thetundradrums

Plentiful wind, wood and water hold keys to cheaper energy

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:12:00 -0800

A group of Dillingham fishermen hoping to reduce gas costs for the Bristol Bay fleet are sketching plans to turn salmon waste into fuel.

In Nunam Iqua in Western Alaska, a tiny utility hopes to spin power from the wind — electric use will jump when a new school opens and flush toilets arrive.

And in Fort Yukon in the Interior, Native groups hope to heat buildings with wood collected from fire-charred swaths of forest.

Throughout isolated, rural Alaska, where fuel prices often top $6 a gallon and produce enormous electric and heating bills, residents are racing to find cheaper energy using natural resources in their backyard.

The Denali Commission and Alaska Energy Authority are helping fuel the alternative energy stampede with state and federal funds. In June, the groups awarded $5 million to 33 projects around Alaska.

People in Nunam Iqua have to do something, said Carin Finch, a grant advisor at the city.

“We’re in shock,” she said.

The summer fuel barge hasn’t arrived, but gas and heating fuel prices in the village of 200 will likely barrel past $7 a gallon when it does. Electric bills will rise 40 percent.

“There’s grave concern,” she said. “We’re hoping the state can help electric utilities.”

Residents in the Yup’ik village started looking into building wind turbines in 2005 when officials realized plans for a new school would double the community’s electric use, Finch said. The school opens this fall. The load will increase further when houses finally get running water and toilets that flush, which require pumps, probably next year.

Tests show that there’s enough wind in the village, Finch said. But more studies are needed.

The city received $34,000 from the Denali Commission to determine if wind turbines are a good investment and if the tundra can support them.

If they can’t be built, residents will consider hydropower or some other form of alternative energy, she said.

“It’s the future,” Finch said.

Alaska Native groups in Fort Yukon hope to beat the “ungodly” fuel prices in that village — $6.49 a gallon for diesel — by harvesting wood downed by forest fires, said David Thomas, power plant operator in the village of 600.

About $800,000 from the Denali Commission will help buy equipment such as a brush cutter and backhoe.

“We’ll get a lumber company going, harvest wood, bring it back and then buy some big boilers to heat the buildings,” Thomas said.

The groups — the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments and the Gwitchyaa Zhee Corp. — hope to employ a few residents who gather wood in winter and barge it down the river in summer.

“The money will stay in town, ya know,” Thomas said. “Hopefully it will knock down some of these diesel prices.”

In Dillingham, Steve Noonkesser has helped organize a group of fishermen and others who are studying ways to reduce the cost of energy. They hope to get cheaper gas for driftnet fishermen.

“They fish all over the bay and they’re really getting hit,” said Noonkesser, who fishes commercially from a shore-set net.

The group, which includes retired fishermen and people with electrical and welding skills, are looking into making a machine that can render oil from fish waste.

If it can be done economically, they’ll turn fish oil into biodiesel that can fuel boats.

That would be much cheaper than gasoline, Noonkesser said.

It would improve the bottom line for fishing operations and allow some people to stay in the region instead of moving to Anchorage for cheaper living, he added. That’s happened a lot in recent years, he said.

“This is a good place to live, and finding ways to continue to live here is pretty important to me,” he said.

The group might apply for an Alaska Energy Authority grant of $180,000 to help pay for the oil-rendering machine.

The authority announced the grant on June 20. It will be awarded by December, said James Jensen, an AEA assistant project manager.

The machine should be portable so it can travel between communities, rendering oil at different processing plants, he said.

The effort hopes to build on the success of UniSea Inc.’s Dutch Harbor operation, Jensen said. The seafood company’s processing plant there has saved loads of money by mixing fish oil with expensive diesel fuel to generate electricity.

Other big processing plants in Alaska use fish oil to heat buildings and make fish meal.

But smaller processing plants collectively throw away millions of gallons of fish waste a year without extracting the oil. Those smaller plants can’t afford the rendering equipment, and a portable machine could help them, said John Steigers, a consultant for the project.

The fish oil could be used by the processing plant or community in raw form to heat buildings. It could be mixed with diesel fuel to power electric turbines, as UniSea does.

Or it could be converted to biodiesel fuel, as Noonkesser proposes.

Creating biodiesel from fish waste is just one of the group’s ideas to bring down fuel prices in Dillingham, Noonkesser said.

“Anything that would reduce energy costs would be good,” he said.

Alex DeMarban can be reached at (907) 348-2444 or (800) 770-9830, ext. 444.

‘There’s nothing I can do. We’re helpless.’

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:09:00 -0800

Ross Mullins did everything a man could do.

He worked hard as a fisherman, starting with a small outfit in 1963, fishing for herring and pink salmon in Cordova.

When a pipeline was proposed to be built to Valdez, he publicly spoke his concerns for fishermen: that there wasn’t enough baseline scientific data to determine what was lost if an accident should occur and that human fallibility and oil tankers were a combination that eventually could spell disaster.

He grew his fishing business. He helped invest in the pink salmon hatchery the community pulled together to build.

The year 1989 was looking to be a good one. Cordova was expecting its biggest run in history. The hatchery was rolled out and ready to go. Prices for fish were good.

Like many others in the community, Mullins had invested in a new engine and gear to make good on the catch.

It didn’t happen all at once. The pieces of Mullins’ life fell apart slowly over time, like a column that retains its stance after a blow until the cracks racing around its surface presage chunks of falling debris.

After the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, the lawyers came, the media, the promises.

Mullins’ 2007 YouTube video posting shows what he recorded in 1989 three days after the spill: An Exxon representative promising, “We will consider whatever it takes to keep you whole.”

Exxon contends it compensated fishermen directly impacted by the spill for their losses through a $300 million payout in 1989. The claim prompts derisive disbelief from Alaska fishermen who saw perhaps one year’s compensation, which fell far short of losses that would mount for decades.

Lifeless water
In the years after the spill, Mullins said, the water in Prince William Sound was crystal clear.

But Mullins said it should have been thick with life.

“I could stand on the deck of my boat, look down in the water and see the bottom 50 feet down just as clear as looking through a window,” he said. “It never was that way before. The water was always soupy and green with life, with plankton, all the basic ingredients that make up the soup of life in the ocean that higher invertebrates feed on.”

In 1992 and 1993, the pink salmon and herring fisheries in Prince William Sound collapsed. The pinks rebounded in a couple years; the herring, not so. Commercial fishing for herring was closed in Prince William Sound in 1993 through 1996, and again from 1999 through 2006.

Mullins saw many a fellow fisherman go out of business after the early ’90s pink and herring fisheries collapse.

“You got payments of $15,000 to $30,000 a year to pay your boat mortgages,” he said. “You get two years where you don’t even break even, where you can’t hardly cover your insurance. What do you think happens? You’re in arrears.”

Some never recovered from the one-two punch of having no fish and plenty of bills. Mullins saw some very quick changes in his community of Cordova fishermen. Some boats were repossessed; some folks went bankrupt. Those who were more fortunate were able to refinance their boats.

Mullins hung on.

But the pieces kept falling.

Road to bankruptcy
After the fisheries collapses, Mullins went through a divorce. His finances kept slipping.

Finally, in 2004 he filed for bankruptcy.

Researchers say that when a person is impacted by a manmade, or technological, catastrophe, the psychological fallout is different from that of a natural disaster.

“The problem is there’s a responsible party,” said Steve Picou, a researcher with the University of South Alabama who studies the social and psychological impacts of catastrophes. “There’s anger, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression; communities really fragment.”

Unlike the celluloid heroes embedded in the American cultural consciousness, Mullins couldn’t just fight a “bad guy” and be done with it. He had to wait.

Living on Social Security and close to the edge, Mullins did what he could. He made symbolic gestures, participating in community events memorializing the oil spill. He tried to get the word out on the Internet.

