Alaska Department of Fish and Game is embarking on an ambitious study of gray-headed chickadee nesting boxes and their possibilities at the confluence of the Siksikpuk and Chandler Rivers on the North Slope.
The department has filed with the Department of Natural Resources for a permit to install up to 20 bird boxes for a pilot project “to determine if gray-headed chickadees will nest in boxes.”
The boxes will be installed in late April. Those wishing to comment on the proposed activity should do so no later than April 18 by 5 pm.
Written comments must be received by the Department of Natural Resources Division of Mining, Land and Water at 3700 Airport Way, Fairbanks, AK 99709 by that date.
Questions concerning this proposal or requests to view the full application packet should be directed to Becky Baird, Telephone: 451-2732; Fax: 907-451-2751, or e-mail: [email protected].
The department notice advises that “After review and adjudication, we may issue a permit with stipulations for the activity. The activity may be modified during the review and adjudication process.”
The gray-headed chickadee is also known as the Siberian Tit. It is one of four chickadees that has been identified in the state and makes it looks a lot like the common boreal chickadee, but with larger white patches on its cheeks.
It also makes a different call, described as a “dee–deer” or “pee–vee.” For many years, chickadees have nested in forests and stream-side habitats, but for purposes unknown the Department of Fish and Game is interested in housing them in boxes.
Among endangered birds, the gray-headed chickadee is leasted in the “of least concern” category, according to Wikipedia.
Attempts to locate the exact study details or rationale were unsuccessful as the state’s web page relating to that item was not loading properly on Sunday and other Fish and Game pages pertaining to the elusive bird were also unavailable.
Col. Bryan Radliff, 477th Fighter Group commander, speaks with a resident of Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer, Alaska on Veterans Day. F-22 pilots from the 302nd and 525th Fighter Squadron spent the day with residents before a formal ceremony, which included the presentation of nine Alaska Veterans Service medals. Governor Bill Walker has tagged the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home for closure. (Air Force photo)
On Friday, word quickly trickled out to the residents, who are among the most vulnerable of populations in the state: The Senate was closing down the home.
The Walker Administration had even circulated a memo: Get ready for closure.
Except for one pesky detail: The Senate had not made those cuts.
The Senate’s 5.7 percent cut made to the nearly $1.1 billion Health and Social Services budget was largely unallocated, meaning that cuts can come from anywhere in the department.
The Senate had asked the department to trim for less than six cents on the dollar. The Walker Administration said those cuts, which had been merely parked by the Senate as a placeholder in the budget, would remain there.
At an impromptu meeting on Friday morning, staff members of the Palmer facility were informed that the only possible way for the Department of Health and Social Services to absorb the cut to its budget by closing the home down.
Sen. Peter Micciche headed up the HSS budget subcommittee. Sen. Lyman Hoffman, left, is co-chair of Finance.
Sen. Peter Micciche was not impressed with the scare tactic. “We specifically protected seniors in the HSS budget in the subcommittee process and demanded that no cuts go to senior services. The cuts had already been adequate in their category. When the budget left the subcommittee process my expectation was that seniors would continue to be protected,” said Micciche, who chairs the HSS budget subcommittee.
“The administration is specifically using scenarios to cause fear — in the desire to arrive at an income tax. The bottom line is that we’ll fight to ensure the Pioneers Homes will continue as they have historically,” Micciche said.
Normally, an administration doesn’t strike out with fear tactics at this point in the budget process.
But a note from Anthony Newman of the Department of Health and Social Services, reiterated the department’s stance that it would likely close the Palmer Veterans and Pioneers Home, which is predominantly caring for veterans:
“Following the Senate’s action on Monday to reduce funding for the Pioneer Homes by $6,542.6, the Department sent word to its administrators that the closure of the homes was only realistic way to meet this proposed budget target. The Palmer Home would be the most likely Home to be closed because the community has other resources that could be available to residents, and the Anchorage Home could be able to take those who had no other options. Be aware that closure of one Home will not be enough to meet the budget target, so the Department is analyzing the savings that would be achieved by closing the Juneau Pioneer Home as well.”
The note went on to say the closures would begin in August and a skeleton staff would then complete shut down of the Palmer facility by October.
