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The joint letter emphasized the “potential catastrophic effects on Alaska’s communities” from upstream mining activities in British Columbia (B.C.) and urged the U.S. federal government to “help protect overall U.S. interests in this situation.” The letter also called the Tulsequah Chief “an example of an inadequate response by the B.C. government.”

Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, Congressman Don Young, Governor Bill Walker and Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott wrote a letter to Secretary Tillerson, seeking his Department’s engagement in their efforts to ensure that British Columbia institutes appropriate safeguards to prevent potential negative effects from the development of large-scale hard rock mine proposals and operations to transboundary waterways and fisheries.

Additionally, the Delegation requested B.C. mining projects and potential impacts to Alaska be included on the agenda for upcoming bilateral meetings between the U.S. Department of State and Global Affairs Canada: “We, like this administration, prioritize the promotion and protection of American economic interests, which in this instance could be threatened by B.C. transboundary mining and inadequate financial mechanisms to assure long term management of toxic wastes and redress for damages from potential releases.”

“Alaskans are out of patience with B.C.’s failure to stop the pollution from the abandoned Tulsequah Chief. B.C.’s failure to clean up the mine is a clear example of why Alaska and the U.S. federal government need to work together to ensure upstream mining in B.C. doesn’t harm our interests downstream,” said Chris Zimmer of Rivers Without Borders.

Zimmer said, “We are glad to see the State of Alaska now working with members of Congress, and hopefully the State Department, to increase pressure on B.C. to honor its responsibilities and promises to remediate the abandoned mine. Today’s letter is an important step in increasing pressure on B.C. However experience has shown us that continued cooperative pressure will be needed to ensure B.C. honors its responsibilities at Tulsequah Chief.”

The Tulsequah Chief mine, located in the Taku River watershed in northwest B.C. close to the Alaska border, was abandoned in 1957 without any remediation. B.C. has wanted a new company to re-open the mine and then clean it up, but two companies have already gone bankrupt trying to re-open the mine and B.C. has done little to stop the illegal pollution. An Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessment released by the B.C. government on July 18 documents “unacceptable risks” from the acid mine drainage. 

“After two bankruptcies, it’s clear the Tulsequah Chief is not a viable mine,” said Zimmer. “The only way to stop the illegal and clearly harmful acid mine drainage from the abandoned Tulsequah Chief mine into the salmon-rich Taku watershed is for B.C. to take responsibility for mine cleanup. The new B.C. government needs to take a much more responsible approach with Tulsequah Chief than the previous Clark administration. We’re glad to see Alaska leaders stepping up the pressure on B.C. and Canada.”

Today’s broad concerns about B.C. mining across the transboundary Taku, Stikine and Unuk watersheds began with the Tulsequah Chief in the late 1990’s. 

“The experience with Tulsequah Chief shows us that Alaska needs specific and enforceable protections to ensure that upstream mining in B.C. does not harm our water quality, fisheries and livelihoods,” said Zimmer. “We don’t want to see similar problems crop up at mines that will be much larger than Tulsequah Chief, such as KSM. It is vital that the U.S. government heed the call in today’s letter to join with Alaska leaders to develop measures to protect our fish, water and jobs from upstream mining in B.C.”

The Alaska Delegation's letter stressed the need for communication between the U.S. and Canada on this issue, for Alaskans’ livelihoods and Alaska’s economic stability, but also to industrial development and job security across the entire nation: “Alaska’s economy and culture are directly connected to our natural resources, many of which are nurtured by our vast river systems throughout the state. The Alsek, Chilkat, Taku, Whiting, Stikine, Unuk, Salmon, and Chickamin Watersheds drain from B.C. into Southeast Alaska.  Increasing mineral development and legacy mining impacts in the Taku, Stikine and Unuk Watersheds threaten Alaska’s world-renowned salmon runs, which support the commercial fishing and visitor industries and contribute to the way of life for Alaskans throughout the region.” - More....
Thursday PM - November 16, 2017

Southeast Alaska: Thousands of additional acres opened to Petersburg Borough for economic, resource development -  Governor Bill Walker today signed legislation to help increase economic and resource development opportunities in the Petersburg Borough. When the Petersburg Borough was created by the voters in 2013 they had only received 1,896 acres, of which roughly 450 had already been given to the City of Petersburg. With passage of the SB 28, the Petersburg Borough is now on equal-footing with the state’s other 18 organized boroughs across the State of Alaska. SB 28, sponsored by Sen. Bert Stedman (R-Sitka), rectifies this situation by increasing the Petersburg Borough’s land entitlement to 14,666 acres.