Early on, he organized plaintiffs directly affected by the spill in an effort to get a fair shake for directly impacted fishermen. He fought the good fight. He held out hope.

Survivors of a technological disaster face denial of their experience, in a way that survivors of a natural disaster don’t, said Duane Gill, a co-author with Picou on social research on the impact of catastrophes. When toxic contaminants are involved, they tend to be invisible, and debates can ensue over whether toxins are related to ongoing problems.

Gill and Picou investigated Cordova after the spill in their research.

“Survivors of a technological disaster have a difficult time because people don’t want to hear about it,” Gill said. “They say, ‘Why don’t you get over it.’ Well you couldn’t get over it when the litigation’s still open or when the fishing hasn’t returned the way you think it should, when you go out and see fewer sea birds, or whatever it is that reminds you this event happened and hasn’t healed yet.”

On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court returned its ruling that the 32,677 plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez punitive damages suit would spread $507.5 million among their number instead of the $2.5 billion returned in 2006 by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Faith shattered
Mullins said he felt betrayed; his trust in the government and its justice system, shattered.

He said his share of the award won’t even cover payments for his bankruptcy proceeding.

“I was hoping for this settlement to help bring me to a level where I could finish my life with some dignity,” he said. “That’s not going to happen. There are many people in a similar situation.”

Gill said many survivors will be able to find closure after the Supreme Court ruling, because at least it will be over. But closure is more likely for those who retained strong social and economic resources after the spill, he said.

“It’s not a type A personality can get over that and a type B or C can’t,” Gill said. “It’s at a social and economic structural level as well.”

Gill said he and Picou pioneered peer listener groups that have helped many develop greater resilience in the face of disaster.

“People need to think of what they have. They need to look at their friends and family, the people that love them. And they need to be very strong and understanding that they will be able to cope with this decision and go on with their lives,” Picou said.

That may well be in the future for Mullins and other plaintiffs who have come under financial strain in the years since the spill. But on June 26, a day after the Supreme Court ruling on the Exxon suit, Mullins, who’d done everything he could do, was still reeling.

“There’s nothing I can do,” he said. “We’re helpless. This is a corrupt system that we’ve got.”

Mary Lochner can be reached at (907) 348-2438 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 438.

Exxon decision like a bad dream

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:07:00 -0800

Reaction among Alaska Natives to the Supreme Court’s decision to slash damages in the Exxon Valdez case to $507.5 million ranged from bitter disappointment to relief — however bittersweet — that it’s over.

Cordova resident Patience Andersen Faulkner, president of a group representing Prince William Sound communities affected by the oil industry, lay down in bed after she heard the news early Wednesday morning, June 25.

“I felt sick, physically sick. After a half an hour, I said I’m OK, I’m not going to throw up here, I’ll be OK,” she said.

To her and other Alaska Native plaintiffs who expect to collect money for their subsistence claim, the damages don’t come close to recouping what was lost.

About 4,500 subsistence users from the Sound to Kodiak and Chignik Lagoon on the Alaska Peninsula will split about $22.5 million of the award, said Lloyd Miller, attorney for those plaintiffs.

That’s $5,000 per person.

Interest will roughly double that average, Miller said.

Individuals from the most impacted communities, such as Tatitlek and Chenega Bay in the Sound, will get the largest payouts, because they were the closest villages to the grounded tanker at Bligh Reef.

About 20 tribal governments representing the subsistence users will split about $2.5 million, said Faulkner, a former legal technician with the litigation team for the plaintiffs.

The subsistence class was one of 53 groups that made claims in the lawsuit, she said.

Faulkner, who is Chugach Aleut, said the money won’t be enough. The greatest tragedy of the massive 1989 spill is how it changed the closeness of the region’s Alaska Native families, she said.

The sprawling slick devastated subsistence foods such as seal, clams and herring, ending or sharply reducing social activities such as the seal-butchering and clam-gathering that involved friends and family.

“I don’t drag anyone along with me to the grocery store, so you miss that camaraderie and the health checks on each other, the children learning from their grandmother,” she said. “That’s where the largest damage is. It makes us too much individuals and not enough togetherness.”

Some subsistence foods haven’t returned, such as herring, at least not in significant numbers, Faulkner said. And residents are still reluctant to eat some of the foods, including mussels from the Sound, fearing they may be polluted.

Losing those foods was more than just socially destructive. It was a huge financial blow.

Despite the slashed award, Faulkner felt more thankful than angry. She paid close attention over the years as Exxon Mobil Corp. made gains. The oil giant’s lawyers persuaded courts to reduce the original, jury-set punitive damage award of $5 billion in 1994 to $2.5 billion in 2006.

“The bottom line is I’m relieved it’s over because I don’t know how much more I could have taken,” she said.

Chenega Bay’s tribal government won’t end up with much, said Pete Kompkoff, president.

“Like a slap in the face to us,” Kompkoff said.

After the spill, Kompkoff could see the oil sheen from his windows. The damage forced him to sell his boats and get out of fishing.

Last week, no one in the village of 80 was happy about the Supreme Court ruling.

“People are just devastated by the amount it was reduced,” he said.

Bob Henrichs, president of the Eyak tribal government in Cordova, first heard about the spill when returning from the Lower 48 in his crab boat. After entering the Sound through Hinchinbrook Entrance, he was some 30 miles from Bligh Reef when he smelled oil.

“It smelled like shellac,” he said. “I knew we were in trouble.”

Henrichs owned two tender boats that delivered fish to processors. He said he ended up selling them because fishing prices dropped – in part from perceptions that the oil had tainted seafood.

Herring and king crab fisheries have also been closed since the spill.

“It meant the loss of our culture and our way of life,” he said.

Last week, he said he had no idea what the tribal government could expect as part of its subsistence claim.

“I haven’t thought about it,” he said. “Exxon has not been at the head of my priority list. I got better things to do with my life.”

Alex DeMarban can be reached at (907) 348-2444 or (800) 770-9830, ext. 444.

Bethel prepares for Independence Day celebration

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:06:00 -0800

A parade through town and a bevy of other activities highlight the schedule for Bethel’s Independence Day celebration, entitled “Happy Birthday Alaska! 50 Years Old.”

The parade begins at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 4, at the Joe Lomack building. Lineup for the parade begins an hour earlier.

The parade route will be lead by a grand marshal, and judges will track entries along the route, which begins at Swanson’s. It continues down to Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway to Watson’s Corner, past the Alaska Commercial Co. store before turning at Yolanda’s onto Mission Road at the Bethel Youth Center — a one-way road during the parade — and onto Akiachak Street towards Pinky’s Park.

An Independence Day celebration takes place from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at Pinky’s Park.

The road paralleling Pinky’s Park will be closed for public safety for the day. Traffic will be restricted to only emergency traffic.

The celebration schedule includes:

• Vendor booths, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

• Entertainment, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

• Youth games and family activities, 11 a.m.

• One-pitch adult softball tournament, 11:30 a.m.

• Community pillow fight and tug-of-war.

• Ribbons for parade entry winners, 5 p.m.

• Raffle ticket winners announced, 5:30 p.m.
Parade entry and vendor booth rental forms are available at the Bethel Youth Center or by calling Ronda Sargent at 543-2088. Parade entry forms can also be found at www.cityofbethel.org.

Entertainers who would like to perform should call Sargent at 543-7711.

Funding loss hampers anti-drug education push

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:01:00 -0800

The 2008-09 Alaska high school sports calendar kicks off in earnest later this month with the start of football, football cheerleading and tennis seasons.

Those athletes and students involved in all extracurricular activities must adhere to the Alaska School Activities Association’s new citizenship policy, a substance abuse education and prevention program called “Play for Keeps” that features rules, penalties and educational tools.