Copied on that note were Commissioner Valerie Davidson, and numerous HSS division directors and senior staff, as well as members of the Governor’s Office legislative liaison team.
Predictably, word leaked around the state. In Ketchikan, the city council was told the Pioneer Home could also be in peril.
Alarm bells went off in the senior services economy. After an extensive remodel in 2004 to meet U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs requirements, the Palmer home was renamed the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home and gets federal assistance. Seventy-five percent of the 79 beds in the home are designated for veterans, with just 25 percent available for non-veterans. About 100 people work at the home.
Members of the Valley delegation received an email from a Palmer resident who works at the Palmer Veterans and Pioneer Home, telling of the impromptu meeting and saying that staff was told the home would close unless there was an income tax.
An income tax has been proposed by House Democrats. The Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer is in Republican country.
During the budget process, it’s not unheard of for an administration to use a “Statue of Liberty” strategy, named after the method employed by the U.S. Park Service. Whenever it receives a cut it shuts down the nation’s most popular monuments.
Sen. Mike Dunleavy offered to help the governor find cuts, and said he could start with lawyers, consultants, and gasline offices.
Must Read Alaska spoke to a staff member close to the Senate Finance Committee: “We did have to make cuts in the places where there is the most UGF (undesignated general funds). But we put an unallocated cut on HSS. The department heads can move that money around but they’re spinning it this way because they want us to cave.”
Sen. Mike Dunleavy, a Mat-Su Republican, said he could help the governor find cuts, if he needed help.
“Amazing. The governor can open up gas pipeline offices in Tokyo and Houston, can hire an army of lawyers and pay consultants $800,000, but he throws veterans and old people to the curb? We’re not going to let that happen.” Dunleavy said.
The Valley delegation, with Rep. Cathy Tilton as strong and experienced lead on the HSS budget, is also looking at different places where the department could have made cuts. Tilton for years worked as a legislative aide to House Finance and the HSS budget was her prime responsibility.
Several of the House amendments to the HSS budget were voted down by the Democrat-led House majority, so Tilton has a starting point, although she is now in the minority caucus.
Rep. Cathy Tilton has been an advocate for seniors and says the governor isn’t being transparent.
“This hasn’t even gone through conference committee yet, so for the governor to use these scare tactics and get the residents of the Pioneers’ Homes and their families upset, is really unconscionable. And it’s not very transparent,” she said.
OUR SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR THINKS ABOUT FISHING, BUDGETS, AND SINE DIE
By ART CHANCE
April is the cruelest month in Juneau.
The king salmon are starting to come in. But if you are a legislator or if you work for the Legislature, you either don’t have time to chase the wily king or are afraid that somebody will see you fishing and your picture will be on the front page of the Alaska Dispatch News with a blurb about how you should be working.
Unless you’re a Democrat; the Rogoff Rag wouldn’t do that to a Democrat.
April is when all the pieces that people have been moving all session are put into motion to pass bills, kill bills, and score political points.
April is when the fondest hope of some legislator or interest group fades and dies with “sine die” for a benediction.
I think it is extraordinarily unlikely that there will be a budget for the governor to sign when the speaker says sine die. I can think of several ways this can play out and somebody smarter or more devious can probably think of some I haven’t thought of. It will take me a couple or three of these pieces to game out the permutations, so I’ll start with the easy ones to foresee.
The House isn’t going to accept any budget that results in the elimination or reduction of one program that is important to Democrat constituencies or which results in the layoff of any unionized State employees, and even if they would, the union-owned governor wouldn’t sign it.
The Senate has a difficult choice; if they try to be adults and reach for a sustainable budget, the House and the Governor won’t accept it.
If any Republican in the Senate bolts the Caucus and votes with the Democrats to pass a House budget, s/he is signing his/her political death warrant. The likely result is that there will be no budget as the 90th day passes.
The Legislature and the Governor will have to make a show of trying to resolve the impasse with a Special Session. Were I the Governor I’d make some statement about how the Legislators ought to go home and talk to their constituents and set the convening of the Special Session in May.
