State Government

Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho is one of three local elected officials from around the state spearheading an effort to resuscitate the Alaska Coastal Management Program.

Before shutting down at the end of June, coastal management worked with developers, local residents, and state and federal permitting agencies to review proposed projects along the state’s coastline.

Botelho says it was disheartening to see the program go away after the governor and legislature couldn’t agree on terms to reauthorize it. Now a citizen’s initiative, sponsored by Botelho – along with Kodiak Island Borough Mayor Jerome Selby and Kenai Peninsula Borough Assemblyman Mako Haggerty – would revive the program.

Botelho says an application for the initiative petition, signed by more than 200 people, was delivered to the lieutenant governor’s office on Friday.

“Our initiative is intended to encourage our state leaders to redouble their efforts to create a credible coastal management program during the 2012 legislative session,” says Botelho. “And if they are unable to do so, Alaskans will have an opportunity to express their support for Alaska’s coastal program in November 2012.”

The proposed initiative differs from a bill to reauthorize coastal management that was on the table during this year’s legislative sessions. It reverts to the way the program was run prior to 2003, when Governor Frank Murkowski implemented sweeping changes to it. Many local communities opposed those changes.

“What we’ve tried to do here is design a program that we think is most suitable for Alaska,” Botelho says. “And part of that is looking and making sure that the permitting process is streamlined, that it encompasses all programs done by our resource agencies, and that it be done in a coordinated, collaborative way.”

Hagerty says he was disappointed with the legislative process, and thinks the initiative is a better alternative.

“We’re not just going to be delivering signatures. We’re going to be delivering a message that this is a program that the state needs to participate in,” says Haggerty.

Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell has 60 days to determine whether the initiative meets the legal framework to go before the public. At that point, the sponsors can begin collecting the nearly 26,000 signatures needed to qualify it for the ballot.

Botelho says the goal is to finish before the legislature begins next year’s session in January. That would give lawmakers the option of passing a substantially similar law or allowing it to proceed to a vote.

Alaska’s U.S. Senators are part of a congressional effort to stop the Postal Service from closing branches in rural areas. APRN’s Libby Casey reports on the “Protecting Rural Post Offices Bill.”

Alaska’s Director of State and Federal Relations in Washington, D.C. is resigning.

After more than 40 years as the lead advocate for the state, John Katz says it’s time to leave the nation’s capital.

Early in his career Katz worked for the late Senator Ted Stevens and in 1979 became the first special counsel to the governor, working on the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

Since then he has worked for eight Alaska governors in Washington and received several awards for his service.

In a letter to Governor Sean Parnell, the 68-year-old Katz says he wants to spend more time in Alaska and with his family.

He also says he’s become increasingly discouraged by what he sees as the “polarization and deterioration of the public policy process at the federal level.”

Katz says it is the worst he has seen in his 43 years in Washington.

In statements from Alaska’s congressional delegation, all have high praise for him.

Senator Mark Begich calls Katz the true definition of a dedicated public servant, who has fought for Alaskans on every “hot button” issue. Begich says he will miss Katz calm demeanor.

Senator Lisa Murkowski says his resignation is a “shock to the system of Alaska.”

Murkowski says she cannot disagree with his frustration with the “paralysis and partisan hostility that has taken over Washington, DC.”

Murkowski says Katz lived a “bipartisan life” as he served governors from “across the political spectrum.”

Representative Don Young says Katz “never let ideology get in the way of his mission, which was to serve the state of Alaska.”

Katz resignation is effective at the end of the year. Parnell will choose his replacement.

Juneau will file a petition with the Local Boundary Commission to annex lands proposed for a Petersburg borough.

The Assembly voted last night (Monday) to challenge Peterburg’s plan to incorporate an area previously identified for annexation to the City and Borough of Juneau. It includes all the territory from the southern CBJ boundary and east to the Canadian border; the Tracy Arm / Ford’s Terror Wilderness and Endicott Arm as well as Holkam, Windham and Hobart bays.

Thirty-thousand acres at Hobart Bay are owned by Goldbelt, Juneau’s Native Corporation.

Juneau previously did not file to annex the area, in deference to Goldbelt, which had said it preferred not to be in any borough.

The corporation says it’s currently neutral on the Petersburg petition. The Goldbelt Board of Directors is to decide its borough preference over the next couple of months.

