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President Donald Trump angered many Native activists by moving to restart Dakota Access Pipeline construction.

Thousands have protested the line, saying a portion of it could poison the Standing Rock Sioux’s water supply. They also see the move as an affront to tribal sovereignty.

But before Trump’s inauguration, his transition team met with Native leaders to ask what they wanted out of the new administration.

The meetings were billed as listening sessions with Trump’s Native American Coalition and included members of the president’s transition team.

The coalition, formed just before November’s election, is chaired by Republican U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

Jacqueline Pata of the Juneau-based Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska was among those at the western meeting. She’s executive director of the National Congress of American Indians and a board member of Sealaska, Southeast’s regional Native corporation.

“There are things in this administration’s agenda that we can find common ground on, like infrastructure development, like improving the economies of our communities,” she said. “But tribal leaders made it really clear tribes are governments and should be treated as such and respected as such.”

She said tribal leaders brought up health care, government contracting, education and resource extraction. That included opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

“Tribal leaders said things like, ‘We’re not opposed to development. But we want to be able to make sure that we have a meaningful place and that our consent is part of the process of evaluating the permits that may affect our lands,'” she said.

Some leaders went into the mid-December meetings angered by reports that the coalition’s chairman wanted to take tribal lands out of tribal hands.

Tlingit-Haida Central Council’s Will Micklin, who also attended the meeting, said those reports were refuted.

“He assured me he had no intention of privatizing tribal lands,” he said. “It was a misinterpretation of his desire to make productive the tribal estate, which are tribal lands.”

Micklin said an overriding issue was the future of Obamacare.

“We’re concerned that the repeal of the affordable health care act not also repeal the Indian Health Care (Improvement) Act and not reduce funding for it from our other funding sources,” he said.

Another issue to watch was land into trust, which allows tribal governments to transfer title to the federal government and protects the land from taxation or seizure.

Alaska Native tribes have just begun using the program.

Mark Trahant is a former University of Alaska journalism professor and a blogger on Native issues. He’s a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe now teaching at the University of North Dakota.

“That was kind of evolving late in the Obama administration. And now, (if) organizations and tribes want to follow through they’re going to need some sort of mechanical side to make the process work. And whether or not resources are put into that by the administration, I think will be interesting to see,” he said.

Changes in the state’s far north are also being watched by some Alaska Native leaders.

Trahant worries the new administration doesn’t know much about it, beyond the potential for oil and gas production.

That’s especially since Trump and members of his administration question the human role in climate change.

“Even thinking about the United States as an arctic nation and a changing arctic nation and what does that mean and what are the policy implications,” Trahant said. “The Obama administration had pushed very hard on the environmental side of that. But now you may see things like more interest in shipping lanes and resource extraction and that sort of arctic issues.”

Trahant predicts tribes will have fewer problems with Ryan Zinke, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department.

He said the Montana congressman understands tribal sovereignty and other key issues.

“The person who’s been nominated for Interior secretary is an avid fisherman,” Trahant said. “He understands the language of that and recognizes the importance of a healthy fishery, both as a food source and subsistence.”

Trump takes over from an administration that expanded relations with tribal governments and other Native groups.

Each department had a Native liaison who reached out and addressed concerns.

Tlingit-Haida Central Council’s Pata is among those hoping that continues in some form. But they say Obama will be a hard act to follow.

“What made a big difference was President Obama went to Indian country and when he saw it, it compelled him,” she said. “I’m hoping that we do get high-level officials from the Trump administration into Indian country and they will fulfill their desire to bring some of their drive for economic opportunity to Indian country as well.”

While most attended the Trump team’s Native coalition meetings were encouraged by the interest, they know many of their concerns don’t mesh with the new administration’s goals.

That’s certainly the case with the Dakota pipeline.

The Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office will not pursue timber sales at controversial sites in Petersburg and Ketchikan – at least for now.

The Trust had planned for sales at what’s known as Petersburg P-1, as well as Ketchikan’s Deer Mountain. Both met with community opposition.

Deputy Director Wyn Menefee said the Trust Land Office will focus instead on trading those and other parcels for Tongass National Forest timberlands.

Bills introduced in the U.S. House and Senate call for that exchange — and to speed up the process.

