From massive infrastructure projects and property tax assessment controversies to big developments in tribal affairs, 2023 has been a full news year for the Chilkat Valley. Here is a brief summary of some of the developments on key issues affecting Haines residents.
Tribal affairs
Local tribes advanced several initiatives throughout 2023 ranging from Tlingit-language street signs to renewed effort to amend ANCSA. Stop signs were hung at the Chilkoot Estates subdivision in June with the word “TLIYÉ IX’” for stop, as well as a few other signs. Chilkoot Indian Association, the tribe in Haines, also secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants for the restoration of the Noow Hit Tribal House on Fort Seward, after it purchased the land in late 2022. Meanwhile, CIA tribal administrator Harriet Brouillette traveled to Washington D.C. several times as part of an ongoing effort to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to give CIA land and corporate status. Haines and several other Southeast communities were excluded from the original act and several bills have been introduced by Alaska’s congressional delegation over the years to add them in. Brouillette said she hoped the new bill, which now has bipartisan sponsorship, will finally pass this year. In Klukwan, the tribe continued to push back against mining exploration at the Palmer Project, which sits above the village. In October, members took part in a water blessing ceremony. The tribe also celebrated the last privately held building in the village being transferred to the tribe, after the Presbyterian Church voluntarily gave up its deed.
Porcupine Road
From the start, critics questioned why the borough was investing so much time and resources in restoring Porcupine Road after the 2020 flood. The road, 26 miles north of Haines, is primarily used by Constantine Metals, which is exploring a mineral prospect in the area. Commercial loggers, small scale miners, and recreators also use the road. The borough applied to FEMA for money to restore the road from damage it says the road sustained in the 2020 flood, and the borough completed $1.4 million in work over the summer. But in November FEMA said it had canceled reimbursement for the road after it found work outside the original scope of the project. As of Dec. 19, the agency had yet to release a memo detailing the reasons it canceled the funding, but the borough said that Constantine paid for some work on the road over the summer. A resident also raised questions about whether the road had been widened, and showed evidence that some of the work had pushed gravel into salmon streambeds. The borough said it would await an explanation from FEMA about why the funding was canceled, but is looking into appeal options.
Constantine/Palmer Project
After hiring a new president (Peter Mercer) and getting an infusion of investment, Constantine Metals, the company exploring the Palmer Project copper and zinc deposit 35 miles north of Haines, ramped up its work. The company applied for a permit amendment to do seismic testing in the area below the deposit, potentially to use for storing tailings. Department of Environmental Conservation issued a decision that required the company to redo one of its analyses of Glacier Creek’s pollutant levels after Klukwan and other environmental groups appealed. Constantine appealed the appeal, and the issue is currently awaiting resolution. Constantine leaders say they are preparing to renew an operation permit in the beginning of 2024 as the company transitions to a phase of the project that is more focused on engineering work and financial analysis
Property taxes
Debates over some steep rises in property tax assessments dominated the later part of the 2023 political cycle. The borough hired a new assessor in late 2022 after the previous assessor died. The assessor instituted what he said were more rigorous, up-to-date and data-driven methods of assessing properties, but many residents balked at home values that sometimes rose by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Tax rates were adjusted downward, and most people saw modest increases in their tax bills. Some questioned what the rise in assessments said about the Haines economy, especially after a downtown property owner put up millions worth of retail property for sale on Main Street in October. The controversy was enough to lead the new assembly to cancel the assessor’s contract, extend the deadline for tax payment, and the Mayor to issue a formal apology to taxpayers. Tax assessment values didn’t change.
School sports
In the spring, the Glacier Bears girls basketball team defeated Wrangell and Craig in elimination games to represent Region V at Alaska’s March Madness tournament in Anchorage. It was the first time the Bears qualified for the state tournament in 22 years. The Bears lost their first game to fifth-seeded Glenallen, but celebrated a strong 14-6 season record to send off four seniors.
At the end of February, the Glacier Bards, Haines DDF team, finished third among small schools at its state tournament in Anchorage, with every team member making the final competition in at least one event.
