thearcticsounder

Wildlife trooper heads to Marshall to investigate fishermen

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:32:00 -0800

A state wildlife trooper is headed to the village of Marshall to investigate subsistence fishermen who said they fished during a closed period in an act of civil disobedience.

The Yukon River fishermen told reporters they caught 100 king salmon on Friday to feed their elders and others in need.

Wildlife Trooper Dan Dahl, based in the nearby village of St. Mary’s, said he will fly to Marshall today, July 1, to investigate.

If the facts show the law was broken, he’ll forward charges to the district attorney’s office.

The men could be forced to pay a “speeding-ticket”-like violation that costs each fisherman $200, Dahl said.

“The point I want to make is we see the whole picture involved here and respect the cultural and traditional values, but we want to make sure we do what’s right and fair to the rest of the lower Yukon,” Dahl said.

State and federal fish managers have strictly reduced subsistence fishing on the Yukon River this year, saying the king salmon run is in jeopardy and more fish need to get spawning grounds.

King salmon that swarm up the Yukon by the tens of thousands are the staple of the lower Yukon subsistence diet, having fed entire villages for generations.

Marshall resident Nick Andrew Jr. and others have told newspaper reporters that they fished in six boats. They have said subsistence fishermen aren’t responsible for the poor runs – they largely blame the Bering Sea pollock fleet, which inadvertently catches and tosses away thousands of king salmon – but said they’re bearing the brunt of the restrictions.

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

Cowan’s rural grasp pulls in superintendent job

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:21:00 -0800

The North Slope School Board has hired former Juneau superintendant Peggy Cowan to be the new North Slope superintendant. She was one of three finalists for the position, and along with Christopher Simon and P.J. Ford Slack, visited Barrow last month for interviews.

Arnold Brower, president of the North Slope Borough School District Board of Education, said during the visit Cowan “really won the board’s confidence … displaying a great sense of humor and a firm understanding of Native cultures and rural issues.”

Cowan is a former Superintendant of the Year for Alaska, holds a master’s degree in education from University of Michigan and a superintendent’s certificate from University of Alaska Anchorage. She worked with the Juneau School District for 10 years, first as the director of curriculum and instruction, then as assistant superintendant and superintendent.

Though Barrow will be a big change from the capital for Cowan, she said that she is looking forward to life at the top of the state. Cowan started out conducting statewide teacher training and was drawn to rural communities from the beginning, especially Point Hope, where she spent a week in 1982.

“I loved it then. I didn’t think it would take me so long to get back but I’m excited about the opportunity,” Cowan said.

Cowan should arrive in Barrow some time during the Fourth of July weekend. In the meantime, she’s getting ready for the transition by gearing up for a tougher climate and “buying some more clothes.”

“I think my winter clothes in Juneau will work for the summer in Barrow. … Fortunately I have my bunny boots left over from my Fairbanks days,” Cowan said.

Responding to audit
Cowan said that she’s anticipating a steep learning curve once she starts on her new duties. The board hired her in part to advance the district’s focus on curriculum and instruction — areas found wanting in a recent instructional audit of the district — but Cowan said that she has no intention of tearing down the system and starting over.

“The overall approach is to build on the good things that are going on and team up with staff to move forward,” Cowan said. “I’m not a status quo kind of person, but I’m not the kind of person that does change for change’s sake. It will be deliberate and thoughtful.”

Cowan said that part of the challenge will be to get all the schools in the district working together, coordinating their programs while still giving teachers the independence that they need to steer their classes. Cowan said her biggest challenge will be to make sure that all the schools meet national standards while still embracing a well-rounded educational environment.

“A lot of those requirements and measures push districts nationwide towards focusing on the most basic skills and not preparing students to be citizens — productive people that contribute to the community,” Cowan said.

Part of Cowan’s strategy will be supporting “place-based education,” a philosophy of education that teaches skills through the landscape and activities of a student’s community. Cowan pointed out that picking berries is a traditional activity that can also help students learn about volume, counting and measurement, or nutrition.

“North Slope kids need to know what the kids in Boston, Louisiana, Anchorage and Juneau know. … but they can learn reading, writing and math through the context of the local culture and region and the place that they live,” Cowan said.

Place-based education will be especially important for developing the curriculum in the North Slope School District, where board members voted to make cultural competency a priority equal to advancing student achievement in reading, writing and math.

Cowan said that she’s expecting to visit all the village schools in the district sometime this fall.

“I’m excited about learning in these communities,” Cowan said.

Victoria Barber can be reached at 907-348-2424 or 800-770-9830, ext. 424.

Health camp brings lifestyle lessons, changes

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:19:00 -0800

Enthusiasm was high at the first of three Allied Health camps this summer. This two-week camp, which began June 15, explored many factors related to health care, from basic health and eating habits, to medical careers, smoking and alcohol awareness and how to perform CPR and standard first aid. Nine high school students from across the North Slope are learning about health.

“I want to become a nurse, this camp is free and gives me something to do, and you get to meet new people,” camp participant Stephanie Stotts said while at lunch in the Ilisagvik College cafeteria. Sally Aguvluk from Wainwright, Kiberly Neakok and Mary Kate Cutris from Point Lay and Stephanie Stotts and Linda Ahkiviana from Barrow all gave a very definite “yes!” when asked if the camp has been fun so far.

“People came in from the Wellness Center and AWIC [Arctic Women in Crisis] to speak with us … and even the DARE officer!” Sally Aguvluk said.

“I’ve learned something new from every guest speaker that has come in,” said Linda Ahkiviana, “and Jaime, the instructor, has been really helpful.”

Jaime Stewart will be instructing all three Allied Health Camps at Ilisagvik College this summer. Granddaughter to Barrow elders Emily and Arnold Brower Sr., Stewart is pursuing her interest in health. Currently working on her master’s degree in public health with a focus on epidemiology (the study of disease), Stewart is also a national marathon-runner and runs at least 10 miles every week in preparation.

Already taking steps toward better health, one student decided to give up the rest of the 12-pack of soda she brought to camp and now all of the campers are making efforts to change their soda-drinking habits.

“They are participating in physical activity every day and we’ve spent time at the Senior Center. They are really engaged in class,” Stewart said.

When asked about why they decided to come to the Allied Health camp, the students had many answers.

“I’m a teacher,” Aguvluk said, “since I’m going to teach little ones, I want to know what to do in an emergency.”

Mary Kate Curtis mentioned that after experiencing a medical emergency in her family, when “my Aaka and I were alone and we didn’t know what to do,” she wanted to learn more about health. Stotts and Ahkiviana said they wanted to become nurses one day.

Upon leaving the camp, these students, as well as other Allied Health Camp I attendees Simeon Kunaknana from Nuiqsut, Aaron Milligrock from Point Hope, Patsy Stalker from Point Lay, and Forrest Ahkiviana (Linda Ahkiviana’s brother) from Barrow, will be certified to perform CPR and standard first aid. They will also have their emergency trauma technician certification, the first step towards becoming an emergency medical technician (which would allow them to join the Fire Department), or towards becoming a licensed practical nurse.

Gaining these certifications opens up a whole world of health care professions for these students. Since the camp is funded under an NPR-A grant through the North Slope Borough Health Department, these nine students got their training completely free of cost.

Camp organizers said that it’s not too late to sign up for the other two Allied Health camps going on this summer, which are also free for students to attend. Allied Health Camp II will be held from July 13-24 and will be similar to Allied Health Camp I, with the addition of a course on how to perform infant CPR. The Allied Health Fit for Life Camp will be held Aug. 3-7 and will focus mainly on nutrition and the fun of physical activities.

For more information on the camps, or to sign up, call 907-852-1803 or 800-478-7337, ext.1803.

Kayla R. Jeffress is the administrative assistant of external relations and development at Ilisagvik College in Barrow.

FEMA reports progress in funds for flood victims

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:12:00 -0800

More than $235,000 in federal assistance has been approved for Alaska residents to help them recover from the 2009 spring floods and ice jams, according to a news release from federal and state officials.

As of June 25, 225 homeowners and renters have applied for disaster assistance and 220 of those homes have been inspected, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management reported. Grants awarded to date total $235,218 to 21 applicants, which includes: $137,911 in housing assistance to cover temporary rental assistance, home repairs and replacement; $97,307 in other needs assistance to cover essential personal property losses, medical, dental, funeral, transportation or other serious disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance.

Individuals may receive assistance in the form of a check or an electronic funds transfer to a bank account.