“While we’re pursuing this exchange we’re not pursuing any sort of timber harvest activity on Petersburg P-1 or Deer Mountain,” he said. “We are fully trying to get this exchange through.”

The organization’s board meets Jan. 25-26 at the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall in Juneau.

The board packet includes a memo from land office Executive Director John Morrison. He said he’s confident the needed legislation will pass Congress this year. Bills authorizing the exchange failed to pass last year.

Menefee said a bill with nearly identical language must also be approved by Alaska’s Legislature.

“The ideal situation is we come out of the Congress efforts and have a federal bill enacted sometime by this summer and then likewise if we can get it through the state Legislature this … spring and get an approval, then those two marry up,” he said. “We can start putting the exchange in place.”

That’s a very tall order.

Federal land legislation usually passes only as part of a larger measure with a dozen or more other bills added in. That makes them more controversial.

But Menefee is optimistic. And he said timber sales won’t automatically be pursued if the legislation fails.

“If anywhere in the future … the whole exchange falls apart, we would come back to the board and we would speak to the board in a board meeting before pursing any timber harvest contracts,” he said.

The Trust Land Office announced last summer that it planned to move forward with timber sales on the two sites if exchange legislation wasn’t approved by this month.

After public outcry and questions about the office’s decision-making process, that plan was delayed.

The Petersburg property is on a steep hillside above Mitkof Highway south of downtown.

Residents say logging would make landslides, which have occurred in the area, more likely to happen.

Landslides are also a concern at the Ketchikan property, which is behind a residential area. It’s above the water supply for the adjoining town of Saxman.

Opponents also say planned clear-cuts would be unsightly and hurt the tourism industry.

The two properties, plus other land trust property in Sitka and Juneau, would be traded for remote parcels of federally owned land on Prince of Wales Island and near Ketchikan.

KRBD’s Leila Kheiry contributed to this report. 

The Alaska Marine Highway has seen deep funding and service cuts as the state deals with a massive budget deficit.

With the money running low, what are the system’s prospects during this year’s legislative session?

Coastal lawmakers have heard from lots of constituents about fewer ferry sailings.

One is Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz, an independent whose district’s link to the mainland is a stop or two south.

“We used to be able to have a choice of maybe three trips at least down to Prince Rupert during a week,” he said. “Now it’s been reduced to once a week and even in the worst times of service, once a month. That’s crazy.”

The same is true for Sitka Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat whose district includes Petersburg and other island communities.

Once-frequent service has dropped to a trickle, he said.

“That impedes Alaskans trying to live their lives, not mention commerce in a pretty significant way,” he said.

The region’s lawmakers said it’s about more than declining revenue.

Recent House and Senate majorities have largely marginalized the voice of ferry port towns.

Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman, a Republican who represents the region south of Juneau, points to disproportionately large cuts to the ferry system, compared with other Department of Transportation programs.

“And I’m hoping with the new legislative makeup that we’ll be able to stabilize that and get some parity amongst the rest of DOT,” he said.

He’s referring to the new bipartisan House majority, which put all of Southeast’s representatives in leadership positions.

Gov. Bill Walker’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year cuts marine highway spending by about 2 percent. That’s far less than in recent years. But it’s still enough to eliminate about 180 jobs, most onboard two now-unstaffed ferries in long-term storage.

“The problem is we can’t cut any more. We just can’t,” said Juneau Sen. Dennis Egan, a Democrat whose district covers northern Southeast.

He’s among lawmakers hoping to block those cuts.

Some hope to add a little funding, though others say increased efficiency is the key.

Beyond the budget, the ferry system faces possible management changes stemming from this year’s session.

They’re tied to a study recommending the marine highway be run by a public corporation overseen by a stakeholders’ board. Ship, terminal and other assets would remain the state transportation department’s property.

Juneau Rep. Sam Kito III, a Democrat whose district includes Haines, Skagway and a few smaller communities, said independent management could make the system more flexible and responsive.

“They can tell us this is what the marine highkway system will look like in five years, this is what our goals are for improving cost recovery, for decreasing costs, and I think they can do that very well within the public corporation framework,” he said.

It’s a bad idea, Stedman said, at least for now. He worries lawmakers could use it as an excuse to cut funding.

