Category: Alaska News

Just six days before the Trump administration is set to open bids in the first of several oil and gas lease sales for federal territory in Arctic Alaska, critics were in court on Thursday trying to win injunctions to temporarily block some of the sale.

In one case, a Native organization called Grandmothers Growing Goodness and an environmental organization, The Wilderness Society, are seeking to fully prevent the scheduled March 18 sale in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a federal land unit stretching across Alaska’s western North Slope. The sale is offering 5.5 million acres, a larger geographic scope than most of the NPR-A lease sales held since 1999.

The Grandmothers Growing Goodness-Wilderness Society lawsuit is also seeking to overturn a new Trump administration management plan that opens 82% of the Indiana-sized reserve to oil development. Previously, only about half of the reserve was available for leasing, and several areas had protective status. Among those areas was Teshekpuk Lake and its adjacent wetlands and tundra, which provide key habitat for a caribou herd, numerous species of migratory birds, fish and other Arctic animals.

For now, those plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to bar the sale of leases in previously protected areas.

The other case, filed by an organization representing residents of Nuiqsut, is narrower.

Nuiqsut is the North Slope Inupiat village closest to existing NPR-A development. The Nuiqsut lawsuit is seeking to reinstate a program that protects an environmentally sensitive portion of the reserve that had been off-limits to oil development until the Trump administration jettisoned those protections.

The Nuiqsut lawsuit concerns a right-of-way agreement struck with the Biden administration and Nuiqsut Trilateral Inc., an organization formed by Nuiqsut’s city and tribal governments and its village for-profit Native corporation. The agreement, made final in 2024, protects about 1 million acres in the area of Teshekpuk Lake by barring leasing and other development not approved by Nuiqsut Trilateral.

In December, the Trump administration abruptly canceled that agreement, citing the potential for oil in the right-of-way area.

That cancellation, which was announced without any consultation or advance warning to the villagers, caused immediate harm, said Travis Annatoyn, an attorney for the Nuiqsut plaintiffs.

“From the moment Interior canceled the right of way, it advertised its intent to grant competing property rights on top of the subject acreage. That is an invitation to administrative and judicial chaos down the road,” Annatoyn told U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason during the day’s second hearing. “This court should foreclose that chaos by issuing a narrow injunction and stay for just the area of the right of way. We are not seeking relief across the reserve. We are not seeking relief sale-wide.”

Gleason stated her intention to issue rulings before bids are unsealed on Wednesday, Mar. 18.

She said Nuiqsut plaintiffs presented a more compelling case for a temporary injunction. That case concerns property rights, not just “more esoteric” environmental and subsistence protections.

“I do see that there are far greater reasons for injunction as to this preliminarily, until the merits can be fully fleshed out,” she told U.S. Justice Department attorney Paul Turcke, who argued on behalf of the Department of the Interior at both hearings.

If the Teshekpuk-area leases are sold and the case is later decided in Nuiqsut Trilateral Inc.’s favor, that could create challenges for numerous parties, Gleason said.

The right-of-way agreement stemmed from environmental and subsistence stipulations in the Biden administration’s 2023 approval of ConocoPhillips’ giant Willow project, and it was a condition of Nuiqsut residents’ endorsement of that project. Willow is set to become the North Slope’s westernmost producing oil field. Conoco Phillips expects production to start in 2029, with an eventual peak of 180,000 barrels per day.

The right-of-way agreement focused on the Teshekpuk Lake area because it is important to Inupiat subsistence food-gatherers.

Under Trump administration terms, Teshekpuk-area protections that had been in place for decades no longer exist. That auction offers some areas at Teshekpuk Lake that have never previously been open to leasing, including parts of the lake itself.

Turcke argued at Thursday’s hearing that the federal government already protects subsistence rights diligently and does not need the right-of-way agreement to do so.

He also argued that Congress has already effectively struck down the restrictions imposed by the right-of-way agreement.

That happened last year, when Congress passed the sweeping budget and tax bill called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” he said. The bill mandated a series of at least five NPR-A lease sales to be conducted over 10 years under terms of management plan proposed by the first Trump administration.

Turcke also disputed the idea that including the Teshekpuk area in the lease sale would cause irreparable harm to the Nuiqsut plaintiffs.

“It sounds concerning when they say that their property rights could be impacted, but again, the whole property right that they’re really talking about is the ability to just leave it the way it is right now. And that’s not going to change whether leases are issued or not,” he said.

But Annatoyn said Nuiqsut residents are already suffering impacts from the administration’s actions.

“They wake up every day. They see and smell and hear the trucks going to Willow,” he said.

Both lawsuits were originally filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia but transferred last month to federal court in Alaska.

Correction: The story has been corrected to reflect that the temporary injunctions sought by plaintiffs in both lawsuits concern only part of the lease sale.

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The filing deadline for this year’s Alaska Permanent Fund dividend is March 31, and if Rep. Nick Begich III has his way, this year’s dividend will be tax free.

On March 3, Alaska’s lone member of the U.S. House introduced a bill that would exempt the dividend from federal taxes. 

When Begich mentioned it during his address to state lawmakers this week, it garnered a standing ovation in the state Capitol. 

Begich said afterward that passing the bill into law “is going to be a lift,” but in his first year as a Representative, Begich has found an unusual amount of success. On the day he introduced the tax-free dividend measure, he had a sixth prime-sponsored bill pass the U.S. Senate and advance to President Donald Trump. 

Those six bills include two Congressional Review Act resolutions that repealed regulations adopted by the administration of President Joe Biden.

When members of Alaska’s Congressional delegation speak to the Legislature, it’s usually a platform to talk about their recent accomplishments, and Begich had plenty to talk about this year.

The number of bills he passed through Congress in his first year is a record, his office said.

According to the Center for Effective Lawmaking, when Begich’s sixth bill becomes law, he will tie former Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Arizona, for the most bills that became law in a freshman term.

The 119th Congress still has several months to run, and if Begich manages a seventh, he would set the record.

“No other House freshman in our data (going back to 1973) had six or more,” said Colin Achilles, the center’s associate director, by email.  

At least some of Begich’s success is attributable to groundwork laid by his immediate predecessors, Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican Rep. Don Young.

His first two passed bills were handed over by Peltola after she lost to Begich in the 2024 elections. 

He’s also received help from Alaska’s two senators, Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, who have been able to guide his legislation through the Senate after passing the House.

Begich’s House-and-Senate passed bills to date include:

• A legal change making it easier for disabled Alaska Natives to qualify for some federal aid programs;
• A measure repealing Biden-era limits on oil and gas leasing within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge;
• Another measure that repealed a Biden-era land-use plan for Interior Alaska;
• A law that distributes extra land to Alaska Native village corporations by eliminating an inactive trust;
• A bill granting land to the Alaska Native village corporation for Saxman, in Southeast Alaska;
• And a bill extending the amount of time that Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans or their families have to pick grants of federal land.

While the measures repealing Biden-era actions advanced along party lines, taking advantage of Republican control of the House, Senate and Presidency, Begich’s other bills have gotten unanimous support in the House, from Democrats and Republicans alike.

Speaking to the Alaska Legislature, Begich said that “not every bill is a touchdown pass, but every bill puts (points) on the board. We are getting points on the board for the state of Alaska, and we will continue to look for opportunities to do that.”

After his speech, he acknowledged that the dividend bill is something closer to a deep pass than a short run down the middle, but it helps to be ready for an opportunity.

“You have to have these bills in existence in order for them to have an opportunity to pass. And sometimes a must-pass piece of legislation will show up, and you’ll have an opportunity to attach a priority for your district,” he said. “In our case … we wanted to make sure that we had this in the clip ready to go. When that opportunity arrives, sometimes it happens faster than you think it will. Sometimes it takes a while, but you have to have the legislative text ready to go for the moment that arrives, and that’s what we’re doing on that bill.”

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U.S. Forest Service leadership is in flux as the agency takes sweeping actions in managing the 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest, and making regulatory and administrative changes at all levels, Alaska-based officials reported this week.

At the beginning of a four-day federal subsistence Regional Advisory Council meeting in Juneau on Tuesday, Tongass Supervisor Monique Nelson spoke about shifts in the Forest Service since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025.

Nelson said staffing on the Tongass is down 30% from this time last year; in the wake of federal workforce reductions by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, 270 USFS employees are currently working in Southeast Alaska.

Nelson, who’s worked for the Forest Service in Alaska for several years, stepped into the Tongass supervisor role last spring. She said that “since the changes in the administration, we have shifted our work from the focus on the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy to other agency priorities that include active forest management, disaster recovery, minerals and energy and access to outdoor recreation.”

“While I say that there is a shift, those things are always our agency priorities, and so we are certainly happy and dedicated to doing that work in front of us,” she said.

USFS personnel are currently working through planning processes for logging, mining, and energy projects, Nelson said.

The largest of the planned logging projects are the South Revilla project east of Ketchikan and the Twin Mountain II project on eastern Prince of Wales Island, both of which include old-growth timber harvest, Nelson said.

“For both of those projects, we did find a significant likelihood of impacts to subsistence resources,” Nelson told the subsistence council members.

Among its energy projects, USFS is continuing to work on the Angoon-area Thayer Creek Hydropower project.

“With regard to minerals, I’ll say that really there is not a change. We are required to be very responsive to minerals needs,” Nelson said, noting there is currently a high price on gold.

The service is preparing for tourist season by hiring seasonal staff to take care of Tongass National Forest day-use sites, bear viewing areas, camp grounds and visitor centers.

Following Nelson’s presentation, council member Ted Sandhofer remarked on the size and scope of current USFS projects on the Tongass.

Sandhofer worked with USFS for about 35 years, starting in 1987 as a forester based in Hoonah, and retiring in 2021 as the head of the Petersburg Ranger District.

He said that the current USFS project list is “a big workload, as big as I’ve seen on the Tongass.”

“I know that there’s a reduction in (workforce), so it seems like you’re going to be doing more with less. … Do you have enough people?” Sanhofer asked.

Nelson told him the agency currently is working through “interim operations” while adjusting to staffing reductions.

“Our regional offices and our Washington office are acting as consolidated units where we have that high-level expertise working in much larger groups across much larger land masses,” Nelson said. “Now, we in Alaska are now working as part of a larger Pacific team with California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii, overseen by a (Pacific Northwest) Regional Forester on their executive leadership team.”

