Crouched down in the engine room of the 50-foot vessel, Ben Matthys is showcasing the completed hybrid engine to Senator Lisa Murkowski, answering any follow-up questions she has. He’s the lead technician who joined the project four years ago. The project was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a pilot program to make commercial engines cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

Sitka fisherman Jeff Turner owns the boat. After hearing about the grant, Turner was quick to volunteer his boat for the project. Yet on the two trips Turner took prior to Murkowski’s visit, a third-benefit was revealed, one that both Turner and Murkowski agree is “transformational”: 

“The noise pollution is something I really notice,” says Turner. “A quiet boat is fatigue free. I mean, you’re talking in a normal voice. You don’t have to yell across the deck.”

The team behind the hybrid engine plans to continue collecting data from the Mirage throughout the summer fishing season, logging the data in a publicly available document. That way, fishermen can decide whether they would like to install a hybrid engine as well. Another boat from Juneau is already lined up to be the second boat to have the hybrid engine installed. Turner says he’s excited to be a part of the development process to make the engine the best it can be for fishermen now and in the future. 

“I want to take advantage of the system. I want to see what it can do,” says Turner. “And I want the next person, and the next person, to learn from it. They’re collecting data on every single piece of equipment there, and what’s it gonna be in five years, ten years.”

Additionally, with concerns over outmigration and fewer young people staying in Alaska, the hybrid engine offers professional opportunities that could help retain and attract working-age people in the state. Chandler Kemp, the project’s enginee, believes that their partnership with locals in developing the engine is a promising example for future developers. 

“And so it’s not a case where we’ve hired a contractor to come in and build the project and then leave,” says Kemp. “Instead, we’ve invested locally to support people that want to do this type of work, and now have the expertise to do it more independently.”

But the promise for professional development is not without its obstacles, as highlighted by Linda Behnken, the executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association.

“There isn’t anybody in this country yet making these systems,” says Behnken. “There is a electric outboard maker that we want to use on a mariculture boat. But there isn’t anybody certifying marine certified batteries in this country yet, or building these systems.”

Batteries for electric vehicles are already proving a problem to transport. Alaska Marine Lines no longer ships electric vehicles to the state, and the ferry system highly restricts them. 

Murkowski says it needs to be addressed for the technology to move forward.

“The whole discussion about how you move an electric vehicle to Alaska, we can’t put them on these container ships anymore because of the danger of the fire,” says Murkowski. “So we’re going to have to figure this one out pretty darn quick.”

Murkowski strongly urges Alaskans to make their voices heard on the new Tongass plan that’s being created for the next 15 years. The public comment period ends on May 6th. Many environmentalists and organizations have critiqued the proposed land management plan. They say it gives minimal attention to commercial fishing and cultural subsistence practices, while placing heavy emphasis on logging and large-scale tourism development.

“You have an administration in play right now who is very, very aggressive, leaning into resource development, including on the timber harvest and management side,” says Murkowski. “We get that, but we also recognize that the Tongass is a multiple use forest. Always has been, always will be. And so we need to hear from not only those that are speaking on the cultural and the subsistence side, but on the tourism side, all the other activities that go on within the Tongass.”

Additionally, the planned relocation of the U.S. Forest Service’s national office to Salt Lake City has also raised environmental concerns and how it could potentially result in the relocation of an already minimized workforce in Alaska. Murkowski says that she anticipates Alaska to be “untouched” by the change. However, she says she is continuing to closely monitor the situation, as there are still some areas of uncertainty. They don’t know which positions would be relocated, and what that would mean for the science office in Juneau.

“I think it’s really important that we retain this office and the people so this effort to try to get more forest service folks out of Washington, DC, into the West [continues],” says Murkowski. “I think we’re asking the right questions. I think the jury is still out in terms of whether or not we’re getting the answers that we need in order to do the work.” 

Another regional hot topic is funding for the Alaska Marine Highway System. Murkowski helped steer over $700 million to Alaska’s ferry system through the bipartisan Infrastructure Act under the Biden administration. In her annual address to the state legislature, Murkowski said that she was “very disappointed” with the Alaska government’s management of the federal funding. While she says she is moving forward with various initiatives to secure more funding, Murkowski says nothing’s guaranteed. 

“I’m trying to be confident with all things…But it’s a $78 million hole. That’s substantial,” says Murkowski. “I want to make sure that what we have is a marine highway system that is standing on its own. That the state of Alaska has made a commitment towards… It is the Alaska Marine Highway System. It is not the Federal Marine Highway System.”

