Screenshot of Wednesday’s press meeting in Anchorage
NOTN- Governor Mike Dunleavy hosted a press event yesterday with members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources to ‘highlight Alaska’s resource development opportunities’, the 45-person committee deals with a variety of issues pertaining to public lands in the United States.
Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, Congressman Nick Begich , and several other members are in the state reviewing current and future projects.
According to the Alaska Beacon, lawmakers visited Hecla Greens Creek Mine, which produces silver, gold, zinc and lead from a site west of Juneau. They overflew parts of the Tongass National Forest, the nation’s largest, and observed Suicide Basin in the Mendenhall Glacier.
The group joined the Governor at his Anchorage office to share their findings and discuss Alaska’s resource potential.
“you know, Alaska is a giant in the resource space.” Said Representative Begich at the meeting, “You know how you bind a giant? one little thread at a time. That’s what we’ve dealt with from the federal government, from not just my perspective, from the perspective of industry that has worked so hard for so many years to develop the resources of Alaska responsibly.”
Following the press conference, Dunleavy signed the nation’s first state-level FAST-41 memorandum of understanding with Emily Domenech, Executive Director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council.
They say agreement will streamline project reviews, enhance coordination between state and federal regulators, and increase transparency through the Federal Permitting Dashboard.
Dunleavy called the agreement a step toward “unlocking Alaska’s full potential,” saying it will help cut federal delays on resource and energy projects.
Permitting Council Executive Director Emily Domenech added that Alaska is the first state to formally partner with the council, giving projects like energy, mining, transportation, and broadband a path to streamlined approval.
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources will serve as the lead agency working with the council.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also announced yesterday it will move forward with plans to rescind the Clinton-era “Roadless Rule,” which has restricted logging and development on millions of acres of national forest land for more than two decades.
The agency will open a public comment period on Friday through Sept. 19 before finalizing the repeal.
The rule, enacted in 2001, currently protects about 45 million acres of federal forestland, with Alaska’s Tongass National Forest among the most affected areas.
Sun shines through the canopy in the Tongass National Forest. (Photo by Brian Logan/U.S. Forest Service)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, parent agency of the U.S. Forest Service, announced Wednesday that it is moving ahead with plans to rescind a rule that has restricted logging and construction on millions of acres of federal lands in the American West for more than two decades.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a written statement that the agency intends to open public comments Friday on its proposal to end the so-called “Roadless Rule,” an act that will affect as much as 45 million acres of federal land as well as millions of Americans who live near it.
Opening a public comment period is the first step in repealing the rule. According to Rollins’ statement, members of the public will have until Sept. 19 to offer their opinions on the repeal, a timeframe that opponents of the plan denounced as inadequate.
Roads are a key prerequisite for large-scale logging and mining projects, and the rule — enacted in 2001 at the end of the Clinton administration — has limited the number of development projects on Forest Service land.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Rollins said rescinding the roadless rule would allow local land managers to make decisions on development and logging.
“It is vital that we properly manage our federal lands to create healthy, resilient, and productive forests for generations to come. We look forward to hearing directly from the people and communities we serve as we work together to implement productive and commonsense policy for forest land management,” she said.
Tree thinning could also reduce wildfire risks, she suggested.
Environmental groups, already prepared for Rollins’ announcement, were quick to denounce it as harmful and out of touch.
“America’s national forests give us clean air, water, wildlife, and the freedom for all to enjoy the outdoors,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, president of The Wilderness Society, in a prepared statement, “but now they are the latest target in this administration’s unpopular push to give away our lands to drill, mine, and log. Gutting the Roadless Rule — which has protected our forests for 25 years — would be the single largest rollback of conservation protections in our nation’s history.”
The Roadless Rule has been the subject of lawsuits for decades, and forests in Colorado and Idaho have already been exempted from it under state-specific guidelines.
Ninety-six percent of the Forest Service’s inventoried roadless areas are located in 12 western states, and no state is more affected than Alaska, which has almost a third of the 45 million acres affected by the pending change.
Alaska is home to the Tongass National Forest, a West Virginia-sized stretch of islands and waterways in the Southeast Alaska panhandle that make up the largest surviving temperate rainforest in the world.
Until the 1980s, the area was also home to a vast logging program and pulp wood mills that employed thousands of people.
“Across Southeast Alaska, we see the irreparable damage from so many decades of unsustainable clear-cut logging in the scarred landscapes and decimated fish and wildlife habitats — we cannot and will not go back to that, and we know that’s what public comment will show once again,” said Maggie Rabb, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, in a statement released Wednesday.