But one of Gov. Sarah Palin’s vetoed items from the state capital budget has ASAA scrambling to create modified versions of the program’s educational aspects.

In May, Palin vetoed a $325,000 allocation for “Play for Keeps” as part of $268 million in cuts to the capital budget.

ASAA Executive Director Gary Matthews said the money would have been used to create and distribute DVDs and Web-based tutorials for students, parents and coaches.

ASAA is the nonprofit governing body for Alaska high school sports and activities. Its board of directors adopted “Play for Keeps” in April to combat student drug, alcohol and tobacco use with a uniform set of statewide rules and regulations.

“The program is going ahead with what I call Plan B,” Matthews said. “We’re going to do what we can do, and that’s all we can do.

“No one I’ve talked to can believe such a small amount of money got vetoed. In a $2.5 billion budget, $325,000 is a fly speck on the wall. I told people we had the governor’s support — it was no secret. We discussed it as the state basketball tournament (in March) right in a hallway at Sullivan Arena.”

An attempt to reach Palin’s office for comment on the ASAA veto was unsuccessful. In a list of vetoed items, the $325,000 allocation was deemed a “lower funding priority”.

Matthews, ASAA’s executive director for 15 years, said he called Palin the day after the vetoes were announced and talked to her husband, Todd. Matthews also wrote Palin a June 9 letter reminding her of the promised support and asking for some explanation about the veto.

In an interview last week, he said he hasn’t heard back from anyone.

“At some point, there is an expectation from your leaders that they at least be responsive,” Matthews said. “It’s not like ASAA is some fly-by-night freak-o organization. We’ve been in Alaska for 52 years.”

Matthews said ASAA operates with an annual budget of about $1.5 million. Much of its money is collected through grants, corporate donors and proceeds from ticket and merchandise sales at state championship events.

Other agencies that had agreed to donate grant money to ASAA for the substance abuse education and prevention program are having second thoughts because of the veto, Matthews said.

But Matthews said ASAA will carry on.

The state money would have been used for what ASAA calls the educational component of “Play for Keeps.” The component includes DVDs, software and Web-based training programs and counseling ranging from pre-participation orientation sessions prior to each season to remedial programs for first- through third-time offenders.

The program penalties range from a 10-day suspension from activities for a first offense to barring a student’s participation for the duration of high school under a fourth offense. Matthews said much of the cost is in licensing fees for computer programs in general and in ASAA’s 200-plus member schools. He said the educational components of “Play for Keeps” are integral.

“The punishments are there, that’s part of the program,” Matthews said. “But they are not by any means the most important thing. We’re trying to change kids’ behaviors.”

ASAA points to a 2006 report by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that documented drug and alcohol use by teens in every state from 2002 to 2004.

Alaska ranked first with 11.8 percent of those ages 12 and older reporting they’d used an illegal drug in the past month.

Matthews said ASAA had funds to create the pre-participation and first-offense educational components.

The pre-participation orientation consists of a short video presentation designed to encourage a chemical-free lifestyle and the signing of a “Play for Keeps” acknowledgement form by the student and his or her parent or legal guardian.

Individual schools will keep track of these forms, program offenders and other eligibility issues as they do already through ASAA’s master eligibility lists and databases.

“We don’t have the money for a second-offense educational component,” Matthews said. “We’ll stop at the first offense if the money isn’t forthcoming and come up with some alternative method, maybe some pencil and paper stuff or community service.”

Matthews said it could be years before “Play for Keeps” is fully implemented as intended. He said ASAA will ask for sponsorship help with the program and will likely lobby the state Legislature for funding as soon as possible.

“The (now vetoed) funding was supposed to be a one-time deal,” Matthews said. “But it looks like we’ve got some of our own educational objectives because we didn’t do a good enough job educating people on the importance of (the program).”

Matt Nevala can be reached at (907) 348-2480 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 480.

On brink of extinction, Grumman Goose rises like phoenix

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:53:00 -0800

One of Alaska’s aviation legends will get a new lease on life this summer.

Over the past 70 years, the Grumman Goose has won acclaim as a plane that can go anywhere. Yet as more Gooses have crashed or retired, many saw the aircraft as a dying breed.

That’s set to change this month as a North Carolina company, Antilles Seaplanes, will lay the keel on the first new Goose produced in 63 years.

“It’s an understatement to say that there is a lot of excitement about this plane coming back,” said Warren Ludlam, who is the director of marketing for Antilles. “It is such a significant plane.”

Originally designed to taxi millionaires about the coast, the Goose was pressed into military service during World War II and achieved enduring popularity due to its sturdy design and versatility. The plane is really an amphibious flying boat — made to take off and land on both land and water.

Unlike float planes, the Goose lands with its hull in the water, making it stable in water swells up to three feet. That has made the Goose particularly useful in Alaska, where it can land places that other planes cannot.

The Goose is also known for its longevity. While Grumman stopped making the planes in 1945, many continue to fly today. However, as replacement part dwindle, keeping the planes flight worthy has become difficult.

Ludlam said that the reincarnation of the Goose began with a couple of buddies and some brew.

“V.L. Manuel and Tim Henderson were sitting around drinking cold beer one night and decided they might want to have a plane to fly down to the Bahamas sometime,” Ludlam said. The friends happened across an advertisement for a Grumman Goose for sale in Florida.

That Goose was owned by a 92-year-old man named Dean Franklin, of Franklin Aviation Enterprises, who turned out to have more than just a plane to offer. Franklin had an enormous stockpile of Goose parts, which he’d bought from Grumman.

More important, Franklin owned the type certificate for the plane — a document that approves the production of an aircraft design.

After purchasing the lot, Henderson and Manuel spent seven years developing a business out of reviving the Goose by reverse-engineering parts and purchasing the supplemental type certificates needed to modify and update the original blueprints.

The resulting Antilles Super Goose is designed to be a faster, stronger version of the old Goose. In place of the old Goose’s piston engines, the Super Goose is designed with 680-horsepower turbine engines that allow it to cruise at 200 knots (more than 230 mph), carry a load of 5,400 pounds and range 1,200 nautical miles on a single tank of Jet A fuel.

The new Goose will also feature the latest in avionics, a large cargo door, air-conditioning and other updates.

Other than the flying improvements, Ludlam said that the Goose will keep its iconic, barrel-chested profile. The obvious changes to exterior design will be retractable wing floats and a one-piece, wrap-around windshield.

And the price tag for Grumman Goose’s 21st century redux? It’s a cool $2.95 million (that’s U.S. dollars, please), with a price increase anticipated later this summer.

Ludlam said that Antilles currently has orders for five planes but is in discussion with “hundreds” of interested parties throughout the world, most of whom want to use the Super Goose commercially. Antilles is also developing a special Goose for the U.S. military.

In addition to making new planes, Antilles Seaplanes will be producing and selling parts for the Goose.

Peninsula Airways is the only Alaska airline known to still employ Gooses in its fleet.

One of these made headlines in April when the plane crashed on the Dutch Harbor runway. No serious injuries were reported, but the aircraft was extensively damaged.

Scott Bloomquist, PenAir’s vice president of sales and service, said that the airline doesn’t have any plans to purchase any of the new Super Gooses to replace the damaged planes in its fleet.

“Our initial reaction was that it was exciting that there might be a source for parts and aircraft,” said Bloomquist, who said that the price was comparable to what Penair paid for the Saab 340 aircraft, which seats 30. “It’s all dependant on pricing. ... ($2.95 million) is out of most ballparks.”

Penair uses the Goose because it is the only airplane that can fly to Akutan, an island in the Aleutians with no landing strip and only rough waters to land in. Bloomquist said that PenAir plans to combine the parts of two damaged Gooses to make one airworthy plane, while a third keeps up daily flights to and from Akutan.

