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The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has a new proposal for defining handicrafts made out of sea otter pelts. The agency sets rules for hunting of sea otters and other protected marine mammals.

Its rules allow coastal Natives to hunt otters for traditional and subsistence use. And it permits pelts to be sold to non-Natives after they’re significantly altered.

But part of the rules are hard to decipher. And different interpretations have led to citations, fines and other legal action.

Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl is part of a region-wide effort to expand the otter business.

“Our desire is to move away from the vague language that we’ve had that has resulted in some consternation with the hunters and with the craftspeople in not knowing what’s legally acceptable,” she says.

The Fish & Wildlife Service has released new wording and is taking comments through May 17th.

It defines “substantially altered” as weaving, carving, sewing, lacing, beading, drawing, painting and some other methods.

Fish and Wildlife’s Bruce Woods says artisans can make mittens, hats, gloves, purses and scarves. But it prohibits some larger items.

“If someone simply drew a picture on the back of a tanned sea otter hide and attempted to sell that as significantly altered, someone who was running a souvenir factory conceivably could buy those hides and turn them into a whole series of little otter dolls and sell them in competition (with) people who are doing the work as a handicraft,” Woods says.

Woods says Native craftspeople could work in cooperatives or other groups. But they could not use extensive mechanization or divide tasks in anything like an assembly line.

He says the new rules include input from hunters and other groups.

“So the service has been meeting with some handicrafter groups and other interested parties in an attempt to refine that definition and sort of take some of the angst out of the community of crafters who may not be certain that what they’re manufacturing is legal,” he says.

Some craftspeople are not happy with the proposed rules.

Worl says crafters worked with the Indigenous People’s Council for Marine Mammals and other organizations to come up with their own, more flexible proposal. But that’s not the Fish and Wildlife Service draft.

“All of us are busy studying it right now, but there’s a lot of unhappiness that it came out of the blue. So it’s like we’re back to the drawing board,” Worl says. (Hear a report from the last round of otter handicraft proposals.)

The heritage institute is training tribal members to sew otter pelts to help build a cottage industry, especially in economically depressed villages.

Worl says the workshops have waiting lists and more are planned.

The effort comes as hunters, lawmakers and scientists debate the impacts of rapid otter population growth in Southeast and some other parts of the state. Bills in the House and Senate would subsidize hunting with a $100-per-pelt bounty.

A resolution opposing genetically engineered salmon is likely to pass the Alaska Legislature this week.

The so-called “Frankenfish” resolution cleared the Senate Resources Committee on Friday, its last stop before a vote on the Senate floor. The resolution unanimously passed the House about a month ago.

Seward High School sophomore Griffin Plush was in Juneau last week with Alaska Youth for Environmental Action. He says a genetically modified fish could escape its holding pen and cause harm to the environment and Alaska fisheries.

“It would be devastating to fishing communities like Seward, who rely on the salmon population and a healthy salmon population for tourism and the fishing industry,” Plush said.

He had hoped to testify on the anti-Frankenfish measure, but had to leave town before Friday’s hearing.

Masachusetts-based AquaBounty has spent more than $70 million to develop the genetically modified fish, which is an Atlantic salmon with genes from a king salmon and an eel-like fish to make it grow faster.

The company is seeking US Food and Drug Administration approval for the product. A preliminary FDA report says the fish would have no significant impact on the environment.

But Representative Geran Tarr, the Anchorage Democrat who sponsored House Joint Resolution 5, says the FDA doesn’t have enough evidence to back up that finding. If the agency approves AquaBounty’s petition, Tarr says it would be the first time a genetically modified animal product is approved for human consumption.

“This resolution, should we be successful in passing it, will be sent along with a letter and submitted as public comments on behalf of the legislature,” Tarr said. “And I like to say it’s a great opportunity for Alaskans to speak out in one unified voice, because the Congressional delegation has already spoken out in opposition, the governor has spoken out. So, the legislature kind of fills in that last bit of representation.”

Senator Peter Micciche, a Kenai Republican, is a co-sponsor of the measure on the Senate side. At Friday’s Resources Committee hearing, Micciche said resolution enjoys broad public support.

“I have never, since this came to us several years back, have I ever heard a single statement of support for genetically engineered salmon,” Micciche said.