Acting Regional Forester for Alaska, Jerry Ingersoll, started in the role in October. He previously worked with USFS in Ketchikan and Juneau for about seven years.

Introducing himself at the council meeting Tuesday, Ingersoll said that he’ll be retiring at the end of April.

The permanent Regional Forester for the Pacific Northwest Region, Jacque Buchanan, spoke to the transition in USFS leadership for Alaska.

“When Jerry steps out, I’m going to step fully into it, to get us through the interim place to you getting back to a full staff at the Alaska level,” Buchanan said.

“This is the interim space,” Buchanan said. “I think we will probably be in this space for the next six to eight months. And so what the future is exactly going to look like, we don’t know.”

“I have pretty high assurance that, especially here in Alaska, there will remain a state-level leadership,” Buchanan said “It may be called something different, you know, it’s probably, it’s not going to be (an Alaska) Regional Forester, but it would be a state leadership at the same level.”

Buchanan said she’d like to help USFS get back to full staffing levels.

Nelson said that, with reduced staffing levels, “a lot of the local projects will be harder to address, and the emphasis on partnerships is really what’s going to make a difference for us to be able to make sure that we’re attending to those very local needs.”

She said partnerships remain a priority for USFS.

“Just recently, we entered into a shared stewardship agreement with the State of Alaska, and that agreement is focused on providing wood to the wood products industry, and pairing that with restoration actions on the forest,” Nelson said.

“We also have the opportunity to enter into more shared stewardship agreements, and we hope to be able to do so with many tribes and tribal partners, as well as other landowners in Southeast,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the Trump administration is prioritizing “deregulation and organizational efficiency, and then also an emphasis on partnerships as part of the deregulation agenda.”

Forest Service personnel in Washington, D.C., are working through the process to repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule, which could open the Tongass to more logging. A draft environmental impact statement is expected this spring, and will be released for a public comment period.

Last month the Forest Service issued a notice of intent for its ongoing Tongass National Forest Management Plan; public comments are due by March 20 as to “purpose and need for action” driving the Tongass plan revision by USFS. 

Meanwhile, personnel in Washington, D.C., are working on changing the agency’s National Environmental Policy Act regulations and administrative review regulations, Nelson said.

This story originally appearedin the Daily Sitka Sentinel.

The post Subsistence panel told of shifts by U.S. Forest Service appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

The tenacious defense of the Haines boys basketball team came to the court for the championship game of the March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball state tournament on Saturday in Anchorage, but the Glacier Bears scored just three points in the first quarter against the also defensive-minded Ninilchik Wolverines, who prevailed 53-38.

“I loved everything about our team, man,” Haines coach Bryan Combs said. “They had a never-give-up mentality from the very beginning. When you get a group of guys — 10, 12, 13 — that come to the court at 6:30 every morning, every day and show up for a two-hour practice in the afternoon…They put the work in to get to play in a state championship game. And that is the bottom line.”

The first quarter belonged to Ninilchik’s McCorison brothers. Sophomore Andon McCorison hit the game’s first points from beyond the arc and added a steal and another three-point shot minutes later. Senior Kade McCorison hit a pair of two-point field goals, one at the buzzer, and had two blocked shots.

In between the McCorison scoring, Haines senior Colton Combs hit two free throws, senior John Davis hit one and the Glacier Bears trailed the Wolverines 10-3. 

Haines could not get closer than that seven-point deficit in the first half.

A. McCorison hit two free throws to open the second quarter and Haines’ C. Combs hit a driving shot to pull to 12-5. K. McCorison scored on a step-through, and Haines junior Brody Ferrin scored to trail 14-7. In between those traded scores. Haines inside senior force James Stickler picked up two fouls.

Ninilchik junior Holden Corwin hit from the arc, sophomore teammates Eric Rader and Onyx Allen hit two free throws and one free throw, respectively, for a 20-7 lead that also drew the third foul on Stickler. While Haines expects every player to rebound and play hard defense, Stickler is a force for the Glacier Bears.

“Definitely defense is what we pride ourselves on,” Haines’ Davis said. “That is where we start every game. That is where we get our energy from. Bringing the defense and then drawing up some stuff on offense, but really we just start on defense and the offense comes after that…We played some pretty good defense tonight. We played hard but some shots didn’t fall for us and shots fell for them. We haven’t played a team that big in the paint so it was a little rough down low…Shots just didn’t fall and that was how it went…In the moment it feels like a loss. It is always rough to not win but thinking about it, two years ago we were second worst in the state so to go from that to second best in the state – that is a pretty good feeling for us. I am pretty happy to be here. This is rough, but I am happy.”

Haines junior Kyran Sweet hit a put-back to pull to 20-9, but was answered by Ninilchik’s K. McCorison for a 22-9 lead.

A missed Haines shot became a tussle under the basket and jump ball possession went to the Glacier Bears. Sweet would score on an inbounds play for a 22-11 score at the half. 

Ninilchik opened the second half on an 8-0 run behind a field goal and three-point shot by A. McCorison and a blocked shot that led to an old-fashioned three-point play, both by K. McCorison, for a 30-11 lead.

The Glacier Bears worked to pull within single digits for the last time as Ferrin and senior John Davis both hit from the arc to trail 30-17. Ninilchik’s K. McCorison bumped and bullied inside to draw the fourth foul on Haines’ Stickler and hit two free throws for 32-17. The Glacier Bears Ferrin, C. Combs and sophomore Isaac Jones each hit scoring drives to trail by nine points, 32-23, but it lasted just one possession as K. McCorison scored for a 34-23 lead as the third quarter ended.

“Throughout the season we have been hanging our hats on defense,” Haines’ Ferrin said. “We really try to create pressure the whole game. Just defense and pressure really. It was awesome to be on the court tonight. I don’t think Haines has been here for about 10 to 15 years. It is a big moment for us even with the loss. It is really just amazing that we made it this far.”

The fourth quarter started with Ninilchik’s Rader scoring an old-fashioned three-point play that drew the game-ending fifth foul on Haines’ Stickler.

Sweet answered from the arc to pull to 37-26, but Rader hit a basket and then three free throws for a 41-26 lead. Haines’ junior Wade Lloyd hit two free throws and C. Combs a field goal, but Ninilchik’s Rader went to the free throw line for five more points, the result being the fourth foul called on Haines’ Jones with three minutes left in the game.

“It was a huge experience here,” Haines’ Colton Combs said. “A huge moment. All the fans from Haines, so many people came up despite struggling with the weather, trying to drive up, but when it cleared up we were able to get a bunch of fans in the stands. It made the atmosphere way better, brought more energy to the gym. It was just a great experience. I am so proud of this team. Since day one our motivation was to cut down nets and hang banners and while we did that at regions, which Haines hasn’t down in a while, then came here and almost got the job fully finished. But just came a little short.”

Haines’ Jones hit from the arc only to be answered by Ninilchik’s A. McCorison from the field and K. McCorison from the free throw line for a 50-33 lead.

Ferrin scored for Haines, but Ninilchik’s K. McCorison scored and drew the fifth foul on Haines’ Jones. 

A final shot from the arc by Haines’ Sweet was answered by a single free throw from Ninilchik’s K. McCorison for the 53-38 final score.

Haines coach Combs said the game plan was “to go out there and have fun but find your advantages, take advantage of them and play hard on defense. It has worked all season. Ninilchik, they are a great team. They are athletic, they are tall, they have been very well coached. They have done an amazing job. I have got years to go before I get to Nick’s (Ninilchik coach Nick Finley) level… So we start work as soon as we get home… We will be back. We don’t plan on being one and done. We are trying to build a culture and bring Haines basketball back and being competitive every single year.”

Sweet led Haines with 12 points, C. Combs had eight, junior Brody Ferrin seven, sophomore Isaac Jones five, senior John Davis four and junior Wade Lloyd two. The Glacier Bears made five three-point shots, nine two-point field goals and hit 5-6 from the free throw line. Haines had 23 team fouls and two players fouled out.

Senior Kade McCorison led Ninilchik with 18 points, freshman Anden McCorison had 15, sophomore Eric Rader 14, junior Holden Corwin five and sophomore Onyx Allen one. The Wolverines hit four three-point shots, 11 closer in, went 19-29 from the line and had 10 team fouls.

Ninilchik earned the title game by defeating Cordova 52-25 in the quarterfinals and Metlakatla 49-32 in the semifinals. The Wolverines finish with a 26-3 record. Their three losses were to 1A Minto (67-51) on December 20; 3A Kenai (56-27) on Jan. 8; and 3A Kenai (62-50) on Feb. 21.

Haines earned the title game by defeating Tikigaq 68-34 in the quarterfinals and Unalakleet 42-41 in the semifinals. The Glacier Bears finish their season with a 17-6 record. The losses include at Petersburg (57-38, 59-46) on Jan. 29-30; to Petersburg (52-51) on Feb. 21; and at Metlakatla (52-46, 50-42) on Feb. 26-27.

In other action for Southeast teams on Saturday during the state championships, the Craig Lady Panthers defeated the Metlakatla Miss Chiefs 52-36 in the 2A girls third/fifth place game behind 26 points from junior Sara Steffen while Metlakatla sophomore Haylen Ladnier led the Miss Chiefs with 11 points. The Metlakatla Chiefs lost to the Unalakleet Wolfpack 46-44 in the 2A boys third/fifth place game with Chiefs junior Cruz Lindsey scoring 17 and senior Sebashtin Martinez 13. And in the 1A boys consolation final for seventh place, the Klawock Chieftains defeated the Skagway Panthers 62-47 behind 26 points from Chieftains’ senior Connor Bagby, while the Panthers were led by 15 points from senior Camden Lawson.

2A STATE TOURNAMENT AWARDS

1st Place boys – Ninilchik Wolverines. 2nd Place boys – Haines Glacier Bears.

1st Place girls – Seward Seahawks. 2nd Place girls – Glennallen Panthers.

Sportsmanship (team, coaches, fans) – Metlakatla Chiefs boys, Craig Lady Panthers girls.

Team Academic – Su Valley Rams boys (3.84), Unalakleet Wolfpack girls (3.907).

Team Assists (through first two state tournament games) – Unalakleet Wolfpack boys (38), Seward Seahawks’ girls (34).