“Putting turbines on it is an interesting factor. ... They’ll probably make a very nice airplane,” Bloomquist said . “We have a limited resource for that plane, and we can handle it with the aircraft that we have today.

“For who is in need of a specialized market there may be some demand. ... We’re still shooting for an airport in Akutan,” Bloomquist said.

Ludlam said that the first Antilles Super Goose will be ready to take flight in the summer of 2009. The company anticipates bumping up their production to 72 new Gooses a year by 2014.

Tax credit legislation proposed

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:52:00 -0800

Sen. Lisa Murkowski on June 26 introduced legislation that would provide commercial fishermen a temporary income tax credit to help them offset the high cost of fuel.

“The Fisheries Fuel Tax Relief Act of 2008, which I introduced today along with Sen. Ted Stevens … as an original co-sponsor, would go a long way toward helping our fishermen out in these dire economic times,” the Alaska Republican said.

The tax credit would be based on the difference between the price of fuel on Labor Day 2004, adjusted for inflation, and prices paid this year. The excessive fuel costs would be an additional deduction for an eligible taxpayer, and the tax credit would be applicable for a two-year period following enactment of the legislation.

“Diesel fuel prices in Alaska and across the nation have increased more than 50 percent over the past year,” Murkowski said. “Some fishermen are reporting that they are now spending up to 70 percent of their income for fuel.”

“Soaring fuel costs have dramatically impacted Alaska’s commercial fishermen,” Stevens said. “As I travel around the state, many people have told me that they can no longer afford to fuel their boats and cannot earn a living.

“This is having an unfortunate effect on Alaska’s families that depend on fishing as their only income. It also hurts our nation, because our seafood fills Americans’ freezers from coast to coast. Something must be done now.”

Murkowski said that high fuel prices are having a “devastating impact” on the commercial fishing industry because fishermen don’t have the option of passing the cost of fuel on to customers, turning to alternative modes of transportation or selling their product for a higher price.

“Fish prices, in most cases, are set by the seafood processing sector and are tied to prices in the global seafood market,” Murkowski said.

Murkowski said that fishermen all over the country are staying tied to the dock, unable to make enough money from their catch to pay for fuel.

“In Gloucester and Biloxi, Key West and Honolulu, Point Judith and Kodiak, fishermen simply can’t afford to go fishing,” she said. When fishermen can’t go fishing, they can’t make their boat and permit payments. Many are simply going out of business.”

Stevens’ bill would replace COLA with locality pay system

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:47:00 -0800

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs on June 25 approved legislation sponsored by Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, to replace Alaska and Hawaii federal employee cost-of-living allowances with the locality pay system that has long been in place in the Lower 48.

The legislation was co-sponsored by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.

“A big part of this change will be seen in federal employee retirement funds,” Stevens said. “Under the COLA system, Alaska retirees were not getting as good a deal as federal employees in the Lower 48.

“Many Alaskan federal employees nearing retirement have been relocating in order to guarantee a better retirement. With this change Alaska won’t be losing those highly skilled, seasoned employees.”

Alaska and Hawaii are the only states in which federal employees do not receive locality pay. Because COLA is not taxed, it is not considered part of an employee’s base pay for retirement purposes.

Locality pay, on the other hand, is taxable income but is part of an employee’s base pay. This means employees in Alaska are retiring at much lower pay rates than their counterparts in the Lower 48.

“Alaska’s federal employees have spoken,” Murkowski said. ”They have told Washington that they are willing to forego their tax-free cost of living allowances in favor of a salary plan that provides greater benefits after retirement.

“The new plan will provide the means for our federal employees, who came to Alaska from all corners of the nation, to remain in Alaska after retirement. This legislation is an investment in Alaska’s future and theirs.”

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has been seeking to slowly phase out the COLA system in favor of the locality pay system, but the Stevens-Akaka legislation will speed up the process. The result will be that the new system will be fully implemented in three years rather than the seven suggested by OPM.

The legislation is intended to benefit all federal employee groups whose Lower 48 counterparts receive locality pay. Employees who will soon be forced to retire due to age and those intending to retire within three years will be able to buy in to the program to ensure that they may fully participate in the new system.

The bill also includes language to assist postal employees, who are not eligible to receive locality pay in the Lower 48, in retaining their COLA benefits in Alaska and Hawaii. While postal employees will remain under the COLA system rather than locality pay, the 25 percent cap on COLA will no longer apply, and the COLA rate will follow the locality pay rate, which is expected to be 27.65 percent or higher in Alaska.

“With Alaskans facing one of the highest costs of living in the United States, this change is necessary to make sure those who put in years of federal service are properly compensated,” Stevens said.

$700,000 gift to produce more Native PhDs

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:35:00 -0800

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has pledged $700,000 to the University of Alaska Fairbanks over the next five years to provide financial support to students in the dissertation writing phase of their doctoral programs. The aim of this gift is to increase the number of Native students earning doctoral degrees.

"The Mellon Foundation’s total commitment to eradicating disparities in our Ph.D. faculty and students goes beyond benefiting UAF," said Chancellor Steve Jones. "This is an opportunity that impacts our entire state, because educational attainment is closely related to economic and political prosperity for Native peoples. We are proud of our convergent goals and of the strong partnership we share with the Mellon Foundation."

The "Dissertation Fellowship Program for Alaska Native Scholars and Others Committed to the Advancement of Indigenous Alaskan History and Culture" will fund up to four competitive graduate fellowships for doctoral students in the dissertation-writing phase this fall. Recipients are eligible to receive a $30,000 stipend, research and travel funds in addition to tuition and fees.

"This is extremely important in having a national foundation support Alaska Native education, especially in a public institution," said Bernice Joseph, vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education.

The academic and public benefits will be especially apparent in the areas of language, culture and leadership, said Joseph. "To be able to have public materials, articles and [a] curriculum that are focused on Alaska Natives from an Alaska Native point of view would be incredible."

"The Mellon Foundation’s thoughtful gift allows UAF to become a national leader in assisting scholars interested in the advancement of Indigenous Alaskan history and culture to complete their doctoral degrees" said Bryan Brayboy, president’s professor of education at UAF, and a member of the program’s advisory board. "This is an important and timely award, and UAF is ideally positioned to complete this important work."

The need for programs like this is vital across the United States where there is significant under-representation of indigenous peoples on the faculties of colleges and universities, and UAF is no exception, said Brayboy. In Alaska, Native peoples comprise close to 20 percent of the state’s population and 16 percent of the student body, but they hold only three percent of faculty positions. Lack of educational credentials is often cited as contributing to this scarcity.

With this support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, UAF is poised to increase not only the number of Alaska Native students who graduate with doctoral degrees, but to address the underlying social, economic and educational factors that have been shown to inhibit completion of the dissertation. In doing so, UAF has the opportunity to assist rural Native communities in Alaska in meeting their educational, economic and political goals.

The award was preceded by a $40,000 planning grant provided by the Mellon Foundation in 2007. In addition to funding from Mellon, the program is also supported by $500,000 in matching funds from UAF, plus additional fundraising.

Professional development opportunities for fellowship students will focus on sessions to learn how to prepare for conference presentations, grant-writing and writing for publication, successfully completing doctoral dissertations, as well as the tenure and promotion process. The program will also offer mentoring activities in indigenous studies and leadership, and salary support for the program’s faculty members.

The funding is designed to provide support to increase the number of Alaska Native faculty members. Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s grant-making philosophy is to build, strengthen and sustain institutions and their core capacities, developing long-term collaborations with grant recipients to accomplish their goals and achieve meaningful results.

Bethel prepares for July 4 holiday

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:42:00 -0800

A parade through town and a bevy of other activities highlight the schedule for Bethel’s Independence Day celebration, entitled “Happy Birthday Alaska! 50 Years Old.”

