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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
NOVEMBER 23, 2014 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 46
Walker names heads for DNR, Revenue
Learning from the burn
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By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Just over a week before he is sworn in, Gov.-elect Bill Walker announced his first Cabinet picks — Mark Myers as Natural Resources commissioner and Randall Hoffbeck as Revenue commissioner. Myers is a former director of the state Division of Oil and Gas and U.S. Geological Survey who most recently has served as vice chancellor of research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Hoffbeck formerly served as a petroleum property assessor for the state and as a North Slope Borough finance director. Walker takes office Dec. 1. In an interview Friday, he said he is examining positions and not looking at a wholesale change-out of personnel from Gov. Sean Parnell’s administration. There would have to be a reason for him to make a
change, he said. Myers would replace Joe Balash, who has been a key figure in current efforts to advance a major liquefied natural gas project. During the campaign, Walker raised concerns with the state’s position in the project, saying Alaska isn’t in the driver’s seat. He said he also worried about letting companies with competing projects around the world determine if this one would advance. The state is pursuing the project with TransCanada Corp. and the North Slope’s major players — BP, Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips. But Walker also said he is not interested in slowing down the project or starting over but in advancing it. On Friday, he said he would start off with the framework as it stands and said his preference is to stay within it. But Walker said he wants to hear more details about the See GOV, page A-2
Peninsula helps with transition Residents tapped to help new governor prepare Photos courtesy Alaska Department of Fish and Game
At top, Fish and Game biologists Thomas McDonough and Jeff Selinger prepare to collar a tranquilized moose in February 2012. Above, McDonough and physiologist John Crouse attach a radio collar to a moose in March 2012.
Fish and Game to study effects of Funny River fire on moose By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
The Funny River wildfire burned nearly 200,000 acres, transforming the ecology of a large portion of the northern Kenai Peninisula. Researchers from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game have planned a study of how this new ecology will affect the behavior of one particular local species — moose. Post-wildfire ecosystems are generally favorable to moose. According to the Fish and Game publication Moose News, experts credit the increased frequency of wildfires caused by human settlement in Alaska for a rise in the Kenai’s moose population in the earlier part of the 20th century. Dan Thompson, a wildlife biologist from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said that Kenai’s moose thrived in the aftermath of previous
McDonough with a collared moose in March 2014.
wildfires. “What happened in the recent history of the Kenai is that in 1947, then again in 1969, there were two large wildfires” on the northern Kenai Peninsula, said Thompson, “In the 15 to 20 years after those fires, because of all the forage that became available, moose numbers increased.”
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The forage that Thompson spoke of consists of hardwood trees such aspen, birch, and willow, as well as shrubs such as fireweed, roses, and elderberry. These trees and shrubs are more prevalent and accessible in post-fire ecosystems. “In areas that haven’t burned, the willows, birch, and
aspen have grown out of the reach of the moose, or large enough that moose can’t break them over,” said Thompson. “Also, as the forest matures, a lot of the understory species — like fireweed and roses — start to decline because the canopy is becoming more closed and not as much light is coming down. When you have a fire coming through, those areas re-sprout in the years afterwards with a lot of things the moose consume during the summer. You also have the trees, birch, aspen and willows, either sprout or reseed back in, and then you have available winter browse at a level the moose can utilize. As those areas become mature stands of trees, less forage is available, and as a result the moose population has been in steady decline since then.” Moose News estimated that the Kenai’s moose population See MOOSE, page A-2
By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
A dozen Kenai Peninsula residents were tapped to help Governor-elect Bill Walker transition into office. A team of nearly 250 volunteers from communities around the state converged on Anchorage Friday, and throughout the weekend, to lend their expertise on everything from fisheries to fiscal policy as Walker, an independent, and incoming Lieutenant Gov. Byron Mallott, a Democrat, prepare to take office. “It’ll be two days of very intense brainstorming, reviewing documents and information and then, out of that, giving the governor-elect and his administration ... the best advice on what you, as a group, come out of it with,” said Tim Navarre, of Kenai, who is on the fiscal policy team. “It’s up to him and his commissioners to see if that’s helpful.” Navarre, who is on the Kenai City Council and the Board of Education for the Kenai Peninsula, said he has served on transition teams in the past — though not for a state governor. See TEAM, page A-2
Kenai Peninsula residents on the transition team: Jeff Tucker, Kenai, Public Safety Lisa Parker, Soldotna, Oil and Gas Blaine Gilman, Kenai, Oil and Gas Steve Wendt, Kenai, Oil and Gas Roy Huhndorf, Ninilchik, Infrastructure Debra Holle Brown, Kasilof, Fisheries Brian Gabriel, Kenai, Fisheries Ricky Gease, Kenai, Fisheries Roland Maw, Kenai, Fisheries Tim Bristol, Homer, Fisheries Bill MacKay, Kenai/Anchorage, Fisheries Tim Navarre, Kenai, Fiscal Policy Nancy Lord, Homer, Arctic Policy and Climate Change Larry Smith, Homer, Natural Resources — Walker campaign and spokesperson Lindsay Hobson
Hilcorp buys Point Mac LNG plant By Elwood Brehmer Morris News Service - Alaska/ Alaska Journal of Commerce
ANCHORAGE — Hilcorp Energy has agreed to purchase the Southcentral liquefied natural gas plant that supplies Fairbanks Natural Gas. Fairbanks Natural Gas President and CEO Dan Britton said the prospect of the sale was spawned from discussions between the companies on how
longer-term gas supplies could be secured. Titan Alaska LNG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairbanks Natural Gas, operates the Point MacKenzie LNG plant. Britton is also president of Titan. There is currently a gas contract in place from Hilcorp through 2018 to supply the plant. Hilcorp Alaska Vice President Kurt Gibson said Nov. 21 that the sale agreements were C
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signed “several days ago.” The sale is tentative pending approval from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. Hilcorp spokeswoman Lori Nelson said acquisition of the plant would mark the company’s first foray into LNG. “The Titan plant basically represents an opportunity for us to expand within the state to Fairbanks where less expensive energy is certainly something they are looking for and we
have the opportunity to provide,” Nelson said. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. The plant will be operated by Hilcorp’s subsidiary Harvest Alaska because it is a midstream asset. Britton said Hilcorp has the resources and the will to expand LNG processing, another reason for the sale. “We were having ongoing See PLANT, page A-2