Some Alaska Native tribes in the region support keeping the rule in place, as do some tourism businesses.
“Rescinding the Roadless Rule will devastate our community just as we are beginning to heal from clear-cut logging of the past. It’s clear the people making these decisions in Washington, D.C., don’t care about how it will harm those of us who live here and have lived here for thousands of years,” said President Joel Jackson of the Organized Village of Kake, which has repeatedly intervened in lawsuits seeking to defend the rule.
“We are the people of the forest and salmon people — our lives and our voices should count — this process makes it clear they won’t,” Jackson said.
Repealing the Roadless Rule also has powerful support in the region. Local electric utilities have advocated a repeal in order to ease the construction of clean hydroelectric power plants. The Alaska Forest Association, representing the logging industry, supports it, as do mining proponents.
Ten members of the U.S. House’s Committee on Natural Resources were in Anchorage on Wednesday as part of a weeklong tour of the state.
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, said he believes the Roadless Rule “has really handicapped us in a number of areas,” including in firefighting.
Gosar said he believes the federal government needs to take a new approach on federal land in order to thin trees and reduce wildfire risks.
In Utah, which has 4 million acres of inventoried roadless land, Republican U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy said she frequently hears from constituents upset about restrictions on the public use of federal land and supports the repeal.
“One of the complaints my constituents have frequently is that the federal government manages a lot of our resources but isn’t always great at listening to the people who live among the resources. … This Roadless Rule decision is a direct result of complaints from people who live with the Roadless Rule and the unintended consequences it’s having on economies and on resources,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle is a Democrat from Oregon also traveling with the committee. Her state has almost 2 million acres of inventoried roadless area, much of it in her district, but she said she would like to see a more balanced approach than the one being offered by the Trump administration.
“We have to protect our federal lands. We have to make sure that the public has access to our public land, and we have to make sure that we aren’t just wholesale taking out the protections that we worked really, really hard for, because we owe it to the people of this country to protect those lands that truly are theirs,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California, is the top Democratic member of the resources committee, and wasn’t on the trip to Alaska.
In an emailed statement, he said Rollins “is steamrolling ahead with Trump’s plan to deliver America’s last wild forests to corporate polluters.”
“Democrats will fight this reckless scheme and stand with Tribes, hunters, anglers, and families who rely on these forests — not corporations looking to cash in,” he said.
Members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resoures talk with reporters at Juneau International Airport on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Ten members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources are making an unusual visit to Alaska this week during a break from business on Capitol Hill.
The 45-person committee deals with a variety of issues pertaining to public lands in the United States, and the visit is giving eight Republicans and two Democrats a chance to put their literal hands on the topics they cover.
On Monday, the lawmakers visited Hecla Greens Creek Mine, which produces silver, gold, zinc and lead from a site west of Juneau. They overflew parts of the Tongass National Forest, the nation’s largest, and observed Suicide Basin in the Mendenhall Glacier, the origin point for glacial floods that have inundated parts of Alaska’s capital city in recent summers.
Outside the hangars of Ward Air in Juneau, several House representatives talked with reporters.
“Obviously, Alaska is a big natural resources state, so we’re here seeing things on the ground, so that when we’re talking about (them) in Washington, DC, it’s not just an academic exercise for us,” said Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah and a member of the committee.
Among the group was the committee’s chairman, Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, as well as the home-state Republican Rep. Nick Begich.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, speaks with reporters at Juneau International Airport on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. At left is Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Begich called the visit “historic for Alaska,” citing the number of visiting Representatives.
Also attending were Reps. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming; Tom Tiffany, R-Wisconsin; Pete Stauber, R-Minnesota; Rob Wittman, R-Virginia; Val Hoyle, D-Oregon; Paul Gosar, R-Arizona; and Sarah Elfreth, D-Maryland.
“It is imperative that we visit these places, so that we have a better understanding when they come before us and ask for relief, whether it is in permitting reform or in ways to better manage the resources that we have,” Hageman said.
The legislators are expected to spend several days in southcentral Alaska, where they will address the annual meeting of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association in Anchorage on Wednesday.
Members are planning to meet with Gov. Mike Dunleavy and expecting to hold a news conference with reporters in Anchorage as well.
Members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources pose for a photo in Hecla Greens Creek Mine near Juneau, Alaska, on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. At far left is Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon. (Natural Resources Commitee photo)
For many of the national lawmakers, fresh from a mine tour, minerals were on their minds. President Donald Trump and his administration have been talking at length about the need to increase American production of so-called “critical minerals” used in electronics and high-tech equipment.
Stauber, of Minnesota, said he saw Alaska’s potential to contribute to that effort.
