Alaska Beacon

For the organization that oversees commercial fisheries in federal waters off Alaska, the most significant impact of the federal government shutdown might materialize in December.

That is when the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is scheduled to issue harvest limits for Alaska pollock – the nation’s top-volume commercial harvested species – and other types of groundfish harvested in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, such as Pacific cod and sablefish.

The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock harvests start in January.

To set the groundfish harvest levels, the council relies on federal scientists’ analysis of fish stocks in the ocean, work that is based in large part on scientific surveys conducted over the summer.

But during the shutdown, most National Marine Fisheries Service employees, including the scientists who analyze survey data to assess the conditions of commercially targeted fish stocks, are furloughed.

On Wednesday, the last day of the council’s October meeting, the members considered how to deal with scientific uncertainty if the government shutdown prevents completion of the detailed analysis that is usually provided in time for the December meeting.

Council member Nicole Kimball referred to a warning issued eight days prior by Bob Foy, director of the NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the organization that does the stock assessments. Foy said then that a shutdown lasting more than five days would compromise the ability to complete stock assessments and that a shutdown beyond 15 working days would “dramatically impact” those assessments.

The 15-day threshold is not too far away, Kimball said.

“How does the council and the public understand what to expect in December, in between the October and December meeting, relative to stock assessments?” she asked.

Diana Evans, the council’s deputy director, said impacts are yet to be determined, but the public will be notified of them as soon as possible.

“We don’t think we can answer that until we have a better sense of exactly where we land and how many days of work are remaining between the time that government workers are back and able to resume that work and the meeting,” she said.

Advocates with environmental organizations said they worry about shutdown effects on scientific information needed for harvest decisions, which would add to the effects of mass firings and retirements at NMFS and other agencies.

“I’m terrified at the prospect of flying blind into the next fishing season, especially as the Trump administration has decimated the ranks of scientists who monitor the health of our oceans,” Cooper Freeman, Alaska director of the Center for Biological DIversity, said by email. “I’m especially worried about fisheries like the massive pollock trawl fleet that has been harvesting millions of tons annually at the expense of the larger ecosystem.”

“The first challenge with this shutdown is the instant level of uncertainty it creates. Normal processes face delays that can easily impact or inhibit active fisheries. Potential staff losses will exacerbate that,” Michelle Stratton, executive director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, said by email.

“But beyond the concern for continuing day to day services, are those major efforts — like stock assessments and (total allowable catch) setting — that rely on substantial NMFS staff input, data processing and expert analysis. If this continues to the point where we are unable to set catch limits for the start of the 2026 seasons, we’ll be in seriously uncharted territory, and could well see massive economic impacts to our fishing communities and fleets,” she said.

The shutdown forced the council to rearrange its October meeting because federal representatives were unavailable to present information.

One major agenda item was postponed: review of a work plan for assessing essential fish habitat. Other items on the agenda were abbreviated.

The shutdown has already affected fishery management operations to some degree, said council member Jon Kurland. As Alaska regional director for NMFS, Kurland is one of a small group of agency employees remaining at work during the shutdown.

Kurland, in comments last week at the start of the meeting, said some services have been unavailable during the shutdown, such as the processing of harvest quota transfers.

NMFS is still doing basic management of ongoing fisheries, monitoring and closing them as needed, and is supported by contractors, he said. But that level of work has its limits, he said.

“If there are significant unforeseen problems, we will have limited ability to address those. Fingers crossed,” he said then.

The FBI searched the cellphone records of Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan and seven other U.S. senators and a member of the U.S. House as part of its investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a newly released document shows.

The call logs cover several days during and around the insurrection, when rioters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to support then-incumbent President Donald Trump, who falsely claimed to have won reelection in 2020.

The logs do not show that the FBI obtained phone call recordings, only that an investigating agent was interested in who the senators were talking to, when they talked, how long they talked, and where the callers were. The document, released this week by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, does not say why those senators were identified in particular and it does not say whether any investigative leads resulted from the records.

Sullivan himself is not under investigation.

