Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska

The Alaska Marine Highway has a new logo.

The blue-and-white “retro” image includes a ferry surrounded by a circle with the system’s name, plus an orange anniversary banner.

Officials say the shape is inspired by portholes of oceangoing vessels. The colors represent the ocean and waves ferries sail through.

Department of Transportation spokesman Jeremy Woodrow says it’s part of the upcoming celebration of the system’s 50th year.

“January 2013 will probably be when it starts. We’re going to be announcing the roll-out of the celebration coming up pretty soon here, within the next week or two,” he says.

Anchorage’s Bradley Reid and Associates created the new logo.

It replaces a more standard-looking, rectangular image that also shows a ferry and the system name.

Sitka’s Sheldon Jackson College shuttered its doors about five years ago. But its board of trustees continues to operate, managing old debts and property that hasn’t yet been sold or given away.

That includes Redoubt Falls, about a 15-minute skiff ride south of the Baranof Island community. The falls and parts of a same-named lake and bay make up the trustees’ 160-acre claim. Redoubt is a much-used sport and subsistence fishing area.

“Our goal is to continue to continue to make available to the general public the access to the subsistence sockeye fishery that is so important to the community,” says Trustees Board Vice Chairwoman Heather McCarty, speaking at an August press conference.

She says the board still has a few hundred thousand dollars of debt to pay off. But …

“We will not be using ownership of Redoubt to develop or change in any way the current use of the property,” she says.

Sheldon Jackson trustees filed a claim earlier this year with the federal Bureau of Land Management, which decides ownership.          

The trustees do not have the actual title or deed documenting Redoubt’s sale from before the United States bought Alaska from Russia. But they recently filed detailed legal paperwork tracing ownership through 1981, when the property was deeded to the college.

That claim is countered by Sealaska. The Southeast regional Native corporation filed for title to an approximately 10-acre site around Redoubt Falls in the mid-1970s. It’s the last of about 95 cultural and historic sites the corporation requested as part of its Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act land selections.

Sealaska Executive Vice President Rick Harris says the trustees’ claims are for long-gone buildings, not land. (Read Sealaska’s statement on the issue.)

“Plus, it ignores the historic Tlingit use before Russian occupancy, during Russian occupancy and then even after Russian occupancy,” he says.

Harris says Sealaska can prove Redoubt is a Native cultural and historic site eligible for selection under the settlement act. He says the Bureau of Land Management was close to conveying the land when Sheldon Jackson filed its claim.

College trustees attorney Cabot Christianson says the board decided to speed legal action after Sealaska’s claim started getting some action.

“We became concerned that the fisheries protection was not going to be sufficient to protect the fisheries program that’s been ongoing there for the last 30 years. We also became concerned that the public access rights were not being protected,” he says.

Sheldon Jackson says it’s seeking a partner to share management of the Redoubt area, and eventually take it over.

Sealaska says it would do a better job working with local officials to maintain access.

Harris says the corporation has been negotiating a management-and-use agreement with Sitka’s municipal and tribal governments. He says talks also included the Forest Service, which takes measures to boost sockeye production in the lake.

“The Sitka tribe was very clear in its expectation that this site would be one that all of the community would be able to use for subsistence purposes and that the fisheries enhancement projects that are currently on the site or ongoing,” he says.

Critics have worried Sealaska might lose Redoubt, as well as other lands, if it failed and went bankrupt.

Harris says the corporation is financially secure. And fishermen should worry more about a possible Sheldon Jackson takeover.

“They’re an organization that is, I will say,

a defunct institution and it has creditors. We don’t understand what their relationship is. And if Sheldon Jackson actually receives title, I’m not certain how they could guarantee that the property will not be transferred to another entity,” he says.

Sealaska’s claim is much smaller than the college’s. Harris says the corporation has no position on the Sheldon Jackson claim outside Sealaska’s borders.

It’s unclear how long federal officials will take to sort through the claims. In the meantime, Redoubt will continue to be managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

Read some of the college’s recent claim documents:

• Evidence in favor of the college’s title application
• Supplemental brief
• Exhibits supporting “title of color” application, Part 1
• Exhibits supporting “title of color” application, Part 2
• Exhibits supporting “title of color” application, Part 3

 

Wrangell Representative Peggy Wilson knocked out two Ketchikan opponents to win the Republican nomination for the new House District 33.

Ketchikan is the largest community in the district, which also includes Saxman, Coffman Cove, Thorne Bay and several other Prince of Wales Island communities.