The parade begins at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 4 at the Joe Lomack building. Lineup for the parade begins an hour earlier.

An Independence Day celebration takes place from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at Pinky’s Park.

The road paralleling Pinky’s Park will be closed for public safety for the day. Traffic will be restricted to only emergency traffic.

The celebration schedule includes:

• Vendor booths, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

• Entertainment, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

• Youth games and family activities, 11 a.m.

• One-pitch adult softball tournament, 11:30 a.m.

• Community pillow fight and tug-of-war.

• Ribbons for parade entry winners, 5 p.m.

• Raffle ticket winners announced, 5:30 p.m.

Parade entry and vendor booth rental forms are available at the Bethel Youth Center or by calling Ronda Sargent at 543-2088. Parade entry forms can also be found at www.cityofbethel.org.

Entertainers who would like to perform should call Sargent at 543-7711.

Emergency youth shelter doors to stay open for now

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:41:00 -0800

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services have agreed that YKHC will keep its youth emergency shelter and short-term treatment services open in Bethel until Sept. 30.

The health department and YKHC are working together to establish a new provider for youth emergency shelter in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area, according to a written statement from both organizations.

YKHC announced May 30 that it would close its KEYS, or Kuskokwim Emergency Youth Services facility.

The facility manages two separate emergency shelter programs: the receiving home and the Residential Diagnostic Treatment Center. Health and Social Services is seeking a new provider for the receiving home, which provides shelter and care for children placed in the custody of the state Office of Children’s Services.

After September, the need for short-term residential treatment for children and teens provided by the Residential Diagnostic Treatment Center will be met through the local outpatient clinic and North Star Hospital in Anchorage.

Both Health and Social Services and YKHC are committed to serving youth as close to their home community as possible.

“Our interest is to ensure the protection of children in need of emergency shelter options during this transition,” said Jack Robert Crow, vice president for YKHC Health Services.

The partners are taking a series of steps to smooth the transition: The organizations have agreed that YKHC will continue to offer services through September.

Health and Social Services is soliciting a new provider for the emergency youth shelter.

YKHC has committed to offering training and technical assistance to the new provider, once one has been solicited and approved.

“We at the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services thank YKHC staff for all they’ve done for kids in their community, and for all they are doing to help us keep these crucial services available in the Y-K Delta,” said Jerry Fuller, state Medicaid director. “We will do all we can to offer youth emergency shelter and short-term treatment in the area.”

Emergency regulations stop rural airport rent increases

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:40:00 -0800

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities issued an emergency regulation halting rural airport rent increases implemented earlier this year.

Increases to rural lease rates had been adopted in March.

The emergency regulation places a temporary moratorium on the rental increases until Dec. 31, according to a written statement from DOT. The department will be holding public meetings this fall to discuss rental lease rates.

These regulations apply to all the rural state-owned airports but do not include the two international airports, Fairbanks and Ted Stevens Anchorage, or Anchorage’s Lake Hood.

An emergency was declared due to escalating costs of fuel impacting operations, rural dependency on aviation in Alaska and reduced flights.

The aviation industry is facing a crisis internationally, nationally and locally. More than 24 airlines have filed for bankruptcy, and many are on the brink. United Airlines is pulling out of Anchorage at the end of the season, and Continental Airlines is pulling out of 16 U.S. cities.

“We’re seeing hardships and failures throughout the aviation industry due to fuel costs.

With aircraft being the primary and sometimes only way to travel to many communities in our state, it has even more impact,” said Christine Klein, deputy commissioner for aviation for the Department of Transportation.

“Higher costs force operators to reduce flights, pass costs to passengers or close.

Fewer flights to our villages results in less access to food and health care, and can impact the safety of our rural communities,” she added.

“Aviation in Alaska is critical to our economy and public welfare. This moratorium gives time to consider options for increases folks can live with, amend the regulations if needed and provides everyone breathing room to get through the next few busy summer months.”

House District 38 field includes Herron

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:29:00 -0800

A check of Bob Herron’s background provides ample evidence of experience in Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta politics.

He hopes to put what he’s learned to work for constituents as the region’s next representative in the Alaska State House.

“Alaska is in for some exciting and challenging times,” Herron told The Tundra Drums in May. “I’d like to be a part of it.”

Herron, 57, is running against fellow Democrats Eric Middlebrook and Tony Vaska for the House District 38 seat being vacated by Rep. Mary Nelson, who has announced her retirement. Herron, Middlebrook and Vaska will decide matters in an Aug. 26 primary election showdown.

Beginning in 1987, Herron worked eight years as a legislative aide for Sen. Lyman Hoffman, his brother-in-law and business partner. He later became Bethel city manager for seven years until 2005 and then worked two years at the Alaska congressional delegation’s field office in Bethel.

He’s been a resident of Bethel for three decades.

Herron clearly states what will be his top priority as a state legislator.

“Without a doubt, the No. 1 issue facing all of us living in western Alaska is the high cost of fuel products,” he said. “I would suggest that Alaska has the wealth and capacity to help its citizens in the short term with direct payments and in the long term with the investment in viable alternative energy infrastructures.”

What follows is the last of The Drums’ “Meet the Candidates” Q & As with the House District 38 candidates. It’s Herron’s turn. We directed questions to the candidates that would offer more insight about them as people and not as politicians.
Vaska was featured in the June 12 edition of the Drums and Middlebrook in the June 19 edition.
Here’s what Herron had to say:

What’s your favorite mode of transportation and why?

Two types: 1) boating on the Kuskokwim River to our cabin in Napaimute; and 2) riding my motorcycle.

Who’s your favorite musician or musical group and why?

Eagles — good music.

What five Websites do you visit on a regular basis and why?

Anchorage Daily News and CNN for news; Google for my personal e-mail account and search engine; NOAA for weather reports; eBay looking for gifts and good deals and Charles Schwab investment account.

How much subsistence fish, moose and/or caribou did you take home in the last year? How much did you share?

Enough king salmon to pressure cook and jar for the family to eat at least one or two pint jars each week and a couple cases for gifts to others and visitors until the next season and some silver salmon in the freezer for dinner two or three times each month over the winter.
No moose since the moratorium, willing to wait.
My son and I were fortunate to get two caribou this last winter each for our families and friends.

Describe your family/home life. What are your kids — if you have children — up to these days?

Enjoying our granddaughters; marveling at my 15-year-old daughter — mature and smart beyond her age; watching both sons working on their successful careers. I’m trying work, play, live and not worry about things you can’t control.

With today’s high energy costs, what are you personally doing to conserve fuel/save energy?

I’m lowering the thermostat and trying to purchase fuel in bulk when possible. I’m using the lights in the house only when necessary, investing in a new woodstove, harvesting wood and saving money to purchase new windows for the house.

What’s the last book you read?

“The Kite Runner.”

Describe your favorite way to cut a rug/dance.

With my wife.

What’s your favorite professional sports team and why?

Boston Red Sox, fan determination and loyalty.

Did you attend the 2008 BRHS commencement ceremony? What did you think about it?

Yes I did, I enjoyed the evening because of the proud parents of a good class of young students who were part of the largest graduating class in recent memory. Also, I was only one person of many (most in attendance) who was impressed by the Yup’ik speech by the son of Shari Neth and Will Updegrove, as well as the significant college and technical scholarship achievements by the class of 2008.

Matt Nevala can be reached at (907) 348-2480 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 480.

Calista Elders Council awarded grant for dance festival

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:28:00 -0800

The Calista Elders Council received an $8,658 grant last week from the Alaska State Council on the Arts to support the Yupiit Yurayarait Dance Festival scheduled for November in Pilot Station, according to council officials.

The dance festival is being held in conjunction with the Calista Elders and Youth Convention.

