Author: alaskaadmin

A long-discussed tribal casino near Eaglecrest Ski Area celebrated its official grand opening Wednesday, with stakeholders and customers toasting its payoff potential as a visitor attraction and local economic stimulant with little mention of pending legal issues.

Two Coppers Casino, operated by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, debuted with a “soft opening” in early June, when some functions such as plumbing were not completed. Wednesday’s hour-long grand opening featured a ribbon-cutting, Alaska Native dancers, and speeches by several dignitaries to more than 100 attendees who then filled the chairs at the slot-like machines inside the gaming hall (which now has functional plumbing).

“I think it’s an opportunity; it’s definitely going to expand (Tlingit and Haida),” said Travis Woodbury, a member of a family that owns the land the casino is on, after guiding his uncle, Gabe George, to one of the chairs. “I just see it prospering, and making everything better for the tribe and the people who work here.”

Noting that much of the space in the new building and on the lot remains to be developed, Woodbury added “it creates jobs and this is just the beginning.”

Two Coppers is a Class II gaming establishment authorized to offer slot-like machines where payouts come from a pool of competing players (much like bingo), non-house-banked card games, bingo and pull-tabs. Games like poker, blackjack and traditional slot machines are not allowed.

The distinction between gaming machine types was a non-factor for Henry Howard and his wife, Dorothy Webster, who were seated before a “Triple Fortune Dragon Unleashed” machine once the doors to the casino opened Wednesday. Without much knowledge of any rules, the couple inserted a $20 bill and began a series of digital spins that saw them win two early payoffs totalling $60, then quickly lose everything in perhaps a dozen more spins. But after inserting more money they were up more than $100 minutes later.

“I kind of like it,” said Henry Howard, a lifetime Douglas resident. “Juneau needs some kind of entertainment.”

Gabe George was singled out during the ceremony by Tlingit and Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson as one of the key people during the early stages of discussion about a casino who helped to make it it a reality.

“Twelve years ago when I became president one of my first meetings was with Gabe George,” Peterson said. “And he came in and he told me about his parents, Jimmy and Lydia George, and he talked about this allotment, and how his parents had a dream for their children and grandchildren, and on and on, that there would be a legacy of support for their family.”

The George family obtained a 220-acre parcel on Fish Creek Road — about three miles uphill from the intersection with North Douglas Highway — in a land swap with the U.S. Forest Service in 2002. The USFS in exchange got property on Admiralty Island that Jimmie George, a patriarch of the Tlingit Killer Whale Clan who died in 1990, received via the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Tlingit and Haida has been leasing 20 of the Fish Creek acres from Jimmie George’s heirs since 2015 and speculation that land would be used as a casino circulated for years until construction began in 2025.

There are, however, unresolved issues about the casino’s ability to legally operate involving federal and state officials, as well as some of the 14 members of the George family that are part of the lease agreement with the tribe.

The Trump administration last September reversed a Biden-era ruling that essentially authorized the casino. However, Deputy Interior Secretary Katharine MacGregor stated decisions affected by that ruling would need to be re-reviewed, and the one specific to Tlingit and Haida is still pending.

The administration’s reversal was prompted by a similar gaming facility the Native Village of Eklutna opened in January of 2025. The state of Alaska filed a lawsuit in February of that year to shut down the casino, but it is still operating. An Alaska Department of Law spokesman said last month the state “is deferring to the federal government as that review process plays out” before determining if a similar lawsuit will challenge the Two Coppers Casino.

The casino is also facing a shutdown demand from some George family members who have filed objections with the tribe, federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Indian Gaming Commission.

“Our family continues to be deeply concerned that Tlingit & Haida is building a facility our family did not authorize, at a location our family did not approve, and for an intended use our family did not approve,” Jimmy George Jr. wrote in a June 8 letter on behalf of three of signatories to federal gaming officials. The letter asserts unlicensed gaming is occurring at a casino that is a “public health and safety hazard.”

Jimmy George Jr., in other statements, asserts “what has been built and opened is materially different from the earlier development concepts reviewed during the 2015 to 2019 period, and that nothing since then has been reviewed or approved by the family.” He also expressed concerns about safety issues such as the casino’s initial opening period without plumbing facilities and the storage of fireworks on the property by the tribe, which sells them at a nearby stand before the July 4 holiday.

