Federal Government Funds Secure Rural Schools & Essential Air Service

Tuesday, March 27th, 2018

Last week the United States Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law an appropriations bill that will fund the federal government until September 30, 2018. Two important programs that received funding directly affect communities in Southeast Alaska:

• Secure Rural Schools
• Essential Air Service

The Secure Rural Schools payments have been reestablished for the next two years. This program provides payments to communities whose land base contains federal forests. This will provide much needed relief to our Southeast Alaska communities. This affects every community in Senate District R.

The Essential Air Service program guarantees a minimal level of scheduled air service by certificate holding air carriers who access isolated communities. Access to air travel is vital to our way of life in Southeast Alaska. This is good news for local economies and those Alaskans living in isolated communities. There are 11 communities in Senate District R that will continue to benefit from this program.

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Sea Otter Population Concerns

Wednesday, March 21st, 2018

On March 19, 2018, the Senate Resources Committee voted to move Senate Joint Resolution 13 (SJR 13) forward for consideration by the full Senate. SJR 13 is a resolution urging the United States Congress to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act and urging certain federal agencies to permit Alaska Native organizations and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to co-manage, take, and study sea otters. The current management policies of the federal government are a complete failure. I presented facts to the Senate Resource Committee on March 12, 2018, supporting reasonable reductions for our poorly managed sea otter population in Southeast Alaska which is rapidly reducing our shellfish resources.

                                               Senator Stedman introducing SJR 13

The sea otter population in Southeast Alaska has dramatically increased from the initial 400 which were reintroduced in the 1960s and today it is estimated to be around 51,000. This number is growing by 13% per year with the average lifespan of the sea otter being 13-20 years. Each sea otter eats nearly one-third of its body weight per day in shellfish and other foods. The Board of Fish estimates sea otters will be eating over 1 million pounds of shellfish per day by 2030 if no substantive action is taken to control population growth.

We simply cannot allow the unchecked growth of sea otters to eat Alaskans out of house and home. Sea otters are affecting commercial fisheries and the way of life for our rural communities who rely heavily on shellfish resources such as abalone, crab, clams, and other subsistence foods.

The policy changes recommended in my resolution, Senate Joint Resolution 13, would allow Alaska Natives who are  enrolled in a federally recognized tribe or under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to hunt sea otters within reasonable limits. We are also urging the management authority of sea otters be transferred to the state and/or tribes from the federal government. This can provide the framework to establish a closer working relationship with those who are currently being impacted to address the subsistence, commercial, and cultural concerns.

I will provide further updates as this legislation progresses through the Alaska State Legislative process.

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Ketchikan Selected for Major Mining Facility

Wednesday, January 31st, 2018

Ucore Rare Metals, Inc. (Uncore), has announced (January 30, 2018) that Ketchikan will be the location of its Strategic Metals Complex (SMC or plant). Since 2006 Ucore has worked on developing the Bokan Mountain – Dodge Ridge Rare Earth Element Project near Kendrick Bay on Prince of Wales Island. The SMC will separate rare earth concentrates for use in the United States commercial and military technologies. For more information regarding this use read Ucore’s press release here.

Rare Earth Elements (REE) are used to make a wide variety of items, including high-tech military equipment, wind turbines, solar panels, powerful and advanced batteries, and other high-tech consumer products such as televisions, computers, tablets, and cell phones. China currently controls 97% of the production of these elements.

In Ucore’s press release yesterday, they mentioned the $145 million bonding authority which I placed into legislation that became law in 2014. With this authorization, the Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority (AIDEA) can issue bonds to finance infrastructure and construction of the REE project. For background information on my amendments from 2014 read here and here.

This is encouraging news for Southeast Alaska as the Alaska’s Mining industry will provide family wage jobs. We need to move forward on this important project for economic growth in the region. For more information on AIDEA’s current update on the Bokan REE project click here.

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Stedman Urges Congress to Protect Alaskans from Federal Flood Zone Requirements

Wednesday, January 31st, 2018

As the Senator representing most of the coastal communities throughout Southeast Alaska, I am very concerned about federal efforts to create new and larger flood zone area maps in several of our communities. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is planning to designate entire coastlines in our communities as a “special flood hazard area”. FEMA is expanding its flood maps even though nearly all of these homes and properties have never been impacted or suffered from a flood.

Homes and businesses in a new FEMA flood zone could see significant negative impacts to property values from requirements to buy expensive flood insurance. If you have a loan from a federally insured or backed bank, you must purchase flood insurance. The new and larger flood zones can also restrict how you can build on your own property and impact existing homes and businesses.

Flood damage is very uncommon in our Southeast communities. FEMA’s costly flood insurance requirements take money from the pockets of Alaskan families to pay for billions in hurricane losses incurred thousands of miles away in states like Texas, Florida, and Louisiana. Alaskans should not have to pay a higher premium for those losses.

As the Senator representing District R, I will continue to fight this federal overreach impacting my district. I am also working with Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to be the lender so affected communities are not forced to go to federal backed mortgages and the onerous requirements of FEMA’s flood insurance. A copy of my most recent letter to the members of the Alaska Congressional delegation can be found at this link: Delegation Flood Zone 1.18.18.

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