State All-Tournament boys – Joshua Smith (Unalakleet), Isaac Smith (Unalakleet),  Gianni Scudero-Hayward (Metlakatla), Jacob Lane (Tikigaq), Austin Bernard (Su Valley), James Stickler (Haines), Colton Combs (Haines), Kade McCorison (Ninilchik). Andon McCorison (Ninilchik), Marvin Captain (Tok).

State Tournament girls – Baileigh Nelson (Metlakatla), Sara Steffen (Craig), Ashlynn Smith (Craig); Isabelle Nothstine (Cordova); Lily Esmailka (Su Valley), Alianna Stone (Glennallen), Violet Jack (Unalakleet), Ava Jagielski (Seward), McKinley Williams (Seward), Grace Ann Fleming (Seward).

1A STATE TOURNAMENT AWARDS

1st Place boys – Shaktoolik Wolverines 60-46 over Minto Lakers.

1st Place girls – Fort Yukon Eagles 52-49 over Newhalen Malamutes.

Sportsmanship – Boys,  Napaaqtugmiut (Noatak) Lynx. Girls, Shaktoolik Wolverines. 

Team Academic – Boys, Skagway Panthers (3.46). Girls, Tri-Valley Warriors (3.93).

Team Assists – Boys, Shaktoolik Wolverines (57). Girls, Fort Yukon Eagles (37).

State All-Tournament boys – Alek McGarry (Cook Inlet Academy), Austin Rock (Shaktoolik), Brandt Rollman (Cook Inlet Academy), Chase Katchatag (Shaktoolik), Connor Bagby (Klawock), Frederick Olanna (Shishmaref), Gavin Hanshaw (Selawik), Ivan Davis-Nayokpuk (Shishmaref), Jonathan David (Minto), Marshall Dallman (Aniak), Nicholas Roberts (Minto), Riley Wilson (King Cove), Royce Borst (Skagway), Seth Paniptchuk (Shaktoolik), Terrence Nutting-Titus (Northway), Warren Charlie (Minto).

State All-Tournament girls – Analeigh Wassillie (Newhalen), Annette Paniptchuk (Shaktoolik), Brooklyn Hingesbergen (Selawik), Chloe Wassillie (Akiuk), CJ Kaganak (Scammon Bay), Easton Ross (Hoonah), Gracelyn Adams (Napaagtugmiut), Ida Lester (Newhalen), Iris Wappel (Tri-Valley), Jane Ward (Ft. Yukon), Kylee Carroll (Ft. Yukon), Krya Weyanna (Shishmaref), Missty Marine (Sand Point), Nellie Ward (Ft. Yukon), Pagan Lester (Newhalen), Summer Sampson (Shaktoolkik).

2A Girls Third/Fifth place game – CRAIG 52, METLAKATLA 36

In a rematch of the Southeast Conference championship game — and for the sixth time this season — the Craig Lady Panthers faced Metlakatla and repeated their regional performance with a 52-36 win over the Miss Chiefs in the third/fifth place game of the March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball state tournament Saturday in Anchorage.

The Panthers had won three of the previous five meetings, with each team winning at home and Craig taking the Southeast crown. 

“We faced Metlakatla in January and this year we saw them again at home and they won at their home court and we won at our home court,” Craig coach Vanessa James said. “And in Juneau we pulled off the win and now this one is big for us. We decided we were playing together as a team today for our seniors, and I have no doubt that getting here was what their goal was. And they lost sight of setting a new goal and we didn’t play our best basketball the last two games here at state. So coming out here and playing some pretty good basketball, I think they are leaving the state tournament on a high note.”

Craig led 14-8 after the first quarter as junior Ashlynn Smith found a rhythm with an early lay-in and two shots near the end of the stanza from the arc. Seniors Chelsea Thompson and Abigail Patten and freshman Alli Demmert added a field goal each as the Lady Panthers worked to contain the height of Metlakatla.

Miss Chiefs senior Morgan Hayward would score twice in the key on rebounds and add a free throw and senior Ma’Karii Martinez was fouled inside and hit three free throws.

The game became a real battle inside in the second quarter as Metlakatla junior Baileigh Nelson would score three times in the paint and add a free throw and Hayward added another inside score. The Miss Chiefs also had a lay-in and two shots past the arc from sophomore Haylen Ladnier.

Craig would pound the ball inside as well with junior Sara Steffen drawing four fouls on Metlakatla and hitting seven of her eight free throws.

Metlakatla would suffer a blow as Nelson suffered an injury midway through the quarter and would be lost for the rest of the game. Senior Mia Winter stepped up on the rebounding end in her absence. The Miss Chiefs trailed 26-25 heading into halftime.

“We know each other really, really well,” Metlakatla coach Mike Nigus said. “We knew what they brought and they knew what we brought. While we had our whole group healthy and ready to go, we knew it was going to be a great basketball game. And then as some injuries happened it really had an impact on the play and what we could do. It limited us.”

Craig would outscore Metlakatla 15-2 in the third quarter as Steffen hit 11 of those points and Thompson four. The Miss Chiefs’ two points came from Martinez at the free throw line.

Craig led 41-27 heading into the fourth quarter and Metlakatla would lose Martinez to an injury in the opening seconds. Steffen would score eight of the Lady Panthers 11 points in the stanza and Smith the other three.

Metlakatla’s nine points were divided among Ladnier with her third shot past the arc and seniors Saahdia Buffalo, Daycee King and Hayward.

Steffen led Crag with 26 points, Smith added 13, Thompson eight, Demmert three and Patten two. The Lady Panthers made three shots past the arc, 15 two-point field goals and hit 13-18 at the free throw line. Patten had five of the Lady Panthers 13 fouls and was lost in the fourth quarter.

“I felt like it was very emotional because we lost our last game and didn’t make it into the championship,” Craig’s Thompson said. “We wanted to do the best we could from here, which was to get third and put everything that we have learned from the last 12 years on to the court. We just wanted to let it all go on the court.”

Said Craig’s Patten, “We have been working on this our entire lives. We just wanted to put everything out there. Leave nothing undone, you know, leave no stone unturned. It felt really good to end my season and my career on a win, and it is extremely special to have these girls behind me. It was a team effort today. Everybody contributes and it is really good to be a senior and know that everybody has your back to get you that win.”

Ladnier led Metlakatla with 11 points, Hayward had eight, Nelson seven, Martinez five, King three and Buffalo two. The Miss Chiefs hit three three-point shots, nine two-point field goals and were 9-12 at the line. Buffalo had five of the Miss Chiefs 21 fouls and was lost in the fourth quarter. Martinez had her fourth foul before injury and Winter had four.

“It means a lot to know how far we have come from where we started to where we ended,” Metlakatla’s Martinez said. “I think we gave our all. I have nothing left in me to give to the floor. I played my whole heart out. We have played against Craig since middle school.”

Said Buffalo, “It feels like we all know all of each other’s plays because this is the sixth time we have played each other. Basketball has always been there my whole life. It meant a lot when I moved here as a seventh grader and started growing up with them… Because it is not only about basketball.”

Add Martinez, “Our whole team grew up together and when we added ‘Via’ in it just clicked. It is a sport that our parents played so we of course are going to play it. I felt like it created special bonds that are going to be helpful in the future because it is about the connections you make all around Southeast.”

Craig seniors Thompson and Patten were honored after the game along with Metlakatla seniors Martinez, Winter, King, Hayward and Buffalo.    

“It is a joy,” Craig coach Vanessa James said. “Because I have been coaching most of these girls since kindergarten through middle school and high school. So seeing their growth and watching them grow as young women has always been bigger than basketball for me. Seeing them grow and become good human beings is the ultimate goal. I wish my two seniors the best of luck and I know they will do great moving forward in life.”

Metlakatla coach Nigus spoke to the impact his seniors had on the future of the Miss Chiefs program, saying, “They will forever be Miss Chiefs. They have won state championships and battled through the grind of making a trip to state every year that they have been in the program. I am not sure how many can say that… anywhere.”

Craig finishes the season with a 24-5 record. The five losses came against 4A Service (98-45) on December 28, at Metlakatla (42-34, 53-50) Jan. 7-8, at Petersburg (43-40) Jan. 31 and in the state semifinals to Glennallen (48-37) on Friday.

Metlakatla finished with a 20-7 record. The Miss Chiefs losses included Glennallen (24-14) on Jan. 29, Dillingham (26-20) on Jan. 31, at Craig (41-28, 40-32) on Feb. 6-7, at regions to Craig (47-41) on March 6, at state to Seward (53-23) on Friday, and Craig (52-36) Saturday.

Note: The Seward Seahawks defeated the Glennallen Lady Panthers 42-26 for the 2A championship. The Seahawks also beat the Lady Panthers last year for the state title.

2A boys third/fifth place game – UNALAKLEET 46, METLAKATLA 44

The Metlakatla Chiefs lost in the finals seconds of the March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball State Championships third/fifth place game on Saturday, 46-44, to the Unalakleet Wolfpack at the University of Alaska Anchorage’s AVIS Center.

“We have played Unalakleet three times now over the last two years and they were all battles,” Metlakatla coach TJ Scott said. “They got us by three last year, we got them by five and then they got us by two today and we just match up really well. They go on some huge runs whenever we play them and we just have to kind of chip away. And dang it. If I just had one more time out tonight.”

Trailing 44-38, Metlakatla senior Sebastian Martinez hit from past the arc to pull the Chiefs to 44-41 with 49 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Scott called his last time out to set up the Metlakatla defense and tell the Chiefs to not foul immediately.

The Metlakatla defense came up with a loose ball with 20 seconds left and Martinez buried another shot from the arc to tie the game.

With Metlakatla having no way to slow the action, the change of possession gave Unalakleet a hurried inbounds pass under pressure but the Wolfpack were able to find sophomore Joshua Smith under their basket for a layin with four seconds left and the Chiefs could not strategize a final play or a final shot as time expired.

“We were in that full court press mode still and we gave up an odd-man break going the other way because I just didn’t get pulled out of it,” Scott said. “I wish I had one more but most of our timeouts were trying to bail us out of bad spots from their press. They kind of caused me to burn my time outs.”

The game started with a long-scoring first half as both teams fell into a patient offense due to hard nosed defense by opponents.

Metlakatla led 10-7 after eight minutes behind six points from junior Rocco Lindsey, and two apiece from Martinez and junior Gianni Scudero-Hayward. The Chiefs would go into the half leading 17-13 behind a basket apiece by R. Lindsey and junior Cruz Lindsey, three free throws from junior Cordell Buxton and one from Scudero-Hayward.