If you don’t have a budget, May is “crunch time.” You must have an Operating Budget by May 31. If you don’t, then in June almost all State employees must be given notice that they are subject to layoff for lack of funds at close of business on June 30.
It is likely that School Districts and REAAs will follow suit and issue layoff notices to education employees on June 1.
Some municipalities may also do so for employees in programs supported by State or federal funds.
At some point the ferry system and the airports will give notice that they may not be operating after June 30; there goes a big chunk of the tourist season.
If the State unions can get solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the Longshoremen’s Union, the cruise ship season is at risk and perhaps even the Alaska tanker trade.
A longshoremen’s refusal to work is probably illegal but that takes time to sort out and a lot of travelers will change their travel plans during that sorting out. Unlike the federal government which can keep vital people working in a period with no budget, the State has no such authority.
At 12:01 am, July 1, if there is no budget, the State government does not exist. I don’t think the Governor would let the prisons, the Pioneer homes, the State Troopers, and other vital services stop, but he could or the employees could entirely lawfully refuse to come to work if they can’t be guaranteed to be paid.
If I had a Republican governor and I was his director of labor relations, I’d accept the “queen’s gambit” and dare them to shut it down on July 1; I think I could win, but my definition of winning would be very different from the hermaphrodite* Administration’s definition.
My definition of winning would be making the unions and Democrats back off, accept taking a haircut, and come to terms on a budget in which they can control their losses.
Their definition of winning is going to the shutdown, blaming the Republicans, whipping up a media frenzy about killing Granny, and making the Republicans come to heel and give the unions/Democrats the budget they want.
In summary, Senate Republican-led majority can either accede to the governor and the union-owned House’s budget and spend the time between now and January 2018 hoping that a war in the Middle East will save Alaska again, or they can have an existential battle with the governor, the Democrats, and unions.
Nobody has ever accused me of being reticent to bring on a fight, but this fight is for the money, marbles, and chalk, and I’d give it a lot of thought and make sure I knew who my friends were before I got in that ring.
Art Chance is a retired Director of Labor Relations for the State of Alaska, formerly of Juneau and now living in Anchorage. He is the author of the book, “Red on Blue, Establishing a Republican Governance,” available at Amazon. He only writes for Must Read Alaska when he’s thoroughly bored. *Chance uses the phrase “hermaphrodite Administration” to describe a governor who is both a Republican and a Democrat.
Beluga Point is an iconic place in Alaska. The rocky turnout along the Seward Highway jumbles into muddy flats and rushing waters that flow to and fro in Turnagain Arm. White beluga whales can often be seen as they feed, usually in mid-summer when the salmon are running. Windsurfers take to the breezes and long boarders ply the famous bore tide from spring to fall.
This week, however, it was the site of two events that, for hours at a time, shut down the Seward Highway that hugs the cliffs of Turnagain Arm and provides access to Girdwood and the Kenai Peninsula.
Alaska State Troopers shut down the highway at Beluga Point on Wednesday for over 12 hours, after they received a call about an armed man firing a handgun. They never did find the man.
On Friday, the highway was closed once again, this time for a diplomatic visit. China President Xi Jinping, on his way home from a visit with President Donald Trump, stopped in Anchorage and had dinner with Gov. Bill Walker and First Lady Donna Walker. There was a sightseeing visit to Beluga Point.
Troopers had issued an enigmatic message with no details other than the highway would be “closed for an event.”
Governor Bill Walker bows to China President Xi Jinping as the president’s China Air jet stops in Anchorage for refueling on Friday.
The Governor and First Lady Donna Walker hosted the Chinese president and his wife, China’s First Lady Madame Peng, at the Crow’s Nest restaurant, which is atop the Captain Cook Hotel.
During the time Walker had with President Xi, he talked up the state’s oil, fish, air cargo, mineral, and tourism industries. And he especially advocated for his gasline, for which he is looking for financial backing.
Alaska Gasline Development Corporation President Keith Meyer was able to make a pitch to the president about the gasline, Walker said.
“We have the opportunity to talk to them sovereign to sovereign. They could be a customer, they could be a financier, they could have a minority equity position. The entire value chain is available to them,” Walker said today during a press conference in Anchorage.