“Where’s the revenue? If the state’s subsidizing the marine highway $60 million, $70 million, $80 million a year, where’s that revenue stream and how stable is it?” he said. “Once that question’s answered, we can have more dialog on how we’re going to operate it.”

Whether it’s governance or money, the region’s legislators want the result to be a more predictable marine highway.

Justin Parish, a Democrat who represents Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley, puts it this way.

“People are depending on the service for medical transportation, for school transportation and to make trips to buy necessities,” he said. “I don’t think that there’s a sufficient degree of consistency and reliability right now.”

We won’t know whether any of this will happen until lawmakers pass a budget, and possibly other legislation.

When the Alaska Legislature convenes later this month, it will consider a budget that makes no further cuts to Alaska’s Pioneer Homes. Final decisions are months away.

But Gov. Bill Walker’s spending plan would help level the senior-care program’s funding after several years of reductions.

Juneau Sen. Dennis Egan’s heard a lot from his constituents about cutbacks at Alaska Pioneer Homes. And he understands their importance, from personal experience.

“My mother was a tenant for over five years. And I know the good that Pioneer Homes do,” he said.

His mom, former Alaska First Lady Neva Egan, was a lot like many in the six homes, in Southeast and the Railbelt.

“She had dementia and she was always very confused. And the folks here at the Juneau Pioneer Home facility were just incredible folks,” he said.

Egan, a Democrat representing about half of Southeast, is happy to see the governor plans no more cuts.

Walker’s operating plan calls for spending about $51 million in state money during the fiscal year beginning in July. That’s a slight increase over the current budget year, which itself was a small boost from the previous one.

Pioneer Homes Division Director Vickie Wilson said they lost capacity because of  budget reductions.

“No program wanted to be cut, but we all felt that we were doing our share. But it did result in having a lower number of beds available that we could provide care in,” she said.

Learn about assisted living at Alaska Pioneer Homes.

One way to look at it is the total number of residents. That dropped close to 10 percent over most of the past three years, ending in the fall.

Another way is how quickly beds are filled when residents die or move.

In the 2015 fiscal year, about 97 percent had new occupants. But the following year, it was only about 83 percent.

Wilson said that’s because Pioneer Homes spend about 80 percent of their budget on staff who tend to residents’ medical needs and provide them with meals and other essentials.

“Many positions, we had no funding for. So we’ve lost many of our staff through the cuts that we had,” she said.

Staff losses, many through attrition, have slowed admissions at the homes, in Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Anchorage, Palmer and Fairbanks.

The active waiting list, for those ready to enter any of the facilities, is more than 650. An inactive, placeholder list is eight times as long. Wilson estimates about three-quarters of those on the active list need the highest level of care, which requires more staff.

Learn about life at the Sitka Pioneer Home.

She said open positions are being filled, just not as fast as they used to.

“They are being held longer. But that could be a month to six weeks,” she said. “Not turning around and hiring tomorrow. And it allows us to be able to manage.”

There’s no guarantee the governor’s Pioneer Homes budget will remain untouched as it works its way through the Legislature.

Sen. Egan said he’ll be among those pushing for the funding.

“I hope the heck it does. I hope it makes it,” he said.

And has Egan signed up and added his name to the waiting list?

“Oh, absolutely. I signed up on my 65th birthday,” he said, admitting his wife, Linda, took care of the paperwork. He added he hopes he doesn’t need go to into a home.

A Southeast lawmaker introduced a bill this week to help Alaska Marine Highway ferries meet state pollution-control rules. It would also exempt new ships from a law requiring a percent of construction spending go toward art.

Senate Bill 3 is one of about 50 pieces of legislation prefiled by Alaska lawmakers Jan. 9.

Technically, most ferries and small cruise ships operating in Alaska are out of compliance with state water-discharge rules.

That’s because regulations exempting them from more-stringent rules designed for much-larger cruise ships ran out a little more than a year ago.

Michelle Hale, department of Environmental Conservation Division of Water, said it took the agency a while to figure that out. So it’s not fining ferries or other small ships.

Instead, she said the division is seeking a legislative solution through a bill introduced before the session starts.

“It will reinstate that language that will then provide for ferries and small cruise ships to use a different method of treatment than is required of the large cruise ships,” she said.

Hale said that method, which has been in place for several years, requires far less equipment and staffing.