A brief break rejuvenated both sides and the scoring inflated from distance with Metlakatla’s C. Lindsey hitting two from the arc and senior Bryce Olin one, and C. Lindsey netting a shot closer in and a free throw. Scudero-Hayward would be called for his second and third foul in the quarter and have to take a brief break.

Unalakleet senior Carter Gray hit two shots from the arc in that stanza and sophomore Connor Doty one, while senior Trevin Soderstrom and Smith connected on put backs inside to cut into the Metlakatla lead and trail 29-26 starting the final eight minutes.

C. Lindsey was whistled for his third foul in the opening seconds and R. Lindsey hit a basket for a 31-29 lead but Unalakleet’s Soderstrom hit for 31-28. R. Lindsey hit inside again on a wrap-around pass by Olin for a 33-28 advantage.

Unalakleet would tie the game with an old fashioned three-point play that drew the fourth foul on R. Lindsey and Smith drew the fourth foul on Scudero-Hayward and made both free throws to knot the game at 33-33.

After both teams had a steal and a turnover, a rebound by Metlakatla’s Olin led to a fast break basket from Martinez for a 35-33 lead and coach Scott called his second to last timeout as Unalakleet had a man alone on the other end.

Unalakleet sophomore Oliver Ivanoff scored to tie the game at 35-35 and Smith stole the inbounds pass and scored an old-fashioned three-point play for a 38-35 lead. Another steal by Unalakleet’s Ivanoff drew a fifth and final foul on Metlakatla’s ball handling wizard Scudero-Hayward and Ivanoff hit one free throw for a 39-35 lead.

Martinez knocked down a three-point shot with 1:57 left in the game to pull the Chiefs to 39-38 but was answered by the Wolfpacks Doty for a 42-28 lead.

“Every shot I take I think it is going in,” Martinez said. “You have to have that shooter’s confidence even if you have missed all your other three-point shots or missed every other shot. You just have to shoot with confidence and they will start to fall.”

A loose ball tussle became a jump ball possession for Unalakleet and Smith was fouled, making two free throws for a 44-38 lead.

Martinez would then hit the first of his last two high school shots from the arc, pulling the Chiefs to 44-41 with that 49 second time out giving the Metlakatla players their final instructions. The plan worked as the ball came back to Martinez and he hit with under 12 seconds but Unalakleet’s Smith would sneak along the back court infront of his own bench for the game winner.

“The season has had ups and downs,” Martinez said. “Six weeks ago we lost to this team and we were their first win, and only win of the season at that time. But to come back from that and from losing the first round in regionals and battled our way through and took down the first seed Petersburg that lost in the championship and making it to state with Haines is huge. We weren’t really even supposed to be here so it was an honor to just come up here and play and make it to the semifinals and battle against that really tough Ninilchik team… We play with 110 precent the whole time. It is never over until it is over really. That true second game at regionals against Petersburg we were down five with a minute to go, a two possession game. But luckily we got two stops and boom we were tied up with 30 seconds left and then went into double overtime and ended up coming out on top and coming up here. I love these guys. They  are my brothers. Even now that I am out of high school basketball they will always be close to me.”

C. Lindsey led Metlakatla with 17 points, Martinez added 13, R. Lindsey six, Scudero-Hayward and Olin three apiece and Buxton two. The Chiefs hit six three-point shots, 11 two-point field goals and were 4-12 from the free throw line.

Smith led Unalakleet with 13 points, Doty, Soderstrom and Grey nine each, and Ivanoff six. The Wolfpack made six three-point shots, 10 two-point field goals and were 8-12 at the line.

“I just told them I was super proud of them,” Scott said. “They battle and have heart. You know yesterday we got down 17-4 and just couldn’t stop the bleeding early and then played fine the rest of the day. And today they come out, it was 7-2 or something and we were down, and then we fixed it. We didn’t let it get to double digits and then we played really good, smart basketball the rest of the half and really good defense. We caused them into some quick, bad possessions and really rattled them. Obviously that is a hell of a coach on the other side and he made some adjustments at halftime. They exposed our defense a little bit and they have five or six guys that are willing and capable to take those shots from distance and have so many good players it is hard to match up at times. But we battled hard and played hard and we had a shot for sure.”

Metlakatla finishes their season 17-11. The Chiefs 11 losses came at Petersburg (44-26, 58-50) on January 3-4, at Haines (57-48, 50-41) on January 16-17, against Unalakleet on a neutral court (59-44) on January 30, to Dillingham on a neutral court (31-21) on January 31, at Craig (42-35) on February 7, at Petersburg (47-31) on February 14, against Haines at Juneau regional (42-31) on March 4, at state to Ninilchik (49-32 on Friday and Unalakleet (46-44) Saturday to finish in fifth place.

Metlakatla seniors Bryce Olin (2), Sebashtin Martinez (11) and Robert Ridley (5) along with Unalakleet seniors Isaac Smith (15), Carter Gray (25), Chace Doty (5) and Trevin Soderstrom (22) were honored after the game.

Note: Ninilchik defeated Haines 53-48 for the 2A state championship. Unalakleet won the title last season over Cordova.

1A boys seventh place game – KLAWOCK 62, SKAGWAY 47

Klawock defeated Southeast Conference foe Skagway 62-47 on Saturday for seventh place in the March Madness Alaska 1A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage.

“It was only appropriate we played them,” Skagway coach Ross Barrett said. “They are a good team and we always have a good battle with them. Our team always puts in a 100% effort, that has never been an issue with us. The effort is always there. Some days it is just not falling for us and some days the energy just isn’t there but they played a really good game today. We just couldn’t get it going today.”

Skagway had beaten Klawock 64-60 for the region championship, an upset as the Chieftains held the conference top seed.

“It is fun to play them again,” Skagway senior Camden Lawson said after Saturday’s game. His emotions led to tears. “We have played them like five times this year but it is always a battle. I knew it was going to be close but yeah, I don’t know what to say, sorry… Basketball is just, just so fun. I get to be around all my friends and get to travel with them to bigger places. It is pretty special.”

Skagway held a 14-12 lead after eight minutes with C. Lawson hitting a shot past the arc and a lay-in and senior Royce Borst hitting from the arc and driving inside for two more scores.

“I was honestly surprised we would play them again,” Borst said. “We played them in the regional title and it is always a good game against them. A pretty good rivalry. I don’t think it has hit me that this is my last high school game. I don’t even know what to say. I’m speechless, kind of sad, but moving on is exciting.”

Klawock junior Paul Lingley also found both a shot from distance and a driving layup in the first quarter and Chieftains senior Connor Bagby was aggressive on his drives, scoring on a lay-in and going to the free throw line for three more points.

Skagway’s C. Lawson hit another shot from distance to spark the Panthers’ second quarter and junior Ryder Calver added a couple baskets inside while Klawock’s Bagby and sophomore Dahani Peel each hit from the arc and added a free throw in the stanza. Skagway held a 25-22 lead at the half.

Klawock went to a full court defense to open the second half, and the pressure allowed Lingley to get the ball in transition and when not hitting two shots from the arc, he dished off four assists to senior Tristin Ryno, junior Raymond Fairbanks and Bagby. Skagway junior Ryder Calver scored six of the Panthers’ nine points in the stanza. The Chieftains took a 42-34 lead into the final eight minutes.

The fourth quarter belonged to Klawock’s Bagby, as he hit five field goals and two free throws on an assortment of fast break shots with assists by Lingley and rebounds by Ryno as the Chieftains scored another 20 points. Skagway’s C. Lawson added another six points for the Panthers and senior Kaleb Cochran hit from the arc, added a lay-in and finished his night with a free throw but Klawock had avenged their regional title loss 62-47.

Klawock seniors Bagby, Ryno and David Friday were honored after the game along with Skagway seniors Borst, Cochran and C. Lawson.

“It is a lot, man,” Klawock senior C. Bagby said, breaking down into tears. “This team man. We worked our (butts) off to come to state. And to have this last, final game and kick the heck out of our competitors… I love the game, man… You get to practice with guys who you might not know yet but once the season ends you realize they are family. You all work together and come to state or win regionals, whatever, it is just the love of the game. I love to play and have fun.”

Bagby led Klawock with 26 points, Lingley added 16, Ryno and Fairbanks six apiece, Peel five and junior Cesar Vasquez three. The Chieftains made five three-point shots, 17 two-point field goals and were 13-16 at the free throw line. Klawock had 12 fouls with only Ryno reaching his fourth.

C. Lawson led Skagway with 15 points, Borst added 14, Calver 10, Cochran six and Malcolm Lawson two. The Panthers made four three-point shots, 14 two-point field goals and were 7-13 at the line. Calver had five of the Panthers 13 fouls.

“Paul Lingley was huge for us,” Klawock coach Nate Yockey said. “He controlled our pace the entire tournament and had his best stretch of games all season. His personal growth as well as a player has been fun to watch, he’s grown a tremendous amount and ended the season on a great note. The trajectory of the game was similar to our region final — we threw a good punch first, they swung back and were up at half. The difference between this game and the region final was our ability to respond to adversity when we got down. I’m super proud of the guys’ effort.” 

Klawock finishes the season with a 26-6 record and Skagway 22-7. In an early tourney at Skagway, the two teams split with Klawock winning 38-34 and Skagway winning 66-50. The Panthers defeated the Chieftains 46-43 for the regional title at Mt. Edgecumbe.

Klawock opened state tournament play with a 64-60 loss to Walter Northway on Wednesday, defeated Eek 67-42 on Thursday, and toppled Chief Ivan Blunka 66-36 Friday. Skagway opened state with a 67-50 loss to Shishmaref on Wednesday, defeated Nunamiut 99-41 Thursday and Aniak 83-48 on Friday.

Note: Shaktoolik defeated Minto 60-46 for the 1A boys state championship. Shaktoolik defeated Cook Inlet Academy last season for the title.

In the 1A girls state championship game the Fort Yukon Lady Eagles defeated the Newhalen Lady Malamutes 52-49. This is Fort Yukon’s third straight state title.

This story was originally published by the Juneau Independent.