“It was a Chamber of Commerce day, if you will,” he said. “It was a beautiful day and they really enjoyed the time at Beluga Point.”
“He referred to it as a Shangrilaska,” Walker said.
The Chinese president arrived on a Boeing 747, which is still not made in China.
Rumor has it that China’s President Xi Jinping is making a quick stop in Anchorage on his way back to China to have dinner with Governor Bill Walker. President Xi is on his way back to Beijing after his first meeting with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-lago. What is on the docket for the Alaska dinner is not known, could it be that Walker is going to try and convince President Xi to help finance his gas line dreams?
It is happening all over rural Alaska at an increasing rate: Tribal councils get together, make a decision, and give some bad actor the boot. Law and order in Native villages is different when there’s no State Trooper post.
But in a new twist, Togiak Tribal Council banished a crusty older white Alaskan, a longterm resident of the community.
Togiak is a second class city of about 850 people. It’s also a village. It has a tribal council and a Village Public Safety Officer, which is a quasi-police officer.
Ronald Oertwich, 73, was accused by the council of bringing alcohol into the dry village, and was banished illegally, said his lawyer, David Henderson.
Oertwich runs a bed-and-breakfast in Togiak and makes his living off the sports fishing enthusiasts who come there to catch rainbow trout, dolly varden, silver and king salmon. His customers are non-Native.
The facts are murky but Oertwich has apparently been kicked out twice in recent weeks. The first time he ended up in the nearest town, Dillingham, which is where he called Anchorage personal injury lawyer Henderson for advice.
Henderson told him the village council had no authority to remove him from the village and that he should return.
After all, Oertwich has a tourism business to run and the season is ramping up.
Oertwich did return on Henderson’s advice, and that’s when community members detained him and kept him locked up in a holding cell, where he slept on a thin mat for six days. A diabetic, he had trouble getting the medicine he needs, Henderson said.
After six days, they bound him with duct tape, dragged him to an airplane, and sent him back to Dillingham.
There is no State Trooper post in Togiak, but according to Henderson, the Troopers were notified of the incident while it was under way. “I contacted the Troopers and they said they would not get involved, that I could contact the tribe, or FBI, and make a civil rights complaint,” he said.
There may be several entities that took part in the incident, which some critics say has important constitutional questions. The village council was allowed by the City of Togiak to use its jail. The Village Public Safety Officer may have been involved in hauling Oertwich into the jail. The Troopers knew of the case but may have decided it was a tribal matter. Henderson was told that the Attorney General’s office had been contacted, but didn’t take action.
While he was being held, Oertwich was not charged with a crime nor allowed an arraignment, according to Henderson, who is still trying to gather the facts on who all was involved, who knew what and when.
Within a few weeks, Oertwich may have a wrongful imprisonment or kidnapping case to file against several entities, including State agencies. At the very least, he has a civil rights case.
“The tribe had no lawful authority over a non tribal member,” Henderson said. “They locked him up in a jail cell, he had no due process, no attorney, no charges. The Supreme Court has ruled that tribes do not have lawful authority over nontribal members.”
RURAL JUSTICE: MOVE PROBLEM PEOPLE ALONG
Togiak is in Southwestern Alaska, and has banished others in recent years. But Togiak is not the only village to do so.
Back in 1994, two teens from the village of Klawock were banished to an uninhabited island for a year by their tribe. They had allegedly robbed and beaten a pizza delivery man in Snohomish, Wash. It made national news, but the two never spent their entire year on the island.
Quinhagak banished six people last year after heroin started showing up in the village, leading to several overdoses and one death.
Last year, Derek Adams was banished from three communities — Nunam Iqua, Emmonak, and Alakanuk, after his involvement in an arson fire that led to three deaths in Nunam Iqua, a village at the mouth of the Yukon River.
This February, four people were kicked out of Allakaket, as they were reported to have brought methamphetamines into the Interior village.
The State of Alaska generally tries to stay out of tribal politics, but the case law is unclear on whether tribal justice supercedes the U.S. Constitution, and whether it applies to tribal members and nontribal members alike.
In 2003, Judge Peter Michalski refused to dismiss a 2001 injunction he had issued on behalf of Perryville, about 200 miles southwest of King Salmon.
