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CLARION
Showers 56/45 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 204
Question Who is your preferred candidate for U.S. Senate? n Mark Begich n Joe Miller n Dan Sullivan n Mead Treadwell n Other To place your vote and comment, visit our Web site at www. peninsulaclarion. com. Results and selected comments will be posted each Tuesday in the Clarion, and a new question will be asked. Suggested questions may be submitted online or e-mailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
In the news Club for Growth running ad against Begich
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JUNEAU — A national conservative group says it’s spending $300,000 on ads painting U.S. Sens. Mark Begich and Mark Pryor as “parroting” statements by President Barack Obama about the federal health care law. Club for Growth Action focuses on the Democrats’ comments about people being able to keep their insurance plans. There was no immediate breakdown of how the money was being spent between the two states. Begich is from Alaska and Pryor from Arkansas. Club for Growth PAC endorsed Republican former state Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan in Alaska and Rep. Tom Cotton in Arkansas. Begich has said when he made the comments, it was expected people could keep their plans. Spokesman Max Croes says Alaskans are tired of Outside groups telling them what to think and who to vote for. —The Associated Press
‘Defensive to offensive’ Evacuees return, fire crews clean what’s left behind By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
After several days of fighting to keep the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire from burning homes in communities along the Sterling Highway and Funny River Road, a light rain fell on the windy, dry Kenai Peninsula Tuesday, showering evacuees who were told they could return home. Five structures have been lost to the fire, according to the Alaska Interagency Management Team, one private cabin, one Department of Natural Resources Cabin — Wally’s Cabin, two natural conservatory cabins and one outbuilding in the Kenai Keys neighborhood where the more than 285 square mile fire jumped the Kenai River Sunday — See FIRE, page A-12
Estimated early-run kings in the Kenai River: n Sunday: 48 n So far: 189 Information provided by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Sonar estimates can be obtained by calling 262-9097.
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Photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
Leticia and Joe Thiede look at a recent map of the wildfire that forced them to evacuate their home on Funny River Road Sunday. Leticia Thiede, who is eight months pregnant with their first child, said the ordeal has been stressful. The family stayed the past two nights at a recreational vehicle park until the evacuation was lifted Tuesday.
Families return to Funny River By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Central Emergency Services firefighter Jake Lamphier lights a small brush pile on fire as his crew works to clear potential fuel from a fire line on Funny River Road Tuesday in Soldotna. Nearly 700 firefighters and support personnel travelled to the Kenai Peninsula to keep the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire from overtaking communities in the area. The most recent maps show the fire to have burned 182,209, or 285 square miles, of Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Refuge land.
After her third night of sleeping in a motor home at the King Salmon RV Park in Soldotna, Leticia Thiede woke Tuesday morning to the sound of rain hitting the roof; music to her ears after everything she has experienced since the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire threatened her community. Along with her husband, Joe Thiede, mother, Mary Lee, and their two dogs, the family packed into an RV a friend lent to them Saturday after they evacuated their home on Funny River Road. Leticia Thiede, who is eight
months pregnant with her first child, said she has been on doctor’s orders to avoid stressful situations. Despite the evacuation, she said friends and family have been very supportive and she has been impressed with how the community banded together to help people. “It has been a stressful week,” she said. “We are not the only people dealing with this.” At 9 a.m. Tuesday, fire officials lifted the evacuation order for Funny River Road. Leticia Thiede, who had her final doctor’s checkup Tuesday before her due date on June 4, said she would wait to see if it is worth the stress to go back home while the evacuation advisory is still
in effect. Leticia Thiede and Lee were two of more than 50 who attended an evacuation information meeting Monday at Redoubt Elementary School. The American Red Cross of Alaska set up a temporary shelter at the school for displaced residents. Sue Thornton, a shelter manager, said nine people spent the night at the shelter, which provided food and water. A second shelter in the Sterling Elementary School was set up for residents from the Kenai Keys and Feuding area, who were under an evacuation advisory. The advisory for the Sterling neighborhood was lifted on See RETURN, page A-12
Fishing groups, feds, testify on management By MOLLY DISCHNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
Sonar estimates
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
ANCHORAGE — A federal judge heard oral argument yesterday in the lawsuit regarding whether or not Cook Inlet should be in a federal salmon management plan. Alaska has managed its own salmon since statehood, and neither party is questioning
that. But the United Cook Inlet Drift Association and Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund, who brought the lawsuit forward in February 2013, want federal oversight of salmon management — and believes that is what congress has intended in its regulations of fish in federal waters. The National Marine Fisheries Service, however, specifically excluded Cook Inlet salmon from the federal fishery
management plan, or FMP, via Amendment 12. In December 2011, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council unanimously voted to officially have Alaska Department of Fish and Game manage Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound and Alaska Peninsula salmon fisheries, and note that in the federal fishery management plan, or FMP. The council manages most fisheries in federal waters, or
from three to 200 miles from shore, largely under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The salmon FMP for federal waters offshore from Alaska was then revised to reflect that change in jurisdiction. The FMP is required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The final rule implementing that change was published in the federal register in December 2012, effective Jan. 22.
That’s the decision the Cook Inlet commercial fishing organizations are challenging. The federal defendants have said they have the authority to make the change. During oral argument in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Judge Timothy Burgess asked both sides to answer several questions about deference to federal management in See SUIT, page A-5
Tyonek fire nearly contained Calling all heroes By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Firefighter officials said the Tyonek wildfire should be 100 percent contained by the end of Wednesday, nine days after the wind-driven fire was first reported to be moving toward Tyonek. On Tuesday the fire had spanned 1,906 acres between the villages of Tyonek and Beluga along the shore on the west side of the Cook Inlet, but crews contained about 85 percent of the fire and no growth is expected, said Washington Incident Management Team public information officer Chuck Turley.
Turley said firefighters were confident that full containment lines around the perimeter of the fire would put out any heat that remained. Light but steady rain started Monday night and is in the forecast the next few days, he said. With 196 personnel assigned to the fire Tuesday, Turley said a large number of resources were reassigned to fight the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire. The crews remaining in Tyonek conducted mop-up duty, or clearing the area around fire containment lines to ensure that nothing is rekindled. A crew with the Mat-Su Division of Forestry and a Type-4 Incident Commander will remain to pa-
trol the fire for an undetermined period of time, he said. Turley commended the efforts of the first responders, who built a fire line and prevented the fire from reaching the village of Tyonek. The Type 2 incident management team was dispatched from the state of Washington last Thursday. “The initial attack crews did an outstanding job,” he said. “For as few people as they had they did great work at a critical time.” Nikiksi firefighters and Beluga volunteer firefighters worked on the ground with bulldozers and put out spot fires. Turley said firefighters have See TYONEK, page A-5
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By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
The word “hero” can bring to mind anyone from law enforcement officers keeping communities safe to emergency responders saving lives to the firefighters working to contain the Funny River Road wildfire. But the Summer of Heroes program, developed through a partnership between Alaska Communications and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Alaska, looks to recognize the young heroes of Alaska. “It’s just recognizing a
youth in the community (who have) done good,” said Heather Schloeman, executive director of Boys and Girls Clubs of the Kenai Peninsula. A panel of judges will select five winners from nominated kids this summer to receive a $1,500 scholarship and a trip to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer where they will be recognized for their heroism. Jennifer Brown, director of marketing and public relations for Boys and Girls Clubs of Alaska, said See HERO, page A-5