“So the Best Management Practices Plan requires them to collect samples and run their treatment systems at an optimal level. But they’re not required to meet the more stringent limits of the large cruise ships,” she said.

She said the requirements apply to ships carrying from 50 to 249 passengers. That’s counted by the number of beds, not including upper bunks, cots or fold-outs. So, while some ferries carry more people, the bed counts are within the limits.

Officials said without the pollution-control exemption, costs will increase.

“We’re having trouble with the marine highway as it is, with capital expenditures,” said state Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, who introduced Senate Bill 3, which would reinstate the small-ship exemption.

“I would imagine it’s going to be lightning-bolt subject matter when we get it in the system,” he said. “I’d like to keep it focused down on trying to keep our smaller fleet going, particularly the marine highway.”

Another provision of Stedman’s bill would exempt three new ferries from the state’s Percent-for-Art Program. That uses part of construction costs to purchase paintings, sculpture and other creative works for display on marine highway vessels.

Ferry spokesman Jeremy Woodrow said that provision would reduce the cost of two new Southeast shuttle ships and a replacement for the Tustumena.

“The department does support SB 3, which would allow the department to use existing artwork that has been taken off the Taku, which is in permanent layup status,” he said. “We have also removed art from the Chenega which is in long-term layup status.”

That concerns state Rep. Sam Kito III, D-Juneau, whose district includes three other ferry port cities.

“The arts community is a very active and economic contributor to our Southeast community,” he said. “I would like to see Southeast artists to be able to provide art for our public facilities, including the marine highway system.”

Stedman said the idea came from discussions with state officials.

He said the bill is a rough draft. Like all legislation, it will undergo changes if it gains traction and advances through the Legislature.

Canadian officials say they’ll stop polluted mine water from entering a salmon-rich river that flows into Southeast Alaska near Juneau. The work could include plugging up tunnels from British Columbia’s decades-old Tulsequah Chief Mine.

The Tulsequah Chief hasn’t operated since 1957. Two companies tried to reopen it during the past 20 years, but both failed.

That’s left a legacy of acidic water carrying pollutants into the Tulsequah River. It’s a tributary of the Taku River, a key source of salmon caught in Southeast Alaska.

Provincial officials had ordered the latest developer, Chieftain Metals, to clean up the site. After the company went bankrupt last fall, British Columbia sent inspectors to see what had been done. But it wasn’t much.

British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett said a government contractor took care of improperly stored chemicals and petroleum products.

“They were not able before freeze-up to do anything about the settling pond that exists beside the river that captures the runoff from the hill that the old mine was built into,” he said.

He said experts will look into plugging leaking mine tunnels to stop the discharges into the pond, which leaks into the river.

If that’s not practical, he said they’ll look at other options.

“Even though the water that’s been tested by both Alaska and British Columbia has shown no negative impacts on aquatic organisms, it’s still against our rules for that water to be flowing into the Tulsequah River. So, one way or the other, we have to stop it,” he said.

“I think there is actually some good news here and a change from past practices,” said Chris Zimmer, Alaska campaign director for the group Rivers Without Borders.

He said the studies Bennett mentioned were faulty and inconclusive. And he’s been calling for a cleanup for years.

“In the past, B.C. was simply saying we’re going to let the mining companies come in, develop the mine and clean it up. I think now Minister Bennett realizes that after two bankruptcies that this mine isn’t one that will be developed and B.C.’s now going to have to responsibility for the cleanup,” he said.

B.C. acknowledges a new company could take over the Tulsequah Chief. It’s in the hands of a Canadian firm that would like to recoup some of its investments. It could do that by selling the mine.

But Bennett said such a developer would have to meet tighter standards.

“We would need an ironclad commitment from any new buyer that they were going to do what’s necessary immediately. And if we can’t get that, then the government would act on the closure and remediation plan and just simply close the site down,” he said.

That’s what transboundary mine activists, including Zimmer, want. But he said it’s not as easy as it sounds.

“Plugging up the mine to stop the movement of water is one thing. You could do that relatively cheaply and quickly. But the problem is eventually you’ll have cracks, water will start moving and you’ll be back to the acid-mine drainage situation where you would need a water-treatment plant,” he said.

And that would be costly.

Chieftain did set up such a plant for a while, but determined it was too expensive to run without the mine opening and generating income.