In May, the Bears track and field team finished in ninth place overall led by a third-place finish in both the girls and boys 400-meter relays. Eric Brouillette ranked third in discus to lead individual performers, and McKenzy Dryden finished fourth in the triple jump.
In the fall cross-country runners took to the trails. Ari’el Godinez Long had a strong season, including winning the regional championship by a minute in Juneau. She finished third at the state championship in Palmer the next weekend. Both boys and girls teams qualified for state championships.
And the Glacier Bears wrestlers recorded one of their best seasons ever, taking second in state championships in Anchorage, including a state title in the 160-pound weight class by Dalton Henry. The team earned the sportsmanship award and coach Andus Hale was named the coach of the year.
Labor, inflation, economy
Post-pandemic labor shortages continued to plague industries around Haines, including the ferry system, schools, and airlines. For the Haines School, the shortage led superintendent Roy Getchell to consider hiring teachers internationally from the Philippines, following the lead of some other Alaska school districts. Ultimately, the district found replacements for nine teachers and was fully staffed for the 2023-24 school year. The ferry system system revamped some of its hiring practices in order to fully crew its vessels after it was reported that only a handful of hires were made out of 250 applicants. The struggle still led to multiple cancellations after some crew reportedly worked five months without a single day off. Meanwhile, labor challenges also contributed to a steep rise in prices on Alaska Seaplanes fares, which were selling for as much as $223 this summer. The price of gasoline also contributed to pain at the pump. It topped out around $6 per gallon. To make things even tougher for Haines consumers, Alaska Power Company announced a proposed 25% electricity rate increase in September, one of the largest in the state in recent history. Ultimately, the state’s regulatory agency allowed the company to boost rates by 15% as it goes through a series of hearings. One place some consumers turned to for modest savings was Starlink, the satellite-based internet provider that went online in late 2022. Consumers said the $90 per month price tag was sometimes saving them 50% on internet rates.
Fisheries
Area gillnetters who braved low fish prices reported strong catches. One hundred and seventy permit holders fished the upper Lynn Canal, about 25% less than usual. But the total harvest was larger than usual for most species. Chinook escapement on the Chilkat met its target, and the late-season chum run was one of the largest on record. Silver runs were also reportedly strong.
Local Politics
Residents overwhelmingly voted to make the planning commission an elected body in early June after some controversial decisions by the appointed commision. The movement for an elected commission started after it granted two heliport permits, one at 24 Mile Haines Highway In May, the commission granted another heliport at 26 Mile, which ultimately led to two administrative appeals against the borough. Commissioners were previously selected by the Mayor. The vote on the initiative passed overwhelmingly.
The assembly also shifted substantially, with three new members replacing half of the governing body. The new members, Natalie Dawson, Craig Loomis and Kevin Forster, focused their campaigns on increasing transparency and accountability of the assembly. Tom Morphet, a former assembly member, defeated former Mayor Jan Hill handily in the mayoral election.
Lutak Dock
A project to renovate the aging Lutak Dock appeared to take small steps forward but met with deep skepticism from some critics, who said the dock replacement is risky and unnecessary. The borough was named as a recipient of a $20 million grant from the Maritime Administration (MARAD), a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation. But Lynn Canal Conservation, a local environmental group, raised questions about whether borough staff had misrepresented the need for a full dock replacement in its grant application. The application said that the borough wouldn’t be able to receive groceries and other essential cargo even though, according to LCC, the borough was getting its cargo from a different dock at the time of the application without any service disruption. A spokesperson for MARAD told CVN in response to those concerns that the office had “thoroughly reviewed the application” and that the project aligned with its goals. Borough managerManager Annette Kreitzer did not respond to multiple requests for comment on LCC’s concerns. Protesters met U.S. Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg and Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski during their visit to Haines in August. It resulted in a September meeting between transportation officials and anti-dock-replacement leaders. In early December, LCC wrote a letter to transportation officials raising more concerns about why the borough had signed a contract with Turnagain, an engineering firm, for the $25 million replacement project before it had final approval from MARAD. Kreitzer wrote that the information in the email was false, but has not substantially responded to any of the individual allegations in the letter.