Additionally, the Trump administration’s attacks on DEI initiatives have drawn scrutiny over the qualifications for the Section 8(a) program, which impacts small businesses and Alaska Native Corporations. However, Murkowski says there is bipartisan support for the program, which she says has been hugely beneficial for Alaska. 

“The delegation has been very united on recognizing that when this program was created many decades ago, it was to not only provide economic empowerment, it was really designed to help fulfill one of the promises under [the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act] in terms of self determination,” says Murkowski. “And so I think part of this is just a failure to fully understand what that means and why it was established in the first place.”

Outmigration is an increasing concern in Southeast Alaska, with roughly 24% of all Alaskan workers living outside the state. Murkowski says that retaining Alaskan residents is of the upmost importance to her as a senator and a mother, with one of her sons living outside of Alaska due to the perceived lack of opportunity. However, Murkowski says she is highly optimistic about the growing unique professional opportunities and lifestyle benefits that Alaska has to offer. 

“There is a lot of cool stuff that is going on that should be exciting for young people, but excitement doesn’t pay your mortgage. Excitement doesn’t get you into a house or help you afford the cost of groceries,” says Murkowski. “But we have a bonus here in this area, and that is not only a natural beauty of our surroundings, but a generosity of heart with people that make it really special, even during some tough times.”

The Senate is currently in recess until April 16th.

Sitka will receive $10 million dollars for a new wastewater disinfection system. Municipal Administrator John Leach made the announcement at the Sitka Assembly meeting on Tuesday (1-27-26). He said U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski secured the money for Sitka as part of an Interior and Environment appropriations bill that passed the House and Senate earlier this month. 

“Her support is definitely going to reduce the financial impact on Sitka’s rate payers who would otherwise have to bear the cost of getting us in compliance with the federal mandate,” Leach said.

Sitka is one of nine communities in Alaska that has long held a waiver allowing it to opt out of a federal requirement to disinfect its wastewater twice before it’s discharged into the ocean. 

Alaska tightened its water quality standards for bacteria nearly a decade ago. In response, in late 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency re-issued a stricter wastewater discharge permit to Sitka — and several other Southeast Alaska communities whose discharges are not consistently disinfected and contain high levels of fecal coliform and enterococcus bacteria — to meet the updated standards, which are intended to protect marine waters for recreational and subsistence uses. Sitka has five years from that date to comply. 

Over the past few years, the assembly has been raising wastewater rates at a higher level than other utilities to pay for the upgrades. Last year, the city budgeted $7,750,000 for the project. 

In a press release from mid-January, Murkowski said the new wastewater disinfection system will help “modernize Sitka’s wastewater treatment facility and improve water quality.”

Murkowski was also able to secure investments for 18 other Alaska communities for projects she said were “requested and prioritized by local governments and organizations.”

It could be several months until the money is available, according to Leach. Once the bill is enacted, he said the funds will be directed to the appropriate agencies.

US Senator Lisa Murkowski believes an effort by a Washington-state conservation group to put Alaskan king salmon on the Endangered Species list is misguided.

The Wild Fish Conservancy filed a petition with NOAA Fisheries in January. Sen. Murkowski, in a call with KCAW, says the organization has missed the mark.

They are attempting to utilize a very legitimate law, the Endangered Species Act, for what I would consider to be a a very wrongheaded purpose,” Murkowski said. “And that is to basically stop our wild fisheries.”

Murkowski says Alaska’s fisheries are under threat from several sources, including environmental pressure from climate change and warming oceans, and economic pressure from Russia’s oversupply of traditional seafood markets. And there’s also ongoing litigation by the Wild Fish Conservancy itself, which sued NOAA Fisheries in 2020 to shut down the commercial troll fishery for kings in Southeast Alaska.

That tactic has yet to succeed, so Murkowski is not surprised that the Wild Fish Conservancy is trying another.

“If you’re looking to shut down a fishery, a threat by way of a petition with the ESA is certainly a direction to do that,” she said with a hint of sarcasm. “I think we need to make sure that we are well armed with our own science and data about our fisheries. But that takes monitoring, which is time, and it takes resources. And that’s one of the things that I’ve been doing at the federal level, to help address the challenges that our fisheries are facing in our fishing communities.”

