Peninsula Clarion, January 11, 2015

Page 1

THE

Don’t Google it Some things are easier to learn than others Community/C-1

C

M

Y

K

Hoops

Sunday

Homer basketball takes two from Nikiski Sports/B-1

CLARION P E N I N S U L A

JANUARY 11, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Vol. 45, Issue 86

50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday

Kenai, Kodiak, king salmon research dropped Chinook Salmon Research Initiative projects on three rivers a casualty of Walker’s budget cuts By DJ Summers Morris News Service - Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated. Originally the Kenai River’s juvenile salmon project was scheduled to begin in 2015. After publication the Alaska Department of Fish and Game made the decision to table its Kenai, Karluk and Chignik smolt projects. Gov. Bill Walker’s plans for Alaska involve a lot of budget cutting, and a vital research project for king salmon is on the slab.

The team tasked with dispensing funds through Alaska’s Chinook Salmon Research Initiative — a holdover from former Gov. Sean Parnell’s administration — have tabled three juvenile salmon projects on the Kenai, Karluk and Chignik Rivers, according to the project’s team leader. As petroleum prices dive and Alaska finances look grim, the research initiative is one of many items Walker cut from former Gov. Sean Parnell’s proposed capital budget, potentially halting several ongoing programs and complicating an Alaska fishery regulatory item.

Parnell introduced the $30 million initiative into his budget in 2012 to study declining Alaska chinook salmon stocks. Parnell’s plan gave an initial $10 million to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, or Fish and Game, and was to include an additional $20 million over the subsequent four years for a total $30 million, five-year effort. To date, the state has given $15 million of the planned $30 million in two payments of $7.5 million. Parnell had proposed $5 million in the fiscal year 2016 budget. “The Chinook Salmon Research Initiative (CSRI) team is

being prudent with CSRI funds and has made some hard choices over the past week,” wrote Fish and Game CSRI project leader Ed Jones in a Jan. 10 email. The juvenile salmon project on the Kenai River is being delayed as the river already has a robust assessment project on adult salmon, Jones wrote. The Karluk, a 24-mile long river on Kodiak Island, and the Chignik, a river on the Alaska Peninsula about 160 miles southwest of Kodiak Island, will still have assessment projPhoto by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion ects in place to count adults in In this August 15, 2013 file photo research biologist Jim Millthe upcoming season, accord- er chats with a group about the Alaska Department of Fish and ing to Jones’ email. Game’s sonar projects on the Kenai River. See CUTS, page A-2

Bar flies By Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion

C

M

Y

K

T

he evolution of a fly fisherman and the process of learning how to lure a fish invariably seems to include fly tying. For some, that process leads to teaching others how to manipulate colored bits of yarn, thread, feathers, and fur into irresistible enticements for fickle fish. In Kenai, a group of fly fishermen, guides and conservationists from the Kenai Peninsula’s chapter of Trout Unlimited are in their second season of offering free fly-tying classes, along with the option of grabbing a beer and dinner, to novice and expert fishermen interested in learning more about the art behind creating lures. On a recent Tuesday about 20 people gathered in the back corner of the Main Street Tap and Grill to watch instructors Mark Wackler and Lee Kuepper take turns teaching the art of making egg-patterned Glo Bugs and flesh-patterned flies under the neon lights of the bar’s advertisements. See FLIES, page A-10

Anchor Point LNG planned BlueCrest to partner with WesPac By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion

A Texas-based company focused on developing oil resources in the Cook Inlet on Thursday announced plans to partner with California-based WesPac Midstream LLC., to develop natural gas resources in the Cosmopolitan oil and gas prospect near Anchor Point. BlueCrest Energy Inc., President J. Benjamin Johnson told a crowd of about 100 at the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District’s annual outlook forum that the partnership would allow the company to develop the gas resources faster See LNG, page A-2

Kenai considers animals, wooden and real Gasline group seeks clarity By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion

Animals, real and figurative, were a recent concern in Kenai. The city will install a series of animal sculptures in its municipal park and continue a debate over outdoor drop-off kennels in its animal shelter. The first Kenai city council meeting of 2015 began with public comments from Tim Colbath of Nikiski, animal activist and operator of the non-profit Extended Life Animal Sanctuary of Nikiski, who spoke on the recent closure of the Kenai animal shelter’s outdoor

drop-off kennels. The kennels, intended to receive unwanted domestic animals brought to the city-run shelter after its hours of operation, were closed at the end of December. Animal control officers said they left animals exposed to hazardous overnight temperatures, and that the drop-off did not allow the shelter to collect information, such as an animal’s age, temperament, and health, to ease its adoption. Colbath, who had spoken on the same subject to the Kenai Peninsula borough assembly the previous evening, told the council that while drop-off kennels were not the best solution to the problem of

Today’s Clarion Obituaries..................... A-3 Opinion......................... A-4 Alaska........................... A-5 Nation........................... A-6 World........................... A10 Jumps......................... A-10 Sports........................... B-1 Community................... C-1 Weddings...................... C-1 Dear Abby..................... C-2 Crossword..................... C-2 Horoscope.................... C-2 Classifieds................... C-3 Mini Page...................... C-8 TV...................... Clarion TV

Partly sunny 31/21 For complete weather, see page A-12 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.

animal collection, their closure created problems of its own. He claimed that the closure had been partially motivated by pragmatic concerns about the shelter’s numbers. “This has less to do with the improvement of the humane treatment of animals, and more about the reduction of animals that the shelter handles, as well as restricting of intake to animals only in your jurisdiction... that is highly problematic here on the Kenai Peninsula,” Colbath said. Because the borough has no animal control, the Kenai shelter takes in a number of animals from outside the

city. According to City Manager Rick Kock, 360 of the 1072 animals that entered the shelter in 2014 were known to have come from outside of Kenai. Many of the 255 animals left anonymously in the drop-off kennel in 2014 may also be from outside Kenai, although the shelter had no way to collect this information. Colbath alleged that the city had closed the drop-offs in part to avoid spending its resources on non-Kenai animals. The practical effect of the closure, he said, was to make the shelter’s services inaccessible. “By having the hours of 11-5:30, you See KENAI, page A-2

Local politicians speak at Industry Outlook Forum By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion

Speeches from regional politicians opened and closed the 14th annual Kenai Peninsula Industry Outlook forum, held this week in Kenai’s Old Carrs Mall.

The forum’s first session began on Wednesday morning with speeches from municipal leaders. Kenai Mayor Pat Porter, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre, Soldotna Mayor Nels Anderson, and representatives from Seward, C

M

Y

K

Seldovia, and Homer provided updates on their respective communities to the audience of industry and non-profit representatives. Porter outlined her optimistic view of Kenai’s economy by citing a 6 percent growth See FORUM, page A-5

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The board of the state corporation expected to be a key player in efforts to advance a major liquefied natural gas project in Alaska is trying to determine how it can operate if members do not sign confidentiality agreements. On Tuesday, as part of a shake-up that included the removal of three board members, Gov. Bill Walker instructed the two state commissioners on the Alaska Gasline Development Corp.’s board to not sign such agreements in a bid to have the board operate more transparently. At a meeting Thursday, board chairman John Burns said he had asked the corporation’s attorney and state attorney general to analyze the impact on the board’s work if new members See AGDC, page A-2


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Peninsula Clarion, January 11, 2015 by Sound Publishing - Issuu