Wilson won 46 percent of the 2,145 ballots cast. Ketchikan’s Agnes Moran took 32 percent and Patti Mackey, also from Ketchikan, got 22 percent.

Ketchikan Democrat Matt Olsen was unopposed in the race and will face Wilson in the November 6th general election. Incumbent Republican Representative Kyle Johansen of Ketchikan will appear on that ballot as an independent.

No other Southeast legislative primary had an in-party race this year.

The new House District 33 had one Republican and one Democrat on the ballot.

Political newcomer Jonathon Kreiss-Tomkins of Sitka collected 1,256 ballots for the Democratic nomination. Incumbent Bill Thomas of Haines wrapped up the GOP nomination with 937 votes. The district also includes Craig, Hoonah, Angoon, Kake and Metlakatla.

The new Senate District Q also saw one candidate from each party, each an incumbent.

Sitka Republican Bert Stedman won his party’s nomination with 2,874 votes. Democrat Albert Kookesh clinched his party’s slot with 1,462.

The primary winners face off against each other in the November general election.

There’s no race for either of Juneau’s House Districts. Republican Cathy Munoz is unopposed in District 31, which includes Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley and airport area. So is Democrat Beth Kerttula, whose District 32 includes downtown Juneau, Douglas, Petersburg, Skagway and Gustavus.

Juneau’s Senate seat, District P, is not on the ballot this year.

Click here to read all the primary results.

A Southeast Alaska dance group performs this weekend (Aug. 18-19) at a major Southwest U.S. Native arts event.

The Tsimshian Git Hoan Dancers are part of Alaska’s contribution to the Santa Fe Indian Market. The annual event attracts more than 1,000 Native artists and 100,000 visitors to the New Mexico city.

Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl says the Git Hoan Dancers are very popular at Celebration, a biennial dance-and-culture festival in Juneau.

“When they dance for us at Celebration the hall is filled to maximum capacity,” Worl says. “We have a lot of unhappy people who can’t get inside the door.”

Worl says a number of regional artists, including staff, are also sharing Southeast Native culture at the Indian Market.

“We have a number of students who are attending school down here. So we’ve asked them to join us and they’ll be doing cultural performances, telling stories and … a traditional regalia fashion review using our students and also some of our staff and the products that our staff people have made,” she says.

Worl says the art and performances are part of an effort to reintegrate culture into a largely commercial event.

She says the Alaskans are improving their understanding of Southwest Indian culture. They’re also learning how to better market art to those new to Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian culture.

“This year we ended up developing basic introductory cards about what does a killer whale look like, what does an eye look like, what’s a wing design. Because Northwest Coast art is very distinctive in that it’s built all around these form lines,” she says.

Worl says that fits in with a heritage institute goal of developing small village industries. Products produced so far include woven baskets and sewn moccasins. The institute is also working on traditional items made from sea otter pelts.

The market is operated by the nonprofit Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. This is the second year organizers have invited the institute to participate.

A new song performed at Celebration 2010: “Deer Song,” the gift of

the little doe. (From http://www.davidboxley.com/culture.shtml)

 

Officials from 10 federal agencies will meet Thursday, Aug. 9, with tribal leaders from northern Southeast Alaska.

They will discuss federal housing, nutrition, economic development, utility and other programs available to tribal governments and non-profit groups.

Department of Agriculture Rural Development spokesman Larry Yerich says it’s one in a series of regional tribal collaboration gatherings.

“We want to just say ‘Here’s the main stuff that we have available, but we’re certainly open to hearing what your questions are.’ And that’s the difference between this kind of meeting and rule-making, which is much more rigid,” Yerich says.

Thursday’s meeting runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Juneau’s Tlingit and Haida Vocational Training and Resource Center. It’s part of an Obama administration directive for agencies to work with Native organizations.

The meeting is in person and will not include participants via teleconference.

Yerich says much of the discussion will be about funding.

“Any of the federal partners who are participating in the project, we all have a variety of loan and grant programs. And we all have services that could be of interest to the people who are attending,” Yerich says.

Thursday’s meeting is for Southeast tribal officials from Sitka or to the north. Southern Southeast had its own meeting in early May in Ketchikan. Bethel, Nome and Tazlina, near Glennallen, have had similar events. Yerich says more are planned.

Federal agencies to be represented at the meeting are Rural Development, Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Forest Service, Food and Nutrition Service, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Small Business Administration, Economic Development Administration, Department of Energy and the Denali Commission.