According to a news release from the committee, the FBI sought and obtained data about the senators’ phone use in the days before, on and after the Jan. 6 insurrection, from Jan. 4 through Jan. 7, 2021.

The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Trump in 2023 for allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, but the special prosecutor in charge of the investigation abandoned that case after Trump was re-elected in 2024. Department policy says that sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution, and after the 2021 insurrection, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision limiting a president’s liability for conduct while in office.

Asked whether Sullivan had any contact with people who participated in or organized the riot at the U.S. Capitol, Devyn Shea, a spokesperson for Sullivan, said, “absolutely not.”

In a written statement, Sullivan called the FBI investigation “an absolute outrage.”

“We’ve just learned the Biden FBI was engaged in what appears to be an unprecedented fishing expedition against at least nine sitting Republican members of Congress — none of whom were under any type of investigation — surveilling our personal cell phone calls with family members, staff and colleagues. This is a new low in the political weaponization of the Justice Department,” Sullivan’s statement said.

The other seven senators were Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) was also on the FBI list.

Some senators, including Hawley and Tuberville, voted to object to the certification of the electoral results of the 2020 election.

Sullivan voted to support the certification of the election, and in a statement the day after the Jan. 6 violence at the Capitol, he called the event “sad” and “dispiriting.”

All have been supporters of Trump and his policies; in office, Sullivan has been a reliable vote for the president and his agenda.

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an order that overturns a decision by the Biden administration to cancel a 211-mile mining road through Alaska’s Brooks Range by denying a right-of-way permit.

The action removes a major hurdle for the project, but developers would still need to overcome lawsuits and opposition from environmental and tribal groups. They would also need approval from NANA and Doyon Ltd., two Alaska Native regional corporations who own land in the road’s path.

Ambler Road, planned by the state of Alaska’s development bank and supported by state officials and Alaska’s congressional delegation, would link the Dalton Highway with a mineral-rich region of northwest Alaska, providing access to the mining of rare minerals needed for batteries and high-technology manufacturing.

“It’s an economic gold mine, so to speak. I signed this years ago, and Biden un-signed it for me,” Trump told reporters on Monday at the White House.

Last year, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management concluded that the road would have a litany of negative impacts, and the Biden administration issued a record of decision saying that the best route for the project was no route at all.

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, Alaska’s state-owned investment bank and the road’s developer, sued the Biden administration, seeking a reversal.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, speaking at the White House on Monday, said the state of Alaska requested an appeal of that decision, and that under federal law, President Trump has the executive authority to make decisions on land use.

The appeal in question was filed by AIDEA under Section 1106 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980.

“This opens up a wealth of resources,” Burgum said, adding that the federal government will also take partial ownership of Trilogy Metals, one of several firms exploring for minerals in northwest Alaska.

As currently planned, the road would consist of a gravel strip stretching from the Dalton Highway almost to Kotzebue. It is envisioned as a toll road, with no public access, and the cost of construction would be paid for via fees levied on users, similar to the way the AIDEA-funded DeLong Mountain Transportation System provides a port for lead and zinc exported from the Red Dog Mine in northwest Alaska.

In a special late-September meeting, AIDEA’s board voted to authorize limited negotiations with landowners in the road’s path.

The road is expected to cross more than 10 miles of land owned by Doyon Ltd., the regional Alaska Native corporation for Interior Alaska.

To date, that corporation hasn’t expressed official support or opposition for the road. Sarah Obed, senior vice president of external affairs for Doyon, said by email that Monday’s announcement was “not a surprise to Doyon” because of a different executive order signed earlier this year.

NANA Regional Corp. owns more than 20 miles of land in the path of the road. In a written statement, NANA President and CEO John Lincoln said the company “appreciates the Trump Administration and Governor Dunleavy’s support for economic development in Alaska and their work towards stabilizing the federal permitting process” but he declined to express support for the road.

In 2024, NANA ended its involvement with the road process, citing concerns about the way the project was being managed.

Lincoln said that still stands: “Our position on the Ambler Access Project has not changed and will only be reconsidered if and when our established criteria are satisfied, in consultation with shareholders, local communities, and other stakeholders.”