Charlotte Fox, AKSCA executive director, said in an e-mail that the Calista Elders Council grant was one of 60 funded through the arts council’s annual grant panel process. Panels reviewed nonprofit grant applications in April and recommended funding based on scores to the AKSCA.

The arts council awarded $576,336 in grants during its annual meeting in Homer June 14-15.

Fox said the dance festival would be held Nov. 7-9 in Pilot Station.

For more information on the Calista Elders Council, go to www.yupikscience.org/cec/.

Retirement won’t slow superintendent

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:11:00 -0800

Bill Ferguson is going to wake up a few days from now and get to work on the list — a lengthy line-up of “honey do’s” and chores he’s been compiling for a while now.

“It’s got about 22 items, work that needs to be done on the house, and it’s still growing,” Ferguson said. “One of the first things I’ve got to do is paint my granddaughter’s room.”

Come Monday morning, Ferguson’s schedule should clear him for such tasks. The day marks the first of Ferguson’s life as a retired educator, something of a milestone for a man who dedicated more than 40 years to teaching and tending to the children of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

Ferguson’s contract as superintendent of the Lower Kuskokwim School District expired Monday after 11 years on the job. He announced his retirement last fall, the move eventually ending an educational stint that started in the region in 1967.

“Forty years is long enough,” Ferguson said. “I’m 67 years old. I think there needs to be a little new blood.”

Gary Baldwin, an assistant superintendent under Ferguson, is the district’s new superintendent. He’s been with LKSD for more than 24 years in a number of administrative positions.

According to the LKSD Website, the district is the largest rural school district in Alaska in number of sites, teachers and students. Headquartered in Bethel, the district is comprised of 21 villages as well as three schools in Bethel. The villages are spread over an area the size of Ohio and are located along the Kuskokwim River and coastline of Southwestern Alaska. About 280 teachers serve about 3,400 students in kindergarten through the 12th grade.

But that wasn’t the case when Ferguson and his wife, Cauline, arrived on the Delta in 1967 after a brief time teaching in Oregon and studying in New Mexico. Ferguson began teaching at the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs School in Kasigluk, a village 26 miles northwest of Bethel.

“I first stepped off the plane and was wondering, ‘Why?’” Ferguson said. “Coming from Oregon, I was used to the mountains and trees. Kasigluk was flat, barren, a village with no trees but for a willow maybe four feet high.

“But the longer I stayed, the more I got to see the beauty. I talked to friends about the tundra. You see only the browns and grays, but once you get out there you see the flowers and the beauty.”
However, it was the students that really sparked Ferguson’s love affair with the region.

“The more we worked with the children, the more receptive they were to learning,” he said. “We worked with the children and the parents of the children and it quickly became my philosophy to stay here and continue to work with them.

“It shaped my education philosophy — that the kids are important.”

Ferguson stayed in Kasigluk until moving to LKSD headquarters in 1978 to work as a district principal. He went back to Kasigluk for the 1981-82 school year before taking over as LKSD superintendent in 1997.

The “kids are important” mindset may sound simplistic to some, but it shaped the way Ferguson did his many jobs over the years. The perceived isolation of living in any of Alaska’s villages didn’t mean students couldn’t aspire for more.

“It was always one of the things that bothered me, people saying the kids from the villages will never leave and don’t need to be provided with a good education,” Ferguson said. “I always opposed that philosophy. It doesn’t matter whether you lived in a remote village or the suburbs of Portland (Ore.), you should be provided with a good education.”

Ferguson took over as LKSD superintendent in the aftermath of 1997’s school shooting at Bethel Regional High School. Evan Ramsey killed two people and injured two others in February, and the incident put a national spotlight on Bethel and the entire Y-K Delta. Ramsey is serving two 99-year sentences and isn’t eligible for parole until 2066.

“The community was very resilient, it pulled together,” Ferguson said. “The people were very receptive to me and my commitment to kids. There was very little question as to why I wanted to be superintendent.”

Ferguson lauded the efforts of Baldwin and other LKSD officials who championed the area’s recovery after the shooting.

After announcing he would retire, Ferguson talked about all the changes he’s witnessed in the region through the years. In November, he told The Tundra Drums that modern technology might be the most significant of them all.

“You’re right next door to anything you want,” he said.

Ferguson said he would remain in Bethel and stay involved in some capacity.

“There are some seats on the school board I may consider running for,” he said. “I’m not going to lay back.”

LKSD officials and staff feted Ferguson at a picnic on May 30. He’s been honored with a citation from Sen. Lyman Hoffman and the Alaska Legislature that stated “his focus for improved education has always been: If it’s good for the kids, we will find a way.”

Ferguson will never be far from the district or its students. But his retirement means the LKSD will be a little different when the new school year begins in the fall.

“Bill has been a tremendous influence,” said Susan Murphy, a lifelong Bethel resident and vice president of the LKSD school board. “His heart is with the children, and he cares about them tremendously.

“But we will go on.”

Ferguson will move on as well — right to his list of home repair and improvement projects.

“I’m going to be very busy,” he said.

Matt Nevala can be reached at (907) 348-2480 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 480.

New scanner improves hospital’s X-ray services

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:08:00 -0800

In a matter of minutes, a training session turned into a true test for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital’s new addition. It passed with honors and managed to put a smile on the face of a 13-year-old boy stricken with stomach pain.

So it was earlier this month, when the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. unveiled its new computed axial tomography, or CT, scanning machine and ruled out appendicitis for Harold Kitsick of Kotlik.

“I don’t really think (Kitsick) knew what was going on,” said Ronnie Fitzpatrick, YKHC’s director of diagnostic imaging. “We were in the beginning of application training when we got the first request for a scan.

“We brought (Kitsick) down in a wheelchair. He was shy and probably in some pain.

But we told him about the brand-new machine and started hyping it up. His eyes got big, we showed him how the machine worked, and he started smiling and laughing with us.”

The unveiling of the hospital’s $550,000 Siemens 16-slice CT scanning machine ended a 10-year mission to give Y-K Delta region patients advanced X-ray services closer to home. Before use of the CT machine started June 9, patients needed to travel to Anchorage for the care.

“We are heading home tomorrow and are happy we don’t have to go to Anchorage to make the trip longer,” Carolyn Kitsick, Harold’s mother, told YKHC officials after completion of her son’s CT scan.

Fitzpatrick said it cost $1.2 million for the entire project, which included the machine and the space renovation and construction of the new CT scanning room. The construction of the room commenced last fall.

The Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, the Indian Health Service, the Rasmuson Foundation, the Denali Commission and the Bethel Community Service Foundation funded the project.

A CT scanner is a machine used to take detailed pictures of specific body parts. The machine’s technology displays cross-sections through the body of specific bones, muscles, organs and blood vessels. The imaging capability is much like seeing a picture of a single slice of bread from a whole loaf.

The technology also can provide diagnosis for a large range of musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, back problems, fractures or a damaged disc in the spine, and injuries to internal organs.

“It’s huge for us,” Fitzpatrick said. “(A CT scanner) can rule out stroke, appendicitis.

Patients with pain get scanned and find out they have colon cancer. We can do angiogram studies. We can find out how open the vessels might be.”

According to hospital officials, almost 2,000 CT scan studies were conducted annually on patients who had to make the 400-mile trip to Anchorage for the care. That isn’t the case anymore.

“We know that our patients will benefit from these services at our hospital,” Fitzpatrick said. “This enhances the level of services we provide from screening to diagnosis.”

Fitzpatrick said business in the hospital’s diagnostic imaging department has really picked up since the CT scanner went to work. She anticipated doing four to five scans per day and based revenue projections on the plan.

“We did 51 in the first week, a little bit more than we anticipated,” she said.

Fitzpatrick said the hospital will now turns its attention to scoring a magnetic resonance imaging machine.