Murkowski says outside environmental organizations often miss this point: No one has a greater interest in preserving Alaska’s wild salmon stocks than Alaskans. Individual fishermen, their families, and the communities they live in all depend on healthy stocks.

“It is not in their interest to overfish, to overharvest, to see the species be negatively impacted,” Murkowski said. “And I think we take great pride in how we have approached management. Now it is not without challenge. We understand that. And there are factors out there that we’re seeing at a rate and a pace that we’ve not seen before, that are associated with the environment and climate. But we don’t get near the credit for the way in which we manage our fisheries with a view towards true sustainability.”

The petition to list king salmon in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska is being reviewed by NOAA Fisheries, which is expected to make a decision shortly on whether or not it has merit. In either case, the question could wind up in court – possibly for years.

Weather delays force cancellation of Murkowski’s Sitka visit

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is back in Alaska while the US Senate is in recess this week. Due to bad weather on the east coast, she wasn’t able to leave D.C. in time to make her schedule in Sitka – and it was a lengthy schedule. Just listening to it sheds some light on the life of a US senator in a single community in her home state. 

“We had set up meetings with the mayor, the city manager, the school superintendent, the Visitors Bureau, the Forest Service, folks from the Tribe, and people within the community,” she said. “I  always like to get into the schools when I’m in a town, and so we were going to visit Mt. Edgecumbe. I was also going to have an opportunity for a dialogue with the folks at the Sitka Sound Science Center on the landslide monitoring update. We’re all, of course, very much in tune to what we’re seeing with landslides in the region following the devastating slide in Wrangell in late November.”

On top of that, Murkowski said that she had planned meetings with the Coast Guard regarding the homeporting of a fast response cutter in Sitka, and with the Sitka Community Land Trust. Across the state, Murkowski says, housing and workforce are high on the list of priorities for her constituents.

“Everywhere I go it’s housing, housing, housing, and then throw in some childcare and then more housing,” Murkowski said. “These are our challenges in getting the necessary workforce. And Sitka is right up there in terms of housing and childcare, as one of their community priorities.” 

Additionally, Sen. Murkowski said she is looking forward to meeting Sitka High senor Felix Myers, who is one of two Alaskan students selected for this spring’s United States Senate Youth Program.

“The Senate Youth Program is a phenomenal, phenomenal Young Leaders Program,” she said. “And in every year, we get two exceptional Alaskans that come back, and they show them everything: I think they get to go to the White House, they do a big reception. I always visit with the young people when they are there for the reception. So I will look for Felix, that’s awesome.”

The other student selected for the US Senate Youth Program is Elizabeth Djajalie from Juneau. Sen. Murkowski returns to Washington when the senate reconvenes on February 26.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Tuesday (10-11-22) joined a prestigious roster of people to receive the William Paul, Sr. Award.

The honor was presented by the board and staff of Sitka’s urban Native Corporation, Shee Atiká, in recognition of Sen. Murkowski’s advocacy “for the betterment of Alaska Natives and Alaska Native subsistence rights.”

The award also mentions the senator’s assistance with the Cube Cove transaction – a controversial deal that saw a heavily-logged Native land selection returned to the federal government to become protected wilderness.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is only the twenty-second person to receive the William Paul, Sr. Award. It’s not given on any specific cycle – but only when Shee Atiká has found a worthy candidate. William Paul himself was the first Alaska Native attorney. In 1922, when his mother, Tillie Paul, attempted to cast a ballot in Wrangell, she was denied on the grounds of “falsely swearing to be a citizen.” 

The case went to trial, and the court ruled in favor of Native voters. Two years later, Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act, making all Indians citizens of the United States.

Murkowski reflected on Paul’s legacy when she accepted the award during a lunchtime gathering in the Shee Atiká boardroom.

A few hours later, speaking to reporters following her remarks to the Alaska Travel Industry Association Conference in Sitka, it was still on her mind.

“Some years ago, back in 2016, the Shee Atiká board had voted to recognize me with the William Paul, Sr. Award for contributions for leadership when it comes to civil rights and other areas of promoting democracy,” said Murkowski.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s acceptance of the William Paul, Sr. Award

“Thank you for this recognition. Thank you for really appreciating what William Paul provided not only to the Alaska Native community, but really to help build and shape our state. When you think about civil rights leaders, you think about Elizabeth Peratrovich. But what William Paul did as well, to really advance voting rights for Alaska Natives was extraordinary. He was pretty impressive in his own right: He was the first Alaska Native attorney and the first Alaska Native to serve in our legislature. Clearly a leader within the ANB, but as we think about those instrumental federal laws not only had impact on all Alaskan Natives, but really our our state, ANCSA (the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act) and how he really helped to shape that – there is much to have great pride. And so the fact that I’m being recognized with this award is deeply appreciated. Thank you.” 

