Engine troubles forced the Matanuska out of service in late January, leaving Wrangell without any ferries until the Columbia came out of winter layup and went back to work mid-April. The state was unable to substitute another ferry for the Matanuska because all of the fleet was either in winter layup, out for repairs, or held out of service to save money. Mechanics Brian Lindgern, left, and Mike Strang, of Vigor Alaska, worked on one of the Matanuska's engines as it was tied up in Juneau on Jan. 31.
Between state budget cuts, a mainline vessel engine breakdown, a halt to port calls in Prince Rupert, B.C., and COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Alaska Marine Highway System has struggled the past year to provide service to Wrangell and the rest of Southeast.
Under the governor's proposed budget for the state fiscal year that starts July 1, the ferry system would have even less money to provide service.
"Woefully inadequate," Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz, who also represents Wrangell, described the governor's budget plan on Dec. 30.
"That's where it is right now," Ortiz said. "We'll try to increase it, but he'll [the governor will] probably veto it."
A three-quarters supermajority vote of legislators is required to override a budget veto - a high bar that lawmakers have not managed since 2009 against then-Gov. Sarah Palin.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy last year used his veto power to reduce by two-thirds a legislative appropriation that would have restored much of the cutback in ferry service. Overall, the governor vetoed about a quarter-billion dollars from the state budget in an attempt to bring expenses closer to revenues.
"I certainly hear from people about the inadequacy of service," said Ortiz, soon to start his fourth term in the state House. The Legislature is scheduled to convene in Juneau on Jan. 19.
The shortchanged ferry service this winter is a hardship on Wrangell, Mayor Stephen Prysunka said Dec. 30. The community received one northbound ferry in November, none in December, and is scheduled for a single southbound stop in January - the Kennicott on Jan. 7. That will be the community's first sailing since Nov. 2.
Ferries made several stops in Petersburg in December, which Prysunka noticed. "We're not a bedroom community of Petersburg," he said, adding that Wrangell residents could see the ships pass by on their way to and from their northern neighbor.
Service to Wrangell gets back to one northbound and one southbound sailing a week starting Feb. 14.
Dunleavy's proposed budget for the next fiscal year shows about a 3% cut ($2.5 million) in funding for Alaska Marine Highway vessel operations, and a 22% cut ($3.7 million) in fuel. About 60% of the ferry system's funding comes from the state general fund, with 40% covered by passenger and vehicle fares.
The Department of Transportation's budget backup for the ferry system explains that the Marine Highway will absorb the lower funding "through a reduction in port calls and service gaps during seasons with minimal demand." The reduced funding would still allow "an essential level of service," the budget book said.
The winter schedule runs through April, with the summer schedule dependent on the upcoming budget decisions.
The Alaska Marine Highway budget is down about 25% from two years ago.
Aside from budgetary constraints, Ortiz is hopeful that service can be restored to Prince Rupert sometime this year, dependent on Canada lifting COVID-related travel restrictions and finding solutions to issues with port security and the aging dock. The Alaska ferries haven't stopped in Rupert since spring of last year, eliminating the closer option for travelers to connect with the highway system in northern British Columbia. Instead, a ferry makes the much longer run each week to Bellingham, Washington.
"The solution of Bellingham and not Prince Rupert is not a solution," Ortiz said. "I am hopeful that once the COVID restriction is over," state officials will figure out a return to service in Rupert, he said.
The state owns the terminal and "the decrepit ramp" at the Prince Rupert dock, and leases the land, the lawmaker said. In addition to finding another ramp to use, if only temporarily - maybe the nearby BC Ferries dock - Alaska needs to do some work at the terminal building to accommodate security protocols, he said.
It's not just the loss of ferry stops that worries the mayor, it's the ongoing loss of state jobs in Wrangell. Losing the community's social worker, full-time magistrate, public health nurse and Fish and Game biologist have been hard on the community, he said. "We lose services and we lose jobs."
The Wrangell Borough government offered last year to provide free office space and pay half the salary to keep a social worker position in town, but the state declined the offer, Prysunka said.
Longer term for the state ferry system, the governor's office is reviewing recommendations from the Alaska Marine Highway Reshaping Work Group, which in October after eight months of work presented its report to Dunleavy and the public.
The group evaluated a 2019 quarter-million-dollar study by a private economics firm, which was hired by the Department of Transportation to look at options for reducing state funding for the ferries and perhaps turning over the operation to a new owner.
The Reshaping Working Group has recommended continued state operation of the ferries, though with fewer vessels, a new governing board with members skilled in marine operations, and two years of forward funding so that the system could better prepare and maintain "a more predictable future operating schedule."
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