There were 10 seats reserved for George family members during Wednesday’s grand opening, six of which were occupied by Gabe George, his nephew and others. Two of them interviewed by the Independent — Woodbury and Rhonda Guest, said Jimmy George Jr.’s complaints don’t represent the family as a whole.

Guest said she’s been to the casino multiple times since the soft opening and “I think it’s great.”

“They don’t serve alcohol, they’re promoting education, (a) civic center, everything that my grandfather wanted, that my family wanted to do,” she said.

While Peterson talked about the economic and other benefits the casino will provide the tribe and its citizens, he said “we also want to be good community partners in a community” that includes addressing gambling-related concerns about the facility.

“We made a commitment to the community of Juneau that this is going to be a benefit and not that poison pill for our community,” he said. “We’re working on programs that will support behavioral health and things around addiction, and what could happen. We’re going to do our very best to make sure this is a healthy, fun, positive experience for not only those who enjoy gaming, but for the community and our communities beyond.”

The post Two Coppers Casino grand opening celebrates payoff for years of effort by tribal officials and family appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Eaglecrest Ski Area’s new general manager is returning to a familiar place, but far from a familiar situation.

Julie Jackson Piper, a former ski instructor and supervisor at the ski area between 2009 and 2015, was unanimously appointed to its top position Tuesday by Eaglecrest’s board of directors. She was also the aquatics manager at Juneau’s two public pools from 2015 to 2018, and has been recreation manager for the City of Richland, Washington, since 2018.

“I would say really the love of the mountain and the challenge that it poses” are the reasons for seeking the job, she told the board of directors during an interview last Thursday at City Hall. “I feel like I’m uniquely prepared for this challenge, having ski industry experience, a degree in business, which is related to ski area business management…so I have that mindset, even inside of a bureaucracy that is a public entity.”

Piper is scheduled to start her new job Aug. 31 at an annual salary of $134,014.40, with her contract also calling for a $5,000 sign-on bonus and up to $10,000 in relocation expenses. Her predecessor, Craig Cimmons, hired two years ago at an initial salary of $121,222, announced his resignation in January.

Erin Lupro, Eaglecrest’s director of snowsports school, rental, retail and repair, has served as the interim general manager for the past few months. She declined to seek the permanent position.

Piper was the only finalist interviewed by the full board. Fourteen applicants went through a human resources screening interview and five were interviewed by Eaglecrest’s Human Resources Committee before Piper was recommended as the finalist.

The board’s interview of Piper occurred at the same meeting where members also talked about the possibility of Goldbelt Inc. taking over operations of the city-owned ski area that is facing major questions about its financial sustainability. The resort has lost money for many years, is facing many millions in costs to upgrade aging infrastructure, and some city leaders are suggesting a private operator would have the resources to develop year-round mass tourism facilities.

However, board member Jim Calvin said at the meeting that “it’s a conversation and nothing more, and any kind of formal arrangement is frankly probably years away.”

Piper, who’s been assessing the ski area during her visit and was on the mountain when her hiring was announced Tuesday, stated in a text message to the Juneau Independent she will approach her new job with that mindset.

“From what was shared at last week’s board meeting it seems early informal conversations are being scheduled and in very early stages,” she wrote. “Partnerships of that magnitude can take years to dial in. As for how it will impact my short and long-term decision-making, I’ll know more as I jump into the work later this summer.”

When asked during the board interview how Eaglecrest can achieve greater financial stability and community support, Piper said talking with Goldbelt and other partners is a worthwhile endeavor, as is seeking grants and other significant funding sources.

“As far as increased community support, it’s really tapping into those relationships that may or may not have been utilized, possibly ignored, maybe overlooked and unappreciated,” she said, “and just ensuring that we’re not doing any of those things, and having a more global view as a board, as a staff, not just in what our singular operations are, but kind of pulling our heads up and looking around, and having that at every level of the organization.”

Piper said she remembers getting in spirited discussions about Eaglecrest with residents in town who recognized her when she was a ski instructor. A key thing she remembers from such encounters is “when someone’s even yelling at you and so upset about something there’s something in that that we can both relate to, is we both love Eaglecrest, we love the ski area.”

