A federal watchdog agency says the U.S. Forest Service acted illegally when it awarded a $2 million firefighting grant to the state of Alaska in 2018. The state had asked for the grant to gather input on a proposal to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the Clinton-era Roadless Rule.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General issued its report Wednesday. The report says the Forest Service illegally awarded the $2 million to the state through a grant program intended to support fire suppression in state-owned forests.
A Washington, D.C.-based spokesperson for the Forest Service, Larry Moore, said that the money had been set aside for the state. But he says none of it actually ever changed hands. The agency says it’s working with its in-house lawyers to determine how to reallocate the money.
That means the state is on the hook for any expenses the grant was meant to reimburse. The $2 million grant was to be matched by state funds. It’s not clear how much the state spent gathering input from industry groups and local stakeholders. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to questions for this story.
The USDA watchdog does not directly accuse state officials of wrongdoing — in fact, documents obtained by Alaska’s Energy Desk show that the state told the Forest Service exactly what it was requesting the money for. But investigators say that money never should have been awarded as part of the firefighting grant.
Investigators say it’s above-board for the Forest Service to provide funding to gather input on rule changes. But they say awarding that money to the state without informing other interested parties that money was available for that purpose violated federal law and regulations.
The investigation was prompted by a story last year from former Alaska’s Energy Desk reporter Elizabeth Jenkins. She uncovered documents showing the state had paid the Alaska Forest Association more than $200,000 to influence the rulemaking process. At least one Southeast Alaska tribe was also reimbursed for travel expenses estimated at a few thousand dollars.
Two members of Congress then requested the investigation.
State officials, including Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Natural Resources commissioner Corri Feige, said last year the state had not misspent any federal money from the grant.