The post Haines loses to Ninilchik in 2A boys state championship game 53-38  appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

The #3 seed Haines Glacier Bears won a 42-41 semifinal cliff hanger over #2 Unalakleet and the #4 Metlakatla Chiefs fell 49-32 in a semifinal to #1 Ninilchik at the March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball State Championships on Friday in Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. Haines will face Ninilchik at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the state championship. Metlakatla will play Unalakleet in a 12:30 p.m. third-place game.

2A Boys – HAINES 42, UNALAKLEET 41

In the nightcap of the March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball state championships the game came down to a free throw, or two.

With 14.3 seconds remaining in a semifinal clash between the #3 seed Haines Glacier Bears and the #2 Unalakleet Wolfpack, senior James Stickler was on the line with the score tied 39-39.

Stickler banked in the first free throw, which elicited a joyous jump in the air from the 6’3” center. His next shot bounced away, but junior Kyran Sweet put the rebound up and in for a 42-39 lead.

Unalakleet sophomore Oliver Ivanoff was fouled on the other end with 3.5 seconds remaining in the game and he hit the first shot to pull to 42-41 but missed the second, and Stickler was involved in the rebounding carnage that ended the game with the Glacier Bears heading to the state championship game on Saturday.

“I feel amazing,” Stickler said. “But there are a lot of things we can fix to make our game a little bit better. That was a pretty rough game. But we made enough points.”

Stickler was key for battling inside against Unalakleet’s 6’3” senior Isaac Smith and 6’2” sophomore Joshua Smith.

“It was pretty physical,” Stickler said. “A lot more physical than down in Southeast, they actually let us play up here.”

Haines led 37-34 starting the fourth quarter, and both teams suffered a series of miscues, one missed dunk, and missed easy shots.

Unalakleet scored the first basket of the stanza with three minutes left on a fast break by Ivanoff and 20 seconds later senior Carter Gray hit from the arc for a 39-37 lead.

Both teams went through steals and turnovers before Stickler hit a layin with 1:35 left to tie the game at 39-39. The excitement followed for the Glacier Bears as they earned the state title matchup against the state’s top seed, the Ninilchik Wolverines.

“One more step,” Haines coach Brian Combs said. “An even bigger game tomorrow. We have to do a better job of handling pressure and keeping our heads up. If you make a bad play you have to keep your head up and move on. When that pressure comes you have to accept it and be strong with it. You have to be strong mentally and strong with the ball…We know as a team we can play a whole lot better than that. But give credit to Unalakleet, they played hard. They were scrappy and we didn’t handle their pressure all that well.”

Haines led 13-10 after eight minutes of play, 25-22 at the half and 37-34 starting the fourth quarter.

Stickler led Haines with 11 points, Sweet added nine, sophomore Isaac Jones seven, seniors Colton Combs and John Davis five apiece, junior Brody Ferrin three and junior Wade Lloyd two. The Glacier Bears hit just two three-point shots, 15 from closer in and 6-12 from the free throw line.

J. Smith led Unalakleet with 17 points, I. Smith and sophomore Oliver Ivanoff nine apiece, Gray and junior Teyler Johnson three apiece. The Wolfpack hit six three-point shots, nine from closer in and 5-9 from the line.

2A Boys – NINILCHIK 49, METLAKATLA 32

The Metlakatla Chiefs were hit with an early barrage of three-point shots from the Ninilchik Wolverines on Friday and could not fully recover in a 49-32 semifinal loss at the March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.

“We knew that the pressure they were going to apply full court was going to be a problem because we have never seen it. We don’t play teams that do that to us, at least we haven’t this year,” Metlakatla coach TJ Scott said. “It shocked us early.”

Ninilchik opened the game on a 14-2 run behind four straight shots past the arc, two apiece from sophomore Onyx Allen and freshman Andon McCorison. Allen added a lay-in.

Metlakatla had an early basket from junior Gianni Scudero-Hayward. Junior Rocco Lindsey added a score and was answered again from the arc by Allen for a 17-4 lead.

A basket by Metlakatla junior Cruz Lindsey was answered by two scores from Ninilchik senior Kade McCorison for a 21-7 lead after eight minutes.

“Then we just battled,” Scott said. “We got it to eight or nine a couple times, but they always hit a big shot. We got looks once we adjusted and just relaxed a little bit… I thought we played fine, we just didn’t knock down shots.”

Metlakatla had good looks from the perimeter, but the shots wouldn’t fall and Ninilchik had one gear when they touched a rebound.

The Lindsey brothers scored two shots from the arc and two closer in to keep Metlakatla within 10 points at 27-17 in the second quarter. Scudero-Hayward hit to make the score 27-19, but was answered by Ninilchik sophomore Eric Radar for 30-19. Ninilchik’s K. McCorison blocked a shot at the buzzer to give the Wolverines momentum going into halftime.

“They just hit threes that kept us at a distance,” Scott said. “It’s sad. But they were a good team and certainly the better team tonight, so respect to that coach and how he runs that program.”

Both teams forced an offensive turnover to start the third quarter, and Metlakatla pulled to 31-22 on a pair of Scudero-Hayward free throws. Ninilchik answered with a shot past the arc by K. McCorison, forcing a timeout by the Chiefs.

“I just told them right then that we had to gamble,” Scott said. “Julian and Danny (assistants Russell and Marsden) shared some insights with me, they have been crucial working with these boys, and we told the boys to just keep doing what we are doing. If we knock some shots down, if we get this thing to six they are going to get tight.”

Metlakatla would break down the Ninilchik defense with drives and kick it out to the perimeter yet couldn’t break the 10-point deficit the remainder of the game and trailed 36-24 after three quarters.

“We just never hit that one more shot to get the deficit to single digits,” Scott said. “Super proud of my kids and the fight they had because we could have rolled over and gotten beat by 30 tonight pretty easy. But what I really like that I saw was our guards actually wanted the ball, went to the ball, spaced the floor well and then we got the ball across. We didn’t turn the ball over that much after the first quarter. That first quarter was rough, we were just in panic mode.”

Metlakatla plays in the third-place game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against Unalakleet, a 42-41 loser to Haines. Ninilchik advances to the 7:30 p.m. championship to face the Glacier Bears.

“We’re going to play somebody really good,” Scott said before the final nightcap game had begun. “We’ll either play Haines for the sixth time this season or Unalakleet for the first time, and I have a ton of respect for both those teams. I want to thank my team and my two assistant coaches. They carried the load for me this season. We are here because of them.”

Scudero-Hayward led Metlakatla with 13 points, C. Lindsey added eight, R. Lindsey seven and senior Sebastian Martinez four. The Chiefs made three three-point shots, 10 two-point field goals and were 3-4 from the line.

Allen led Ninilchik with 17 points, K. McCorison had 14, A. McCorison eight, junior Brandt Mill five and junior Holden Corwin two. The Wolverines hit nine three-point shots, eight two-point field goals and were 6-10 from the line.

1A Boys – KLAWOCK 66, CHIEF IVAN BLUNKA 36

The Klawock Chieftains will play in the consolation bracket finals Saturday at the  March Madness Alaska 1A Basketball State Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.

“Live to play another day,” Klawock coach Nate Yockey said. “I told the guys before the game that the consolation bracket is hoops at its purest form. Because you are not playing for any accolades, not playing for a trophy, just having another opportunity to extend your career because if things go your way in this gym this team is no more. Some guys may continue to play, but this team won’t survive. So it’s a beautiful thing. They will know and remember each other, but as a team, will not be playing after Saturday.”

The Chieftains defeated the Chief Ivan Blunka Eagles 66-36 Friday in the state consolation bracket semifinals.

“This team, to come to state our senior year just means a lot,” Klawock senior Connor Bagby said. “We worked our butts off in practices all season. We started off with a struggle, but have turned into a real family. It is fun, and I am glad we will be able to keep it going and have one more game tomorrow.”

In the span of two minutes, Klawock showed why the Chieftains are heading into the consolation bracket finals.

With under four minutes to play in the second quarter, and Klawock leading 16-9, senior Tristin Ryno followed a shot to score. On the other end, Bagby rebounded a missed shot and threw an outlet pass to junior Paul Lingley, who moved the ball on to Ryno for a lay-in. 

Another rebound by Klawock junior Raymond Fairbanks led to an outlet pass to Lingley, who hit a lay-in for a 22-9 lead. Fifteen seconds later, Lingley hit from the arc for a 25-9 lead and a lead that would not be lost.

“That is Chieftains basketball,” Yockey said. “That is what we have been preaching all year and waiting for it all to come together. And that is what it looks like when we play the right way. Have that program mentality. Really proud of the guys.”

The Chieftains led 27-12 at the half and pulled out to a 46-20 lead after three quarters. The Chieftains had led 20-15 after the first eight minutes of the game.

Fairbanks led Klawock with 24 points, Ryno added 14, Lingley 12, C. Bagby nine, Cesar Vasquez three, and freshman Quinton Bagby and eighth grader Charlie Roberts two apiece. The Chieftains had six three-point shots, 23 two-point field goals and hit 2-4 from the free throw line.

Sophomore Kevin Andrew led Chief Ivan Blunka with 12 points, sophomore Bryson Andrew added seven, seniors Joel Hanson and Hunter Gumlickpuk six apiece, senior Camellia Andrew three and senior Wassillie Chunak Jr. and freshman Cade Petla one apiece. The Eagles had eight three-point shots, three two-point field goals and hit 6-18 at the line.

Klawock will face familiar Southeast Conference foe Skagway at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Panthers defeated Aniak 83-48 in an early Friday consolation bracket semifinal.

“This means a lot,” Klawock senior Tristin Ryno said. “We played them in the championship game and we lost by three. It is nice to have the opportunity to play them again. State has meant a lot. Losing in the first round was tough for us. We want to come back and do the best that we can.”

Added C. Bagby, “We had a heck of a game against them in the regional tournament, so this will be a revenge game, but among friends. We know each other pretty well.”

1A Boys – SKAGWAY 83, ANIAK 48

The Skagway Panthers broke open a close first-quarter game to run away with an 83-48 win over the Aniak Halfbreeds.

“We are just playing better,” Skagway coach Ross Barrett said. “That first tournament game was an off game and we are kind of back to normal. A balanced scoring attack, roll players are doing good things, our starters are doing good things so just back to where we should be.”

Skagway seniors Royce Borst and Camden Lawson and juniors Malcom Lawson and Ryder Calver each hit a pair of baskets in the first eight minutes, and senior Kaleb Cochran and C. Lawson added two free throws as the Panthers held a 20-15 first-quarter advantage.

