It seems that everyone running for assembly is in support of refurbishing the Lutak Dock. But why?
This is the new white elephant, the new sacred cow. But we don’t need the dock, really. The roll-on barge facility can bring our goods and take our products out. Outside of timber and mining we don’t really have any products to ship. The idea that we can be a shipping point to the rest of Alaska doesn’t compare to shipping direct to Anchorage or Whittier. Being an ore terminal is a really bad financial idea – there is actually no money in it for the town’s citizenry, and it could destroy our fishing industry. Even the idea of a mine in the headwaters of the Chilkat won’t bring prosperity as the big Japanese corporation could just build their own temporary town near the mine and leave us in the lurch. Then there goes our Chilkat River fishing, our good food source, and with it, our visitor industry. The never-ending resource is people – billions of them are out there looking for a getaway like ours. Why aren’t we doing more to enhance our destination and reaching out for customers?
Tresham Gregg