“Our goal is to have everyone in suitable permanent housing by Sept. 15,” said Doug Mayne, federal coordinating officer. “In addition to money, FEMA and DHS&EM are looking at other ways to provide assistance to individuals and families to meet their housing needs.”

Those who did not apply while teams were in their village have until Aug. 10 to register for federal-state assistance. To apply, call the FEMA toll-free registration number, 800-621-3362 or 800-462-7585 (TTY), between 3 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time, seven days a week. Registrations can be completed online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov. Applicants can call the FEMA Alaska help line, 877-444-0829, with any questions about federal assistance. The Alaska helpline is available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Federal board gets taste of fishery woes

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:10:00 -0800

Caught in a fish fight between residents along the upper and lower Yukon River, representatives of the Federal Subsistence Board visited lower Yukon villages last week to understand how they’re faring with another poor king salmon run.

The fight along the river centers on a proposed ordinance before the federal board — an upriver group wants to limit the mesh size and depth of gillnets used to catch salmon.

The Eastern Interior Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council believes its proposal will help the struggling king run improve by allowing larger females with eggs to escape fishermen and head upriver to spawn, said Maureen Clark, spokeswoman for the Federal Subsistence Board.

Lower Yukon River residents believe they’ve already suffered enough restrictions, such as the closure of commercial king fishing last year. They generally blame the poor king returns on the Bering Sea pollock industry, which inadvertently catches thousands of king salmon on the high seas.

In April, the six-member Federal Subsistence Board shelved the controversial proposals in an effort to study them further. They’re scheduled to be considered at the board meeting in April.

Specifically, one proposal would limit the maximum mesh size of gillnets to 7.5 inches for all salmon fishing in federal waters of the Yukon drainage. Another proposal would limit the depth of the net allowed in federal waters. If the net mesh is larger than 6 inches, the net depth could not exceed 35 mesh.

Normally, there is no limit on net depth for subsistence fishing for salmon, Clark said. With the exception of a few tributaries, there is no maximum mesh size for subsistence fishing.

As for commercial king fishing, state law limits the net depth to 45 mesh and doesn’t restrict mesh size, she said.

This year, however, the state by emergency order has limited mesh size for subsistence fishing on lower Yukon districts to 6 inches or less, said Steve Hayes, state manager of the Yukon king run.

The state is concerned that the king salmon will be similar or worse to last summer’s poor run, Hayes said.

Last year, about 160,000 kings returned, compared to the 250,000 that return on more normal years.

Traveling to understand
The trip to Emmonak and other parts of the lower Yukon last week was partly an effort to understand the overall problems facing the village, said Clark. Board members, five of whom work for federal agencies such as the National Park Service or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, sent representatives from those agencies and staff.

They didn’t come themselves, she said.

The group of about nine people also included Denby Lloyd, commissioner of the state Department of Fish and Game; Pat Pourchot, Interior Sectetary Ken Salazar’s special assistant for Alaska; and John Moller, rural affairs advisor to Gov. Sarah Palin.

They went to Bethel, Emmonak and St. Mary’s, visiting fish counting and research sites, as well as fish camps along the Kuskokwim River and the Yukon drainage.

The village of Emmonak made national news earlier this year when newspapers and blogs published a letter from resident Nick Tucker that said some villagers were skipping meals to pay their bills. People had no money because heating fuel and gas prices were so high this winter — above $7 a gallon — and because the state had closed the commercial king fishery the year before.

The fishery, one of the most important economic opportunities along the lower river, is closed again this year because of low numbers of returning salmon. Also, the amount of subsistence fishing, needed by people to fill freezers, has been sharply reduced.

During a three-hour meeting in Emmonak on June 24, residents described how the lack of king salmon compounds other problems the village is facing, including severe flooding this spring that damaged houses and buildings.

Tucker, whose letter in January prompted food drives to help Emmonak and other villages, said some subsistence fishermen are getting enough chum salmon for the year. But they aren’t getting the kings that provide the most nourishment.

Also, the lack of a king salmon fishery will prevent people from getting gas money to do other subsistence activities, he said.

“It’s blow after blow,” said Pete Probasco, head of the federal Office of Subsistence Management.

Probasco, who attended the meeting, said he was struck by the flooding damage, including stories from a longtime friend of chunks of ice bashing houses.

Tucker said the flooding, caused by large sections of ice that jammed rivers, wiped away fish camps along the river.

Fish and Game Commissioner Lloyd, who had visited Emmonak and other area villages a few weeks earlier to discuss the lack of returning king salmon, traveled with the board.

Lloyd said he traveled again because he’s a non-voting member of the board, and because the visits provide an important, first-hand perspective.

“Every time I go out there I learn more and more,” he said.

He discussed the potential for the summer’s first commercial opener for chum.

“We’d like, if possible, to get people on the river and fishing commercially for summer chums as soon as we have an indication that there will be a sufficient number of them, and the counts yesterday and today are promising,” he said last Friday.

Kuskokwim, Yukon differences
He was struck by the stark difference between Emmonak and Bethel. Bethel, a community of about 5,500, lies 150 miles southeast of Emmonak on the Kuskokwim River.

There was a “buoyant atmosphere and attitude of the people” in Bethel, because fish racks are full of drying fish and the king salmon are running strong, he said.

“On the Yukon side, there are fewer full fish racks. While some are getting their subsistence fish, it’s not nearly the sense of bounty and plenty people are enjoying on the Kuskokwim,” he said.

Lloyd has been criticized for not doing enough as a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to reduce the amount of king salmon caught as bycatch by the Bering Sea pollock industry.

Lloyd said he plans to encourage officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service to improve the monitoring of bycatch and observer programs, and to increase the genetic sampling of bycatch-caught kings to figure out where those fish are going.

“I had planned to apply that kind of pressure already, but it gives me renewed energy and emphasis based on the seriousness of the economic difficulty that I saw while I was in Emmonak,” he said.

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

More letters exchanged on Y-K Delta fisheries

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:09:00 -0800

Federal officials thousands of miles removed from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta continued discussions about requests for a fishery disaster declaration in letters exchanged last month.

Sen. Mark Begich’s lengthy letter dated June 22 came in response to a June 17 letter from U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who acknowledged receipt of the Association of Village Council Presidents’ April request.

“I have asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to evaluate whether such a determination is appropriate,” Locke wrote in his letter. “NMFS will give the request full and careful consideration and will work closely with the (AVCP) to ensure that all necessary data is in hand to evaluate the request as expeditiously as possible.”

AVCP sent its request to Locke dated April 1. The Alaska Federation of Natives sent its own request letter dated April 8, two days after the North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to put a cap on salmon bycatch, hoping to increase the number of salmon in the Yukon.

Begich, Alaska’s junior senator, thanked Locke for recognizing Begich’s, Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s and Rep. Don Young’s support of the AVCP request.

“Given evidence of a continued fishery failure in the ongoing season, I urge your prompt action on this matter,” Begich stated in his letter.

“Due to weak returns of chinook salmon on the Yukon River in 2008 there were no directed commercial openings for this important species; chum salmon openings were restricted and subsistence fishing activities were curtailed.

“With the 2009 salmon run under way, the Yukon River chinook return appears to be similar to or weaker than in 2008. Commercial fishing has remained closed and subsistence fishing has been severely curtailed.”

Begich points out the high cost of living in the region, one of the highest in the nation. He mentioned $8 per-gallon heating oil from last winter and the choice many families faced between heat and food. He also described damage done in the region by ice-jam flooding and the harsh spring breakup – losses “subject of a separate disaster declaration request pending before the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”

“I again urge you give full and prompt consideration to their request for assistance through a fishery disaster declaration as provided for under the Magnuson Stevens Act,” Begich concluded.

Murkowski, Young, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and AVCP president/CEO Myron Naneng received courtesy copies of Begich’s letter.

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

‘Rock star’ on a roll in Kotzebue

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:06:00 -0800

Todd Schaeffer knows it’s not always easy being a rock star in Kotzebue. There are some mornings when he gets up to go to work at the local grocery store and thinks to himself — “I should have gone to college.”

“I’m 30 years old. This is not something you want to be doing when you’re 30. Most people my age have families and houses,” Schaeffer said.

About two weeks ago, Schaeffer was having one of those days, stocking groceries, losing a little hope, when a young woman walked up to him, noticed his name tag and said “You’re Todd Schaeffer? The singer?”

She loved his music, she thought it was wonderful.

“Immediately all those thoughts about whether I should be doing music faded away and I had a feeling in my heart that says this is what I should be doing,” Schaeffer said.

