Alaska

Biden administration rejects top Inslee choice for Alaska fish commission, reappoints trawl ally • Alaska Beacon

Published

1 hour ago

July 31, 2024

Biden administration rejects top Inslee choice for Alaska fish commission, reappoints trawl ally • Alaska Beacon

The Biden administration has rejected a nominee for a key Alaska fisheries management post who could have tipped decisions toward the interests of tribes and conservation groups and away from the priorities of the large-boat, Seattle-based trawl industry.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo skipped over the top choice of Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, conservation advocate Becca Robbins Gisclair, and instead reappointed the last-ranked nominee on a slate of four candidates that Inslee offered: Anne Vanderhoeven, a trawl industry employee who has served on the panel for several years.

Raimondo’s choice for the open North Pacific Fishery Management Council seat, which was confirmed Tuesday by Inslee’s natural resources advisor Ruth Musgrave, comes after what advocates describe as weeks of intense lobbying by supporters of both Gisclair and Vanderhoeven.

The council regulates lucrative commercial fisheries for pollock, cod and other species off Alaska’s coast. It’s been the site of polarized, emotional debate in recent years over the trawl industry’s unintended harvest — known as bycatch — of chum and king salmon that spawn in the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in Western Alaska.

Populations of Yukon and Kuskokwim salmon have crashed in recent years, and while scientists largely attribute the declines to warming ocean temperatures, tribal advocates have also pushed the council to tighten bycatch limits on trawlers.

Of the council’s 11 voting positions, seven are nominated from ranked slates of candidates advanced by governors — five from Alaska and two from Washington — and four are top fisheries regulators from Alaska, Washington, Oregon and the federal government.

Four current members work in or have financial ties to the trawl industry, including Vanderhoeven, who is director of government affairs at Seattle-based Arctic Storm Management Group.

Typically, the commerce secretary defers to governors and appoints the top choice from the slate.

But advocates from Alaska tribes and conservation groups said that Vanderhoeven’s allies were pushing Raimondo — herself a former governor — to skip over Gisclair and Inslee’s two other higher-ranked nominees.

Gisclair has worked directly with Yukon residents, tribes and conservation advocates and now works as senior director for Arctic programs at the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy. One trawl official had said that if she was appointed, she would make his industry “squirm for a while.”

Vanderhoeven’s reappointment is “so upsetting,” said Eva Burk, who holds an Alaska Native tribal seat on an advisory panel to the North Pacific Council.

“You can’t just have a trawl sector-dominated council,” Burk said. “It’s just not going to start to get balance back into our different fisheries if we don’t put some diversity in the decisionmaking.”

The appointment of Vanderhoeven has not yet been formally announced by the National Marine Fisheries Service — the branch of Raimondo’s department that works with the North Pacific Council — and Raimondo herself has not offered any explanation for why she skipped over Gisclair. Two other appointments to the council from slates advanced by Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy are pending from Raimondo, as well.

A Seattle-based spokeswoman for the fisheries service, Marjorie Mooney-Seus, said “we expect to be making an announcement soon and don’t have any further details to share at this time.”

A spokesman for Inslee, Mike Faulk, declined to comment, as did representatives from the two leading trawl industry trade groups, the At-Sea Processors Association and United Catcher Boats.

Advocates who have been calling on the North Pacific Council to reduce bycatch said they were deeply disappointed with Raimondo’s decision.

SalmonState, a Juneau-based conservation group, called Vanderhoeven’s reappointment a “gut punch” to Alaskans and Indigenous people.

“We were hoping a strong, independent, conservation-minded voice would be added to the council,” the group’s executive director, Tim Bristol, said in a prepared statement. “Instead, we get pro-trawl business as usual.”

Not all Alaskans, however, had taken sides in the fight over the open Washington council seat.

The City of Unalaska, in the Aleutian Islands, remained neutral, and Frank Kelty, a former mayor who now works as a fisheries consultant to the municipality, noted that revenue from trawl-caught fish like pollock supports community services in multiple coastal Alaska communities.

“It’s our bread and butter right now,” he said.

Kelty also said that Gisclair could still end up filling a Washington seat on the North Pacific Council because of the death earlier this year of Kenny Down, the state’s gubernatorial nominee.

Down was a longtime advocate for tribal and other non-trawl interests — his obituary described the council as being “stacked with trawler-biased members” — and his wife, Shannon, said Tuesday that her husband made it very clear, including directly to Inslee, that he wanted to be replaced by someone with a similar point of view.

“He was making calls when he was in bed, trying to fight for his life,” Shannon Down said, adding that her husband shared his desire directly with Inslee. “This was his dying wish.”

Nathaniel Herz welcomes tips at [email protected] or (907) 793-0312. This article was originally published in Northern Journal, a newsletter from Herz. Subscribe at this link.

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Alaska

Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Published

8 hours ago

July 31, 2024

Press Room

Alaska News Nightly: Tuesday, July 30, 2024

An aerial view of Akiak (From Alaska DOTPF)

Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska News Nightly podcast.

<br />

Tuesday on Alaska News Nightly:

Almost two dozen cases handled by former Judge Joshua Kindred are under review. Plus, illegal fishing in Bristol Bay prompts an emergency closure. And, a new food truck brings Puerto Rican flavors to the Kenai Peninsula.