Among the short-term challenges Piper said she expects to confront are the poor snow seasons that have affected the ski area in recent years and are predicted to be a problem in the future. One specific possibility she discussed with the board is “making a plan and surveying the community to see if they’re ready to rally behind the Black Bear (chairlift)” that has been closed the past two seasons due to major maintenance needs.

“It can give you access to the upper mountain on a low snow year, like the year (of) the winter that wasn’t where there was a ribbon of snow and it was a bit of a gauntlet to get from even the top of Hooter down,” she said. “I mean, that saved our bacon in quite a few years and it’s just a priority.”

Cimmons and Eaglecrest’s board decided a year ago to permanently shut down Black Bear because repairs were deemed too expensive. A number of major decisions affecting the ski area have been made by city and Eaglecrest leaders since — most significantly abandoning plans to install a gondola that was seen as the foundation of an expansion into year-round operations when its installation cost turned out to be far higher than initially predicted.

Piper was one of two finalists interviewed for Eaglecrest’s general manager job two years ago when Cimmons was selected. She told the Juneau Independent it doesn’t make much sense to think about what might have been different now had she gotten the job then.

“It’s hard to say specifically what I would’ve done differently two years ago and not sure if it’s worth much to spend time thinking about that,” she wrote. “Instead the staff, the board and I are looking forward to a positive path into improved sustainability.”

The post Julie Jackson Piper named Eaglecrest’s new GM as city-owned ski area ponders private takeover of operations appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

The federal government has agreed to permanently loosen rules for oil and gas lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, according to a draft settlement agreement filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.

Adam Gustafson, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, said in a statement that the agreement “means more oil leasing, more domestic energy, and more independence from foreign sources of energy.”

The document filed this week would settle lawsuits filed by the state of Alaska and its investment bank over the 2025 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil lease sale that drew no bids. 

That sale, mandated by a 2017 law, took place after the Biden administration restricted the available acreage. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and the state of Alaska sued over the Biden-era limits.

This week’s agreement states in part that the federal government will not limit oil and gas leasing in ANWR until oil and gas equipment covers at least 2,000 acres in the refuge’s coastal plain. 

“The 2017 Tax Act does not authorize (the Bureau of Land Management) to deny or unreasonably limit development of production and support facilities to the Coastal Plain until 2,000 surface acres are covered by production and support facilities,” it states in part.

That’s a small fraction of the size of the leases being put up for sale but could represent a significant length of pipeline and a large number of drilling pads.

AIDEA and the state remain in court against the federal government over the result of a 2021 ANWR lease sale. AIDEA won leases during that sale, but the Biden administration canceled those leases, then attempted to re-sell the affected land during the 2025 sale. 

The ANWR leasing program overall has been challenged by a coalition of environmental groups, and that case also remains in court.

By email on Tuesday, an AIDEA spokesperson said it would be accurate to call the new agreement a victory for AIDEA and Alaska because it “includes a clear admission that the … Lease Sale ‘violated the 2017 Tax Act by preventing meaningful leasing, exploration, and development of oil and gas on the Coastal Plain, as Congress mandated.’”

Through a spokesman, acting Alaska attorney general Cori Mills noted that while Alaska’s attention has recently focused on a successful lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to the west of the Prudhoe Bay oil field, the state continues to be interested in ANWR, which is to the east.

The new settlement agreement increases the odds that ANWR will stay open to drilling even when a new president comes after Trump.

“While the State is ecstatic about the progress in the NPR-A, we cannot lose sight of the potential in ANWR. The problem is not a lack of potential or even lack of infrastructure; it is the lack of a stable investment climate without burdensome and unnecessary strings attached,” Mills said by email.

“The last administration did everything they could to shut down development in ANWR that our congressional delegation and numerous state administrations had fought long and hard for. But that doesn’t have to be the future. We are grateful that the federal government recognizes the unlawful actions taken previously and was willing to enter into the settlement and essentially admit the error,” she said. “There is still hope that ANWR can provide economic prosperity and crucial resources for local communities, the state, and the nation.”

The post Under new agreement, federal government limits obstacles to oil leasing in Alaska’s Arctic refuge appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.