Skagway held Aniak to nine points in the second quarter and took a 45-24 lead into the half. The Panthers led 66-40 after three quarters with Aniak junior Marshall Dallmann and sophomore Gavin Smith each scoring seven points in the stanza to give the Halfbreeds hope. The Panthers defense shut the door in the final eight minutes.

“The state tournament has been hard,” Skagway senior Kaleb Cochran said. “Especially the first game. I think we could have won. We came out slow. I think we underestimated them and now we are expecting a hard game. Hopefully we can come out with some fire and scrape by. We know those guys, Klawock, we played them for regionals and won by three. They are good. We are just hoping we can come out strong, play our game that we know how to play and win.”

Seniors C. Lawson and Borst led Skagway with 21 points apiece, M. Lawson added 20, R. Calver 12, sophomore Logan Rupprecht five, senior Kaleb Cochran and sophomore Julius Thole two apiece. The Panthers hit four three-point shots, 30 closer in and hit 11-15 at the line. Skagway will play in the consolation final against Southeast Conference foe Klawock at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Junior Marshall Dallmann led Aniak with 13 points, sophomore Muhammad Konteh added eight, sophomore Gavin Smith seven, freshman Ralph Steeves six, seniors Dylan Nicholson and Rylan Lang five apiece, and senior Karson Peterson two. The Halfbreeds made four three-point shots, 13 closer in and 10-12 from the line.

“We’re just telling the kids to stay locked in,” coach Barrett said. “Just keep doing what we have been doing. We will see a familiar foe on Saturday so we are excited to get the chance to play one more game.”

This story was originally published by the Juneau Independent.

The post Haines earns state final, Metlakatla falls in semifinals appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

At the Alaska Beacon, we’re constantly trying to figure out where we should put our attention. There’s always more news than there are people to report it.

Every Thursday, the Alaska Legislature publishes its committee schedule for the coming week. Public notices alert us to meetings and events. The governor’s office occasionally lets us know ahead of time that something’s coming down the pike, too.

Here’s what we know about for the coming week. If you know of something that’s coming up that you should think we should pay attention to, email us at info@alaskabeacon.com.

We can’t cover everything on this list, but we’re interested in them and we think you should know about them in case you’re interested in them, too.

This list is ripped from our notebooks, and it is likely to change over the course of the week. We’ll update it when we can.

Are you trying to keep track of when to testify on a bill? The Legislature has a website for that.

Monday, March 16

Public comments due on Tanana Chiefs Conference fiber optic plan

8 a.m. – House Education Committee hears a bill to expand eligibility for early intervention services; a bill to direct school districts to develop digital harassment and bullying policies; and a bill to expand grants for career and technical education

9 a.m. – Senate Finance Committee will hear a presentation from the Department of Revenue on the state’s spring revenue forecast — now hotly debated topic by lawmakers

10 a.m. – House members are expected to take up the fast-track budget bill, which was delayed Thursday due to a debate on whether to draw from savings or wait for the spring revenue forecast

1 p.m. – House Judiciary will hear a bill banning face masks and disguises for police

1 p.m. – House Resources will hear a bill that would make changes to state wildlife refuges

3:30 p.m. The Education Task Force will discuss school transportation funding

11 a.m. – Statewide Broadband Advisory Board meeting

Tuesday, March 17

8 a.m. – House Tribal Affairs Committee will hear a presentation on traditional healing

9 a.m. – House Finance Committee will continue hearings on the proposed operational budget

9 a.m. – State agriculture board meeting

10 a.m. – Special meeting of the state board of architects, engineers and land surveyors

1 p.m. – House Transportation Committee will hear a presentation on deferred maintenance at state-owned public facilities

3:15 p.m. – House Health and Social Services Committee hears a bill that would close a loophole in criminal law related to sexual assault by a healthcare worker

3:30 p.m. – Senate State Affairs Committee hears a presentation on the court backlog

Wednesday, March 18

8 a.m. House Education considers the governor’s appointment of Pamela Dupras to the State Board of Education

9 a.m. Senate Finance hears a bill that would add one more state judge 

9 a.m. – Retirement Management Board meeting

11:30 a.m. – Key Coalition holds a rally on the Capitol steps

12 p.m. – Alaska chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention holds a rally on the Capitol steps

1 p.m. – House Judiciary hears a resolution that would affirm Alaska’s commitment to voter privacy and the right to vote, and express concern at the Alaska Division of Elections’ disclosure of confidential voter information to the U.S. Department of Justice 

3:30 p.m. – Senate Education Committee considers the governor’s appointment of Pamela Dupras to the State Board of Education

Thursday, March 19

Public comments due on University of Alaska’s takeover of Watana Creek land

Meet Alaska energy and minerals conference in Anchorage 

9 a.m. – Retirement Management Board meeting continues

4 p.m. – State Medical Board meeting

Friday, March 20

Public comments due on University of Alaska’s takeover of Honolulu Pass area

8 a.m. – Rural health transformation advisory committee meeting

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A potential $500 million windfall is giving the Alaska House of Representatives a headache. 

On Friday, the Alaska Department of Revenue released a forecast predicting that the state of Alaska will collect hundreds of millions of dollars more oil revenue by June 30 than previously expected.

That forecast landed in the middle of an ongoing debate over whether or not to spend from savings to cover almost $530 million in extra expenses, largely added by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, to the state budget since last spring.

The Senate approved a proposal to pay for roughly three-quarters of those expenses and it is now in the state House, awaiting a vote that could come as soon as Monday. 

Tensions rose on Friday, with no agreement among House lawmakers on how to pay for the proposal. 

The House is led by a 21-person multipartisan coalition whose members have been urging fast action on the issue. They say it is particularly important to fund $70 million for the state’s transportation projects to unlock more than $630 million in additional federal funding.

Without sure money, majority lawmakers say projects can’t go out to bid and construction firms can’t make purchasing and hiring decisions. 

The construction industry has been lobbying heavily on the issue since before the legislative session began.

The majority wants to use the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve, a savings account, to provide guaranteed funding.

The majority can pass a bill on its own, but it can’t spend from savings on its own. It takes 30 members of the House and 15 from the Senate to approve spending from the Constitutional Budget Reserve, the state’s principal savings account. 

The Senate has already given that approval, but in the House, at least nine members of the 19-person, all-Republican House minority would have to support the majority, and so far, they’re not willing to do that.

Part of that reluctance is because as currently written, the supplemental budget bill allows lawmakers to spend up to $373.6 million from the reserve regardless of whether or not the war-caused bonus becomes real.

If oil prices stay high and the reserve money isn’t needed, the majority could spend it on other things without further input from the minority. That’s because it takes only 21 votes to advance a budget bill.

In a Saturday post to Substack, Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, expressed worries about that prospect.

The money would return to the reserve only if it was unspent at the end of the fiscal year.

If lawmakers don’t spend from savings and the Iran war ends unexpectedly quickly, causing oil prices to fall, the minority could vote to spend from savings later to fill the gap. 

The result is an ironic set of circumstances — Trump has said that the war will be short, but minority House Republicans’ action is effectively a bet on a long war.

Minority members say they’re being fiscally responsible. So do members of the majority, who add that there’s an opportunity cost for any delay — Alaska construction companies can’t make plans for the summer until they know what projects they’ll need to build.

Majority members also expressed frustration that the supplemental budget was largely requested by the governor, who they say has been absent in negotiations.

In addition, legislators and Gov. Dunleavy could also find themselves with a problem if oil prices fall after legislators have adjourned for the summer.

Legislators typically write budgets based on forecasts from the Department of Revenue, but this year’s forecast is especially uncertain, the department said.

Rep. Calvin Schrage, D-Anchorage, co-chair of the House Finance Committee and a member of the majority, said he’s skeptical of banking on the forecast.

“I have a lot of concern over budgeting based on that forecast, because that’s all it is. It’s a forecast. It’s not realized money, it’s not money in hand,” he said Friday. 

“Even with this optimistic forecast, you are just barely, maybe able to balance the budget — if everything goes perfect. We still don’t have additional supplementals,” he said, referring to more budget amendments that could be requested by the governor.

Schrage said lawmakers will be scrutinizing the forecast in the coming days and weeks, and he said there’s still the possibility the Legislature may need to draw from savings.

But minority Republicans said they considered drawing from savings fiscally irresponsible.

“Taking a draw from our savings account to put into the general fund to fund things that were, by all accounts and purposes, able to be funded without it would have been irresponsible,” said Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, on Friday. 

House Minority Leader DeLena Johnson, R-Anchorage, said she’s confident in the forecast projections. “There’s some actuals there too. So I’m very comfortable with actuals, and I also know, if there’s changes, we can come in and we can come in and make them, and make a different vote. I’m not as worried about that.”

Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, expressed frustration at the delay.

“This is pure politics. We should have had the supplemental budget funded. A long time ago,” he said. “The House Majority coalition prioritized the funding of the entire package that was proposed by the governor. Every single item came from the governor. And so here we are, you know, in a really precarious state, because we’re at the point where every week that goes by gets us a week closer to that federal match not being achieved for the summer construction season.”

Edgmon and other majority legislators have voiced frustration about “moving goal posts” on the budget bill. While there are more than $530 million in proposed additions, the bill in front of House lawmakers contains only three-quarters of that amount because majority members wanted to attract members of the minority for the savings vote.

The remainder will still have to be addressed later, regardless of what happens in the upcoming vote.

Edgmon said it’s not clear to him what the Republican minority wants in exchange for a budget reserve vote.

“We don’t know what the ask is,” he said. “But it’s all about leverage, and unfortunately, it’s falling on the shoulders of a lot of smaller contractors around the state.”

As of Friday afternoon, it appeared as if the budget bill was on course to pass, but without approval to spend from savings. 

If that occurs, the state of Alaska will be in the awkward position of hoping for a war long and difficult enough to keep oil prices high for months.

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The Alaska Department of Revenue is predicting that the Iran war will cause high oil prices for most of 2026, it said in a revised forecast published Friday.

Oil is no longer the No. 1 source of general-purpose state revenue in Alaska, but the higher wartime prices are expected to bring hundreds of millions of extra dollars to the state treasury.

Last fall, the department’s forecasters predicted $6 billion in state revenue for fiscal year 2026, which ends June 30. 

