China squabble upsets fisheries The China trade fight is causing major uncertainties for Alaska seafood companies. Pink salmon and other Alaska fish caught and frozen in Alaska are exported to China for reprocessing into products with much of those exported again including to the U.S. There are concerns about how new tariffs applied by China will affect the cost of Alaska fish and shifts by buyers there to other sources of supply. A new worry is on how fish meal…
Bans on mining activities stripped from salmon initiative; still a lot left Alaska’s supreme court ruled on the state’s challenge to Ballot Measure 1, the salmon initiative, stripping some sections but allowing the bulk of the measure to appear before voters in November elections. The justices took out sections effectively banning large mines – the initiative is mainly aimed at blocking Pebble – but what is left creates a lot of problems for construction affecting water bodies. Some of the…
Oil is found all over western North Slope Dry holes for decades; new technology now enables discoveries ConocoPhillips’ new oil and gas discoveries on the North Slope have provided a big boost in confidence for many in Alaska. There have been worries about declining production and deficits in the state budget. The latest is the company’s announcement July 16 that confirmation drilling last winter has allowed it to increase the expected oil recovery at Willow, a discovery in the National…
Interior utility; still hard feelings There are still some hard feelings in Fairbanks about the Interior Gas Utility, a public utility organized to provide natural gas in the region, over the purchase of Fairbanks Natural Gas, or FNG, a small utility serving the core Fairbanks area. It was bought by the IGU from the Alaska Industrial Development Authority, the state’s development finance entity. Frank Abegg, an IGU board member, has resigned, in protest over what he feels is too high…
Alaska home values tick up, despite recession: State labor economists credit a generally-stable population with keeping Alaska home prices level, with even small increases, in the state’s major cities. Residential values were up in Anchorage, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Matanuska-Susitna and Kenai boroughs between 2015 and 2017, despite the recession. Statewide, home values ticked up from $315,602 in 2015 to $323,462 in 2017. Two other factor involved include the state’s growing population of retired seniors and the fact that many…
Agencies work on roadless rule State and U.S. Forest Service officials have started work on a change to the federal “roadless” rule for Tongass National Forest and Chugach National Forest. The process underway involves gathering information and public comment. What’s proposed is an “Alaska exception” to the rule so that the forest service would have more flexibility in allowing roads to be built for timber harvest. The 2001 roadless rule effectively put 50 million acres of national forest land off…
New idea coming on insurance “80th percentile” payment rule State Sen. Cathy Giessel says she is working with state insurance director Lori Wing-Heier on a possible modification of the “80th-percentile” rule, a state regulation requiring insurers to pay health providers at the 80th percentile for medical procedures. Business groups and insurance companies have long blamed this for part of the steady rise in Alaska health care costs, and the belief is now backed by research by the University of Alaska…
Corps sticks with its schedule on Pebble EIS The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is sticking with its January target to complete a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Pebble copper/gold/molybdenum mine near Iliamna but will keep the DEIS open for public comment for 90 days rather than the usual 45 days. In a briefing July 26, Shane McCoy, the Army Corps’ Alaska district Pebble program manager, said that a Record of Decision, clearing the way for federal permits…
With new oil, ConocoPhillips likely to increase Alaska capital spending ConocoPhillips will likely increase its Alaska capital spending from $1 billion a year to $2 billion a year in the early 2020s as it tackles development of Willow, its new National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska discovery, and other recent finds, state officials said. The company briefed Gov. Bill Walker and other officials July 16. ConocoPhillips also hosted a group of analysts in Anchorage, and to a North Slope visit for briefings on…
Fishing is hectic in Bristol Bay; statewide, sockeye is down 12 percent At the July 4 peak of the Bristol Bay sockeye season there were 674 boats fishing in the Nushagak region compared with 389 in 2017; 308 in 2016; 325 in 2015 and 335 in 2014. Fishing is so hectic that ice deliveries to fishermen, which are important to maintain quality, were cut sharply. Most boats fishing in Bristol Bay are equipped with refrigerated water systems but 10 percent…