“Alaska can drive that. They can lead the nation into both oil and gas and mineral exploration, if we’d allow them to do that. What we saw at that mine was spectacular,” he said, referring to the Greens Creek mine.
Westerman said he believes additional mining and refining are needed in the United States and Alaska.
“With the big demand on critical minerals and rare earth (minerals) that we have in the country right now, the dependence we have on China for that, I think it’s imperative that Congress work with everyone who’s in the business to help figure out how to get more mining done here in the US — and not just mining, but also the refining of the metals, which is a huge issue,” he said.
Neither of the two Democrats on the trip spoke publicly during their stop in Juneau.
Several of the Republican lawmakers said they believe there is room to increase logging in the Tongass in order to meet the demand for lumber to build housing, particularly locally.
“You ought to at least be able to cut enough timber to sustain your needs here at home, and that will make the forest healthier,” Westerman said.
Speaking nationally, Gosar of Arizona said he believes that selectively thinning national forests could reduce wildfire danger as well.
“You can’t let a lightning fire start where the undergrowth hasn’t been taken care of,” he said. “That’s how we lost the 19 firefighters in Yarnell. … I think there needs to be common sense in that aspect. Get people out on the timber, get the timber, use it for something like building homes. This place needs a lot of homes.”
NOTN- The Juneau School District Board of Education will hold a special meeting today, at noon via Zoom to consider a series of action items, from playground improvements to budget changes and contract approvals.
One of the key items up for a final vote is the acceptance of playground equipment donated by Juneau Rotary Clubs for the Dzantik’i Heeni campus. Rotary has secured $30,000 in funding to provide musical play elements for students at Montessori Borealis and the Juneau Community Charter School.
Volunteers have committed to installing the equipment this fall.
Also on the agenda is a first reading of a budget revision that would add universal free breakfast for all JSD students. The revision comes after an increase in state education funding, after the Base Student Allocation was restored to $700 per student.
The adjustment would provide an additional $1.5 million in revenue, allowing the district to potentially expand student meal programs.
The public can view the meeting online, and final adoption of the FY 2026 Budget Revision is expected at a subsequent board meeting.
NOTN- The National Indian Gaming Commission has approved and amended a proposal submitted by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, authorizing gaming on a 20-acre parcel of restricted Native allotment land on Douglas Island, close to Eaglecrest ski area.
The land, leased by Tlingit & Haida for 25 years with an option for renewal, is restricted against alienation and taxation and falls under both tribal and federal jurisdiction.
The lease allows for the development of a lodge with a restaurant and gift shop, and bingo and entertainment facilities.
While the site is currently undeveloped, the approval clears a regulatory hurdle for potential future projects.
Students begin their first day of school at the Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy program at Harborview Elementary School in Juneau on Aug. 15, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Legislature opened an 18-month study of the state’s troubled public education system on Tuesday as lawmakers convened the first meeting of their Task Force on Education Funding, established by law this spring.
Alaska’s public schools rank among the worst in the country according to national standardized testing data, and members of the bipartisan, bicameral task force have been charged with identifying ways to improve performance by changing the way schools are funded and manage their students.
Legislative leaders have said the task force will also have the opportunity to examine funding for schools and ways to address rising costs of transportation, utilities, insurance and maintenance.
Members of the task force will hold a series of hearings and discussions before drafting recommendations for new laws that legislators might implement. Those recommendations must be delivered before lawmakers arrive at the Alaska Capitol in January 2027.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy called legislators into a special session to address education issues, but lawmakers have ignored that call and are not planning to hold formal meetings before the special session ends at the end of the month. Legislative leaders have said they prefer to work through the task force instead.
Dunleavy is term-limited and will be out of office by the time the task force’s recommendations are complete.
“The current state of Alaska’s education is not where we’d like it to be, but I know that we can get to a better place if we all work together, we find common ground, and we build upon what we agree upon,” said Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the task force.
But on Monday, it appeared that finding that common ground could be difficult, as task force participants identified different areas they prefer to focus upon.
“John Muir said that when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. The same is true in education,” said Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka. If we take steps to improve teacher quality, that has an impact on the classroom. If we take steps to make sure kids are fed, that has an impact. If we take steps to make sure that we have the right ratios of teachers with students. All of these things have impacts.”
Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, said he would like the task force to consider how it measures results. What standardized tests, if any, should be used to consider performance?
“I think accountability broadly is a place that I hope to go, and I hope that the (Alaska Department of Education and Early Development) can have some input on that,” he said.
Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, suggested that the task force should be “looking at how we empower local government” to deal with education decisions, while Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, said he wants to make sure the task force is “focusing on policies like the READS Act,” which was a bipartisan bill intended to improve reading performance among younger students.
“We are seeing success in that, and those are the kind of policies we need,” he said.
This year, lawmakers voted to increase the base student allocation, core of the state’s per-pupil funding formula, but Ruffridge suggested that lawmakers need to examine other aspects of the formula to see whether they are delivering the intended results.
Alaska, for example, multiplies the base student allocation for students with “intensive needs” and those in rural Alaska.
“It’s a scary proposition to open up the foundation formula, but I think it’s something that we are really tasked with doing in this group,” he said, adding that the state has failed to properly maintain school facilities, particularly in rural Alaska.
Cronk, in prior comments, said he also is concerned about school maintenance. In most of Alaska, proper maintenance depends on funding from the state government.
“If we want to continue to have (stable) education funding, us as a collective group need to create a fiscal plan for this state,” he said.
“I’m hoping that if we’re talking about funding, that should be our goal as part of this, to make sure that we can come up with something so we do have a level funding for all the government services,” Cronk said.
NOTN- A community panel will gather today at Centennial Hall to discuss sweeping federal health care changes that could significantly affect Alaskans’ access to coverage.
The event, hosted by AK Advocates, will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and will focus on the impact of recent federal legislation on Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace.
Medicaid is a state and federal partnership that provides health care to people who do not have the income to purchase their own health insurance.
Panelists said Alaska faces unique challenges because of its high costs and limited workforce. The new federal law requires Medicaid eligibility checks every six months instead of annually, adds work requirements for recipients, and lets temporary premium tax credits for Marketplace plans expire at the end of 2025.
“We are a very expensive state to provide healthcare in, said Kim Champney, executive director of the Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities, “you have to travel to see specialists, workforce is very limited, so our state has really struggled, I think, to keep up with the cost of Medicaid.”
In Alaska, where the Division of Public Assistance is still struggling with post-pandemic backlogs in food stamp and Medicaid processing, officials warn the added workload could further strain the system.
“These policy changes are going to result in fewer people having health insurance,” said Teri Tibbett, the panel’s coordinator and moderator, “So what are we as a community, what are we going to do when we have so many people that are going to be uninsured, the people who are going to not have Medicaid anymore, the people that are not going to have health insurance through the Marketplace? What are we going to do as a community to help those folks get their health care?”
Anton Rieselbach, a program associate with the Juneau Economic Development Council, warned that ending the expanded tax credits could cause Marketplace premiums to expand. “The big takeaway here is that a lot of individuals are going to see their monthly premium costs balloon significantly, especially those individuals who fall in their income level above 400% of the federal poverty line, essentially, in 2021 the eligibility for premium tax credits was expanded to higher income earners, and that is going away. So a lot of individuals are going to be seeing their premiums balloon by over $1,000 per month, potentially, which is going to have devastating effects on the health care.”
Panelists said they hope the discussion will help Alaskans understand the changes, prepare for rising costs, and organize advocacy efforts. “The bill has passed, we can’t stop that,” Champney said. “Now we can really influence implementation. And so I think talking through that as a community, how do we partner and collaborate and advocate so that we make sure people get what they need.”
NOTN- Sealaska Corp. has appointed Sarah Dybdahl as its new president, making her the first woman to lead the regional Native corporation.
The Sealaska Board of Directors voted unanimously to select Dybdahl after a national recruitment process, the corporation announced Monday. Her appointment comes as Sealaska updates its strategic plan and works to refine its mission and vision.
Dybdahl, Sarah Dybdahl (Aanshawatk’i), Taakw.aaneidi clan, grew up in Klawock, Alaska, and has dedicated her career to advancing cultural heritage, education and the prosperity of Native communities. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and currently serves as the Director to the Office of the President for the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, She also serves on the boards of the Alaska Federation of Natives and Native Americans in Philanthropy, as well as the Klawock Heenya Corporation.
“The board of directors devoted significant time to selecting the right individual to lead Sealaska. We are at a pivotal moment in our growth — taking the lessons learned from our international businesses and bringing that knowledge home to Southeast Alaska,” said Richard Rinehart, Sealaska board chair. “As we recognize the strengths that Sarah brings to Sealaska, we also honor the deep roots she has established not only with surrounding Tribes but with community partners as well. We look forward to strengthening these relationships as Sealaska grows under her leadership.”
Dybdahl succeeds interim president Joe Nelson, who will continue to serve on Sealaska’s board.