Now, they’re predicting $6.5 billion, an increase almost entirely caused by the Iran war.

Much of that money has already been earmarked for spending.

Since last spring, when state legislators and Gov. Mike Dunleavy enacted the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget, the governor’s office and legislators have proposed more than $530 million in budget amendments — for disaster relief, road construction, prisons and more. 

On Thursday, the Alaska House postponed a vote on some of those amendments because many lawmakers said they wanted to see the new forecast before deciding whether or not to spend from savings to pay for those items.

On Friday, some legislators said they still support spending from savings because the forecast depends so heavily on the vagaries of war. Others said they felt their caution was vindicated.

“It’s all a gamble on the price of oil actually landing where the Department of Revenue is forecasting it could be in the future,” said Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham.

It takes 30 votes in the state House and 15 votes in the state Senate to spend from the Constitutional Budget Reserve, the state’s principal savings account.

The House is led by a 21-person multipartisan coalition that has doubts about the forecast and wants to spend from savings to pay for more than $373 million in budget amendments, a plan already accepted by the Senate.

But because it has only 21 votes, the coalition needs the support of at least nine members of the 19-person, all-Republican House minority.

On Thursday, and again Friday, members of the minority were unwilling to offer that support.

In a series of interviews, they said they felt confident the forecast will hold, and if it doesn’t, they can approve a savings draw later.

“Having a need to see this revenue forecast was very important to us before we made any decisions,” said Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna. “It was about ‘how do you spend money wisely?’ And I think we’re always going to be proponents of spending money wisely. Spending money wisely is not taking money out of savings when you don’t need to.”

Alaska doesn’t have a statewide income tax or sales tax. An annual transfer from the Alaska Permanent Fund accounts for about 60% of the state’s general-purpose revenue. Oil accounts for about 25%, but that proportion can fluctuate with the price of oil.

While the new forecast doesn’t specifically predict the length of the Iran war, state forecasters appear to doubt President Donald Trump’s claims of an imminent end to the fighting.

Last fall, the department predicted that the average price of a barrel of North Slope crude oil would be $65.48 for the 12 months ending June 30.  

In February, the average price of a barrel of North Slope crude was $69.48. So far this month, it’s $88.71. On Thursday, the daily price topped $105 per barrel.

The new forecast expects prices to average $91.09 per barrel through June 30, the end of fiscal year 2026. 

“The price forecast for FY 2027 is $75.00 per barrel, which assumes that prices will begin FY 2027 over $80.00 per barrel and decline throughout the fiscal year,” forecasters wrote. 

They went on to explain that the forecast is especially volatile and unpredictable this time around.

“While the price forecast is $75.00 per barrel, there is approximately a 10% chance that oil prices could average $130.00 or higher, and a 10% chance they could average $45.00 or lower. This range reflects the genuine uncertainty present in today’s market,” they wrote.

Even as they debate supplemental spending in the current fiscal year, legislators are also at work on writing the budget for the next fiscal year.

Last fall, the Department of Revenue predicted the state would have $6.2 billion in general-purpose revenue during FY27. Now, the forecast is above $6.7 billion.

The next two months of the legislative session will decide how that money gets spent.

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After his address to the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday, Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, sat down for an interview with the Alaska Beacon. 

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity to remove “ums,” “ahs,” and other disfluencies, including the reporter’s cellphone alarm going off in the middle of the interview.

Q: Do you have a status update on where the Department of Homeland Security shutdown is at this point? Any signs that that’s breaking?

A: You know, I haven’t seen a lot of movement, unfortunately. From the other side of the aisle on this issue, there’s been conversations regarding what’s happening inside DHS as a lever point for the Democrats to try to make changes that they think need to be made in that organization. 

We have to remember that DHS includes the Coast Guard, it includes the TSA. It includes CISA. It includes a lot of components of our homeland security infrastructure beyond just Customs and Border Patrol. 

Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement are funded for the next four years as part of the previous budget reconciliation bill. 

So holding up DHS funding does not directly impact the funding for that part of the Department of Homeland Security. At the end of the day, we need to make sure people are getting paid. We need to make sure that these organizations, these groups, are funded, and that’s my priority — to find a way through that. 

A lot of those conversations really are happening at the Senate, because the House has already passed funding for the DHS appropriations bills twice, and so we’re waiting for the Senate to reach an agreement with the administration. 

Q: Is there any chance of a partial thing that could get Coast Guard, TSA or some other aspects funded?

A: There’s always an opportunity for something like that. I’d certainly be supportive of seeing even a partial opening of those resources. But at this point it appears to be at an impasse. 

Q: The other big thing at DHS recently was the ouster of the secretary. What do you think about that changeup?

A: I think it’s broadly supported. There was recognition that change was necessary. 

Q: Do you support it? 

A: I do support Sen. Markwayne Mullen. He is an accomplished senator. He’s done a great job. He did a great job in the house. In fact, the first time I met Sen. Mullen was in Don Young’s office, and they were working together on getting a hearing for some of his constituents in the House Natural Resources Committee. And he was very amicable. He has a great relationship with Alaska. I think he’ll be a solid selection to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Q: In your speech today, you talked about immigration enforcement in the context of drug trafficking here in Alaska and other places. We’ve also seen children and legal residents caught up in the immigration crackdown. Do you think Immigration and Customs Enforcement is doing a good job at this point?

A: I think Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs to ensure that it’s prioritizing deportation actions. We know that there have been quite literally hundreds of thousands of criminals that have been arrested and deported at this point by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That’s where we should be prioritizing our efforts. 

There’s been a lot of self deportations as well, over 2 million reported self-deportations. That’s going to continue, because when folks leave the country, getting back in is going to be a lot more challenging than it has been during the previous administration. 

So I think net, the migration out among people who are not in the country legally, is actually good for us as a nation. We’re seeing this in towns that have large illegal alien populations. Rents are coming down. The hospitals are opening up. The schools have less pressure. So there’s less pressure put on those residents, especially residents at the lower end of the income curve, they’re able to afford living again. 

So I think it’s a net benefit. 

I think we need to be careful in the way in which we prioritize those actions, but I support the direction. And look, the voters in the previous election cycle made it clear that this was a top priority, and how we go about doing that matters, but it’s a top priority.

Q: For the case in Soldotna specifically — I assume you’re familiar with that — do you have any updates on how that’s going?

A: I don’t have any updates on that specific case. I’m familiar with it at a high level. To my knowledge, the family has not reached out to our office requesting support, but we recognize that every case is different, has its own unique set of circumstances, and sometimes those circumstances, there can be extenuating circumstances that make a particular specific case unique. And I recognize that there are specific circumstances in this case that make it a little less clear-cut than others.

Q: Switching gears to the gas pipeline — you talked about that a lot in your speech. There was one thing that you said a couple different times: Gas from the pipeline would lower energy costs here. Have you seen figures showing the consumer price of gas from the pipeline? I’m wondering what that idea is based on.

A: I have seen figures, and here’s what I want to communicate about this: Right now, we’re looking at importing gas for the first time in the history of Southcentral Alaska. We’ll be importing gas. The gas that’s imported is more expensive than the gas that we’re producing right now. And what an in-state gas line, Phase 1, will do is put a cap on our gas prices. So that will be the new ceiling for gas in-state. And that’s good, because we don’t want to be subject to the swings of gas production.

Q: That ceiling is higher than the import price, though, right?

A: Well, so as soon as that in-state gas line is completed, then the export facility goes into place, and once the export facility goes into place, the gas prices will be lower then than they are today for the consumer, so we will actually see a net decrease and a significant decrease in the cost of electricity for folks who are on the Railbelt in Alaska and the price of home heating. 

Q: What are you seeing that makes you think that it’ll go to a second phase? Because I think the worry is that under the worst-case scenario, the state puts in a lot of equity on that first phase, the second phase never comes about, and we’re stuck with a pipeline that is producing very expensive gas, and we’ve spent billions, hundreds of millions.

A: In conversations that I’ve had with investors in the Lower 48 and with folks who are interested in investing who reside outside the United States, I’ve received significant assurances that, once the gas line is constructed, the financing of an export facility will be far easier. And I think most of the investment community, based on my conversations, has assigned the greatest amount of risk to Phase 1.

Q: Why is that? 

A: I think it’s because of the perception of permitting challenges in the United States that don’t exist in other jurisdictions around the world.

Q: The idea being that it’s tougher to build an 800-mile-long pipeline than it is to build liquefaction and decarbonization facilities?

A: Liquefaction facilities are boilerplate. They’re very straightforward. The plans exist. They’re known quantities in terms of the budget and time required to implement one. They’ve been built all over the world, and so there’s very little variance that an investor can expect from that particular investment. 

I think there’s a greater degree of uncertainty centered on the perception of permitting issues in the United States. And so thankfully in our case — and we’ve communicated this, and continue to communicate — we have all the permits that we need, and we have proven that we can not only build but also operate a long-haul pipeline in the state over a long period of time. 

We have a strong track record for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, and the gas line is a lot less complex than operating, maintaining the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. 

So I believe we have a strong case to be made. If we weren’t being successful at making that case, we wouldn’t see all of these entities coming to the table signing intent agreements with Glenfarne around purchasing supply.

Q: How likely is it — or have you seen any signs of movement on a federal loan for the project, a federal grant for the project?

A: I’m encouraged about the federal loan program. We’ve had many conversations behind the scenes to support the advancement of that loan guarantee between Glenfarne and the Department of Energy, the funds are available. The program exists. I think we’re getting closer and closer every day to getting that commitment.

Q: Do you have any sense on when there’ll be a decision on the first phase of the pipeline? Because I’ve seen that timeline kind of slip from the end of last year to February and now to some indeterminate date.

A: Yes, so to reach the final investment decision, it’s always required three key components. One is making sure you have customers. Two, making sure that you have producers willing to sell. Three, making sure you have a pool of investors that you believe when you press the button, they’re ready to invest.

We certainly have the producers ready to sell. We certainly have the commitments needed. And I think there might only be just a few more commitments on the edge before we hit that magical threshold that we’ve heard about 16 million tons per year of committed natural gas for sale.

Once those two things click in, the rest is really an exercise in understanding the financial structure of the total deal. And Juneau has a lot to do with that. This was something that I discussed in my remarks today, thinking about ways that we can support a large investment into Alaska. It’s critical that we think through these issues in a really constructive way. The goal of Alaska shouldn’t necessarily be to squeeze every single last drop of value out of the gas line.

