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Fish Factor: Governor's Budget Cuts Go Easy on Fisheries By LAINE WELCH - Fisheries fare better than most people in terms of Governor Mike Dunleavy’s budget cuts. 

Just under one million dollars was cut from the commercial fisheries division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, leaving it with an $85 million budget, half from state general funds.

“To give the governor credit, he recognized the return on investment,” said Doug Vincent-Lang, ADF&G Commissioner.  “It’s a theme I had all the way through the legislature that we take a $200 million budget of which about $50 million is unrestricted general funds and we turn that into an $11 billion return to our state. And I think he got that.”

Vincent-Lang added that Dunleavy also did not veto the travel budget for the Board of Fisheries and its advisory committees. 

 It’s indefinite still how the budget cuts will play out, and Vincent-Lang said he is trying to avoid staff cuts to the 700 comm fish positions. 

“I suspect we may have some but we will try to do that through vacancies and a variety of other things as we have retirements,” he said.

Also set to get axed is funding for research projects, such as salmon inseason sampling and Tanner crab surveys at Prince William Sound, and five salmon weirs at Kodiak and Chignik. Salmon counting is likely to be reduced at the Yukon River’s Eagle and Pilot Station sonars, along with various stock assessment surveys for groundfish.  

“I’ve asked my staff to look at their overall program, and not necessarily cut the projects, but take the ones that have the least impact on the management of our fisheries across our state in terms of economic value back and cut those,” he explained, acknowledging that the cut backs could lead to more cautious management. 

“Clearly, any time you reduce your forecast ability you become more precautionary in your inseason management approach until you can become more certain,” he said.

Vincent-Lang said the state hopes to form local partnerships to help fund shortfalls, “like the Bristol Bay Science Initiative and Yukon River tribal groups to try to find ways that we can replace that money to ensure that we minimize the impact to our ongoing management programs.” 

Those partnerships “are the path forward” for Alaska’s fishing industry to jointly fund research, he stressed. 

“If we are going to be continually dependent on state general funds, that presents a challenge,” he said. “We need to look for ways to partner with different groups to get a diversified funding stream.”  

Partnership also will be important to fund ADF&G’s special areas management which is facing a $280,000 budget cut for its oversight of 12 game refuges, 17 critical habitat areas and three wildlife sanctuaries. Vincent-Lang said using hunting dollars with matching grants in some areas will help make up for that budget shortfall.

“The rest of the department, like the sportfish and wildlife divisions, are largely funded by federal funds that are dedicated to those activities and we match them with hunting and sport fishing license dollars. There’s very little state general funds in those divisions,” he explained.

The Habitat and Subsistence Divisions will remain under the auspices of ADF&G, despite reports that two director-level positions and associated funding would move to the Office of Management and Budget. Vincent-Lang said those two positions were open when he took the job and he opted not to fill them. 

“I didn’t want to lose actual staff members in those divisions that were equal to a director position,” he explained. “If a director position cost $200,000 I would have lost three or four staff members in both divisions to make up for that. I willingly gave up those two positions to OMB because they needed them, but the activity they were doing remains under the supervision of ADF&G.”

The total budget for the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game is $200 million. - More...
Monday PM - July 15, 2019

Southeast Alaska: Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen Visits Southeast Alaska - USDA Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen was hosted this past weekend in Southeast Alaska by U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The trip gave Chief Christiansen a direct look at challenges and opportunities in the Tongass National Forest and an opportunity to hear from local stakeholders and tribal leaders about the need to build a strong, sustainable economy in the region. 

“I thank Chief Christiansen and her team for joining me in Southeast to see and experience our nation’s largest national forest,” Murkowski said. “This was a great opportunity for Alaskans to engage in productive discussion with the Chief and other Forest Service officials, and for the Chief to see firsthand the everyday issues that face communities where the federal government manages the vast majority of the land. I welcome Chief Christiansen’s partnership and commitment to ensure the Tongass is a working forest for all who depend on it.” 

During the visit, the Senator and the Chief toured a portion of Phase 1 of the Alaska Mental Health Trust (AMHT) land exchange, which transferred approximately 2,400 acres at Naukati on Prince of Wales (POW) Island to AMHT in exchange for 2,500 acres near Ketchikan. Murkowski authored the legislation providing for the land exchange, which was enacted into law in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017.