Trump’s action on Monday restores a federal right-of-way grant issued in 2021, at the end of the first Trump administration. It also requires federal agencies to issue clean-water permits and other approvals needed for the road.

A lawsuit challenging the 2021 right-of-way grant remains open in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. Attorney Bridget Psarianos with the non-profit law firm Trustees for Alaska is one of the attorneys challenging that right-of-way.

By phone, she said she hasn’t ever seen a president use the authority that Trump did on Monday.

“He’s wielding this presidential power like a cudgel, including to overturn decisions that his own agencies have made and provided good reasons for,” she said.

Several dozen communities and Alaska Native tribes in Interior Alaska have opposed the road to date.

“I think it’s also just important to remember that there’s widespread opposition to this road in Alaska and by local communities, and the reason the alums said no to this was because they found that there would be significant impacts to subsistence and to communities and their health along the road corridor,” Psarianos  said.

Athan Manuel, director of the environmental non-profit Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program, offered similar thoughts in a written statement. “This order ignores those voices in favor of corporate polluters. The Ambler Road will lead to significant harm to fragile Alaskan landscapes and the local communities and wildlife that rely on them,” he said.

Most of the road’s path is on land owned or controlled by the state of Alaska; an easement allowing the road remains under consideration by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, but approval is expected.

In a statement published after Trump’s announcement on Monday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy thanked the president for his action, saying, “this decision will unleash development opportunities, create new jobs for Alaskans and secure access to strategic minerals.”

Similarly, all three members of Alaska’s congressional delegation expressed support for Trump’s decision.

“By advancing this access, we are creating new opportunities for Alaskans while strengthening America’s supply chain and reducing dependence on foreign adversaries for our critical mineral needs,” said U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska. “I applaud the President’s decision to support this appeal, and I look forward to working with the Administration, state leaders, and Alaska Native communities to ensure this project moves forward in a way that benefits all Alaskans.”

U.S. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan also thanked the president for his action.

“The President’s re-approval will unlock a world-class mining district, deliver quality-of-life benefits for communities in the region, and help grow Alaska’s economy. It will also improve our national security by strengthening our mineral security and enabling us to produce more of our most important resources here at home,” Murkowski said.

Sullivan said, “I’m glad to see another critically important project for our state’s economy and working families being put back on track.”

Election day is around the corner for most of Alaska’s local governments, and many communities are considering whether to raise local sales taxes to pay for the escalating cost of public services, including basic infrastructure like road repairs and landfills.

Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, holds its elections in the spring, as do Valdez and Cordova, but most of the state’s 150-plus municipal governments will have their elections in the next week.

In the state capital, Juneau, where voting has been underway by mail since late September, voters are considering three ballot measures with major implications for the City and Borough of Juneau budget.

Measure No. 1 would tighten the cap on local property taxes below current rates, effectively cutting city revenue by about $1 million and eliminating the city’s ability to raise rates.

The second measure would exempt food and residential utilities from local sales taxes. That would eliminate between $10 million and $12 million per year from the city budget.

To compensate, there’s also Measure No. 3, which would raise the city’s sales tax from 5% to 7.5% in the summer and lower it to 3% in the winter. If that measure passes, it would roughly balance the lost money if Measure No. 2 passes.

If ballot measure No. 3 doesn’t pass, Juneau city officials expect to significantly cut local services in order to balance the budget.

Juneau is one of several communities deciding whether to pass sales tax hikes this month.

In Skagway, voters are considering a seasonal sales tax increase from 5% to 7% in the summer, with some of the proceeds earmarked for water, wastewater and garbage services in order to lower local rates.

In neighboring Haines, voters are deciding whether to raise the local sales tax from 5.5% to 7% in the summer within the Haines townsite, with a smaller increase in the rest of the borough. The sales tax would fall to 4.5% in the townsite during the winter, 3% in the rest of the borough, and groceries would be exempted.