The village had banned John Tague. In upholding his injunction, Michalski wrote, “The law allows a tribe to ‘regulate the internal affairs of its members.’ ”
He referenced a 1999 case, John vs. Baker, where the Alaska Supreme Court recognized the sovereignty of tribal courts. But that case has never been tested in a higher court.
The administration of Gov. Bill Walker in 2015 established an 11-member Governor’s Tribal Advisory Council and he told media this week that he would be meeting with the council to discuss the matter.
Must Read Alaska has asked Walker’s Chief of Staff Scott Kendall if that meeting took place, but did not get a response by publication this morning.
Must Read Alaska has asked the Attorney General’s office for an update on the case but did not get a response.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and former U.S. Secretary of the Army Fanning meet with Ft. Wainright-based soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade, in 2016.
‘AN IMPORTANT DAY FOR ALASKA’
In a reversal that has buoyed Alaska’s military community and recession economy, the U.S. Army announced today it will retain the full 5,000-soldier infantry brigade combat team at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Two years ago, the Army announced it would dramatically reduce the 4-25th. As part of an overall downsizing of the U.S. military, the 4-25th would become a much smaller battalion “task force.” Thousands of Alaska soldiers would have been transferred and thousands of related jobs were at stake.
Today, those plans were cancelled, and the Army also announced that the 4-25th will deploy approximately 1,500 soldiers to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan was jubilant: “Over the last two years my team and I have relentlessly advocated – in both Washington, D.C. and Alaska – for the Army to reverse its decision and keep its only airborne brigade combat team in both the Arctic and Asia-Pacific regions in Alaska. Today, I applaud the announcement that the Army has formally decided to keep the entirety of the 4-25 in Alaska for the foreseeable future. This is an important day for Alaska, and for the national security interests of the United States. This decision sends a clear message that our military leaders recognize the emerging security challenges in both the Arctic and the Asia-Pacific, and that our country remains committed to ensuring peace and security through strength in both of these critical regions.
Sullivan brought Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley and (former) Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning to Alaska last year to tour the bases and hear more about the importance of the cold-weather brigade and Alaska’s military footprint.
The 4-25th is the only extreme cold weather and mountain-trained airborne brigade combat team in the Army, and is positioned to respond to threats in the Asia-Pacific and the Arctic, he said.
After his visit, Milley announced that the brigade would remain intact for another year.
Sullivan fought on. He also included an amendment in a defense bill requiring the Pentagon to develop an Arctic strategy and plan. Today, he thanked Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Congressman Don Young for their efforts to reverse the downsizing.
“Finally, I want to thank the men and women of the 4-25 and their families. I’ve gotten to know many of you over the past several years in Alaska and at training exercises outside the state. Despite the recent uncertainty of the 4-25’s status, you continued on with your mission. You and your families represent America’s finest. Godspeed on your next deployment,” Sullivan said.
Sen. Mike Dunleavy speaks to the press after leaving the Republican-led caucus this evening over a difference in the budget. (Photo from Senate Democrats’ social media.)
Sen. Mike Dunleavy stood tall on the Senate floor this afternoon and spoke with respect. With Dunleavy, standing tall is the only way. And respect comes naturally to him.
Knowing the consequences to come, the District E Republican told his colleagues he was breaking from the majority caucus. He needed to go his own way on the budget. He would be a “no” vote.
And then he voted against the majority’s budget and became a caucus of one.
It was no surprise to Senate leadership, as he had been negotiating with them for days over the spending plan.
But Dunleavy did vote in favor of tapping the Constitutional Budget Reserve, and then he accidently voted yes on the budget in a procedural confusion, although he said tonight that he had made a mistake and would vote no when the bill comes back from the House.
He appeared to be overtired during floor session and said he is fighting a serious cold that may have turned into pneumonia. He has had a persistent cough for weeks.
In an interview this evening, he told Must Read Alaska that during special orders on the Senate floor on Friday, he will reiterate his intent to be a no vote.
He expressed disappointment in the outcome of the budget, “that the collective outcome had less reductions than I would have hoped.