Those moments may be getting more frequent now that Schaeffer’s albums — “Upstate,” released in 2006, and “Dying to Survive” released last December — are getting some local and even national airtime. According to Ryan Page, morning disc jockey “Rockin’ Ryan” at KOTZ radio in Kotzebue, Schaeffer’s songs are regularly requested at the station, especially “Roll On” from his first album.

What sets Schaeffer apart from other local musicians, Page said, is his style and the quality of his album production. Most musical groups getting air time in Kotzebue are gospel, whereas Schaeffer’s style is more “Pearl Jam crossed with Phil Collins with a little Bono in the middle.” Also, his second album was professionally produced, a rarity for musicians in the area.

“He saved his money to be able to record that album at a distance, and that hard work and saved money helped him,” Page said. “He’s doing something different than local gospel and he’s really putting his soul into it. I was impressed by that.”

Earlier this year the quality of his album earned him a spot on “Earthsongs,” a nationally broadcast show of contemporary indigenous music. Shyanne Beatty, host and producer of “Earthsongs,” said competition was tough for getting even one song played on her program, which features musicians from around the world.

“There’s a lot people who are, God bless them, putting out music. But I don’t feel they’re producing music CDs that are up to quality for a national show,” said Beatty, who’s played Schaeffer’s song “Change of Life.”

Though the quality of Schaeffer’s music is testament to the time, work and money he invests into his songs and albums, he is unusually low-key about promotion. Beatty heard the album “Dying to Survive” when a friend passed along a CD to her, the same way that the Kotzebue radio station got a hold of it.

“One day I heard the DJ ask over the radio, ‘If anyone has the new Todd Schaeffer album, please bring it down. We’re getting requests for it and we don’t have it,’” Schaeffer said.

So far, publicity has been entirely through word of mouth in the Northwest Arctic. Still, the requests roll in.

“He’s got quite a following,” Page said.

Escaping with music
Schaeffer lived in Kotzebue and Kobuk until he was 11, when he moved to Anchorage with his family. Growing up, he turned to music as a way of escaping rough times at home.

“I had a troubled childhood. My stepdad and I couldn’t see eye-to-eye with each other. Music was a way for me to make myself feel better, the minute I started singing I could completely forget, it would make me feel good,” Schaeffer said.

He’d been writing songs for a few years when he decided to pick up the rhythm guitar “out of necessity.” Throughout his late teens and into his 20s, several people noticed his interest and helped him along, including Chris Black, one of his co-workers at the Alaska Railroad.

“He said ‘Man, you got something, your voice just seems to carry,’” Schaeffer said. Black lent him his Gibson electric guitar, Marshall amplifier and told him to spend a year learning some chords.

Studying albums by groups like Pearl Jam and U2, Schaeffer slowly put together the materials for his first album, but it wasn’t until he stepped into BuzzBizz Studios in Anchorage that everything fell into place.

“Before I went to record ‘Roll On’ and three other songs, I said a quick prayer — I said, ‘I need some help,’” Schaeffer said. He’d laid down the rhythm guitar track and was in the middle of recording vocals when engineer and studio owner Michael "Buzz" Buzinski looked at him and said, “This is a blues song.”

Picking up his guitar, Buzinski improvised what would become the lead guitar part for “Roll On” — guitar work that would pull the song together in a way that gave Schaeffer goosebumps.

“I was thinking, ‘This is the answer to my prayer,’” Schaeffer said. “It is the song that made me not only as an artist, but a Native artist.”

While it took five years to create his first album, he was able to use the skills he learned to develop a system for songwriting and recording that is organized and efficient. He said that, today, before he’s finished with one album, he has the next half-written. Even when he’s not at his guitar, he feels like he is working.

“I’ll go through an observation period, where I’ll be looking for something to write about. Then I’ll go to work or talk to a friend, something will click or trigger an emotion and that’s how I’ll know I’m on to something,” Schaeffer said. “It’s never like, ‘Today I’m not going to do any music.’ I’m always on call.”

“That’s what happens when you make the decision to be a career musician.”

Schaeffer said that his overall message is to remind people to listen to their hearts as they going through their lives.

“So very few people take time to talk about their spirits and what they feel inside. If you don’t listen to the spirit inside you, you’ll miss out on all the things it’s telling you to do,” Schaeffer said. “I hope that my music helps them hear it a little clearer.”

He said that embracing his path as a musician has not only helped him to express himself, it’s helped him give something to his community. It’s made him feel accepted.

“I come into town and people who I don’t know come up and say, ‘Hey, man. I love your music.’ Kotzebue has just wrapped its arms around the music,” Schaeffer said. “They make me feel like a rock star.”

Schaeffer’s next album, “Break the line,” will come out this October. A fourth album, which will be entirely acoustic, is also in the works. For more information, e-mail tito_99516@yahoo.com.

Victoria Barber can be reached at 907-348-2424 or 800-770-9830, ext. 424.

State looking for director of rural education

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:04:00 -0800

As news spread of some rural Alaska schools facing possible closure because of low enrollment, the state’s Department of Education and Early Development announced it is accepting applications for the new position of director of rural education.

According to the department, the intent is for the director to help bring about education reform through a variety of approaches, including bridging the cultural differences between rural communities and the public education system.

“The position reflects the state’s philosophy of valuing public schools and formal education and, at the same time, valuing Alaska’s diverse cultures and the rural ways of life and knowledge,” Alaska Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux said. “When we blend these, we have strong schools that belong to their communities.”

Meanwhile, the superintendents of two interior Alaska school districts say six rural schools are in danger of closing next year because of low enrollment.

The schools under scrutiny are in Central, Stevens Village, Takotna, Beaver, Anvik and Shageluk.

Districts see major state funding cuts when enrollment falls below 10 students at a school.

“The rules for funding schools are set by the Legislature,” Department of Education and Early Development officials said in a statement. “Any long-term answer will have to come from the democratic process of deciding what laws to have and how to spend public funds.

“Last year the Legislature passed House Bill 273, which eases the financial pain to districts with declining enrollments. Basically, their loss of funding is no longer sudden. Instead, they gradually lose funding over a four-year period.

“This gives districts the opportunity to look for solutions, perhaps less than ideal, such as spreading out their funding to continue to cover the small schools’ costs, or transitioning the students into correspondence programs. Sometimes a district is able to continue with a small school for a while and then the enrollment rises and the state funding is restored to a higher level.”

Joe Banghart of the Iditarod School District says Shageluk, Takotna and Anvik project 12 to 14 students but could drop below that.

Yukon Flats district superintendent Woody Woodford says schools at Stevens Village, Beaver and Central have been on the borderline. Their student count will not be known until the last week in September.

Both superintendents say long-range planning is difficult when districts are worried about enrollment.

As for the director of rural education position, National Education Association-Alaska president Barb Angaiak applauded the move to create the position.

“It’s absolutely needed,” Angaiak said. “It’s a good idea on the part of (LeDoux).”

The rural director will build the capacity of the department, school districts and rural communities to meet the academic needs of rural students. The fundamental task is to engage communities in their schools and to assist educators in working with the communities. It is a hands-on, community-level position.

The director will work with local school boards and schools; parents, elders and other community members; Native and rural government and service agencies; the University of Alaska and other universities and research entities; and other resources for schools in rural communities.

“The director will be an integral part of the department’s team that works for comprehensive improvement in low-performing schools,” LeDoux said. “The director will be a leader in implementing the Alaska Education Plan to ensure academic success for rural Alaskans, and will supervise the implementation of the state’s cultural standards for schools.”

The position will be based in Juneau and involve extensive travel.

“The way we envision it, this won’t be a person sitting in an office in Juneau,” said Eric Fry, the education department’s information officer. “This person will go out in the field constantly.”

The position would pay approximately $6,740 to $7,215 a month, depending on experience, and receives the usual state benefits. It is an exempt position and is not represented by any collective bargaining unit.

Applicants should see www.eed.state.ak.us for more information. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. July 31. Fry said the department hopes to make the hire in August and have the rural director working by September.

Matt Nevala can be reached at 907-348-2480 or 800-770-9830, ext. 480. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Free lunches offered to children in 42 villages

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:03:00 -0800

Poverty rates are so high in dozens of Alaska villages that nine of every 10 students get free or reduced-cost meals at school, according to a list of state schools.

So when classes end for the summer, the free meals stop for thousands of kids.

The Food Bank of Alaska is changing that.

Two years ago, the Anchorage-based group began capitalizing on the federal Summer Food Service Program to feed children in rural Alaska, said Food Bank officials.

For one week last summer, free lunches with tuna, fruit, sausage, milk and other goodies went to children in 23 villages.