In Ketchikan, borough residents are being asked whether they want to extend part of the local sales tax through 2032. The borough has a 2.5% sales tax, but half of a percent is dedicated to construction and renovation projects at local schools. That’s what voters will consider renewing.

Slightly north, in Petersburg, voters will decide whether to reduce a senior citizen sales tax exemption so it applies only to low-income residents.

Ketchikan city voters consider seven ballot measures. While voters in the Ketchikan borough contemplate a sales tax measure, voters within the city of Ketchikan itself will also have seven other ballot propositions to consider.

First is a $15 million bond to pay for sewer mains and upgrades to the city’s water treatment facility. Those upgrades are being mandated by the state and federal governments.

Voters in the First City also will decide six different amendments to the city charter. Proposition No. 2 would eliminate a 30-day waiting period for city ordinances to take effect. No. 3 would allow the city manager to live outside city limits, but only on the road system of Revillagigedo Island, where the city is located.

Proposition No. 4 would remove the requirement that voters approve the sale of any city property worth more than $30,000. Instead, the city council would have the authority to approve those sales.

The fifth proposition would allow the city to award large contracts to someone other than the lowest bidder, and the sixth would allow the city to approve sales or contracts with city employees and elected officials as long as there are at least three cost quotes and the chosen contract is “the most advantageous to the city.”

The last proposition, the seventh, would allow the city’s annual fiscal audit to take more than four months.

In addition to those ballot measures, three candidates are running for two seats on the Ketchikan City Council. There’s also a two-way race for borough mayor, two contested borough assembly races and two contested school board races.

Voters in Sitka will consider two ballot measures. The first would allow the city to use proceeds from the local tobacco tax and the sale of the local hospital for parks and recreation.

The second, if adopted, would require all ballot measures to include a comprehensive economic impact study report before reaching the signature-gathering phase.

Six people are running for two seats on the Borough Assembly in Sitka, and there are three candidates for two seats on the local school board.

In Petersburg, two candidates are running for mayor and five candidates are running for two seats on the borough assembly. There is one candidate and two open seats for the school board.

In Skagway, the one candidate for mayor is running uncontested, after the previous mayor resigned earlier this year. There are four candidates for two assembly seats, and one candidate for two open school board seats. In Haines, there are four candidates for two assembly seats, and two candidates for two school board seats.

North Slope voters contemplate big borrowing planIn the North Slope Borough, two of four assembly races are contested, and only one of four school board races is contested. Borough voters also will consider eight different bond proposals. That’s more ballot propositions than any other municipal election taking place this month in Alaska.

The borough is proposing to borrow a combined $204 million for public facilities, including light, power, water, sewage, public safety, education and flood control.

At Utqiagvik, the borough’s largest town and the northernmost town in the United States, voters will choose between two candidates for mayor. There’s also two city council races, only one of which is contested.

Voters also are being asked to choose whether or not to extend Utqiagvik’s 20% wholesale tobacco tax to cover “alternative nicotine products and equipment,” such as vape and e-cigarette products.

Within the Northwest Arctic Borough, there are four borough assembly seats on this year’s ballot. Only one race is contested, and one seat — covering Ambler, Kobuk and Shungnak — has no candidates at all.

Similarly, among three races for school board, none are contested and one of the three seats has no candidates.

In the Kotzebue city election, two seats on the city council are on the ballot, and each race has two candidates. Another seat was vacated by the resignation of Ruth Moto in September, and someone will be appointed to fill that seat after the election, with the replacement being up for election in October 2026.

The Nome Nugget noted “meager interest to run for public office” in Nome this year, with two city council seats and two school board seats unopposed, but voters there will also be asked whether to raise the city’s sales tax from 5% to 6%.

This week, the Nugget reported that if the tax increase doesn’t pass, city officials will cut services.

In the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Houston considers sales tax hikeThe Matanuska-Susitna Borough holds its elections in November (as does Metlakatla in Southeast), but the cities within the Mat-Su borough vote in October.

Wasilla has no ballot measures; its city election includes three city council races, only one of which is contested.