There was no discussion last night on the Assembly’s resolution to file the annexation petition. It calls for all or a portion of the lands on the mainland south of Juneau’s southern boundary that were recommended years ago as a model borough.

October 26 is the deadline for filing competing petitions and opposing briefs with the Local Boundary Commission.

Juneau lawmakers are looking for members to serve on a new Taku River Task Force.

The river is the most abundant salmon-producer in Southeast Alaska. It’s also one of the most studied in terms of biology, but with the renewal of mining at the headwaters, many other questions remain.

“We’re just trying to find out exactly who controls the Taku River,” says Juneau Sen. Dennis Egan.

He says it’s not even clear what agency is responsible for monitoring industrial vessel traffic on the river – the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Natural Resources, or Environmental Conservation? Or the U.S. Coast Guard?

The task force will also look at the effectiveness of state and federal laws and regulations regarding the river as well as review the health of Taku River fish stocks, habitat and game resources.

A proposal to create a legislative task force to study the issues went nowhere during the last legislative session. But the meetings between sport and commercial fishermen and Taku River property owners proved to be contentious. Representative Beth Kerttula says it was clear everyone needed the same information.

“It just was obvious we were not operating with the same information,” she says. “Some of it was good, some we weren’t sure about and we needed to be sure about it. So our common sense way to go forward was to find out the facts and get them out there for everybody.”

While the catalyst for the task force is the redevelopment of the Tulsequah Chief Mine at the headwaters of the Taku River, it’s the extraordinary salmon production of the river that drives everyone’s concerns, says gillnetter Jev Shelton.

“With or without the Tulsequah Chief Mine, the river really does deserve an added measure of protection to be sure that productivity isn’t compromised,” he says.

Canadian company Chieftain Metals hopes to start production of the multi-metal mine in 2014. The main access to the mine is up the Taku River.

Shelton is among the advocates for the task force. He believes it should result in real protections of the river.

“This is intended to be a forum for trying to put together, hopefully, a piece of legislation that could get through and provide a more institutionalized protection for the river, to which chieftain or anybody else would have to respond appropriately,” he says.

Egan says it’s important to make sure that any activities on the river don’t hurt the fishing industry and other river users.

“I’m not opposed to mining,” he says. “I just want to make sure they do it right and we set guidelines on our side of the border.”

The eight-member committee will represent Alaska Natives with ties to the Taku River, commercial and private recreational property owners in the Taku River valley, commercial and sport fishing, and a biologist who does not work for government. State resource departments will provide expertise to the group.

“It’s up to the task force to make recommendations, not bureaucrats,” Egan says. “We tried to keep government out of it, but using government as the resource to these eight members of the committee.

People interested in serving on the Taku River Fact-Finding Task Force should contact Kerttula, Egan, or Rep. Cathy Munoz. Meetings will start early next month. A final report will be submitted to the delegation by mid-December.

Alaska’s Marine Highway System wants a court to order the fast-ferry builder to provide new engines for the ships.

State officials say engines on the Fairweather and Chenega are wearing out far faster than their warranties promised. Replacing the eight engines could cost in the range of $20 million.

The state filed a lawsuit last year, but continued talking to the manufacturer about a solution.

Captain Mike Neussl says the state is now asking the court for a preliminary injunction to force action before the engines wear out.

“If that happens, those vessels could be out of service before there’s an ultimate resolution. That would mean the state would lose use, and state residents and communities would lose use, of those vessels prior to the ultimate decision on that lawsuit,” he says.

He says quick action is needed because making new engines will take about a year.

The engines have already undergone repairs. Neussl says that has extended their operating life. But the repairs are not permanent.

The lawsuit and injunction motion are against Derecktor Shipyards, which build the ship, and subcontractors that built the engines. Derecktor officials could not be reached for immediate comment.

The injunction motion filed in Superior Court does not specify that new engines be built by the same manufacturer. But Neussl says that’s the likely solution.

“We have looked at alternatives, what other engines are out there that we could replace these engines with. And to be honest with you, there’s not any other diesel engines in the market place that meet the power-to-weight ratios that these engines have and would fit in the assigned space and have the correct weight to be used in these vessels,” he says.

The Fairweather, built in 2004, is based in Juneau and sails to Sitka and Petersburg. It’s scheduled to begin Angoon service next year. The Chenega, built in 2005, is based in Cordova and runs to Valdez and Whittier.