Programs of greatest interest:

• Food production, availability and nutrition

• Rural housing

• Land management programs of Natural Resources Conservation Service and Forest Service

• Rural utilities (electric, telecom, solid waste, sewer and water)

• Rural economic and community development

Some Alaska communities are pushing back against a new requirement that ships sailing within 200 miles of the coast burn cleaner fuel. They say the rule, which goes into effect Wednesday, Aug.1st, will hurt cruise traffic and increase shipping costs.

One community is Skagway, where tourism dominates the summer economy.

“It takes years to get a cruise line. And it takes a second to drive one away,” says Steve Hites, owner of the Skagway Streetcar Company and a member of the town’s Port Commission.

He’s telling Skagway’s assembly about new air-emission limits set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. They cover ships in coastal Emission Control Areas, also called ECAs.

Hites says cleaner fuel is more expensive, and cruise lines will pass that on to customers.

“The cost of the ECA on a cruise ticket could be $150, or three times the cost of the Alaska head tax. We lost five big ships because of the head tax. By extrapolation, will we lose 15 ships?” he asks.

Click here for iFriendly audio

Skagway’s assembly passed a resolution Hites asked for by a unanimous vote. It calls for state officials to fight the new requirement, which lowers sulfur dioxide emissions within 200 miles of shore.

The northern Lynn Canal community is not alone. Haines and Sitka are among other Southeast towns passing similar resolutions. (Read the Sitka resolution.)

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan also issued a statement saying the rules could impact barge traffic. And U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski took to her chamber’s floor to point out that rural Alaska would see the highest price hikes from more expensive shipping.

“The EPA’s one-size fits all approach to environment regulation. Perhaps you can’t quite shoehorn that in, in all situations,” Murkowski says.

The statements and resolutions came after the Parnell administration sued the EPA and other federal agencies to block or amend the rules.

The industry is also fighting the EPA. Alaska Cruise Association President John Binkley says ships might shift to other countries without such regulations.

“Alaska is an expensive destination because there are long distances to travel. So fuel becomes a much more important component of the overall cost of the ship,” Binkley says.

The EPA wouldn’t provide anyone for an interview. But a press release says sulfur pollution from bunker fuel, used by cruise ships and some barge lines, has been linked to respiratory illnesses. It says children, the elderly and asthmatics are among those most at risk. (Read some history of the emissions issue.)

Some Alaskans support that approach.

“Compared to having a tremendous amount of air pollution in Alaska waters, personally, I think that it’s worth it,” says Gershon Cohen, a Haines clean-water-and-air activist who’s been involved in cruise ship issues.

“It’s not going to come out of the cruise industry’s pocket one way or another. They’re going to pass that cost on the consumers. And for the thousands that the consumers are spending, I don’t think they’re really going to ever notice,” Cohen says.

Cohen says the real issue should be reducing dangerous pollution. He says it’s clearly visible as ships sail between Skagway, Juneau and points south and west.

“There is a pall over Lynn Canal. There is a tremendous amount of air pollution there. A lot of folks in Skagway are concerned. They saying the air pollution is killing the trees above Dewey Lake. So, if we’re killing people in our coastal communities from air pollution from ships, that this is probably like a pretty good idea to take care of it and make them use cleaner fuel,” he says.

The cruise industry says it will comply, but wants the EPA to enact an alternative plan that would cost less money.

While some barge lines, such as Totem Ocean Trailer Express, will be affected, others will not.

“In the Southeast market, Ketchikan all the way to Haines and Skagway, no,” says Kevin Anderson, president of Seattle-based Alaska Marine Lines. “Our tugboats burn diesel and these regulations are not going to affect us. So there’s not going to be an added fuel surcharge because of that.”

The state ferry system is also not affected. Marine highway chief Mike Neussl says the change was made years ago.

“It wasn’t a big switch and the switch that the marine highways made was not in direct response to this upcoming implementation of the ECA,” he says.

There’s another way the emission limits could affect shipping and travel. Binkley of the cruise association suggests they could increase competition among buyers.

“There will be more competition for the ultra-low-sulfur diesel, like is burned in trucks and whatnot. Presumably the price will go up for that as there’s more demand for that part of the barrel of oil that’s refined,” Binkley says.

Canada and a number of other nations are also imposing the new standards, which are part of an international treaty.

Opponents worry that impacts will be far worse in 2015. That’s when the EPA will further limit fuel sulfur content by a factor of 10.