This year, children in 42 primarily Western Alaska villages will get the lunches. And the free meals will last all summer in many villages, said Marleah LaBelle, communications manager for the Food Bank.

That number could grow if more villages sign up, LaBelle said.

Organizations that want to provide the meals, such as churches, tribal councils, school libraries, should call the Food Bank’s Amber Gawreluk at 907-222-3107.

In about 20 villages, the free meals will last one week. The Girl Scouts Susitna Council will provide those meals during their weeklong summer camps.

In the other villages, the free food will be provided primarily by representatives with the Boys and Girls Clubs. In those cases, the program has already started and will continue until school starts.

This past year, villages have struggled with gas and heating fuel prices that approached $8 a gallon and most recently, floods that swamped villages along the Yukon and Kuskokwim river drainages.

Also, for many villages along the Yukon River, fishing for king salmon has been severely restricted.

The summer food plays an important role by filling a nutritional gap, said LaBelle.

All children 18 or under are eligible.

The program has grown rapidly throughout the state.

In 2007, the Food Bank provided the lunches only to Anchorage children. About 10,000 lunches were served.

This summer, with help from other groups, the Food Bank expects to distribute an estimated 65,000 lunches, costing the federal government about $335,000.

About 30,000 of those lunches will be served in villages.

Statewide, more people need help, LaBelle said.

Agencies that work with the Food Bank to feed the needy, such as tribal councils in rural areas, have reported receiving 25 percent more requests for food assistance this year compared to previous years, LaBelle said.

“Some have said their clients have more or less doubled over the past year,” she said.

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

He’s the top of the food chain

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:01:00 -0800

No, he doesn’t watch “The Deadliest Catch.” No, he’s not a former Bering Sea crab fisherman. No, he doesn’t live in Alaska, he lives in Las Vegas. But he does move about 600,000 pounds of Alaska red crab a year.

And he does it with gusto.

So much so that in June in Soldotna he was given an award from Global Food Alaska, an independent, private initiative of individuals, companies and organizations that collaborate to enhance the food and related businesses in the state. The award, Alaska Champion, recognizes an individual who has brought an Alaska product into the world’s spotlight.

That, Rob George has done. In fact, you could say he has single-handedly put Alaska crab into restaurants and onto plates nationwide long before captains Sig Hansen or Keith Colburn became reality TV stars.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in the industry that would disagree when I say I’m the one with the most passion in this business,” George said. “It’s my whole thing, my big baby.”

It’s a marketing miracle that has brought him riches he never imagined, but success came with an unwavering vision of product quality and personal relationships with his customers.

“We monitor the total chain of custody,” he said. “We have traceability — we know which boat caught it and where it’s going.”

Unlike other crab brokers, George only does crab clusters, not cut-up, single-leg claw packs.

“The crab goes to the butchering station and it’s butchered in half, the hard carapace shell comes off, then there’s gilling and cleaning, it’s packed raw and goes through cooking, then pre-chilling then pre-chilling again, but it’s never frozen,” he said, referring to the fresh-cooked crab he ships during the season.

During the various crab seasons he also has frozen cooked crab produced in order to keep his customers supplied when the season closes.

“I have 400,000 pounds of frozen cooked crab from Dutch on a container ship to sell over the course of the next six to seven months,” he said. “Hopefully, it’ll run out by the next season.”

During the various Alaska crab seasons he ships gift packs of fresh crab to individuals throughout the U.S.

“I love turning people onto such great crab,” he said.

Red king crab season starts Oct.15, as does opilio snow crab, bairdi snow crab, Bristol Bay red king crab, Pribilof blue king crab, St. Matthew blue king crab and Pribilof red king crab.

October tours
October is when the crab season goes into full press and Dutch Harbor teems with crabbers.

For that month, he’s developed the Crab Connoisseur Tour, where his customers come up to Dutch Harbor, and while they pay for their air fare and hotel, he takes them through the processing plants, out on a crab boat, they get to talk to Alaska Fish and Game staff and the Coast Guard, and have a crab dinner at the Grand Aleutian Hotel. There is complimentary Crab Broker gear.

“We go out beyond the blue buoy and dump some gear — not out in rough seas, but just to meet the captain and crew,” he said. “It’s great marketing, and people really love it.”

They bring home bragging rights and the ability to say to friends and family, “Oh yeah, I went out on one of those ‘Deadliest Catch’ crab boats.”

Then number of clients attending has jumped from three to five to 30, he said.

The tour has even been used as a fundraiser for a hospital in Florida, with the package tour selling for $20,000 for a ticket for two people — everything included.

He hasn’t gone all the way out to sea on a crab boat, but says he wants to in the next couple of years — it’s one part of the supply chain that he hasn’t experienced. The desire to experience everything that affects his business is another factor that has broadened his vision and approach to his business.

And much of the success he owes to his own drive and the warm partnership with the late Richard Osterman of Dutch Harbor.

“Richard called and he said ‘king and snow crab.’ I listened, and for some reason we just clicked,” he said. “We talked over the next few days and crazy me gets on a plane and flies up to Dutch Harbor and met Richard, who at that time was with Royal Aleutians Fisheries. It opened my eyes to fresh-cooked crab.”

Then Osterman went his own way, but Royal Aleutians wanted George to work with them.

“I wouldn’t go around Richard, but he called and said he had no problem with it,” George said. “I’m very ethical.”

It’s still a family owned business and hasn’t gone to public trading.

He said that sometimes he just sits back and thinks of all the poundage and all the money and just murmurs “Wow, I’m selling a lot of crab.”

But the $8 million in annual revenue isn’t what drives him, he said, and greed is a word he hopes is never applied to him.

“Greed never plays a part in what I do,” he said. “If you let greed pay a part in this, you’ll make bad decisions.”

Dimitra Lavrakas can be reached at 907-348-2419 or 800-770-9830, ext. 419.

Entrepreneurs do business on upward Slope

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:58:00 -0800

Lela Ahgook, 68, is going on her second year running Lela’s Store, a little shop that sells diapers, microwave food, snacks and “every little thing that is needed” in Anaktuvuk Pass.

The store opens after the corporation grocery store is done for the night, and residents have come to rely on it for picking up odds and ends, or items that have run out of stock elsewhere. Business is good, and Ahgook would like to start selling fresh fruits and vegetables. But she has one problem — her store is only 16 feet long and 14 feet wide.

“I just can’t do it in my little store,” Ahgook said.

But now Lela’s Store may be on its way to having its own produce section. Ahgook won $24,000 to help expand the shop as a winner of the first-ever North Slope Marketplace business competition, an event modeled after the Alaska Federation of Natives’ popular Alaska Marketplace.

When AFN held its latest Alaska Marketplace competition, there were no North Slope finalists and only one person from the Northwest Arctic. Eva Sheldon-Mandregan of Kobuk made the cut, going on to win $37,550 to build visitor cabins on the Kobuk River.

But North Slope residents got another chance courtesy of ASRC and, in addition to Ahgook, Eli Kalipsuk of Nuiqsut and Rachel Edwardsen, Robin Mongoyak and Bertha Akootchook of Barrow won awards averaging $24,000 (the corporation did not release specific award amounts). The money is not a grant but an award for starting or expanding businesses in North Slope communities. As long as all requirements are met, winners will not have to pay back the money.

ASRC received over 30 applicants and chose 12 finalists. ASRC CEO Roberta “Bobbi” Quintavell said that the corporation was encouraged the response and that interest in entrepreneurship amongst ASRC shareholders was “building momentum.”

“We look forward to promoting these new entrepreneurs on the North Slope and building local, sustainable businesses,” Quintavell said.

To apply for the award, applicants had to write a proposal explaining their business idea and write up a basic business plan. Anticipating that some people might need some help doing that, ASRC partnered with Ilisagvik College to host free workshops on marketing, Web site development and how to start a business.

Akootchook said that it was challenging to put together all the pieces of the application, but she got the help she needed from instructors at Ilisagvik College as well as useful information about marketing. Akootchook is planning to use the seed money for renovations with an eye toward opening a bed and breakfast in Barrow in summer 2010.

Ahgook worked at her corporation store for almost 12 years and is no stranger to the business side of retail, but she’s looking forward to starting to build up her shop to a roomier 24 by 20 feet.

“If I can get enough to get the foundation going, then I can order little by little parts of the building,” Ahgook said.

Ahgook found out that she’d won at ASRC’s annual meeting last month in Anaktuvuk Pass. She said that her surprise and excitement spread through the whole village, especially the young people.