“Basically the funding for a reduced PFD embedded within the budget — I could not support that. I’ve been in negotiations with them for days, but in the end this caucus decided to go with this budget. I told them I would withdraw from the caucus before I voted. That was the right thing to do.”
Dunleavy said his constituents were different from those in other parts of the state, and it was getting harder for him to represent them within the confines of the caucus.
“It’s not my intention to throw any of my colleagues under the bus. We are friends. We are Republicans,” he said. But Dunleavy is known to be an individualist, not a natural joiner, and he’s certainly not a follower.
Dunleavy’s staff aide, Daniel George, wrote on Facebook: “I’m fairly certain I won’t have a job tomorrow because he has left the caucus. However, I told Mike, if the only reason you have to vote for this budget is to keep me employed as your staffer (which I have truly enjoyed doing), forget about it. I would rather you vote your conscience on this budget. I’m young still, sort of, and I’ll find my own way. Don’t let me be a human shield for state spending you can’t support. Once that burden was taken from him, he had no reason left not to vote the way his constituents want. That is how government should function.”
After hours of listening to amendment upon amendment from Democrat senators wanting to add back spending to the budget, all in the Alaska Senate were tired.
Democrats had a field day on Twitter, lauding the Dunleavy defection over a “bad budget.”
CAUCUS RULES
Being part of a majority caucus primarily means you vote as a group on the majority’s budget and some procedural votes. Most other votes are left to the discretion of the lawmaker, but to break from the budget vote comes with consequences. Usually defectors are stripped of their committee chairmanships.
That happened to Rep. Lora Reinbold two years ago, when she bolted from the House majority caucus, lost her committee chairmanships, was put in a reduced office and had, for some time, no staff. Some say the district she represents got short shrift during that time.
Whether the Senate majority will dish out the same treatment to Dunleavy remains to be seen. But he expects to lose staff, committee chairmanship, and perhaps office space. Enforcing the rules is the only way a caucus can stay together.
Dunleavy has presented his own fiscal plan, which includes making Alaskans whole on their Permanent Fund Dividends, and making $1.1 billion in cuts over the next four years. His cuts were aggressive — $300 million each year for three years, and $200 million the final fiscal year, for FY 18, 29, 20 and 21. Reserves of about $13 billion would make up the difference.
The Earnings, under his plan, would continue to grow, and the Permanent Fund Corporation agrees his plan will pencil out.
But some in Juneau think it’s too aggressive, the cuts that are assumed in order to make the plan pencil are too deep, hitting large programs such as education too hard. In any case, there’s little chance Dunleavy’s plan would pass the Democrat-controlled House, nor would it be signed by Gov. Bill Walker, who has said that he is done cutting, and now needs tax revenues to pay for government.
Dunleavy is considered a likely candidate for governor in 2018. He won’t say whether or not he has decided, but separating himself from the herd may also be a strategic move. He represents one of the more conservative areas of the state: Mat-Su, Delta Junction, Copper River Valley, and Valdez.
SENATE BUDGET
The Alaska Senate’s operating budget cuts state spending by $276 million, although it achieves some cuts through balance transfers.
The Senate’s version of the operating budget, House Bill 57, proposes $4.1 billion in unrestricted general fund spending.
“To help address the fiscal problem, we asked the state’s largest agencies to cut a nickel on the dollar,” said Sen. Lyman Hoffman, a Bethel Democrat who co-chairs Senate Finance Committee.
Jahna Lindemuth has been Alaska’s acting attorney general since the sudden exit of Gov. Bill Walker’s first attorney general, Craig Richards, in 2016.
But her confirmation is less than certain.
Jahna Lindemuth
In fact, this is a high-risk month for Lindemuth. She’s been walking through the Capitol legislative offices, talking with lawmakers who hold her future in their hands. She’s counting votes.
She doesn’t have them yet.
Lindemuth needs 31 votes for confirmation. She’ll get the House Democrat majority — 22, and the Senate Democrat minority — 4.
That means she needs to lock down five more green buttons when she faces the joint confirmation vote to be named the State’s top law officer and Gov. Walker’s attorney.
But before she faces that joint vote, Lindemuth has to head back to the Senate Judiciary Committee room, where her hearing will have been hung up for over month.