Q: Why not? 

A: Because the exercise of doing that itself can kill the ability to get the project off the ground, and then you get nothing. And so it’s important to do our best, but it’s also important that we provide a set of rules and a tax structure that’s attractive to get that investment into the state. We’re not talking about a small number here. We’re talking about $40-50-60 billion — it’s going to be a big number, and for us to attract that level of investment in Alaska, it’s got to look good to an investor. And so my edification to the Legislature today was: study the project, model the project, make sure that it’s good and right for Alaska. But at the end of the day, we need to have an environment here where we’re speaking with one voice, and that’s attractive to investors who have other choices around the world. They can choose to deploy their capital in any number of places. We need them to decide to deploy their capital here.

Q: When I heard your remarks, I immediately thought of Sen. Giessel’s bill. Was that your intention to be speaking about that?

A: It was not my direct intention. No, I think it’s always worth having the conversation about the tax structure, about the incentive structure, though that’s an ongoing discussion that happens at the state legislature in Alaska. I think it’s important that when we have those conversations, they’re done in a way that is going to encourage, rather than discourage, industry from coming in and saying, ‘Yes, this is a good place for us to invest in.’

And we have to remember, it’s not just the investors in a gas line, it’s also producers. We have some big activity on the horizon on Alaska’s North Slope, significant lease sale opportunities later this month. And we want that investment climate to be positive for producers as well, because it creates a lot of jobs. It creates an opportunity to unlock revenue streams that we don’t currently have coming into the state with the 50-50 split that moves to 70-30 on new NPRA and 1002 area leases. So there’s a lot of reasons, not just the gas line, that we want to make sure that we have clarity, simplicity and stability in our tax code.

Q: Talking about the new leases — we didn’t see any interest in Cook Inlet. That’s not a big surprise. That’s been the pattern for a long time. The NPRA one on the 18th is going to be really interesting. What do you think is going to happen on that?

A: I’m encouraged, but I hate to make predictions before the big game. But there’s been a lot of interest. I can tell you that interest from people throughout industry, people who have never been operating in Alaska, and we’ll see what happens. But I think what’s really appealing, not only have we reversed some of the previous regulatory structures that were going to inhibit future development of that area, but we’re issuing a large enough land package that a company can look at this and say, I can invest here, not just for one project, but for an entire corporate platform, where they can come to Alaska and say, ‘This is something I can see us investing in for 20, 30, 40 years.’

Q: Are you thinking of Santos or Oil Search, that kind of approach to it, like what they’ve done on the North Slope?

A: Or even what has happened before when ARCO was here. BP came in later. I mean, these are huge platform components of an entire energy company. I think with the lands package magnitude that’s being advanced right now, it raises Alaska to that level where large players in the energy space can look at Alaska and honestly say this could be somewhere they could invest for decades.

Q: The 70-30 split won’t apply to these leases, right? It’ll just be the ones after the switchover date. Or does it apply?

A: It applies to these leases, and once they’re leased for the first roughly nine years, we’re at a 50-50 split following that, it’s 70-30 for as long as the lease exists. And this is really interesting, because most of these projects will take a while to spin up, right? 

Q: We’ve seen that with Willow, where it’s taken 20 years.

A: That’s right. So nearly all of the revenue that will be generated from this set of lease sales, which runs over 10 years, will be at that 70-30 threshold. The initial lease payment will be at the 50-50 but once production starts, essentially we’re going to be at the 70-30 for the life of these fields.

Q: To switch subjects again — the big thing right now is the Iran war. You’ve talked about it, talked about your support with it. Are you satisfied with how the war is being fought at this point to accomplish the goals that you’ve laid out? 

A: I am. I’ve been impressed with the precision of our war fighters. I’ve been impressed with —

Q: Despite the bombing of the school? 

A: Well, that’s still under investigation, and I don’t think that we have gotten root cause, full root cause analysis on that.

Note: Hours after this interview, a preliminary investigation concluded that the United States did destroy the school, killing students and teachers.

Q: But it was an American Tomahawk that destroyed that?

A: My understanding is that is still under investigation, and I’m still waiting for final information on that. But nevertheless, we have decimated their navy. We have destroyed their offensive capabilities with respect to ballistic missiles. We have severely degraded their nuclear program. And I think the message is abundantly clear, the United States is not going to tolerate a nuclear Iran, not today, not ever. 

We’re not going to tolerate an Iran that seeks a nuclear weapon. We are not going to tolerate an Iran that chants “Death to America” in their official places of legislative business. 

This is not something that the United States can take lightly. And when we think about the tens of thousands of people that the regime murdered, protesters murdered in the streets, this is a regime that is, quite frankly, very evil. 

It’s not just us that they’re a danger to. They’re a danger to citizens in the region. They’re a danger to their own citizens. And at the end of the day, the United States has a responsibility to America. We have a responsibility to our allies. 

I receive confidential, classified intelligence briefings, as do other members of Congress. And I walked into the first Iran briefing thinking that this was the right decision. I left that briefing knowing that it was.

Q: The President has talked about the ultimate goal being unconditional surrender. Is that your understanding as well, and what does that look like to you?

A: We need leadership in Iran that is ready to abandon their nuclear ambitions. To me, that’s what success looks like when we achieve that agreement. That is a mission objective that has been checked off the list. We’ve been trying to do this for decades. We’ve been trying to back Iran off the plate with respect to their nuclear ambitions for quite some time. They have negotiated with us in bad faith. They have used stall tactics, lies, deception, to continue to pursue their nuclear ambitions. And we have to remember this is a theocratic regime that is hell-bent on the destruction of the United States, among others, and because that ideology is held at the level of religious fanaticism, it’s very difficult to negotiate in a productive way with these people. So we need leadership in Iran that we can trust is going to abandon these ambitions.

Q: One of the side effects of the war has been the spike in fuel prices recently. Do you think there’s something Congress should do on that, and if so, what is it?

A: Unfortunately, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was drained significantly under the previous administration prior to the midterms. We did not have a true energy emergency at that time, but we have the potential to have one now. I think that use of the SBR should be considered. But what we’ve also seen is oil prices spike to around $120 a barrel and back off down to the high $80s. And that has happened just in the last 12 hours or so. We’re seeing that the Strait of Hormuz is opening back up already, and if that continues, I believe that we will have more normalized prices at the pump as a result of oil dropping into a $70 to $90 range. We’ll see what the capabilities of the Iranians are and their commitment to attempting to disrupt oil flows actually is over the next week. But if we use the missile launches from Iran in the region as a proxy for their capabilities, they’ve been severely degraded. And so I would expect that we’ll see the strait continue to normalize over the coming weeks, and that should result in more stability at the pump.

Q: So not necessarily any congressional action needed immediately on this?

A: Not necessarily. We’ll have to watch and see whether oil prices sustainably rise over $100 a barrel. I think once we get into the $120 to $150 range, that gets a little more concerning, of course. But as long as we can keep those prices under $90 a barrel, the end consumer is not going to see a significant long term structural price increase in gas. It will be temporary.

Q: In your speech, you had talked about workforce development as part of your call to action. Was there legislation or a specific bill or a specific act you were thinking of?

A: Well, this is where the state legislature really has the opportunity to excel. At the federal level, we’re obviously very supportive of vo-tech programs. We want to see people have pathways for careers that aren’t necessarily a traditional four-year university track, and we need the university and their partners to ensure that they are doing everything they can do to prepare the Alaskan workforce for this opportunity around the corner. 

I want to see as many Alaskans get jobs as possible in this pro-development environment, whether that’s directly on the gas line or in new mines that are spinning up or additional activity in traditional oil development on the slope. We want to make sure the next generation of Alaskans is prepared. I think the university is doing a great job. I think AVTEC is doing a great job, but we want to make sure that they have the resources from the state prioritized so that they can continue to prepare our workforce for what’s to come. 

Anyone who wants a job should be able to get one when the gas line turns on.

Q: And it wasn’t a reference to the governor’s veto of a funding avenue for vo-tech, I’m assuming?

A: It was not a reference to any particular or specific legislative action. This is just encouraging everyone to make sure we have a workforce that’s ready for what’s to come.

Q: Is there anything else we haven’t covered that you think I should know about or you think I should pay attention to?

A: I think one of the things that that I’m particularly proud of is that we’ve been able to move legislation through the House, through the Senate, to the President’s desk on behalf of Alaska in a time when we have the slimmest majority in U.S. House history and have had the longest government shutdown in history, and that’s due in no small part to my team in Washington, my team in Alaska, and our commitment to bipartisanship. 

We’re looking for ways to move the ball down the field for the state of Alaska, and the best way to do that is to find bipartisan areas of agreement where bills can move. And I believe we’ve done that, and we’ve done it very well in the first year, plus, I would expect there will continue to be strong opportunities to advance bipartisan, common sense legislation for Alaska, and we are going to continue to pursue it.

Q: The tax-free dividend thing. Do you see that as part of — manufacturing runs, grinding out the yards, whatever sports analogy you want to use — or do you see that as more of a home run hit? How big a lift is that?

A: It’s going to be a lift. OK. It’s going to be a lift. But the nice thing is that it only applies to Alaska right now, because other states don’t have direct payments from their sovereign wealth funds, where sovereign wealth funds exist in other states. You have to have these bills in existence in order for them to have an opportunity to pass. And sometimes a must-pass piece of legislation will show up, and you’ll have an opportunity to attach a priority for your district. In our case, Alaska, we wanted to make sure that we had this in the clip ready to go. 

When that opportunity arrives, sometimes it happens faster than you think it will. 

Sometimes it takes a while, but you have to have the legislative text ready to go for the moment that arrives, and that’s what we’re doing on that bill. And I’ve always thought how strange it is that we receive a payment from the state of Alaska and then turn around and take a portion of that payment and give it to the federal government. 

They already take a cut of the corporate income taxes for corporations that operate here, they take a cut of any of the federal revenues that are generated on federal lands, and quite frankly, quite higher than was ever anticipated. We were supposed to get 90% of federal royalties and revenues for oil and gas and minerals, and instead, we’ve gotten 50-50 since statehood, until my bill that just passed in the budget reconciliation process. 

So there’s always an opportunity. I think the federal government owes us, and if we can get that over the line, I think it’ll be a big win for Alaskans.

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