“It may take another 10 years, but we’ve already had patients asking about MRI,” Fitzpatrick said.

Long-term care facility secures
$8 million appropriation

The passing of Alaska State Senate Bill 221 last month solidified $8 million in legislative appropriations for YKHC’s creation of a long-term care facility.

In a statement, YKHC officials said it is at the threshold of realizing a long-awaited dream of bringing long-term care for elder and disabled persons to the people of Southwest Alaska.

The Senate Bill 221 appropriation is a key for YKHC after nearly a decade of work to bring Y-K Delta elders and disabled persons home from assisted living homes in others parts of the state, mainly Anchorage and Fairbanks.

“This has been an important project for all families in the Y-K Delta,” State Sen. Lyman Hoffman said.

The $8 million appropriation will be used to create a business plan, begin architectural designs and engineering and complete 100 percent of the groundwork for a nursing home. In 2003, the Bethel City Council approved a 30-year lease on land for the project south of Lulu Heron Center.

Matt Nevala can be reached at (907) 348-2480 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 480.

Rural communities, including Bethel, chase cheaper fuel

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:01:00 -0800

A group of Dillingham fishermen hoping to reduce gas costs for the Bristol Bay fleet are sketching plans to turn salmon waste into fuel.

In Nunam Iqua in Western Alaska, a tiny utility hopes to spin power from the wind – electric use will jump when a new school opens and flush toilets arrive.

And in Fort Yukon in the Interior, Native groups hope to heat buildings with wood collected from fire-charred swaths of forest.

The Denali Commission and Alaska Energy Authority are helping fuel the alternative energy stampede with state and federal funds. In June, the groups awarded $5 million to 33 projects around Alaska.

People in Nunam Iqua have to do something, said Carin Finch, a grant advisor at the city.

“We’re in shock,” she said.

The summer fuel barge hasn’t arrived, but gas and heating fuel prices in the village of 200 will likely barrel past $7 a gallon when it does. Electric bills will rise 40 percent. “There’s grave concern,” she said. “We’re hoping the state can help electric utilities."

Residents in the Yup’ik village started looking into building wind turbines in 2005 when officials realized plans for a new school would double the community’s electric use, said Finch. The school opens this fall. The load will increase when houses finally get running water and toilets that flush, requiring electrically operated pumps, probably next year.

Tests show that there’s enough wind in the village, Finch said. But more studies are needed.

The city received $34,000 from the Denali Commission to determine if wind turbines are a good investment and if the tundra can support them.

If they can’t be built, residents will consider hydropower or some other form of alternative energy, she said.

“It’s the future,” Finch said.

Native groups in Fort Yukon hope to beat the “ungodly” fuel prices in that village – $6.49 a gallon for diesel – by harvesting wood downed by forest fires, said David Thomas, power plant operator in the village of 600.

About $800,000 from the Denali Commission will help buy equipment such as a brush cutter and backhoe.

“We’ll get a lumber company going, harvest wood, bring it back and then buy some big boilers to heat the buildings,” Thomas said.

The groups – the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments and the Gwitchyaa Zhee Corp. – hope to employ a few residents who gather wood in winter and barge it down the river in summer. “The money will stay in town, ya know,” Thomas said. “Hopefully it will knock down some of these diesel prices.”

In Dillingham, Steve Noonkesser has helped organize a group of fishermen and others who are studying ways to reduce the cost of energy. They hope to get cheaper gas for driftnet fishermen.

“They fish all over the bay and they’re really getting hit,” said Noonkesser, who fishes commercially from a shore-set net.

The group, which includes retired fishermen and people with electrical and welding skills, are looking into making a machine that can render oil from fish waste.

If it can be done economically, they’ll turn fish oil into biodiesel that can fuel boats.

That would be much cheaper than gasoline, said Noonkesser.

It would improve the bottom line for fishing operations and allow some people to stay in the region instead of moving to Anchorage for cheaper living, said Noonkesser. That’s happened a lot in recent years, he said.

“This is a good place to live and finding ways to continue to live here is pretty important to me,” he said.

The group might apply for an $180,000 Alaska Energy Authority grant to help pay for the oil-rendering machine.

The authority announced the grant on June 20. It will be awarded by December, said James Jensen, an AEA assistant project manager.

The machine should be portable so it can travel between communities, rendering oil at different processing plants, he said.

Other big processing plants in Alaska use fish oil to heat buildings and make fish meal.

But smaller processing plants collectively throw away millions of gallons of fish waste a year without extracting the oil. Those smaller plants can’t afford the rendering equipment and a portable machine could help them, said John Steigers, a consultant for the project.

The fish oil could be used by the processing plant or community in raw form – to heat buildings. It could be mixed with diesel fuel to power electric turbines, as UniSea does. Or it could be converted to biodiesel fuel, as Noonkesser proposes.

Creating biodiesel from fish waste is just one of the group’s ideas to bring down fuel prices in Dillingham, Noonkesser said.

“Anything that would reduce energy costs would be good,” he said.

Alex DeMarban can be reached at (907) 348-2444 or (800) 770-9830, ext. 444.

Home improvement loans available in rural Alaska

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:48:00 -0800

The United State Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced earlier this month it wants rural Alaska homeowners to apply through its agency for low-interest loans to make home improvements.

To be eligible for the program, applicants must be U.S. citizens or legal aliens. Applicants must also show they don’t have the financial capability to meet their needs and currently own or occupy a single-family home in need of repair in a rural area.

Loans are available to homeowners who meet “very low income” criteria and live outside Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks and other “urbanized” areas.“Often, a relatively inexpensive repair or project can make a big difference in energy efficiency in a home,” said Chad Padgett, acting USDA Rural Development state director.

Eligible projects are many. Repair loans are available for up to 20 years at 1 percent interest and loans may not exceed $20,000. A limited amount of grant funding is available for very low-income seniors age 62 and older. Grant assistance can’t exceed $7,500.

USDA Rural Development has an office in Bethel and a state office in Palmer. More information and lists of eligible projects can be found by calling 543-3858 or 761-7705 or going online to www.rurdev.usda.gov/ak/.

In Yup’ik, it’s the carbon ‘measurer’

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:33:00 -0800

The way Anna Davidson sees it, global warming threatens the Alaska Native lifestyle.

Not far from the Yukon River village of Akiachak where she once lived, vanishing ice habitat could eliminate important subsistence foods such as seals and walrus.

And of course, the salmon that plow up the river seem increasingly fouled by Ichthyophonus hoferi, a parasite whose presence in the Yukon is blamed on climate change.

Over the decades, elders have seen the most change.

“They’re seeing it with their eyes and knowing it’s there,” she said. “They’re living with it.”

Many of them speak mostly Yup’ik and don’t read English. So last year, Davidson came up with the idea of creating Alaska-mi Carbon-aam Cuqyutii.

That’s Yup’ik for Alaska Carbon Calculator. Well, to be literally correct, it’s the Alaska Carbon Measurer, since the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s ancient language has no word for calculator.

At any rate, it debuted earlier this year. It’s modeled after an online carbon calculator with questions in English created by Alaska Conservation Solutions, an Anchorage-based environmental group where Davidson works part-time.

Carbon calculators, a popular educational tool, give a general idea of how much carbon dioxide people emit when doing such things as driving, flying and flicking on lights.

The hope is that if people know what activities produce the most greenhouse gases causing climate change, they might alter their behavior.

One irony of the Yup’ik calculator is that the delta’s older residents don’t use computers much. But their more tech-savvy children and grandchildren do. They can help elders tally their carbon contribution, said Davidson.

More students will try it starting this fall. The Lower Kuskokwim School District — which offers Yup’ik immersion courses in several elementary schools — will make it part of the online science materials for high schools and possibly junior high, said Julie McWilliams, a district administrator.