Among some of the other 22 honorees to have received the William Paul, Sr. Award are Sen. Mark Begich, Congressman Don Young, Mark Jacobs, Jr., and Herman Kitka.

2016 was the year that Sen. Murkowski helped Shee Atiká return to the federal government over 4,500 acres of its selected lands at Cube Cove on Admiralty Island. The Forest Service paid $4 million for the land, but some shareholders were angered enough to call for the resignation of Shee Atiká’s then-CEO Ken Cameron. Ultimately (in January, 2020), the corporation sold back a total of 23,000 acres of timberlands at Cube Cove for just over $18 million. The Forest Service announced plans to add Cube Cove to the Kootznoowoo Wilderness, ending any future prospect of its being logged again. 

For Sen. Murkowski, this was a complicated issue: She has spent her legislative career trying to remove lands from the federal inventory, not bring them back. Cube Cove seemed to cut against the grain of her principles, but it also touched on her other priorities.

“My responsibility, I think, as a member of the Alaska delegation is to be working with Alaskans, working with the constituents, to achieve their initiatives that they have put in front of us,” Murkowski said. “And you’re right, Cube Cove was a little bit of a reversal of what we typically try to do, which is take lands out of federal estate and put it into private hands. But I think there was a recognition that with the timber conveyances that were made at the time, this was a matter that needed to be resolved.” 

That resolution – as understood by shareholders at the time – included shoring up Shee Atiká’s balance sheet by selling lands that could not be logged again for decades.

And now, won’t be logged again, ever. This past June, the Forest Service released an 11-page preliminary proposal to speed up the restoration of Cube Cove by completing the decommissioning of 214 miles of logging roads, and repairing 153 miles of streams damaged during logging operations.

Federal guidelines that have closely regulated the cruise industry during the COVID pandemic will expire on Saturday (1-15-22), and won’t be extended.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control, told the US Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Tuesday (1-11-22) that the Conditional Sailing Orders in effect for cruise lines since last year would be lifted, in favor of voluntary participation.

Dr. Walensky acknowledged that the decision to allow the order to expire was coming during the largest spike in infections since the start of the pandemic. Less than two weeks ago, the CDC issued a warning discouraging cruise travel regardless of vaccination status. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who sits on the committee, pressed Walensky for assurance that there would be no last-minute change of course.

Sen. Murkowski – I understand the Conditional Sailing Order is set to expire in a few days, in recognition that the companies have practices that adhere to – or even exceed – the guidance in the order. So, I guess I’d like some assurance from you that they can count on that. That this is clear guidance and messaging to those within the industry, and those who are counting on being able to have a season this coming summer.

Dr. Walensky – Thank you, Senator. I think the Conditional Sailing Order and the fact that the industry has stepped up and is now interested in – and exceeding, as you note – the compliance with the sail order, without the order necessarily needing to be in place is a real testimony to how well that has worked, and how we’ve worked collaboratively with the industry. What I can’t say is that, just over the last two weeks with omicron we’ve seen a 30-fold increase in cases on ships during this season, so while I anticipate that with ships following the conditional sail order, we will still continue to do oversight, watch, and do all the technical assistance and support in every single way. We anticipate that this order will not be renewed, and that the cruise ship industries will continue to understand that this is a really safe practice for those industries. What I can’t predict is what the summer will bring.

The CDC’s Conditional Sailing Order was first imposed as a “No Sail Order” in March of 2020, which entirely eliminated Alaska’s summer cruise season that year. In October 2020, the agency issued a “Framework for Conditional Sailing Order” that introduced strict guidelines for cruise ships to resume sailings. Most Alaskan ports saw a limited return of ships in 2021, once a legal barrier involving Canada was resolved.

Due to pent-up demand, and travel restrictions elsewhere in the world, the Alaska visitor industry has projected a record cruise season in 2022.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced a bill to permanently waive a requirement for Alaska-bound cruise ships to stop in Canada.