“This first phase is providing needed timber to the Viking Lumber Mill in Klawock, as well as revenue to the AMHT to provide mental health services for Alaskans. It is also protecting viewsheds in Ketchikan for visitors and locals alike,” Murkowski said. “There were some real setbacks in the process to get to this point and we cannot afford anymore. I think the Chief understands that after this visit and is committed to keeping Phase 2 of this exchange on track so it can be completed by the deadline in the legislation. Our mills and communities in Southeast Alaska are counting on it.” - More...
Monday PM - July 15, 2019

Ketchikan: Five fisherman rescued after vessel sunk near Black Island - United States Coast Guard and Alaska State Trooper boat crews, as well as the crew of a good Samaritan vessel, rescued five fishermen after their vessel sunk near Black Island, Sunday.

A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Ketchikan returned four of the five fisherman to Ketchikan, while the master of the vessel returned aboard a skiff after the retrieval of their net. 

At 10:55 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Juneau watchstanders received a distress call over VHF channel 16 from an operator of the fishing vessel Daffnie. They stated the vessel had capsized and sunk, all five people who were aboard had abandoned ship into a skiff and provided the coordinates for the skiff, as well as noted there was only one life jacket.

Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders also received notification from the emergency position indication radio beacon registered to the vessel restating the vessel sank and all aboard transferred to the skiff, as well as that they only had one handheld radio, one survival suit and were holding onto their seine net.

A RM-B crew and an Alaska State Trooper boat crew launched in response.

An Alaska State wildlife trooper arrived shortly after noon and confirmed the location of the skiff. The RB-M boat crew and good Samaritans aboard the fishing vessel Lovie Joann arrived within the following 10 minutes. - More...
Monday PM - July 15, 2019

Ketchikan: Two South Tongass Accidents Within A Week - Alaska State Troopers responded today to a report of a single vehicle motor vehicle collision near 6.4 mile of South Tongass highway.

Today's investigation by the Troopers revealed 19-year-old Eveyln Bercher of Minnesota was operating a northbound 2004 Jeep on South Tongass highway when she lost control of the Jeep after becoming distracted and drove off the roadway.

The Jeep traveled approximately 320 feet going in and out of the northbound ditch and came to rest against a rock wall.

South Tongass EMS responded, Bercher reported wearing her seatbelt and had no complaint of injuries. The Jeep sustained extensive damage.

This is the second accident on the South Tongass Highway within a week. Last Tuesday about 4:11 PM, the Alaska State Troopers received multiple reports of a Motor Vehicle Collision involving a Motorcycle at Mile 3 of the South Tongass Highway. - More...
Monday PM - July 15, 2019

Ketchikan: Water Main Break Repaired - Permanent repairs to the 400 block Schoenbar Road water main broken early Friday morning were completed Saturday evening. The broken main flooded the road with one car trapped in the road's washout before the road was blocked to traffic.

By Saturday evening the repaired water main was refilled and disinfected water was again moving to the Bear Valley Reservoir.

The repair was delayed while waiting for needed repair materials which arrived Saturday afternoon. During the wait, Ketchikan Public Utilities had isolated the water main and drained it preparing to making the permanent repairs. 

During Friday and Saturday while the water main was isolated, the remaining water stored in the Bear Valley Reservoir was the sole supply of water for the entire community until the repairs were completed. - More...
Monday PM - July 15, 2019

Analysis: In divided Alaska, the choice is between paying for government or giving residents bigger oil wealth checks By PAOLA BANCHERO - Alaskans will soon confront the dramatic effects of Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s vetoes of US$444 million from the state operating budget of $8.3 billion, which went into effect July 1.

The Alaska legislature was unable to get enough support to block the cuts through a veto override late last week.

The budget cuts will be immediate, affecting most Alaskans.

I’m a faculty member at the University of Alaska Anchorage in the Department of Journalism and Public Communications and have served on the community advisory board of Alaska Public Media. Both the university and the public broadcasting network will face budget cuts. In the case of the university, more than 40% of its state support will be lost.

State legislators from both parties who tried to override the vetoes described a ruinous future, with university students bailing en masse, elderly residents moving out of state and domestic violence survivors being left without emergency shelter.