Teachers can use it when they discuss the environment.

“The fact that it’s in Yup’ik is a bonus,” she said.

The Yup’ik version, like the English one — they’re both at www.alaskaconservationsolutions.com — comes with an Alaska twist to distinguish it from other carbon calculators.

For example, a subsistence and recreation category lets users input the amount of time spent hunting on a snowmachine or four-wheeler. That’s snowguuk or four-wiilat in Yup’ik.

The translator, Elena Chingliak of Akiachak, said finding the right Yup’ik words was a struggle. Some of those things we don’t have words for, she said.

For calculator, she used cuqyutii, pronounced choke-uh-yuti, which means “to measure anything,” said Chingliak.

For the word alternative, as in alternative energy, she used atuunqigcugngalria. Even phonetic English can’t describe that word — there’s a throat-gargling sound at the end for which the English language has no equivalent. The word means “Something you can use again.”

One of the toughest translations was hydropower. To help describe that word, she used merem carvanra qaillun pitangata, which means “how strong the water current is.”

Reached last week in Akiachak after a long night of cutting salmon, Chingliak said she was glad to hear the calculator will be used in science classes.

The youngest children in the village speak more English than Yup’ik and that needs to change.

“I don’t want it to be lost,” she said.

Mike Williams, a 13-time runner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, said he’s used the Yup’ik calculator to get an idea of his carbon footprint in the village of Akiak.

Williams, 55, isn’t quite an elder. Some consider 65 to be the cut-off age before they can use that title, a respected status in many tight-knit villages.

“I think it will help with the elders to get the message across to them,” he said.

The calculator, plus links to information about global warming at the Website — they’re in English — has helped Williams consider ways to use less energy. The good thing is that reducing energy use will save money on rural Alaska’s outrageous gas and electric prices, Williams said.

One change he’ll make has to do with fishing. When the salmon reach his Kuskokwim River village this summer, he’ll catch his year’s supply from a shore-fastened set-net.

He won’t pull a net with a gas-powered boat, unless he must.

“I want to continue running the Iditarod in cold weather and get frostbite in the face,” Williams said.

Alex DeMarban can be reached at (907) 348-2444 or (800) 770-9830, ext. 444.

New Alaska bishop seeks to heal rift in Orthodox congregation

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:26:00 -0800

The Russian Orthodox Church in America retired former Alaska diocese Bishop Nikolai Soraich Tuesday, May 13 after its Holy Synod of bishops investigated allegations he behaved insensitively in regards to Alaska Native culture and responded insufficiently to a priest’s report of sexual misconduct by one of his assistants.

The Holy Synod in New York is the church’s governing body in America. It has provisionally appointed Bishop Benjamin Peterson of the diocese of the West as bishop of the Alaska diocese.

Bishop Ben served as dean in Kodiak from 2002-04 and was elected bishop at Berkeley in 2004. He retains his duties as bishop of the diocese of the West while serving as bishop to the Alaska diocese and said the post is a provisional one until the church finds a permanent bishop for Alaska.

A native of Southern California from Pasadena, Bishop Ben now resides in San Francisco and Boulder City, Nev.

He’s made several trips throughout Alaska since May of this year. Bishop Ben spoke with Alaska Newspapers on Sunday, June 8, about what he hopes to accomplish for the Alaska diocese while he is serving as its bishop.

When did you first visit Alaska as its bishop?

Right after our Pascha, at the beginning of May. There’s a lot I have to learn about what’s going on. Whenever you have a transition, there’s financial things, personnel things, that one has to find. I have to find out who’s unhappy and try and see if there’s some remedy I can make.

Bishop Nikolai moved some priests from communities they’d been in for a long time. I understand you received letters, for example, from people in New Stuyahok who want their old priest back.

I’ve received letters from priests, letters from a few parishes and I’ve spoken to the deans.

One of the things I did here was meet with the area deans. We discussed some of these personnel issues. I need to find out what is wise to do. Just because somebody wants to move somebody, or three people in the village write you a letter, doesn’t mean everybody in the village necessarily wants that. So I have to check and make sure I’m not making a worse mistake.

But unfortunately in the last year there were a number of priests who were moved around. There wasn’t really much consideration about families and what was doable for people, and I think it’s a real serious issue.

What is the general practice in the Russian Orthodox Church on moving priests vs. keeping them in the same community for a long time?

Traditionally, in the Orthodox Church, we don’t like to move clergy. I don’t like to move people around if I don’t have to. Some of the priests who were unhappy a year ago are happy now. There were some priests who were unhappy a year ago and are unhappy now.

Is this something you might be looking at, returning some of the priests to their original communities?

It’s all being reconsidered. People have spoken to their deans. Each (situation) has to be looked at individually, with sensitivity to the people in the village and to the priests and their families, too.

How is that kind of fact-finding happening?

I’ve asked each of the regional deans to speak to the clergy in their deanery and ask them if they are happy with their assignment, or if there’s a problem with their assignment. I met with them, we got some of their counsel, brainstormed a little bit those ideas.

Another set of issues is the expression of concerns about the former bishop’s purported lack of respect or understanding for Alaska Native cultures.

Whatever his strengths, whatever his weaknesses are, (Bishop Nikolai) is no longer here. He was retired by the Holy Synod of bishops of the Orthodox Church in America.

He’s not coming back here. So whatever his problems are, they’re just not issues anymore.

I don’t believe that he will ever be getting another diocese in another church. He’s right now looking for another Orthodox Church in the world that will receive him, and if he can find one, I think that our holy synod would consider releasing him to that other Orthodox Church. But he’s not coming back here. Whatever his issues are, they’re not mine.

We’re trying to find someone who can be the bishop of this diocese. I think it will take some time, because we don’t want to make a mistake. We want to find someone who is just the right person for this diocese. I don’t think they can afford to have another bad assignment here.

I would say Bishop Nikolai left the diocese in much better financial condition than it was. But there are these personality issues — they’re the human issues that need to be addressed now.

I think one of the difficulties with the previous bishop was he was a personality that was just too big for people to handle. And I’m not here to judge him. I just want to help the people move on.

What do you see as being your role in helping people move on?

I’m looking for the priests and the diocesan council to give me counsel about how I can best help the people in this diocese run their local church.

There are two models of shepherds. In Scotland, where my family comes from, shepherds stand off the side, the sheep are out in the field; and they have these dogs.

They whistle at the dogs, and the dogs run around and bite the ankles of the sheep and terrorize them into staying together.

But the way shepherding is done in the Middle East — and that’s the example used in the gospel — the shepherd walks in front of his sheep. Every shepherd has a particular sound, a vocalization they make, that their sheep know.

And the sheep stay with the shepherd, because they know his voice and they trust him.

That’s the way I think a bishop should lead his priests and his flock; it’s the way a priest should lead his parish. They should be confident in the love the shepherd has for them, so that they follow him. They hear his voice, and they follow him.

You said Bishop Nikolai left the church in better financial state than when he started.

But there have been concerns about the way land deals were handled.

There’s always concerns about land. When the Russians sold Alaska to the United States, certain parcels of land were given to the church so that the church could take care of itself and run its affairs here. Because of Alaska’s very liberal laws of adverse possession and things like that, much of the land was lost.

There are cemeteries where people have built houses. I know of one hotel that’s built on a cemetery plot. The management of those properties was very poor.

Bishop Nikolai did a very good job of organizing all that. He got some very good professional people in Alaska to help him understand what was church property and what wasn’t, and how it’s being managed.

Financial things, I’m very concerned about because we don’t generate a lot of money at collections. So we depend on some of these things like land, and gift shops and stuff to help us meet the financial requirements of running a big diocese like this.

Mary Lochner can be reached at (907) 348-2438 or (800) 770-9830, ext. 438.