Murkowski unveiled the bill at the annual meeting of the Southeast Conference in Haines this month. She argued that the century-old Passenger Vessel Services Act proved unintentionally harmful to the Alaskan economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

Murkowski is calling her bill “The Cruising for Alaska’s Workforce Act,” but if you’re hoping to read it, you’re better off searching for “A bill to permit under certain conditions the transportation of passengers between the State of Alaska and other United States ports on vessels not qualified to engage in the coastwise trade that transport more than 1,000 passengers, and for other purposes.”

Or you could look for Senate Bill S.2818.

If it sounds like Sen. Murkowski is attempting to thread the needle with that title, she is. The Passenger Vessel Services Act was originally passed in 1886, as a way to protect the US shipbuilding industry.

The requirement that foreign-flagged vessels originate or stop in a foreign port before engaging in “the coastwise trade” made sense at the time, and it hasn’t been much of a barrier to the Alaska cruise industry — until 2020, when Canada closed its ports to large cruise ships.

“But what we discovered was that when the pandemic hit, this was a law that protected Canada at the expense of the Alaskan economy,” said Murkowski.

To be fair, the US Centers for Disease Control also imposed severe limitations on cruising in 2020 that effectively eliminated the Alaska cruise season that year. But in 2021, as COVID vaccines became available, the Alaska cruise industry began to look viable, at least for the second half of the summer. Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young pushed for, and won, passage of a temporary waiver of the PVSA to allow ships to come to Alaska without that critical stop in Canada. 

S.2818 is intended to make that permanent.

“I think we have learned that we never want to be in a situation like this again, where the Alaskan economy is really held back by a law that is benefiting another country,” said Murkowski. “So we’ve been working to try to find a permanent fix.”

Congress moves slowly, however, and what was urgent legislation this spring may be on a slower track now.

Robert Venables is the director of the Southeast Conference. He says the Alaska cruise season could be looking at a full comeback next year, and the bill probably won’t pass overnight.

“I’m not sure if this piece of legislation will rise above other priorities that exist,” he said. “But I’m always hopeful, always appreciative, always supportive, but it may take a while.”

Venables observes that any legislation in the US Senate is “interwoven into a labyrinth of other legislation and personal relationships across the floor,” but he thinks Murkowski’s bill is a common sense solution for a real problem.

And he doesn’t think that lifting the requirement that ships stop in Canada means that they won’t stop there.

“In a free market global economy, you want every port to put their best case forward, and I think the Canadian stops are great added value,” said Venables. “But they shouldn’t be able to totally obliterate Alaska’s economy because they need to make their own decisions about closing their borders.”

S.2818, the “Cruising for Alaska’s Workforce Act,” was introduced in the US Senate on September 23. It was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

In recent speeches both to the Alaska Legislature (2-18-20) and the following day to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce, Sen. Lisa Murkowski repeated a joke attributed to Sen. John McCain of Arizona. The reference brought some of the late senator’s droll humor to what may have been Murkowski’s darkest period in Congress.

In a conversation with Sitka media following her chamber remarks, Sen. Murkowski talked with KCAW’s Robert Woolsey about her relationship with Sen. McCain, and how the senate has changed without him.

The joke is a pretty good icebreaker, for audiences that appreciate Murkowski’s position during the Trump presidency.

Here she is delivering it to the Alaska Legislature.

“Sen. John McCain, a good friend of mine, used to say, ‘It’s always darkest just before it goes pitch black.’” (Laughter) “Think about it. He usually intended it as a joke, but in fairness I can’t think of a more apt description for the past few months that we have been engaged in.”

Murkowski and McCain had been senate colleagues for a long time, but their relationship didn’t crystallize until they — and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — broke ranks with other senate Republicans in 2017 and blocked the so-called “skinny repeal” of the Affordable Care Act — or Obamacare — handing Donald Trump the first major defeat of his presidency.

John McCain died in August, 2018. I asked Murkowski how the senate impeachment trial might have gone if McCain was still in the senate. 

Murkowski – He’d be really grumpy if he were here right now.

KCAW – That’s what I wanted to ask: Do you think things would have unfolded differently if Sen. McCain were still around?

Murkowski – I don’t know if they would have unfolded differently, but John McCain was a man who could be pretty partisan, he was pretty firm in many of his Republican principles. But he was also a man who wanted to get things done.

The abandonment of principles was something that seemed to infuriate Murkowski during the impeachment process. In a scathing address to the senate prior to the impeachment vote in early February (2-3-20), Murkowski attacked the conduct of colleagues who had lowered their standards in the name of partisan politics.