“You’re looking at Alaska at 1869 level of services,” said Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins, a Democrat (Sitka).

Dunleavy, who has largely avoided press interviews, told a conservative radio talk show host on July 10 that the vetoes would not “end Alaska as we know it.”

Advocates for the university system, the poor, the arts, public media and other entities on the receiving end of the cuts rallied supporters, from indie music groups to entrepreneurs.

Business groups, including the Alaska Bankers Association, tried to persuade three-fourths of the Alaska Legislature – 45 of 60 members – to override the governor’s vetoes. In the end, only 37 legislators stood against the governor.

How did Alaska, one of the country’s richest states with a $65 billion savings account fueled by oil royalties and leasing revenues, get into this position?

‘Safe landing or nose dive’

The troubles have been a long time coming.

As the state prepared to reap the benefits of its oil reserves in the 1970s as the trans-Alaska oil pipeline neared completion, voters approved in 1976 an amendment to the Alaska Constitution establishing the Alaska Permanent Fund.

The idea was to save a slice of the current oil windfall in a special fund for future generations when the oil ran out. Meanwhile, the rest of the massive oil royalties – $391.5 million in 1976, more than four times the amount collected the previous year – flowed into state coffers. That meant less need to rely on the traditional way government raises money: taxes. So the legislature repealed a state income tax and the Alaska school tax in 1980.

Now, most Alaska communities have no sales tax and property taxes are low. The total state and local tax burden on Alaskans is the lowest in the country. - More...
Monday PM - July 15, 2019

DAVE KIFFER: YET ANOTHER MODEST PROPOSAL - The cruise ships of today are clearly not "your grandfather's" cruise ships.

I was thinking about that when the Queen Elizabeth visited a while back. Once upon a time, those old Cunard ships were the glamour-pusses of the Seven Seas. Of course back then neither your grandfather nor mine would be on one of those cruise ships - or luxury liners as they were called. Granted the modern "Queen Elizabeth" is more floating hotel than it is luxury liner, but you know what I am getting at.

Yes, many of our relatives indeed did sail to this continent, but that was mostly in steerage. The 18th and 19th century equivalent of airline "coach."  Now, I am not saying that flying from Seattle to Ketchikan in a middle seat between two overstuffed sport fishermen from Dubuque, Iowa is quite the same as surviving three weeks sleeping in the bilge of Princess Typhoid Mary, but just about no one I know would ever have been well-heeled enough to cross "The Pond" on of the luxury liners at their peak.

But as usual, I digress.

These new ships are definitely catering to a different group than the morning coat and white spat crowds. They have all sorts of modern amenities ranging from spas to paintball decks to go kart tracks. Whatever your "thing" is, I guarantee that there is a cruise ship out there has it, or can get it for you.

But one thing that hasn't changed much is something that I think could help them transition from 20th Century to 21st Century: the ship names. - More...
Monday PM - July 15, 2019

CARL GOLDEN: Democrats Risk Irrelevancy in Sprint to the Left - As the roughly two dozen Democrats seeking their party's nomination for president continue to gleefully sink their teeth into one another, the portrait that has emerged is of a band of self-serving pols who've shed self-respect in favor of pandering to a vocal segment of the party base that has abandoned the country's mainstream.

The campaigns have become a panicky, headlong flight to the left embracing ideas that as recently as four years ago would have been dismissed as loony and a guarantee of electoral disaster.

Should this trend continue, consider the following possible outcomes:

- A party with no coherent message aside from "We despise Donald Trump."

- A nominee so bruised and battered by his or her own party that regaining credibility is problematic.

- A party so far to the left that it risks becoming an out of touch fringe group.

- A party in support of ideas which are anathema to most Americans and stand no chance of Congressional approval.

- A party in favor of spending trillions of dollars with no way to pay for it.

And lastly, but most devastating of all, the re-election of Donald Trump.

You know what's not a winning message? Making the case to the American people that entering the country illegally should be decriminalized (essentially, an open borders policy), pledging to provide free health coverage to undocumented immigrants and calling to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). - More...
Monday PM - July 15, 2019

Political Cartoon: Nancy And AOC
By Bob Englehart ©2019, Middletown, CT
Distributed to paid subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.