In Palmer, five people are competing to become the city mayor, the most competitive single municipal race this fall. Three people are competing for two three-year seats on the city council. There also is a one-year seat on the council, and two people are vying for it.

Palmer voters are also being asked if they want to change the city charter so the city manager is no longer required to live within the city. The change would allow the manager to live within five miles of city limits.

Within Houston, six people are running for three spots on the city council. Houston also has four ballot measures. One asks whether voters support a city-owned airport. A second asks voters to approve a 2% sales tax increase (from 2% to 4%) in order to pay for road repairs. The third and fourth measures ask voters to approve the “Matanuska Thunder Festival” and “Founder’s Day” as city holidays.

Many ballot measures in the Kenai Peninsula BoroughWithin the Kenai Peninsula Borough, voters will decide five different ballot propositions. The first would require elections officials to hand-count ballots and ban electronic tabulators. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has already taken a similar move.

Proposition No. 2 would create a special taxing district in Ninilchik to fund a new local swimming pool there. No. 3, if approved, would increase the property tax exemption in the borough so the first $75,000 of a homeowner’s residence would be exempted from local property taxes. The current exemption applies to the first $50,000.

The fourth proposition would raise the borough’s sales tax cap every five years. Currently, sales taxes only apply to the first $500 of a purchase.

Proposition No. 5 would shift borough elections to November, aligning them with state and federal elections, much as the Mat-Su borough has done.

Five seats on the Kenai borough assembly are up for election, and three of the races are contested. Three school board seats are on the ballot as well, with two races contested.

Among city elections on the Kenai Peninsula, only Soldotna has a ballot measure. That proposition asks voters to approve or reject the annexation of 2.63 square miles of nearby land into the city limits.

In the Interior, none of Fairbanks’ three local governments have ballot measures this year, but this year’s ballot will decide three seats on the borough assembly and two on the borough school board. There’s a two-person race to become Mayor of Fairbanks, and two seats on the city council are up for election.

Southeast of Fairbanks, in North Pole, four seats on the city council are up for election. There are only four candidates, but the order of the candidates will determine who gets a three-year term, a two-year term or a one-year term.

Kodiak will pick a new mayorIn Kodiak, voters will pick between two candidates for borough mayor, five candidates for two seats on the borough assembly, and they will vote on a variety of service area boards.

Within city limits on Kodiak, four people are running to replace longtime Mayor Pat Branson, and four candidates are running for two seats on the city council.

In southwest Alaska, Bethel has four open city council seats but only three registered candidates and one write-in candidate.

In Unalaska, Mayor Vince Tutiakoff Sr. is running unopposed for re-election, and three people are running for one of the two city council seats on the ballot. The other incumbent for city council is unopposed. On the local school board, three people are running for one of two school board seats; the other seat is held by the incumbent school board president, who is unopposed in his re-election bid.

Within the Aleutians East Borough, which includes Sand Point, King Cove and Cold Bay, two of three borough assembly seats have unopposed races, and the third has two candidates. All three school board seats on the ballot have candidates running unopposed.

Further north in Dillingham, two city council seats have two candidates apiece, and three people are running unopposed for three school board seats.

Within the Bristol Bay Borough, based in Naknek, three people are running for two seats on the borough assembly, and there are five candidates for the two school board seats on the ballot.

In the Lake and Peninsula Borough, two borough assembly members and two school board members are running unopposed. Those elections, like those in Juneau, are conducted by mail, and ballots must be postmarked by Oct. 7 and received by the borough clerk before Nov. 7.

The cruise line Holland America will have a large Alaska-themed float in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the company announced Monday during a ceremony in Juneau.

Alaskans have occasionally participated in the parade in New York City, which is celebrating its 99th anniversary this year, but the company believes this will be the first time that the state will be represented by a float in the event.

The announcement came on one of the last days of Holland America’s summer cruise ship operations in Alaska’s capital city. Juneau will continue receiving occasional large cruise ships through October.

“The float will be named simply ‘The Land of Glaciers, Wildlife and Wonder,'” said Leanne Jones with Holland America official during a ceremony announcing the float and a $5,000 donation to Trail Mix, a local trail-building nonprofit in Juneau.