“It is an honor to serve Sealaska and our shareholders,” said Dybdahl. “Growing up in Klawock, I was shaped by the strength of our people and our culture, and I look forward to building on that foundation to create opportunities that uplift our communities for generations to come.”
In the coming months, Sealaska will share more about President Dybdahl and the vision for sustaining Sealaska’s growth.
“I hope our shareholders and Southeast communities can feel the same excitement and confidence we do — that President Dybdahl will carry forward the growth we’ve achieved in recent years and open new doors for working together in ways that truly benefit Sealaska, our people, and our communities,” said Rinehart.
GRUNDY, VIRGINIA – OCTOBER 07: Patients have their blood pressure checked and other vitals taken at a intake triage at a Remote Area Medical (RAM) mobile dental and medical clinic on October 07, 2023 in Grundy, Virginia. More than a thousand people were expected to seek free dental, medical and vision care at the two-day event in the rural and financially struggling area of western Virginia. RAM provides free medical care through mobile clinics in underserved, isolated, or impoverished communities around the country and world. As health care continues to be a contentious issue in America, an estimated 29 million Americans, about one in 10, lack coverage. An estimated 27 million people — or 8.3 percent of the population of America- were uninsured, according to a report from the Census Bureau. This rate is considerably high in rural and poorer parts of the country. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A combination of Trump administration policies will make health care coverage more expensive for people who purchase plans from health insurance marketplaces — and rural residents will be hit the hardest, according to a new analysis.
Researchers from the Century Foundation say Trump administration policies — especially its refusal to ask Congress to extend Biden-era tax credits that are set to expire at the end of this year — will boost out-of-pocket premiums by 93% in the 32 states that allow the federal government to operate their Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces. New rules and tariffs will have a smaller impact.
Rural county residents in those states will see an increase of 107%, while residents of urban counties will pay 89% more, according to the analysis by the Century Foundation, a left-leaning research nonprofit.
Insurers participating in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces are proposing a median premium increase of 18% for 2026 — the biggest jump since 2018 and 11 points more than the growth from 2024 to this year. That bump would come on top of the increase resulting from the expiration of the tax credits and the other policy changes.
About 2.8 million people who are enrolled in marketplace plans in the 32 states live in rural counties, including 776,000 adults between the ages of 55 to 64 and more than 223,000 children, according to the Century Foundation.
“Rural residents tend to be older. They may be more likely to have chronic illness at the same time,” said Jeanne Lambrew, director of health care reform at the foundation. “It costs more, both because they have somewhat greater needs and less access to health care.”
The researchers calculated that average annual premiums for rural residents will increase by $760 — 28% more than the expected average increase for urban residents. States where rural enrollees are expected to see the highest cost increases are Wyoming ($1,943), Alaska ($1,835), and Illinois ($1,700).
Many of the states with a large number of rural residents have chosen not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, meaning many people who earn between 100% and 138% of the federal poverty level, between $15,650 and $21,597 for an individual, get their coverage from an insurance marketplace, Lambrew said.
Of the seven states where 10% or more of rural residents are enrolled in marketplace plans (Alabama, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming), only two — Nebraska and North Carolina — have expanded Medicaid.
State officials in Pennsylvania recently advised residents who use the marketplace that they should closely examine the plans that are available.
“This year, even more than previous years, Pennsylvanians should consider shopping around to find the best plans to meet their individual needs, at a price that makes sense for their current financial situation,” Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys said in a statement released at the beginning of this month.
Lambrew said the increases will force many people to forgo insurance altogether.
“It’s harmful for those individuals in terms of their own health and life expectancy. It’s harmful for our providers, because they’re now dealing with people who are sicker and in the wrong settings, and it’s kind of expensive for our society,” Lambrew said.
“We know health insurance matters, so having these large potential increases on uninsured Americans is distressing.”
Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.
Screenshot of Backloop Bridge Damage, sent to KINY
NOTN- Repairs continue on the Mendenhall River Back Loop Bridge after the record glacier lake outburst flood this month caused severe damage, authorities reported.
The flood scoured an area approximately 16 feet deep, 50 feet long, and 120 feet wide, displacing roughly 3,555 cubic yards of material, equivalent to about 300 dump-truck loads.
Since Saturday, Aug. 16, crews have excavated more than 22 feet to reach stable material and begin rebuilding around the undermined but stable bridge structures. Officials said about 5.7 million pounds of rock have been placed to restore the riverbanks and roadway.
If conditions allow, officials are targeting a reopening of the bridge by tomorrow, Aug. 26, with paving to follow depending on crew availability. Authorities urged motorists to be patient, noting that safety and long-term durability guide the reconstruction effort.