“I just got all excited and the whole village was cheering on with me, it made it really special,” Ahgook said. “It encouraged the young people. They were cheering on with me, and came up to give me a hug, and I said ‘see what you can do if you’re really determined to get something going?’”

An ASRC spokeswoman said that it has yet been determined whether there will be another North Slope Marketplace next year.

Victoria Barber can be reached at 907-348-2424 or 800-770-9830, ext. 424.

$300 million for shareholders is Native corporation’s contribution

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:48:00 -0800

The Congressional Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, chaired by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.,

is investigating the participation of Alaska Native corporations in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program.

Companies that are registered in the 8(a) program can win federal contracts without competing for them, but for many of the companies, the contracts can be no larger than $5.5 million for goods or $3.5 million for services.

However, under a special provision created by former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, Indian-owned firms and Native-owned firms from Alaska and Hawaii can win no-bid federal contracts of any size. Alaska Native companies especially have benefited from the program, winning billions in federal contracts.

In the following interview, Helvi Sandvik, NANA president, provides context on why the unique benefits exist. NANA is the Alaska Native corporation representing Inupiat people from much of Northwest Alaska.

What are your thoughts on the investigation of Native corporations?
I think for us it’s really important for us to have these public forums to give us an opportunity to explain who we are as Alaska Native corporations, who our owners are, what the intent of ANCSA was.

The fact of the matter is the 8(a) program was designed to help economically disadvantaged people become involved in government contracting and as Alaska Native corporations over time we have invested in businesses, trying to position ourselves to take advantage of these opportunities. So we’ve done that for several years now.

In NANA’s case we got started in 1995. Certainly over time we have been able to grow our business in the federal government. Had we not been able to deliver the service they required we would not have achieved the success we’ve had to date.

But over the years we have become very efficient, very effective. Frankly, the sole source is not an opportunity limited to the 8(a) program. A great deal of federal contracting in general is done by sole source. And frankly, it’s a business decision and when the decision is made by the government to turn to a sole source opportunity it’s typically for business reasons. They need to get a project out in a hurry, a crisis has happened. It’s a vehicle available to government contracting. The specific sole source opportunities under the 8(a) program are a part of that program.

You mentioned this provides an opportunity for a public forum. But I don’t believe the Native corporations have been invited to speak at the subcommittee’s hearing (scheduled for July 16). Have you been invited?
No. As we understand it, the inquiry came asking us to pull together data demonstrating our involvement, which in this particular hearing seems to be focused on the Alaska Native corporations. My understanding is at this particular hearing, the senator intends to only invite agency representatives, government officials.

But at hearings held just two years ago, several Alaska Native corporations participated, including myself. That particular hearing was held by (Democratic) Congressman (Henry) Waxman out of California. At that time we had an opportunity to discuss the issue.

My expectation is if in fact the desire is to truly understand this program, then there will be an opportunity for follow up. I would assume that this will not be the only hearing on the subject because frankly in order to formulate appropriate public policy, you need to ensure that all perspectives are available for consideration.

So thus far, to my knowledge, no Alaska Native corporations or Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, all of whom are eligible for the same program under the SBA 8(a) program, none of us have been invited to testify, though several have offered ourselves up and would be willing to communicate.

But my impression is that’s not the senator’s intended focus at this hearing, but rather to ask the government officials about the data that was submitted. I’m not sure where she’s going with her line of inquiry.

What was your reaction to her press release that was issued yesterday? (The press release focused on the rapid growth of Alaska Native corporations under the program and the large amounts of federal contracting jobs they are doing outside Alaska.)
Well, that was disturbing because I don’t think it told the whole story.

There is no doubt that Alaska Native corporations over the years have, as a group, begun to achieve more success in securing contracts and work with the federal government, but we’re not alone. Again, the particular program we’re involved in is not limited to Alaska Native corporations. Lower 48 Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations are eligible for the same programs.

There seems to be a question as to why we have unlimited sole source opportunities compared to other participants in the 8(a) program.

Well, the fact of the matter is the basis for that is we serve large numbers of owners and so the benefits we deliver are really for a broader community, we being Alaska Native corporations, Lower 48 tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.

Other participants in the 8(a) program or other economically disadvantaged businesses — they could be a company that might be owned by a single individual or a couple of family members.

So the benefits of their participation is limited to the number of owners, and I believe the program we participate in was designed with acknowledgement that our beneficiary numbers are significant.

In NANA’s case, it’s in excess of 12,000 NANA shareholders who are the beneficiaries of all of our income we generate from all of our businesses.

And we are not exclusively a company that just focuses on government contracting. We do other things. We have a diverse business mix.

I understand NANA distributed a $23 million dividend last year?
Right. Since NANA was formed, we’ve had a very aggressive dividend program.

We come from a very remote part of the world. We have limited economic opportunity and we live in a high cost-of-living environment.

So our board, our company, has recognized that we need to do our best to generate income and transfer some of that cash flow back in the form of dividends.

But our benefits to shareholders aren’t limited to our dividends. We also have medical assistance benefits, burial benefits.

We contribute annually to a scholarship program. We formed a scholarship program a few years ago, under a separate kind of trust, and we’re trying to make funds available for our students seeking higher education, vocational training.

We set aside $32.5 million in an elder settlement trust, aimed at recognizing that our elders, as they enter into the latter years of their life, most of them haven’t worked in a corporate environment where they might have retirement income.

So the corporation is trying to provide a little additional financial assistance to them. And our shareholders voted to establish the elder settlement trust, so each year, anybody 65 years and older will receive an additional special dividend.

When was that started?
The shareholders approved the establishment of the trust in March of 2008, so this is the second year the trust has been in existence.

So all the income we make from our government contracting businesses, or our engineering companies, or our oil field services companies, or the royalties we receive from Red Dog (zinc and lead mine), the board takes a look at all that income and determines how we might be able to distribute benefits to our shareholders, consolidated benefits.

What’s interesting is this data call by the senator was helpful in a way, because here we go about our business every day working hard, trying to generate income, but sometimes we don’t step back and look at and try to quantify the value of what’s been accomplished.

Between the years 2000 and 2008, between all of NANA’s income sources and various activities aimed at improving the quality of life for our shareholders NANA has distributed over $300 million in benefits to our shareholders between the dividends and all these other programs.

And yet our work isn’t done.

Unlike other companies, when they start off, I imagine they expect to be in existence for a long time. Well, really we have a higher obligation, because everything we do in our corporation is intended to benefit not just those who live today, but also future generations of NANA shareholders and so we’re working in our business mix to try to establish sustainable long-term businesses that will try to provide benefits for shareholders of today and shareholders of tomorrow.

How many 8(a)s does NANA have?
We probably have about 20 total companies. Some of them got their start in the 8(a) program and have already graduated.

You said in 1995, NANA started in the 8(a) program?
Yes, we started our first investment in ‘95.

That’s the other fallacy. The success we’ve achieved today didn’t come to us without investment.

We started our first company in 1995. We invested three years before that company broke even.

So not all of our companies that are currently participating in the 8(a) program have crossed the threshold of profitability.

Collectively those companies are contributing a significant portion of our income the last few years.

And if we continue to run our businesses right and deliver value to the government, we fully expect we’ll be able to continue down the path of being a major provider of services to the federal government.

You mentioned some positive outcomes of McCaskill’s inquiries (Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is chair of the subcommittee). Are you concerned she has an agenda that might hurt the Native corporations?
I am concerned that the truth gets out. And I think it’s a tremendous success story.

Here was a program designed by Congress intended to help economically disadvantaged people become engaged in the broader U.S. economy and we’ve worked hard for many, many years positioning ourselves, investing our money to establish companies.

I read the (news) story this morning (about McCaskill’s press release) and I was a bit flabbergasted by the suggestion that there must be something wrong with Alaska Native corporations participating in business opportunities outside of Alaska.

I’m not aware of any other U.S. company that is told they can only do business in the state they’re from, or in the city they’re from, and frankly there are a lot of communities all across this country who welcome business investment in their community.

So that aspect, what I saw in the paper this morning, was really quite surprising to me, that someone would suggest it’s inappropriate for a U.S. company to do business in another community in the United States.

There was also some reference that, I think it was, that the benefits of ANCSA that were provided to Alaska Native corporations were intended to stimulate the economy in Alaska.

No, that was not the intent of ANCSA. The corporations were set up by ANCSA, by Congress. They were told to go forth and prosper, to create economic opportunities for their owners.

The act didn’t say create economic opportunities only for where you’re from, and frankly that would be a pretty significant challenge for very remote parts of the state that many of the villages are located in.