“Given our state’s fiscal climate, it is critical that we give our local communities and boroughs the necessary tools to be as economically sustainable and self-sufficient as possible,” Governor Walker said.

Walker said, “This bill does exactly that, allowing the Petersburg Borough to take full advantage of potential development opportunities in the region, and help build a Stronger Alaska. I thank Senator Bert Stedman for sponsoring this legislation, and Mayor Jensen and Representatives Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Sam Kito for supporting it.”

“The Petersburg Borough will now have more control over its destiny,” said Sen. Stedman. “The folks in Petersburg will select land they can use for economic development as well as rock and sand material sites for future projects, waterfront land for tourism development, residential lots, and other uses that will allow Petersburg to grow and become even more self-sufficient.” - More...
Thursday PM - November 16, 2017

Alaska: Alaska Maritime Training Center Receives $95,000 Donation from Andeavor - The AVTEC Alaska Maritime Training Center announced Wednesday that it received a donation of $95,000 from the refining, marketing and logistics company Andeavor. The donation will support AVTEC’s arctic and ice navigation readiness project, which will upgrade the school’s full mission bridge ship simulator to enhance its ice navigation capabilities.

The donation was prompted by a two-day training event sponsored by Andeavor (formerly Tesoro) and hosted at AVTEC’s Alaska Maritime Training Center. The event provided more than thirty ship masters and pilots the opportunity to hone their skills in navigating the ice-covered waters of Cook Inlet.

The licensed deck officers participated in ten training scenarios navigating through ice in Cook Inlet that was programmed into the Alaska Maritime Training Center’s three interactive full mission bridge ship simulators. It was during this training event that Andeavor announced the gift, which will be directed at enhancing the bridge simulators through an upgrade of hardware and software. - More...
Thursday PM - November 16, 2017

MONEY MATTERS: ARE YOU IN THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS OR NOT? By MARY LYNNE DAHL, CFP® - Do you consider yourself wealthy? Affluent? Poor? Or would middle class be more accurate? The majority of Americans, when asked, say that they believe they are middle class, which suggests that they think their degree of wealth, or lack of it, makes them middle class. The problem in getting an answer is whether you define your wealth by income or by net worth. And what is “wealth” anyway? It sounds like it refers to riches, but it does not.

When surveyed, very few people respond that they feel “wealthy”, even if their incomes are 3 or 4 times the national average. People learning $200,000- $400,000 per year routinely say that they are not “wealthy”, so clearly, the definition of the word is an issue when counting who is and who is not part of the American middle class.

When we refer to our wealth, we are talking about our financial status. This includes our earned income from work, investments and property plus our retirement income from pensions, Social Security and other sources of retirement income. It also includes the value of all of our assets, such as our home, rental property, retirement plans, investment portfolio and other valuable things we own. This wealth may be a big number or a small number, but it is all wealth to some degree. So, even if you do not feel wealthy, you probably do have some wealth. Unless you own absolutely nothing and have absolutely no income, you have wealth of some amount. Compared to the rest of the world in particular, almost everyone in the US (and other western nations) is wealthy, in fact. But I digress here. The question isn’t how you compare to Zimbabwe or Pakistan. The question is how you compare to other Americans

Studies abound on this subject, so there is no lack of information. The problem is that it is confusing and not entirely consistent. Most studies, however, do fall into similar ranges of numbers when it comes to income and net worth, the primary determinants of wealth in America. The results do show that about half of Americans are middle class households, and of that 50% of households, but the middle class range of wealth has grown to a much wider range than it used to be. It has expanded to 3 levels of middle class, not just one, and reflects a growing layer of affluence on the higher income of the middle class. - More...
Thursday PM - November 16, 2017