Reports tonight from:

Csaey Grove, Jeremy Hsieh and Madilyn Rose in Anchorage
Evan Erickson in Bethel
Meg Duff in Dillingham
Simon Lopez in Homer
Hunter Morrison in Kenai
Ben Townsend in Nome

This episode of Alaska News Nightly is hosted by Casey Grove, with audio engineering from Chris Hyde and producing from Tim Rockey.

Tim Rockey is the producer of Alaska News Nightly and covers education for Alaska Public Media. Reach him attrockey@alaskapublic.orgor 907-550-8487. Read more about Timhere.

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Alaska

State of Alaska addresses road access issue on the North Slope

Published

15 hours ago

July 30, 2024

Press Room

State of Alaska addresses road access issue on the North Slope

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – On July 15, the State of Alaska filed a brief addressing an ongoing road access issue on the North Slope.

Since 2019, oil companies such as Conoco Phillips and Santos, have engaged in a dispute on whether or not Santos is permitted to use gravel roads on lands Conoco Phillips is leasing from the state. Santos needs the roads to access their lease.

In 2021, Santos offered $1 million a year over 30 years for road access, plus additional funds to help maintain the path. Conoco Phillips responded by requesting $20 million a year.

In April of 2022, The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) granted Santos access to the land. Conoco Phillips appealed the DNR’s decision in December of 2023 and during the appeal process, Santos has maintained access to the gravel roads.

In the brief released on July 15, the State of Alaska justified the decision saying, “the denial of such access implicates the delay of development of millions of barrels of oil and billions of dollars of public revenues.”

Also in the brief, the State of Alaska references Alaska statutes regarding oil and gas leasing, affirming the state owns the land. It also says oil and gas leases should “maximize the economic and physical recovery of the resources.”

Conoco Phillips now has the opportunity to respond to the brief before oral arguments are heard in front of a judge.

Download the Newscenter Fairbanks apps today and stay informed with the latest news and weather alerts.

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Alaska

Alaska map shows where Russian, Chinese nuclear bombers circled U.S. shores

Published

22 hours ago

July 30, 2024

Press Room

Alaska map shows where Russian, Chinese nuclear bombers circled U.S. shores

A rough map released by a pro-Kremlin blogger on Sunday purported to show how a formation of Russian and Chinese nuclear-capable bombers circled the U.S. coast off Alaska last week.

The Rybar military channel on Telegram suggested the two Russian Tu-95MS and two Chinese H-6K strategic bombers took off together from Anadyr airfield in Russia’s eastern Chukotka region, which would mark the first time assets from both air forces have shared a base of operations.

U.S. and Canadian fighter aircraft under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted the air group late on July 24 inside the Alaska air defense zone. The activity was “not seen as a threat,” NORAD said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the air patrol—the first time Chinese warplanes had approached Alaska—came within 200 miles of the U.S. coast, presumably in the Bering Sea. He said the joint operation was “not a surprise.”

After yet another sign of military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, Russia’s state television was bullish about the pointed maneuvers, and Rybar, the military blogger, called for the patrols to be regularized.

Russia’s Defense Ministry later released footage of what it said was a five-hour patrol in the Chukchi and Bering seas in the North Pacific, escorted by Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S jets.

Rybar’s post, however, suggested the activity took place in two parts, with NORAD aircraft—U.S. Air Force F-16s and F-35s and Canadian CF-18s—scrambled to intercept the air group north of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

The mixed-use Anadyr military airfield has long been a staging ground for long-range aviation units including the Tu-95MS. The blogger’s map indicates Russia’s cruise missile bombers were flown there before the mission, likely from Ukrainka air base in the Amur region bordering China.

And while there was little information about the Chinese long-ranger bombers involved in the now annual air drill, the planes could have been dispatched from the mixed-use Anqing air base, where is located an H-6K aircraft division, under the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command.

NORAD Jets Intercept Russia, Chinese Bombers — North American Aerospace Defense Command CF-18 Hornets prepare to take off from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska during regular NORAD operations to positively identify and intercept two Russian Tu-95 and two Chinese H-6 military aircraft operating near Alaska on July 24.
Senior Airman Julia Lebens/U.S. Air Force

In a more detailed release on Monday—the first since NORAD’s initial announcement—the Alaskan Command said the air intercept mission was carried out by aircraft from Eielson Air Force Base and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Air defense identification zones, or ADIZ, are not considered sovereign airspace, but the self-declared areas—found extensively in Asia—are used to identify and control approaching foreign aircraft.

The Tu-95 and H-6 bombers were escorted “over international waters until they exited the ADIZ,” the statement said.

NORAD jets Intercept Chinese Bomber Off Alaska

Left to right: A Chinese air force H-6 strategic bomber is intercepted by U.S. F-16 and F-35 and Canadian CF-18 fighter aircraft under the direction of the North American Aerospace and Defense Command, or NORAD,…

NORAD

“The vastness of Alaska brings unique challenges when it comes to ensuring the United States and Canada are defended,” Maj. Brent Rist of the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Eielson was quoted as saying.

“To put things into perspective, it’s similar to fighter jets taking off from Denver to protect D.C. and then fly back. This distance exposes all assets to complex scenarios and risk, especially with weather in Alaska,” Rist said in the Alaskan Command release.

The command said the intercept was supported by a number of other assets including airborne early warning and refueling aircraft.

The Russian and Chinese defense ministries could not be reached for comment after hours. Last week, both governments said the joint training did not target any third party.