The FDA is taking public comment on AquaBounty’s petition through April 26th.

 

 

 

A major Southeast Alaska environmental organization has endorsed the latest Sealaska land-selection legislation. But a group of communities on or near Prince of Wales Island continues to strongly oppose the measure.

The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council opposed the Sealaska bill from the start.

It negotiated with the regional Native corporation, but actively lobbied against the measure in Southeast and Washington, D.C., as well as online.

Now, it’s endorsed revised legislation proposed by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.

“This wasn’t an easy decision,” says Buck Lindekugel, a SEACC attorney who’s been active in timber issues.

(Read SEACC’s explanation of its decision.)

“We tried to be realistic about our chances of stopping the bill or the opportunities available to continue to try to influence decision-makers as the bill moves forward,” he says.

Murkowski’s bill would transfer about 70,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest to Sealaska ownership.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act required the corporation to choose property from within boxes surrounding communities with large numbers of shareholders.

Murkowski’s bill allows selections from other parts of the Tongass.

“We’ve also got to remember that Sealaska has received 290,000 acres already around the villages. And those lands have been heavily hammered,” he says.

SEACC wants further changes to the bill, such as dropping added acreage at Calder, on northwest Prince of Wales Island.

But Lindekugel says the new measure removes some very sensitive watersheds.

“It drops nearly 30,000 acres of incredibly productive lands on north Prince of Wales from selection. And it dropped another 4,000 acres of high-value karst lands on Kosciusko Island,” he says.

While SEACC changed its stand, others did not.

Nine Tongass communities near the proposed selections are actively opposing Murkowski’s new bill. (Read a letter critiquing the bill.)

“Greetings from your neighbors on north Prince of Wales Island. We, the residents of Point Baker and Port Protection, are asking you to join our voices in opposition to the latest Sealaska lands bill,” says one of the  residents of the towns’ residents on a radio commentary. (Hear or read  the full commentary.)

That’s the beginning of a radio commentary voiced by 20-plus residents.

Point Baker’s Andrea Hernandez says the people in the recording speak as a group and didn’t want to put names to specific statements. She did provide a list of those who spoke.

The commentary points to Sealaska’s agreement to a Native claims settlement act amendment limiting selections to areas around Native villages. And they say they’ve built their lives and communities around the guarantee that they’ll be able to hunt, fish and log on nearby Tongass lands.

“Now the corporation wants to exchange the land from their designated areas to areas around our towns. How fair is this?”

They particularly oppose a provision transferring additional land from part of the northwest coast.

“Calder Creek is a highly productive salmon stream. And some of the highest volume of old-growth left on the north end of Prince of Wales Island is on Calder Bay. Sealaska will most assuredly clear-cut every last bit of it, leaving the entire watershed bare, with inadequate protection to the streams,” another voice on the commentary says.

Thorne Bay, Hollis, Naukati, Whale Pass, Kupreanof, Edna Bay and Cape Pole are the other communities in the group of nine.

Sealaska says the legislation has undergone many changes since it was first proposed in 2007. (Hear or read an earlier report on the bill.)

“We can prove that we’ve listened to people and that we’ve been able to go in and make changes that try to remove the rough edges off this bill,” says Vice President Rick Harris.

He says the latest version reflects most critics’ concerns: “Nobody’s going to be happy with every aspect of it. But if you go compare what we could select inside the boxes versus this selection we think we end up with a much better result.” (Link to Sealaska’s statement on the new bill.)

“We see it as a bill that would just make a lot of rich people within Sealaska richer,” says Dominic Salvato, a shareholder living in Anchorage. He runs Sealaska Shareholders Underground, a Facebook page with 800 “likes” that’s critical of the corporation.

He says past practice shows the corporation is not environmentally responsible.

“It’s a man-made tsunami that went through Kake and went through Hoonah, and it’s just promising to be more of the same. It’s got to stop somewhere. The Tongass has given enough,” he says.

Salvato says shareholders will not get much of a benefit from land selections or timber operations.

“They’re looking at the land like, ‘How can we convert it to cash?’ They don’t look at it for its beauty and scenery. They’re looking at it for how they can convert it to long-term … bonuses for executives,” he says.