When she went before Senate Judiciary on March 9, lawmakers asked her about her closed-door settlement with Ahtna Corp. over road access to Klutina Lake. They sent her back to think about who she represents in this case. Senate President Pete Kelly of Fairbanks told her he was not comfortable with what he had heard from her so far.
Her next committee hearing will be Wednesday at 1:30 pm in Senate Judiciary. The public will be queued up to testify, and word on the street is they have a lot to say. Interest is higher than normal for an AG confirmation, although Walker’s last one, Craig Richards, also faced a grilling two years ago.
WHO IS LINDEMUTH’S TOP CLIENT?
The Alaska Outdoor Council and the Fairbanks Laundry House Gang have raised questions about whether Lindemuth really stands for the people of Alaska, or a private corporation who had given the governor a big campaign assist in 2014.
The Klutina Lake Road transects property owned by Ahtna Corporation, which donated $25,000 to Walker Mallott 1, and Your Future Alaska — groups that helped Gov. Walker get elected.
Now, Walker is directing his acting attorney general to give away a federally guaranteed right-of-way to Athna. The road was established in 1898. It has been perhaps the most important state road access right-of-way to defend for many years. It’s an area popular with Alaska outdoors enthusiasts — fishers, campers and boaters.
The case file on Klutina Road is hundreds of pages deep with documentation from the Department of Transportation and the Department of Law, which has fought for the access that is cryptically called RS-2477.
RS-2477 allows the public to stop, park, pick berries, gather firewood, camp, launch a boat, and swat mosquitoes.
Ahtna Corp. sued the State of Alaska about nine years ago and the case was to go to trial this month, when Lindemuth filed a pleading with the court to stay the case so she could negotiate a settlement.
What Ahtna wants is to control access for its shareholders and put limitations on the access rights of other Alaskans.
Lindemuth is negotiating down the access to something called a 17-b easement, which prohibits many of those public recreational activities and reduces the width of the right-of-way substantially.
However, no one outside the lawyers for the Department of Law knows what the terms of the settlement are, because it’s being done in secret.
And that’s one of the sticking points for outdoor advocates: Public access is being settled behind closed doors.
When asked by the Senate Judiciary Committee why she was negotiating away the public’s rights, Lindemuth said she had to decide whether or not to pursue the case and it was her judgment — and her right — as attorney general to settle. She was looking for a “win-win.” Sen. Pete Kelly told her he wanted a “win,” not a “win-win.”
Late last month, Gov. Walker bent to public pressure and issued a statement saying that the settlement terms would include a full 100-foot right-of-way “and opportunities for fishing, camping and boating.”
The Alaska Outdoor Council says that these are uses already protected by RS-2477, and it is leery of any agreement to limit those rights.
Walker also said that the settlement would provide “multiple areas along Klutina Lake Road…where the public can fish and launch boats into the river.”
The Alaska Outdoor Council argues that those rights are covered already under RS-2477.
Walker promised: “Areas will be provided for camping and overnight parking and any fee Ahtna charges must be reasonable and similar to fees charged in State campgrounds.”
But a 2002 opinion by the Attorney General’s office stated: “Ahtna has no legal authority to regulate the highway by requiring the purchase of permits or the payment of tolls or by prohibiting historic uses of the road by corporate fiat.”
Since Lindemuth’s somewhat contentious hearing on March 9, another case has arisen that may capture the interest of Senate Judiciary:
In the village of Togiak this week, a non-Native resident was bound with duct tape and put on a plane, banished from the community. There was no due process for the man, who operates an inn and was accused by tribal members of bringing alcohol into the village.
Tribal justice is something the Walker Administration has supported, including allowing communities to banish tribal members when they choose.
But for a village to banish a nonmember of a tribe? That raises constitutional questions, which committee members will want addressed by the attorney general. The Togiak man in question has hired an attorney who told the Alaska Dispatch News that the man’s constitutional rights had been violated.
Public testimony will be heard on Wednesday, April 12 at 1:30 at the Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing for acting AG Lindemuth. Alaskans may testify from their nearby Legislative Information Offices or call in their testimony (be prepared to wait) at 844-586-9086.
