistent now and has virtually disappeared over the past 20 years. I want to see what we can do to build it up again, even though the state has very little forest land.”

Citing the Alaska Forest Resources and Practices Act, Kookesh said he is looking for ways the State of Alaska can reinvigorate the timber industry and stimulate the regional economy.

“I want to rebuild that industry,” Kookesh said. “I want to look at the forest practices act, specifically. We have to regenerate the industry, and with the US Forest Service having such a bad record with timber, I think it’s time we look into it.”

The FRPA was enacted in 1978 as a means to protect habitats for fisheries, promote water quality, and oversee reforestation in support of the timber industry. It proposes to assist these ends by requiring landowners to notify the state before beginning commercial logging on their property, setting standards for forestry near bodies of water, setting forestry buffer zones, and requiring reforesting of specific areas harvested for timber.

Kookesh also has a split argument when it comes to energy issues in Southeast.

“I have never been supportive of an AK-BC Intertie,” Kookesh said of the plan to build a transmission line between British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. “I have always felt that we need to generate our own power in Alaska. On the mining issue, however, I’m very supportive. It’s the next wave of economy in Southeast. We already have fishing, which is going full-bore, so we’re good there. Mining is the last economic plan that hasn’t been fully developed yet and we need to look at it. Greens Creek and Kensington are examples of mines in our region that are very successful.”

After serving for the past 16 years in state government – 8 years in the House and 8 years in the Senate – Kookesh said he is looking forward to continuing working for the citizens of Southeast.

“This is something I enjoy doing,” Kookesh said. “I have been doing it for 16 years and I enjoy using my law degree for the legislative process and helping the communities I represent.”

Kookesh added that his decision to run against Stedman for the new district is not out of a desire unseat his fellow incumbent, but an unfortunate outcome of redistricting.

“I am a friend of Sen. Stedman and it’s unfortunate we have to be in same district,” Kookesh said. “I’m not running against Bert, I am just running for a job because it’s not fair for me to walk away from a 16-year process. Sen. Stedman is a gentleman and great guy, and this is all based on the population changes of Southeast, that’s all.”

Any plans for Kookesh to visit Wrangell as an official candidate will have to wait, he added, until at least April 2012 and the end of the legislature’s 2nd regular session.

“I can’t really campaign until after the current session is completed because I am still representing Senate District C,” Kookesh said.

Kookesh is currently the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. He also sits on the Board of Directors for the Sealaska Corporation and served with the Kootznoowoo Corporation from 1976-1992.