“Over the course of the past few weeks we’ve all seen the videos from 20 years ago, where members who were present during the Clinton trial took the exact opposite stance than they take today. That level of hypocrisy is astounding, even for a place like Washington DC.”

Murkowski argues that she saw no point in prolonging a process established on a “rotten foundation,” as she put it, and voted to acquit the president. But that doesn’t mean she is giving Trump a free pass. Instead, as she told the three reporters in her Sitka press conference, she wants Congress to reassert its authority, and put checks on the executive. She wants the senate to act more like John McCain, starting now.

This has been, as I mentioned, a very dark time for Congress. And some have suggested, “Well you didn’t vote for impeachment, the president’s still there, you’re still dealing with the fact that we’re in a presidential election year and it’s going to get more partisan — what do you do?” I think one of the areas where Congress has failed is that we have ceded authority to the executive. We have done that when it comes to the power of the purse. Under the constitution, it lies with the Congress. We appropriate money for military construction, and the president effectively reaches over and takes out of the accounts what we have directed for his priority on the southern border. He did that last year; he’s made clear that he’s going to be doing it again to the tune of $3.8 billion, taking it from procurement accounts and accounts related to our Guard units. Even if I supported where he wanted to redirect it, that’s not his authority. That’s not his domain. And when Congress doesn’t challenge that, he’s just going to keep doing it because we let him do it. With War Powers: Last week we had a War Powers resolution in front of us with regard to Iran and Iranian hostilities. A significant reason that I voted to support that resolution is because I believe it needs to be made clear to the executive that this is Congress’ authority here. And so making sure that as one of the separate-but-equal branches of government, we’re not being rolled by the executive, is important for us. And it goes back to John McCain — we’ll take the thread back — because John would not have tolerated the overreach into other areas of jurisdiction.

That’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski discussing her views with Sitka media on the conduct of Congress during impeachment proceeding against the president over the last several months, and how she remains inspired by the memory of her former colleague Sen. John McCain.

Go before you go. Anyone who wants to visit the restroom at Sitka National Historical Park during the government shutdown is instructed to visit a website instead. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

Many Sitkans returned to work the day after Christmas, except for civilian federal employees, who remain on indefinite furlough following last weekend’s government shutdown.

KCAW’s Robert Woolsey checked in with some of the local federal agencies to see how things are going.

Note: Congress is scheduled to return from its holiday break on Thursday, December 27. Sitka district ranger Perry Edwards is a current board member of KCAW.

Voicemail audio: “Thank you for calling Sitka National Historical Park. Our staff is currently unavailable, but please leave a message and we’ll return your call as soon as possible…”

That could be a while. I tried calling Sitka National Historical Park first thing Wednesday morning, then I stopped by the Visitor Center in the afternoon. Although the buildings are dark, the park trails are open — but not the bathrooms.

So if you’re headed to a National Park facility in the near future, my advice to you is the same that I used to give my young kids: Go before you go.

Sitka National Historical Park is the most visible federal agency in Sitka, situated in the heart of downtown. But in terms of sheer impact, the Forest Service is hardest hit by the furlough.

“For us it means please standby,” said Perry Edwards, the district ranger for the US Forest Service. Prior to the start of the shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, December 22, he met with the 53 staff members to remind them of some policy around the furlough — like leaving government cell phones and emails unanswered — and sent them home with no assurances of when they would return to work, or if they would receive back pay.

Although this is not Edwards’ first furlough, he says every shutdown is different, and every shutdown is stressful.

“There is no guarantee that we’ll get paid when it’s over with, but traditionally Congress has said that we will back fund those people,” said Edwards. “But until this is resolved, no one’s going to get paid. So if we have younger families that don’t have rainy day funds and are dealing with mortgages — this could be a big deal for them.”

Everyone’s staying home in the Sitka district except for two law enforcement officers, and Edwards — who says the only business he’s permitted to work on is the furlough itself. Cabin rentals are unaffected by the shutdown, since they’re handled by a third-party contractor, but just about everything else — seasonal hiring, contracting, outfitter/guide permitting — has been put on hold.

And Edwards says that the longer the shutdown lasts, the greater impact will be on the district.

“If it’s not too long, I don’t think it (the impact) will be huge,” said Edwards, “but it puts that much of a burden on employees when they do get back because they’re that much further behind.”