“This marks the first time Alaska will be featured in the iconic holiday event, and the first time Holland America Line has ever participated in this parade,” Jones said. The parade is scheduled to start at 4:30 a.m. Alaska time on Thursday, Nov. 27.

A rendering displayed Monday shows a howling wolf, black bear and a moose at the back of the float. The main platform is a glacier and river with leaping salmon.

“Well, that’s a pretty exciting announcement,” said Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon. “And you know, after Macy’s parade, we do have a Fourth of July parade in Juneau.”

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday vetoed his ninth bill of the year, canceling Alaska lawmakers’ efforts to fund public schools by rewriting a portion of the state’s corporate tax code.

Senate Bill 113, passed by the Alaska House and Senate in May by a combined vote of 42-18, would have required internet companies to pay corporate income taxes based on the location of their sales, not the location of their server farms or offices.

That shift, already enacted by 36 other states, would have required companies like Netflix and Hulu, which do not have any in-state business presence, to pay corporate taxes based on sales to Alaskans. That shift was expected to generate between $25 million and $65 million per year for the state treasury once fully implemented.

In House Bill 57, which increased the state’s per-student public school funding formula, lawmakers included provisions that directed much of that money to vocational and technical instruction, as well as grants intended to help elementary school students improve their reading.

Without SB 113, those programs will not receive additional money.

In 2022, Dunleavy and the Legislature collaborated on the Alaska Reads Act, legislation intended to boost the reading skills of young Alaskans. Initial results have shown some benefits, and funding in SB 113 was intended to expand upon that effort.

But in a message accompanying Monday’s veto, Dunleavy said he will not approve any tax measures unless they are part of a larger plan intended to bring state income and expenses into line over the long term.

Dunleavy said he wants to see a “truly durable fiscal plan” that includes “not only revenues but also clear guardrails: spending limits, statutory and regulatory reviews, and policies that make Alaska the most competitive state in the nation for investment and new business growth.”

Dunleavy called SB 113 “a simple tax bill that does not consider the comprehensive fiscal approach outlined above.”

The Legislature could override Dunleavy’s veto of SB 113, which would require 45 votes when lawmakers reconvene for the regular session in January, but that’s a level of support larger than the bill received when it originally passed.

Sen. Robert Yundt, R-Wasilla, sponsored the amendment that would have diverted SB 113 funding to education. He did not answer a phone call seeking comment on Monday afternoon.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, sponsored SB 113 in the Senate and lambasted the governor’s decision in a written statement.

“SB 113 was a common-sense, bipartisan solution to help close our revenue gap without costing Alaskans or Alaska businesses a penny,” Wielechowski said. “The Governor had the opportunity to stand with Alaska families, students, and communities – but instead, he chose to side with tech corporations that profit from Alaskans and utilize our infrastructure, while paying nothing back to our state.”

Wielechowski said that the bill would have modernized Alaska’s corporate tax structure using reforms already adopted by other states.

“Every Alaskan knows Alaska is facing a revenue crisis, and that our education system needs critical resources. This bill would have been a step towards closing those gaps without taxing Alaskans while asking these corporations to contribute to the state that they use for their business ventures,” Wielechowski said. “The Governor’s veto sends the message that outside corporations come before Alaska’s schools, Alaska’s workforce, and Alaska’s future.”

Asked whether the governor had a comment about the veto’s effects on education funding, his communications director responded by email.

“Governor Dunleavy continues to encourage lawmakers, as he has done for the past several years, to work with him on a durable and comprehensive fiscal plan,” said Jeff Turner, the communications director. “Passing more taxes without spending limits and policies that give existing businesses the confidence they need to expand and new businesses the confidence they need to invest in Alaska will make our state less competitive.”

SB 113 was the last bill awaiting gubernatorial action this year. Of 33 bills passed by the House and Senate this year, Dunleavy vetoed nine, or 27%, the highest proportion since statehood. Legislators overrode two of Dunleavy’s vetoes during a special session in August.