A look back—and the week ahead in the Chilkat Valley.
Have a meeting, public comment period or something else you think Chilkat Valley residents should weigh-in on? Submit it here. |
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Duly Noted: Dogs, bikes and other fun stuff
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(Courtesy/Karla Peña)
Zombie, on a motorcycle with owner Karla Peña on the Haines Highway. |
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Zombie, a 12-year-old Shiba Inu, is learning a new trick, riding on a motorcycle with some help from his human, Karla Peña. Peña is in Haines for work for a few months and has been enjoying the training on the Honda XR15L. She says that Zombie tolerated the doggles (that’s goggles for dogs…) and the motorcycle backpack was the next logical step. Columnist Charlene Jones has the details, and more in this week’s Duly Noted.
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For those of you starting your week on Lutak Road, HiEx is currently doing stabilization and drainage work between 1.4 and 4 mile, Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The company reports a single-lane closure with flaggers and delays of no more than 20 minutes. Work is expected to last through October 31. |
Tuesday, July 28
5:30 p.m. The annual evaluation of borough clerk Mike Denker will happen during a personnel committee and committee of the whole meeting of the Haines Borough Assembly. The clerk may choose to have the evaluation become a public discussion, or the body may move into executive session to discuss his performance.
6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. Regular meeting of the Haines Borough Assembly. Among the items on the agenda are a possible private lease of the Port Chilkoot Dock, a possible moratorium for new tour permits in the Chilkoot Corridor and a proposed alcohol tax. In the Assembly chambers or on Zoom.
Wednesday, July 29
5:30 p.m. The commerce committee will meet to discuss a fee schedule for commercial users of the historic Dalton trail; the Historic Dalton Trail Road Maintenance Service Area board has recommended one. The board will also discuss incentivizing rental construction and a proposed ordinance on bulk ore containerization. In the Assembly chambers or on Zoom.
Thursday, July 30
Town Hall meeting 6:30 p.m. on the topic of General Use Rezoning. The Haines Borough planning commission is seeking feedback on General Use zoning, which covers nearly all land outside of the Haines townsite. Planning commission members and staff are proposing a rezoning process, beginning with a portion of the Upper Chilkat Valley. In the assembly chambers or on Zoom.
Monday, August 3
5:30 p.m. Training for anyone thinking about running for office. Borough elections are on Tuesday, October 6. Voters will be electing a borough mayor, two assembly members, three school board members and four planning commissioners. Candidates must file between August 1-20th and forms are available from the borough clerk’s office or at www.hainesalaska.gov/RunForOffice.
Tuesday, August 4
8 a.m. The state Board of Forestry is holding a public meeting with an agenda that includes a state carbon program update and a coastal region report from Haines-based regional forester Greg Palmieri. Palmieri’s division drafted an amendment to the Haines State Forest management plan this spring that would open all of the forest’s land designations to the potential of commercial timber harvest, while also formally allowing carbon offset projects throughout the forest. Public comment on that draft closed in June; a response to those comments and any revisions are expected before the plan goes to the DNR commissioner for adoption. Palmieri’s update is scheduled at 9 a.m., public comment is scheduled at 1 p.m. Teams Call-in: 907-202-7104, Conference ID 398 687 399#.
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Last day to weigh in on a comment period from the Bureau of Land Management, which is asking for feedback on the paperwork used for the Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans' land allotment program. Under the 2019 Dingell Act, Alaska Native veterans who served between Aug. 5, 1964, and Dec. 31, 1971 — or their heirs — can apply to select between 2.5 and 160 acres of federal land in Alaska. This notice isn't a change to the program itself — it's a routine renewal of the application paperwork, due to expire July 31. But it's a chance for anyone who's gone through the application (or tried to) to tell BLM if the form is confusing, takes longer than expected, or could be improved. Comments on the paperwork are due by August 17.
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Last day to take a General Use rezoning survey currently live on the Haines Borough website. The borough’s planning commission is leading a rezoning initiative for the Upper Valley including Mosquito Lake, Chilkat Lake Road, Covenant Life, and the Haines Highway miles 24 through 28. Paper surveys have been mailed to property owners in the area, but all borough residents can weigh in.
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On May 11, tribal governments around the state got an email from the Bureau of Land Management stating that the Department of Interior would be moving forward with lifting D1 withdrawals across 28 million acres of land in the state - including most of the BLM lands in the Chilkat Valley.
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These withdrawals currently prevent mineral entry in most cases (except when claims were staked prior to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act). The term “D-1” comes from a section of ANCSA that gave the secretary of the interior the authority to withdraw large parcels of public land from settlement, sale or mineral leasing. Here is a map of those lands. Zooming in on the Chilkat, the green layers are those that have already been filed on by the state, so if the D1 withdrawal is lifted, those will move into state ownership after 30 days. The yellow lands are BLM lands that have D1 withdrawals over them that will be lifted and are lands the state has identified as a priority for selection, so they wouldn’t become state lands unless the state claims them. The Haines Borough formally requested no action to be taken to lift these withdrawals in 2024.
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The federal agency that funds Native economic development programs is retiring Alaska's dedicated grant program (SEDS-AK) and folding it into a new nationwide program called EAGLE. The new program offers grants up to $900,000 for community-designed projects, plus separate pots of money for things like greenhouses (up to $800,000), microgrids (up to $1 million), and job training (up to $500,000). There's also a new $3.5 million program coming to help tribes adopt AI technology.
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During the public comment period, earlier this year Alaska tribes and advocates pushed back, worried that losing a dedicated Alaska program could put them in direct competition for funding with tribes across the entire country, and that a one-size-fits-all program might not account for conditions unique to Alaska. The agency’s final version, published in July, adds language promising that Alaska Native communities will stay eligible for all of it.
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Tribes that already have an active SEDS-AK grant can still apply for the new community-project money once it opens. Formal funding notices, with application deadlines, haven't been published yet.
Have a meeting, public comment period or something else you think Chilkat Valley residents should know about? Submit it here.
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