Alaska: President visiting Alaska to discuss climate change & global warming;Stops will include Anchorage, Seward, Dillingham and Kotzebue By MARY KAUFFMAN - President Barack Obama is visiting Alaska to discuss climate change and the continuing threats of global warming. His first stop will be in Anchorage where he will attend a major conference hosted by the U.S. Department of State at Anchorage's Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center on August 31st. The White House announced on July 17th, that President Obama will address the GLACIER conference.

President Barack Obama
SitNews' snapshot from President Obama's video announcing his trip to Alaska.
Courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

The conference, entitled the Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience (GLACIER), will focus the world’s attention on the most urgent issues facing the Arctic today and will provide an unprecedented opportunity for foreign ministers and key stakeholders to define the region’s most crucial challenges; highlight innovative ways in which these challenges can be addressed at the local, national and international levels; and broaden global awareness of the impacts of Arctic climate change.

President Obama announced in mid-August why he is visiting Alaska in a video. In his video he said, "I'm going because Alaskans are on the front line of one of the greatest challenges we fact this century, climate change." He said, "Climate change for most Americans is already a reality - deeper droughts, longer wildfire seasons, some of our cities even flood at high tide. In Alaska, glaciers are melting. The hunting and fishing upon which generations have depended for their way of life and for their jobs are being threatened."

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the President will also be visiting Seward, Dillingham and Kotzebue. The FAA will be issuing multiple Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) in support of a "VIP visit to Anchorage, Seward, Dillingham and Kotzebue, on August 31 through September 2, 2015." Quoting the FAA, "Be advised that noncompliance with the published NOTAM may result in the use of force."

Regarding the conference, the State Department has invited foreign ministers and high-level leaders from the seven other Arctic nations as well as countries and intergovernmental bodies with strong interests in the Arctic, including Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Union. Cabinet-level U.S. Government officials will also be invited. Leading policy makers, indigenous leaders and influential public and private sector representatives from Alaska, the Arctic region and around the world are also expected to attend.

Participation at GLACIER is currently by invitation only. GLACIER will take place during the U.S. Chairmanship of the Arctic Council, but is not an Arctic Council sponsored event.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski sent a letter to President Obama last week, urging him to broaden the agenda of his upcoming trip to Alaska beyond the single issue of climate change. In her letter, Murkowski asks the President to acknowledge that climate change is only one part of the Alaska story, while detailing a number of investments Alaskans have made with renewable energy and innovative energy technologies. - More...
Monday PM - August 24, 2015

Southeast Alaska: Enviros Object to POW Wolf Harvest - Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, announced Friday that the Unit 2 wolf harvest for regulatory year 2015-16 will be set at nine wolves. Game Management Unit (Unit 2), includes Prince of Wales Island and a series of small adjacent islands.

Environmental groups responded saying the wolf hunt was announced despite recent evidence that the Alexander Archipelago wolf population on the island is in danger of extinction. Last month environmental groups asked the state to close the hunting and trapping season in response to a June report by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game showing alarmingly low levels of wolves the island. Instead of canceling the hunt, the state is allowing the harvest of nine wolves.

“Alexander Archipelago wolves on Prince of Wales have been pushed to their limit and we must stop hunting them,” said Larry Edwards, Greenpeace forest campaigner in Sitka. “Opening the season is the opposite of letting this population recover, let alone sustaining it. Today’s action could lead to its demise.”

According to the state, the newly announced quota of nine wolves is 20 percent of the pre-2014/2015 season population estimate of 89 wolves “plus a reduction for any other human-caused mortality that may occur.” The quota does not account for the 29 wolves reported killed last year, a demonstrated high level of poaching, or the fact that females make up only 25 percent of the dwindling population. Even if they can reproduce at their reduced numbers, the risk of inbreeding is high. - More...
Wednesday PM - August 24, 2015

Fish Factor: Alaska’s Chinook salmon stocks' assessment program casualty of budget cuts By LAINE WELCH - One of the casualties of this year’s budget cuts was funds for a program aimed at discovering why Alaska’s Chinook salmon stocks have been declining since 2007.

A five year, $30 million Chinook Salmon Research Initiative launched in 2013 included more than 100 researchers focused on three dozen projects in 12 major river systems from Southeast to the Yukon. Now the ambitious effort has been cut to just over one dozen projects.

“When we saw we weren’t going to get a third appropriation this fiscal year, we had to step back and narrow the focus, and make sure key projects still had money to continue for at least the next two years,” said Ed Jones, a coordinator with the state Sport Fish Division who oversees the Initiative team.

The project has received two $7.5 million appropriations so far, and just over $6 million remains.

“We’re hopeful that another appropriation will come down the pike,” Jones said. “These are long term endeavors and we’ve just now scratched the surface of the research.” - More...
Monday PM - August 24, 2015

Southeast Alaska: Bellingham man dies after jumping off Sitka bridge - The body of a Bellingham, Washington man who is said to have jumped off the John O'Connell Bridge in Sitka has been located. Investigation revealed Tyler Jones, 29, jumped off the bridge with the intention of swimming to shore.

John O'Connell Bridge in Sitka
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Jones was not seen after he jumped in the water at approximately 11:00 PM on 08/21/2015. At approximately 11:00 AM on 08/22/2015, the United States Coast Guard located Jones' body and he was declared deceased. Next of kin were notified. - More...
Monday PM - August 24, 2015

Alaska: Alaska Permanent Fund up 4.9 percent - The Alaska Permanent Fund’s investments gained 4.9 percent in fiscal year 2015, ahead of the performance benchmark return of -1.4 percent, according to preliminary figures released Thursday. The Fund ended June 30 with a value of $52.8 billion after accounting for the Permanent Fund Dividend transfer. These favorable relative results are consistent with three and ten-year returns, and were achieved with generally less risk than the benchmark.

“This was a more volatile year for the capital markets, so we are pleased to be able to report a positive return overall,” said Valerie Mertz, Acting Executive Director. “After two years of rising stock markets, we weren’t surprised to see corrections in the U.S. and overseas markets at the start of the fiscal year. Later rallies helped make up lost ground, but the earlier losses certainly weighed on overall returns. The risk aware approach we take to managing assets helped us to successfully navigate this more difficult market environment.”

The U.S. stock portfolio gained 7.2 percent for the fiscal year, while the non-U.S. portfolio returned -5.2 percent. The Fund’s global portfolio, which contains both U.S. and non-U.S. stocks returned 1.2 percent. Bonds had periods of difficulty over the fiscal year as well, and while the Fund’s U.S. portfolio was up 1.2 percent, the non-U.S. portfolio lost 2.4 percent.

Real estate was an area of growth for the Permanent Fund in more ways than one. Not only did the Fund’s investments gain 9.8 percent for the fiscal year, but the portfolio expanded in notable ways as well. The Fund’s long-time investment, Tyson’s Corner Center outside Washington D.C., celebrated the successful grand opening of a sizeable three-building addition, including an office tower, hotel and apartment complex. Finally, the purchase of 50-percent ownership interests in retail properties in Portugal and Spain added to the year-old European portfolio. - More...
Monday PM - August 24, 2015