In addition to the Department of Agriculture — which manages the Forest Service — the funding bills not yet enacted in Congress cover US Rural Development, the Food and Drug Administration, and the US departments of Commerce, Justice, Interior, State, Transportation, Environment, and Housing and Urban Development. The Post Office has been funded and will continue to deliver mail as usual.

Although the Forest Service is shut down, a number of services provided by the Department of Agriculture will continue for a while on prior funding. Such as…

–Eligible households will still receive monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for January.

–Most other domestic nutrition assistance programs, such as the Commodity Supplemental Food Program  and WIC will continue to operate at the State and local level with any funding and commodity resources that remain available.  Additional Federal funds and commodities will NOT be provided during the shutdown.

–The Child Nutrition (CN) Programs, including School Lunch, School Breakfast, Child and Adult Care Feeding, Summer Food Service and Special Milk will continue operations into February. Carryover funding will be available during the shutdown to support meal service into 2019.

The shutdown was prompted when Congress and the White House came to agreement on a budget package — with President Trump signing 5 of 12 appropriations bills, funding 75-percent of the government. But before signing the rest he dug in his heels and insisted that Congress appropriate $5 billion for a border wall with Mexico — and the standoff continues.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is disappointed by the President’s actions, saying in a statement: “We owe it to the American people to do our jobs, and govern.” Since there aren’t enough votes in the Senate for a wall, she hopes leaders from both parties work together to reach an agreement on border security “in a manner the President will accept.”

Ironically, border protection is one of the other areas of the government that is not being funded right now.

Stephanie Halama, the port director for US Customs & Border Protection in Juneau (which oversees Sitka), says her staff has been furloughed since December 22 — but unlike the Forest Service, they’ve been showing up to work at ports of entry anyway. In fact, Chuck Hoene, who works in Sitka during the busy summer season, is currently reassigned to the border on the Alcan Highway near Tok, Alaska.

Like Perry Edwards at the Sitka Ranger District, Halama is hopeful the shutdown doesn’t last too long.

And finally, at the US Coast Guard things are business-as-usual for all uniformed personnel. Lt. Brian Dykens, with District 17 public affairs, says all Coast Guard civilian employees have been furloughed, unless they are directly involved in the Guard’s mission regarding national security, or the protection of life and property.

Dykens says Search and Rescue and oil spill response remain at full strength, but some other things — like buoy maintenance and the credentialing of mariners — will be delayed until the shutdown ends.

Listen to iFriendly audio.

Last week Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued a statement that the recent change in the senate filibuster rules was “a power grab, plain and simple.” She then went on to say how it saddened her and how the Senate was designed to “guard the views and voices of the minority” and the Democrats had “shattered” that guardianship.

It’s interesting how time affects some people’s memories.

I guess she’s forgotten that in May 2005 she made a speech that was also posted as an editorial where she said: “Let me make it clear that I support an up-or-down vote on all nominations brought to the Senate floor, regardless of the president nominating them or which party controls the Senate. These nominees deserve to be considered based on their merits. Under the “advice and consent” process, every senator has the right to vote against a nominee if he/she does not believe the nominee is qualified for the position, but it is not fair to the nominees to have their lives placed on hold, sometimes in excess of two years. Nor is it right to perpetuate the many vacancies in our courts, particularly when we are seeing the caseload exceed the capacity of the sitting judges.” (Juneau Empire, 5/9/05)

I guess she’s also forgot that in September of 2010 she told the Juneau Bar Association that “the Senate rules should be changed to allow the names of judicial nominees to more quickly be moved to a vote” and that the legislative branch is to a degree holding the judiciary hostage.” (Fairbanks Daily News Miner, 9/24/10)

And in December of 2011 “I stated during the Bush Administration that judicial nominations deserved an up or down vote, except in ‘extraordinary circumstances’ and my position has not changed simply because there is a different president making the nominations.” (12/06/11 Sen. Murkowski’s press release)

That’s why I’m absolutely astonished that she thinks changing the rules so as to actually allow the names of judicial nominees to proceed “more quickly” to an “up or down vote” is now somehow dangerous and unpatriotic.

Hmmmm….

All I can say is that it’s a sad day when someone you know begins to show sign of memory loss – especially when it’s my own senator. It’s either that, or Senator Murkowski thinks her constituency is comprised of amnesiacs and we’ll forget her partisan flip-flopping.

Now, which of these two possible scenarios is worse I can’t say, but neither bodes well for her trustworthiness.

I’m Keith Nyitray and please don’t forge that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.