Other Native activists support the bill.

Richard Peterson is president of the tribal government of Kasaan, a Haida village on Prince of Wales Island.

“Sealaska has so far been good stewards and they’ve been coming and meeting with our community and working with us and engaging us in that process. So it’s a deal that needs to be closed,” Peterson says.

Murkowski’s land selection bill has not yet been heard by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where she’s the ranking Republican member.

Spokesman Robert Dillon says this is about as good as it’s going to get.

“We believe that we’ve addressed the majority of their legitimate concerns and we would hope that would take a hard look at that. Because the land selections have got to be finalized one way or another. And as SEACC pointed out, this bill is better than letting them select out of their original boxes,” he says.

The Alaska Forest Association, an industry group, supports the bill, though it says the measure has undergone too many changes.

The U.S. Forest Service has not taken a formal position. The agency was critical of earlier bills.

A similar measure with fewer compromises was introduced in the House by Representative Don Young. While his measure passed the House last year, most involved say the Senate bill is the most likely to get attention.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a much-needed license for the Gartina Falls project near Hoonah.

The developer is the Inside Passage Electric Cooperative, which serves the 850-population town, about 40 miles west of Juneau.

Jodi Mitchell is CEO and general manager of the cooperative, known as IPEC. She spoke at the recent Southeast Conference Mid-Session Summit in Juneau.

“It will displace about 30 percent of our diesel in Hoonah. We’re still 70 percent diesel-dependent, but that’s very significant for the community,” Mitchell says.

The project will use a small dam to divert water from just above Gartina Falls, about 5 miles from Hoonah. A pipe will carry the water to a powerhouse at the falls’ base. Transmission lines will carry electricity to the community.

Mitchell says Gartina Falls is fully funded at just under $8 million. But she knows other Southeast projects have seen costs rise dramatically.

“We’re hoping to break ground, at least to put the access road in this year, then install the equipment next year and hopefully have it up and running by the end of next year,” she says.

IPEC says the falls are a natural barrier to anadromous fish and the project should not impact salmon runs.

Southeast Alaska Conservation Council spokesman Dan Lesh says the environmental group has no problem with the project.

“We’re definitely supporting of the project and in general all the communities in Southeast trying to get off diesel and trying to move on to renewable energy,” Lesh says.

One of Hoonah’s largest electrical customers is Icy Strait Point, an old cannery renovated as a cruise-ship destination.

Manager Johan Dybdahl says the small hydroproject will help.

“That could mean a lot for us because we don’t get the benefit of the PCE, of course, so our electricity bills at Icy Strait Point run pretty high,” Dybdahl says.

PCE is power-cost equalization. It’s a state program that lowers high electrical rates for qualifying communities. Homes are eligible, but businesses are not.

Mitchell says the project faces one more regulatory hurdle, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Because of the project being on wetlands, they’re requiring us to set aside an equal parcel, which is about 5 acres, to classify as wetlands and say that we won’t develop it,” Mitchell says. “IPEC doesn’t own any land, so we have to make a visit to DC to try to get some help from our delegation to overcome that obstacle, because I think it’s unreasonable.”

Gartina Falls is a run-of-the-river project. That means it makes power from whatever amount of water is flowing. It has no containment dam, which would create a lake that would help average out the amount of electricity generated.

Southeast Conference Energy Coordinator Robert Venables says that’s not ideal.

“The highest target-value resource that communities and utilities are looking for are projects that have storage capacity. So usually your lake hydros are the best,” Venables says.

But that’s not a possibility for Hoonah, Kake and some other Southeast communities. So run-of-the-river is a good alternative.

“We’re very excited to get some relief for the folks there in Hoonah, but this is just the beginning, not the end of meeting their energy needs,” he says.

The Inside Passage Electric Cooperative is also looking at the potential of a geothermal site near Hoonah. It’s near Pegmatite Mountain, at the head of Tenakee Inlet.

Residents of Tenakee Springs, to the east, have strongly objected. They say it could disturb fish habitat and change the character of the remote area.

Sealaska regional Native corporation had hoped to obtain the site as part of its final land selections. But it’s not in the latest Senate version of that bill.

Mitchell, in a follow-up phone interview, says IPEC remains interested.