In our part of the world, we have no roads in and out of our part of Alaska, we don’t have roads connecting our villages.

Sixty percent of the lands within our region are locked up in other federal management jurisdictions, national parks and preserves.

We do happen to have the Red Dog mine. We’re very blessed with that natural resource. But there are other parts of Alaska that are not so blessed with natural resources, so barriers to developing sustainable economies in rural Alaska are really quite, quite significant.

And ANCSA did not limit the corporations to only doing business in the communities where our shareholders currently reside.

Is there anything you want to add? I’m done with my questions.
The reason I see some of this inquiry from a positive perspective is again I think we have a tremendous story to tell, of the corporations created by Congress intended to improve the quality of life for Native shareholders.

Through our efforts over the years, we are starting to be able to do that, and it hasn’t happened overnight. ANCSA was passed in 1971 and over the years, all Alaska Native corporations have worked hard to try and deliver on the intent of Congress.

Some have been able to achieve success very early on, and others have taken a lot longer and the SBA 8(a) program has been very important in helping us really deliver on the intent of Congress when they did pass the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

It’s important to me to note the reason we’re successful is not because of breaking the rules, but rather living within the rules, figuring out how to navigate in that very complex world of business and government contracting, and it’s a good story.

It’s what the 8(a) program was set up to do.

Civil disobedience on the Yukon; Marshall fishermen ignore closure

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:33:00 -0800

In an act of civil disobedience, fishermen in six boats left the village of Marshall on Friday to go subsistence fishing on the Yukon River, though fishing was closed, said one of the protestors.

The group caught 100 king salmon in their gillnets.

State and federal authorities have severely restricted king salmon on the Yukon this summer in an effort to help the struggling run recover.

Villagers along the lower Yukon say they’re suffering.

Commercial fishing for kings hasn’t been allowed, and subsistence fishing has been limited to two 18-hour openings each week.

King salmon has long been a staple food along the Yukon. Residents dry or freeze the fish to eat year round. Also, commercial fishing for kings usually provides one of the few opportunities for villagers to make money.

This summer’s restrictions are worrying residents who don’t have enough king salmon to last the year, said Nick Andrew Jr., a member of the Ohagamuit tribal government, based in Marshall.

Andrew said he and five others went fishing late Friday night, when subsistence fishing was closed. They caught three totes of kings about 10 miles upriver from Marshall, a village of about 400.

“It’s now June 29,” Andrew said. “Usually by this date everyone’s subsistence king salmon needs are met and on the drying racks and in the freezers and salted.

“But as we speak only 20 percent of the village’s king salmon needs have been met. It’s a bad situation."

The fishermen saw no wildlife troopers and weren’t cited, he said.

They returned to Marshall and quickly cut the fish for drying and freezing. Then they delivered it to widows, elders and disabled residents, he said.

One elderly woman cried when her portion was delivered, he said.

Andrew said the protest fishing was sanctioned by the Ohagamuit and Marshall tribal governments. Ohagamuit created the resolution and the Marshall council approved it.

Earlier this summer, Andrew, in a letter published by The Tundra Drums, said he and others would get their kings, even if it meant going to jail or getting a ticket.

“Our original intent was to protest,” he said. “We went out there all gung ho, ready to bear a grin and go out for a cause. The Lord provided us our fish and no law enforcement.”

Villages along the lower Yukon have had a long, hard winter that followed similar restrictions to king fishing last year, he said. Many Yukon fishermen blame the Bering Sea pollock fleet for inadvertently catching too many river-bound king salmon on the high seas.

Village governments have requested fishery disaster declarations. The state has said it can’t declare such a disaster. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke is considering a request.

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

100-student magnet school in works for Kotzebue

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:20:00 -0800

Walk into any Alaska village, says Norman Eck, and you will almost certainly find three kinds of professionals – the teachers at the school, the health care workers at the clinic and the people who work in mining or oil and gas production. These are jobs in Bush Alaska that will not disappear.

At least, that is the concept behind a new boarding school that is in the works for Kotzebue.

“These jobs offer good pay and good futures. No matter what the economy does, these jobs are there,” said Eck, who is superintendent of the Northwest Arctic Borough School District. “There’s a real need a place for students who are high flyers, who really want to achieve and go and have an opportunity to do something significant and career oriented.”

For the past year the school district has been working on a $29 million project with the Northwest Arctic Borough, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Maniilaq and Red Dog Mine to start the “Star of the Northwest” magnet school. The school would serve students from grades 11 to 14 (college sophomores) who want to pursue a career in teaching, nursing or in resource development.

Eck said the school would help launch students who may not have the advanced courses they need for their chosen career fields at their village schools.

The state already has a few boarding schools – Mount Edgecumbe in Sitka is the leading example – and while some of these schools offer programs in aviation, culinary arts or other vocational tracks, there isn’t one that targets nursing, teaching and the resource industry, fields that Eck believes are uniquely suited to the student who wants to have a career but doesn’t want to leave their home village or traditional lifestyle to do it.

Eck hopes that by preparing students for these in-demand professions the school will help address another problem – a state high-school drop-out rate that, at eight percent, was double the national average in the 2005-06 school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

“Students are not motivated to graduate because they think, ‘What’s it got for me?’ ” Eck said. “They look at people who have good jobs and think ‘That’s not my family.’ ”
While students get their footing in financially rewarding fields, Eck said that the new school would also benefit the financial picture in Kotzebue. Construction work would provide jobs and, after it’s finished, new revenue would be generated as students come to town and their families fly in to visit.

The Star of the Northwest would tap into educational resources that already in Kotzebue. Students in grades 11 and 12 would attend classes at the high school, then transition to classes at Chukchi College (for teaching), Alaska Technical Center (for resource-development training) or both (for nursing) for the last two years of their study.

The program will require a $17 million, 100-bed dorm for high school students to be built, which is planned for the empty lot next to Chukchi College and across the street from Kotzebue High School. The district is also planning on spending about $12 million to expand the existing Alaska Technical Center to accommodate the new students.

The school will ideally host about 33 students in each of the three concentrations, drawn from throughout the state. But while the district and borough are talking up the school to state and federal law makers and finding funding for construction, the Star of the North will move forward this year, with 10 to 25 local students for its starting class. Eck said the district hopes to open Star of the Northwest to all students within the next year or two.

“This will be something that will help students keep in school. These are viable careers that will allow students to live in Bush Alaska or in urban Alaska.” Eck said. “Who knows what else could develop.”

Victoria Barber can be reached at 907-348-2424 or 800-770-9830, ext. 424.

Ilisagvik issues most GEDs in six years

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:20:00 -0800

In the 2008-09 school year, Bonnie Aishanna, Sheila Baker, Cornelia Bilcia-O’Docharty, Paul Blooding, Carlo Del Rosario, Melonie Fizwater, Thomas Hopson, Lyndon (Aussy) Itta, William Johnson, Maggie Koonaloak, Matthew Krohn, Aaron Milligrock, Bradford Nageak, Henry Ningeok, Maria Jo Patkotak, Tiffiny Ramirez, Robert Rice, Stephen Smith, Alexandrea Stevens-Winger and Abel Suvlu all completed the GED program offered through Ilisagvik College.

All 20 of these predominantly North Slope residents now have their GED certification, which is equivalent to a high school diploma and is required for most jobs. A GED certificate or high school diploma is not only a major requirement for jobs, but is the jumping-off point for taking college courses, getting further training, gaining certificates and attaining degrees which enhance both the mind and the paycheck.

An increase from last year’s fourteen GED graduates, this year’s total of twenty is the highest number of graduates from the program in six years. Three Nuiqsut residents, one Point Hope resident and one resident from Denver, Colo., added to the mix of Barrow GED students. Ilisagvik College’s GED program has an aid and an examination proctor in each of the seven North Slope villages in the Borough, who are always available to help villagers prepare for and attain their GED.

From July 27 to Aug. 7, Ilisagvik College will be offering another opportunity to get GED certified – a two-week GED Camp. In this camp, participants have the chance to learn everything they’ll need to know to take the GED exam, regardless of their education levels. Students will work one-on-one with instructors in a small class setting and take the GED examination at the end to gain certification.

This camp is free to the public and will be held at Ilisagvik College’s ABE/GED Center on the second floor of the bank building in Barrow. Please contact Diana Perkett for more information or to sign up: she can be reached at 907-852-1741, Toll-free 800-478-7337 ext. 1741, or by e-mail diana.perkett@
ilisagvik.cc.

Kayla R. Jeffress is the administrative assistant of the External Relations and Development Department at Ilisagvik College.

State seeks role in offshore lease lawsuit

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:59:00 -0800

The state has moved to intervene in a federal court case in which the Native village of Point Hope seeks to rescind dozens of leases issued by the federal government under an offshore oil and gas lease sale conducted for federal waters in the Chukchi Sea, according to a news release from the attorney general’s office.

Attorney General nominee Dan Sullivan said: “One of my highest priorities as Alaska’s attorney general is to vigilantly safeguard and defend Alaska’s interests, particularly as they relate to economic opportunities for Alaskans and the balance of state and federal rights and responsibilities. This case entails both such interests.”
Sullivan must be confirmed by the Legislature but will serve in the role until lawmakers reconvene in January

“The ultimate outcome of this case will likely have enormous economic consequences —either positive or negative — for the state of Alaska and our citizens,” Gov. Sarah Palin said.

Sullivan added that the state’s intervention is “necessary to protect the state’s interests, which are extensive and cannot be adequately represented by the other parties in this proceeding.”

The plaintiffs contend that the decision by the U.S. Mineral Management Service to conduct the lease sale for the outer continental shelf, along with the environmental impact statement underlying that action, violated federal law, including the Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit seeks to void all of the leases issued in the sale. If successful, this lawsuit conceivably could set back development of the OCS for decades.

The case was filed in January 2008. The plaintiffs have filed for summary judgment, and responses from the federal government and from intervening parties Conoco Phillips and Shell are due July 17.

In the pleadings filed by Sullivan, the state argues that its intervention is now important because of the change in the federal administration this year: “Although the state hopes its interests will continue to be aligned with those of the federal defendants, in an abundance of caution, the state must act to ensure its interests are protected until such time that the new federal administration’s policy positions are fully articulated.”

The memorandum to the court describes the state’s significant interests in the litigation, observing that the oil and gas industry is the largest part of the private employment sector in Alaska and provides 90 percent of the general fund revenue for state government. “If these activities are curtailed,” the state notes, “Alaska will be harmed by the loss of property tax revenues, employment, and income to local communities.”

Oil from the Chukchi Sea could lower the unit cost for all oil if shipped through the trans-Alaska pipeline, thus increasing state royalties and taxes from development on state lands, said Kevin Banks, acting director of the Department of Natural Resources’ Oil and Gas Division. Eliminating this potential would frustrate the state’s goal of realizing the constitutional imperative for maximizing resources for the benefit of all Alaskans, he said.

Alaska earns chapter in White House climate report

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:57:00 -0800

A new White House climate change report devotes a chapter to Alaska, where temperatures have risen twice at twice the rate of the rest of the country in the last half-century.

The state is the front line of climate change. Annual temperatures have risen 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit in 50 years and are projected to rise another 3.5 to 7 degrees by midcentury, the report states.

The report, a compilation of current science, translates what that change means in practical terms:

• Sea ice is melting, meaning shipping and resource extraction can expand. Arctic ice could be gone during summers by the end of the century.

• Marine species are moving, mostly northward. Fishermenwill have to go farther to get to the most productive commercial fisheries. Alaska Natives may have trouble getting the walruses and seals they subsist on.

• Coastlines are eroding tens of feet per year, and that rate is picking up. Villages like Newtok and Shishmaref are crumbling into the sea and having to decide between relocation and expensive engineering solutions.

• The coasts and the Bering Sea are getting stormier, throwing off autumn barge delivery schedules and making commercial fishing more dangerous.

• As the permafrost melts, the land sinks. This will add between $3.6 billion and $6.1 billion, or 10 to 20 percent, to future costs for publicly owned infrastructure by 2030. That’s not including the cost of the thawing to private property.

• In the last 30 years, the number of days each year that the Department of Natural Resources allows oil-and-gas-related truckers to travel on tundra ice roads has halved, from 200 to 100.

• The average area burned in North American wildfires each year — affecting subsistence resources and clean air — tripled from the 1960s to the 1990s. Alaska’s wildfire burn area is conservatively projected to double by midcentury and triple by 2100.

Alaskans weigh in
During a teleconference addressing climate change impacts on Alaska, Vernor Wilson of the World Wildlife Fund joined several other speakers from around Alaska to share their thoughts about the report.

Wilson, a Yup’ik who comes from a Dillingham fishing family, said that he’s from the younger generation of those concerned about the environment.

“It’s good to know that this report came out and it confirms what is going on here in Alaska. We have some of the largest fisheries left in the world. The greatest wild fisheries left. And this report says that those fisheries could be shifting northward and that is very concerning for me because as a fisherman and as somebody from the world’s largest fisheries of Bristol Bay and who depends on it, these stocks could move forward and that could have devastating impacts for our industry in Alaska, our fishing families, our communities.”

The impacts on the economy in Alaska would be devastating, Wilson said.
“There’s not only concern about fisheries in Bristol Bay, there’s concern from around the Bering Sea about coastal erosion and permafrost. My village of Dillingham was visited by the Army Corps of Engineers last January and they had to come up with a plan to further reduce the coastal erosion. Dillingham is just one community across the Bering Sea. What is going to happen to the hundreds of villages on the Bering Sea, along these rivers, where our people have been living for thousands of years?
He suggested that Alaska could be part of the solution by getting off the dependence on oil and by stopping “short-term toxic proposals like offshore drilling and Pebble mine.”

“In Bristol Bay we have a lot of renewable energy resources that could be tapped such as geothermal, wind, tidal and wave generation. We have the potential … We need to take action now,” Wilson said.

Sarah James from Arctic Village shared impacts she’s seen from climate change in Northeast Alaska. James is the chairwoman of the Gwich’in steering committee and she has lived in Arctic Village her entire life. She said that people there are still solely dependent on caribou, 75 percent to their food is still wild meat — caribou, moose, fish and other small animals and birds and duck.

“Climate change is very real in the Arctic. It’s placing the animals — disturbing to the animals — their way of life and in return they affect our life. In my lifetime, you know, I see a lot of growth. A lot of vegetation that comes in as it gets warmer and warmer.

“We don’t get cottonwood trees. A cottonwood tree is down the road from me, which it never was. I remember back from 1950, and that’s really strange. And we never had beaver. Now beaver is something that we have here. So as the climate change come in the animals come in with it, the growth. And many, many lakes was lost within the Gwich’in nation,” James said. “A lot of lakes dried up.

“I think this is a violating of human rights. I think we need to take it to U.N. and say you know we got to stop what we’re doing to the Earth.”

Jeffery Short, Pacific Science director for Oceana, remarked that although the report doesn’t contain new science, what’s new is that “finally the U.S. government is leveling with the American people about the dire future we all face from ignoring global warming for so long.”

The scientific community has been aware of this on a continuing basis and the report is based on scientific literature through 2008, Short said, but what’s different is the government is promoting it, which hasn’t been seen in the past.

“They provided a compelling synthesis showing how all the different intricate pieces of this big climate jigsaw puzzle fit together and it shows how fast change is coming and how serious the impacts will be,” Short said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Web site is environmental watchdog

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:36:00 -0800

Fish with strange spots. Sinkholes in the tundra. Crumbling river banks.
The scenes appear in a handful of photos posted at www.nunat.net, a fledgling Web site created to provide a record of changes linked to global warming, subsistence resources and village life.

The site’s database is a year old. It was designed to give rural Alaskans a way to share information and document the changes around them, especially those who spend a lot of time outdoors, said its creator, Brad Garness.

“People who live a subsistence hunting and fishing lifestyle generally have a unique view regarding climate change and why animals behave the way they do,” Garness said.

Garness is acting executive director of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, which owns the site.

It’s been said that Alaska is on the front lines of climate change, but there doesn’t appear to be another place where rural Alaskans can go to document the changes around them, he said.

AITC contracted with biologists and other experts to help develop reporting forms included on the site. With the forms, people can provide detailed accounts of what they’ve seen.

The Nunat Web site is named after a Yup’ik word that means “lands” in central Yup’ik.
Some of the items posted so far include a polar bear lying on the beach after swimming to shore in Barrow last fall and a swarm of chum salmon with unusual spots and deformed spines caught last summer on the Yukon River.

Polar bear appearances grow on oil fields

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:04:00 -0800

Polar bear encounters on the North Slope oil fields have risen to record levels the last two years, a sign that increasing numbers of the white giants may be prowling on land because the sea ice they prefer is shrinking, scientists said.

Oil field sightings along the southern Beaufort Sea coast jumped to 321 in 2007 and 313 in 2008, said Craig Perham, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in Anchorage.

That’s more than double the 15-year average of 138.
It’s also a sharp rise from 232, the previous high in 2005.