“That’s the project that we brought to legislators this season to ask for more funds to take a closer look,” she says.

The cooperative is asking for about $3.5 million for drilling to determine the temperature and water flow.

Mitchell says it’s also looking at additional run-of-the-river projects in the area.

IPEC’s current rate structure averages out costs of power production in Hoonah and the four other areas it serves. That would lessen the impact on the community.

Mitchell says that structure is changing to a rate based on local costs. That encourages projects, such as Gartina Falls, that lower local rates.

The Alaska Railroad is cutting more than 50 jobs in an effort to trim the corporation’s costs as federal grants and revenue decline sharply.

About half of the jobs are already vacant. Christopher Aadnesen is President of the Alaska Railroad. He says the cuts will come from all areas of the company, but more than 1/3 of the jobs lost are in management.

“Maybe the best way to explain it is to give you an example, my direct reports have gone from 13 to 6 and we’ve taken out lots of management positions, many of them senior management positions,” Aadnesen said.

Aadnesen says one of the company’s main revenue sources comes from shipping coal, but the railroad is operating just two coal trains a week, down from four last year, because the international coal market has weakened. Grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration has also declined sharply. Combine that with an unfunded federal mandate to implement a new safety system and Aadnesen says it adds up to a $45 million hit to the corporation.

Besides the job cuts, Aadnesen says the railroad is trimming millions of dollars by conserving fuel, changing the way it maintains vehicles, and reforming other out of date practices.

“So we have changed the company so it looks very different from the inside, but shouldn’t look different from the outside, to passengers, freight shippers, the public, hoping that as we go forward we will be nimble enough and lowered the cost base of the company enough where we can weather additional storms that may come along while we look for and hope for revenue increases to come back to get us out of this challenge,” Aadnesen said.

Since 2009, the railroad has cut nearly 300 positions out of a workforce of about 900 employees.

Former Alaska Governor Bill Sheffield says it’s time for Alaska to build its own gas pipeline.

Sheffield has been stumping the state on his own dime to promote the Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline – or ASAP.  The acronym is appropriate, he says, because Alaska is on the threshold of an energy crisis and needs the gas As Soon As Possible. Sheffield says some communities are already over the edge.

“Too many of our residents are struggling to deal these days with bills to heat their homes and cook their meals that add up to the price of a monthly mortgage,” he told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce Thursday.

Once called the Bullet Line, the current proposal under the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation would take natural gas from Prudhoe Bay  to Southcentral Alaska.

Sheffield says the decline of Cook Inlet production is driving up commercial and domestic energy costs.  He says the instate gasline could help those plants reopen, rejuvenate the Flint Hills Refinery near Fairbanks, and spur other business and industry along the way.

Sheffield, a Democrat, served as governor from 1982 to 1986.  For several years he was CEO of the Alaska Railroad Corporation; now in retirement, he is still on the board of directors.

He says he knows how the lack of natural gas has changed the economics of the railroad.

“In the past, Flint Hills, when they had all three stacks working, (they only use one stack at the refinery now),  used to send 130 railroad cars a day down to the port of Anchorage with product —  jet fuel to the Anchorage airport, gasoline for Southcentral Alaska,  and other products like NAPTHA to South American and to Asia.  Now instead of the 130 railroad cars, there’s 20 cars five days a week,” he says.

While the gas pipeline would mainly serve the Interior / Southcentral region of the state, Sheffield believes surplus gas could be shipped to other parts of Alaska,  including Southeast. He says surplus gas also could be sold to other countries.

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation was funded by the state legislature in 2010.  Since then it has received $72 million  in state funds  toward the $400 million needed to get the project to open season then sanctioning.  During an open season, natural gas producers indicate their interest in shipping down the line; the sanctioning stage is when the corporation decides if the project should move forward.

The cost of 737-mile pipeline and facilities is estimated at $7.7 billion.  AGDC Public Affairs Director Leslye Langla says the pipeline would be financed and not paid for by the state.

AGDC last month awarded a contract for design of facilities, to include a North Slope Gas Conditioning Facility and Cook Inlet Extraction Plant.  The Final Environmental Impact Statement is done, and state lawmakers are working on legislation to establish AGDC as an independent public corporation of the state (House Bill 4).