Oil companies are legally required to report a polar bear encounter to Fish and Wildlife that involves any change in the animal’s behavior, even if the bear simply lifts its head to sniff the air, Perham said.

The measure is designed to protect polar bears and humans by providing information on the bears’ whereabouts and behavior.

Increased sightings might also be up because new exploration work has taken place on the near-coast areas where polar bears are usually found, he said.

For example, ships doing seismic exploration in the Beaufort Sea have waited out storms on barrier islands those years, giving workers the chance to spot polar bears numerous times, sometimes the same animal.

Perham hasn’t “teased out” the data to find out exactly what it means, he said.
“Truth be told, we don’t know,” he said.

But the rising encounters are in line with what scientists expect to find — as sea ice shrinks, polar bears spend more time on land, he said.

Polar bears prefer the ice because it provides access to ringed and bearded seals, he said. But the seals are harder to find when the ice recedes so far — more than 70 miles off the coast — that it no longer sits over the shallower and biologically productive continental shelf.

The sea ice has shrunk to record levels in recent summers. One day last August, there were 400 miles of open water between the Alaska coast and pack ice.

Interestingly, the majority of oil field sightings have come in August and September, Perham said. In September, the sea ice is farthest from shore.

In those two months, oil field workers have reported spotting polar bears more than 240 times in 2007 and 2008.

During the winters of 2007 and 2008, oil field workers reported seeing polar bears no more than 14 times.

In the past, most sightings took place in the winter.

Despite the increased sightings, the oil industry hasn’t reported killing a polar bear since 1993, Perham said.

If bears come too close, workers might shoo them away by shouting or slamming a car door. If that doesn’t work, they might scare it away by firing off loud cracker shells.

Scientists believe the shrinking sea ice has lead to declining numbers of polar bears. If sea-ice loss continues as forecasted, the bears could someday disappear from large areas, including Alaska’s coastal waters, said Eric Regehr, a federal wildlife biologist.
“It’s pretty grim,” he said.

He said the Fish and Wildlife Service tentatively estimates the southern Beaufort Sea polar bear population at 1,526 in 2006, a drop from the previous estimate of 1,800.
The world population of polar bears is estimated between 20,000 and 25,000, he said.

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

Field leaves school a champion for every season

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:02:00 -0800

Noorvik’s Tim Field had the kind of high school sports career most kids dream about but never come close to making a reality. Competing in cross-country running, wrestling, basketball and Native games, Field qualified for state in all four sports in all four years and won six championships.

The 18-year-old wrapped up his spectacular senior season by winning a state title in wrestling, earning player-of-the-year honors in basketball and matching a Native Youth Olympics record in the one-foot high kick.

He was so good he nearly captured the 2009 Anchorage Daily News Boys Prep Athlete of the Year award, something once thought to be nearly impossible for someone from rural Alaska. The list of past winners is littered with big-city names like Trajan Langdon (former NBA player), Jeremy Teela (former Olympic biathlete) and Zack Bowman (current NFL player).

Kodiak elite runner Trevor Dunbar added his name by beating Field by just one vote to lay claim to the award that dates back to 1989.

Field was close to becoming the first winner to hail from the Bush or a small Class 1A or 2A school. But he got outpointed in a 4-3 vote of present and past Daily News sports reporters. To his credit, Dunbar won a combined three state titles in cross-country running and track and field, and at one point had the fastest 3,200-meter high school time in the country.

Still, Field’s accomplishments deserved a second helping of recognition.
After all, he is the closest thing to a celebrity in Noorvik.

“Every kid from every village knows exactly who he is,” said Jake Stoops, activities director for the Northwest Arctic Borough School District. “He just had that ‘it’ factor. At regionals, he was giving autographs to players from other teams. It was pretty cool.”

He was also a big hit on the road.

“Everybody knows his name,” said teammate Greg Cleveland. “It’s pretty cool to be with him.”

All the right moves
No matter how gaudy Field’s resume was as a prep athlete, his best move of his senior season didn’t have anything to do with sports. It actually happened at the Noorvik K-12 school prom in April, and for a guy known for his basketball skills it seemed only fitting that his highlight came in the form of an assist.

Young Freddy Henry, 13, showed up to the prom wearing a dirty T-shirt and faded jeans. He was obviously underdressed for the special occasion and so he stood out like a sore thumb.

Field noticed right away and jumped to action like a superhero.

“I took him home and slapped on a shirt and tie, and put some cologne on him,” Field said with a laugh. “I even let him use my shades for awhile.”

Henry’s new duds and Field’s warm gesture highlighted the night.

“This young kid idolizes Tim,” said Mike Zibell, a longtime coach and teacher at Noorvik. “The kid had a blast and was as proud as could be.”

Pretty soon, other basketball players, like Greg Cleveland, were teaching the youngster cool dance moves. It wasn’t long before little Freddy Henry was the life of the party.

“He danced with a couple girls,” Field said. “The next day he was telling people he danced with so and so. I knew he was happy because he was smiling.”
Because of Field’s fast-acting intuition, that little boy experienced a night he will never forget. It’s not uncommon for Field to befriend younger kids at the school, especially the ones that looked up to him. Henry was one of those kids.
“He always says, ‘What’s up, T-Bone?’ ” Field said.

Henry and Field struck up a friendship during the basketball season after Field sank an incredible long-range shot from three-quarters court that just beat the buzzer. The crowd went nuts and fellow Noorvik students mobbed Field afterward. Some even asked him to sign their shoes and shorts like he was Kobe Bryant.

“He’s given younger, less-popular kids attention by playing with them, encouraging them and making them feel valued by someone they greatly admire,” Zibell said. “He does well in school and has tutored some who were struggling. Tim’s a great kid.”
Field said his grandparents, Ramona and Ivan Field Sr., shaped who he is today. They are responsible for creating his winning personality on and off the athletic field.
“They mean a lot to me,” Field said. “They took me in when I was little. They adopted me.”

A banner career
Since the early 1990s, Noorvik basketball has been synonymous with winning. The girls have won five state titles (1992, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001) and the boys have captured six championships (1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007).

Championship banners hang in the school’s gymnasium for everyone to see. They serve as motivation for the Bears and intimidation for opposing teams.

Field’s fingerprints are on six banners — two with the basketball team and four by himself (one for wrestling, three for NYO).

“He’s the kind of guy that he was so talented so early, it feels like he’s been at Noorvik for 10 years,” Stoops said.

In cross-country running, he was the lone boy to represent Noorvik at the state championships.

In wrestling, Field won the 160-pound title in December to become Noorvik’s first state champion in that sport. He said he was basically the only student on the team — most of the others didn’t take it seriously — and so he spent most practices grappling with coach Rod Eakin.

At NYO, he capped his brilliant career with a gold medal in the event’s most celebrated event, the one-foot high kick. He didn’t just win; he crushed the competition and wound up equaling a record that had stood since 2003.

On the basketball court is where Field made his name. He was a human-highlight reel and the most recognizable Native face. He was the guy people paid to watch.

“We’ve had some really good players over the years, and he’s definitely right up there among the very best based on his ability to play above the rim,” said Stoops, who has lived in Northwest Alaska for 11 years.

Longtime Point Hope coach Rex Rock Sr. agreed.

“He’s as good as they get,” he said. “Tim was one of those special kids that come along every once in awhile. We’re happy to see him go away as opposing coaches.”
Field scored 1,703 points in his career, second most in Noorvik history. Even as a freshman he played a key role in helping the Bears win the Class 1A state championship and he played an even bigger role the next season when they won the Class 2A state title.

But then the well went dry. Noorvik wouldn’t win another state championship with Field on the court, losing the 2009 final to arch-rival Point Hope in an instant classic that was close the entire way.

Field wasn’t around the see the end of it, fouling out in the fourth quarter with a game-high 27 points. Afterward, he ripped his tucked-in jersey from his shorts and kicked a chair, allowing his emotions to get the best of him.
“I couldn’t hold it in,” Field said.

Two weeks later, Field earned Class 2A player-of-the-year honors and was named to the all-state team for the third consecutive year. It didn’t matter.
“I would trade that in for a title,” he said. “I’d rather get the team title instead of the personal title. I hate to lose.”

The next chapter in the Tim Field story is yet to be written. He expects to play college basketball in the fall, although he hasn’t decided on a school. In the meantime he’ll continue his summer job building houses in Noorvik as he saves money for college.
“Someone is going to miss if they don’t give him a chance,” Zibell said.

Van Williams can be reached at 907-348-2452 or 800-770-9830, ext. 452.