Stop House Bill 52

For Lovers of Alaska State Parks, please contact the Alaska House of Representatives and ask them to stop House Bill 52.

House Bill 52 cuts Tutka Bay Lagoon out of Kachemak Bay state park and gives it to a private corporation, CIAA . If you can cut land out of the original state park, what’s to keep parks from giving away lands to corporations all over the state?

In 1974 Kachemak Bay State Park leased seven acres to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for a fish hatchery. In 1994, ADF&G subleased the land to a private group (Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association – CIAA). CIAA secured loans with this leased land, and in the last 31 years have made a profit in two. Despite a 2% tax on fishermen and generous loans from the state, CIAA has accumulated $17 million in debt. To bail them out, the House Representative from Homer proposed cutting 123 acres out of the state park to give to CIAA.

ADF&G signed an agreement with CIAA promising them land that was not theirs to give. CIAA used the land to procure loans. CIAA should not be rewarded with a gift of 123 acres of land that belongs to all Alaskans.

Write your Alaska house representative telling them you oppose giving away state parks to private groups – you oppose HB 52.

What’s next? A tram up Denali State Park? Lumber mills in Totem Bight? Hunting lodges at McNeil River? Open pit mines up Wood-Tikchik? Drill rigs at the Wiley Post-Will Rogers memorial ? Tell your legislators, “No! Don’t carve up state parks for private corporations!”

Gordy Vernon

Biden was elected

Poor Mr.Dawson. Please do your homework. Read all about it! President Biden was elected! If you think you can do better, give it a try.

C. Navrot

Inletkeeper appreciates city, foundation grant support

From Electronics Recycling to the Food Hub to community led climate solutions via Homer Drawdown, Cook Inletkeeper’s community based programming represents a vital and vibrant pillar of our organization. Our Homer team would like to express our gratitude for past and ongoing support and engagement from our members, community and the City of Homer Grants Program at the Homer Foundation which allows us to keep these programs going.

We invite you to get involved! Save the date for our Annual Electronic Recycling Event Saturday April 30t, order seasonal local food every week on the Alaska Food Hub, and add your energy to the Homer Drawdown community during our next monthly meeting March 24th as we review our top climate solutions in preparation to vote on our next project.

Satchel Pondolfino

Help Rebuild Jakolof Dock

One of the best dividends of living on the Kenai Peninsula is the ability to access the amazing country across Kachemak Bay via the Jakolof Bay Public Boat dock. This dock is a vital link between the mainland and the end of the Kenai Peninsula. It has been a safe haven for boats and provides Seldovians with a frequently safer alternative to reach Homer. Seldovia benefits economically from this dock and it enables State residents as well as visitors throughout the world to access the amazing recreational opportunities in this unique part of our State. Anyone who has visited Red Mountain, hiked down the Windy and Rocky River to the gulf side, biked the 10 miles into Seldovia, or accessed Kachemak Bay State Park on the Tutka Bay Lagoon Trail can attest to this areas exquisite beauty.

The importance and opportunities afforded by the Jakolof Dock are obvious. The problem is that the dock is old and deteriorated with a limited life span. So what is the most equitable way to replace this resource and continue to allow public access? Can our local and State representatives access stimulus funds, can Grants be written, how can we, the public who use the dock, best contribute? Can there be opportunities for volunteer labor on the rebuild and fund raising efforts to help defray the estimated $1.5 million replacement cost? And how can we become better stewards of the Jakolof tidelands around the dock?

Perhaps this can also be an opportunity to clean up the cluttered parking area of abandoned trailers and cars above the dock and better respect this little jewel in Jakolof Bay. Thank you to all involved in this project and anyone with ideas and energy to help it move forward. I look forward to seeing solutions offered and helping to build an even better dock so we can continue to access these wonderful treasures. Please share your ideas with the City of Seldovia council meeting March 7.

Steve Hughes

Weak men create hard times

Dear Editor,

The past has shown us that poor leadership combined with minor events in a far-off part of the world can lead to a worldwide catastrophe. Joe Biden’s leadership has been feckless. His administration has led to one disaster after another, from Afghanistan to our southern border. Now we have war in Ukraine.

No one expected in 1914 that the assassination of a minor archduke in Sarajevo would result in a global war and the end of empires, but it happened. It could happen again. We are entering a very dangerous time in human history and are lacking strong leadership. Unfortunately, we are stuck with Joe Biden’s incompetence for three more years. However, we do have a chance to act.

We will have a chance to elect people who won’t just go along with the worst of Biden’s policies. When you vote in the elections later this year, you will have many choices at both the state and national level. Please elect strong conservative leaders for Alaska. You may wish to support Sarah Vance, Kelly Tshibaka, Nick Begich, Chris Kurka and Paul Hueper.

Respectfully,

Greg Sarber

Give Putin breathing space

If you are reading this, that’s a good thing. The Ukrainian situation is so incredibly dangerous to life on earth that I haven’t been this frightened since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin is committed to a military resolution in Ukraine to relieve Russia’s historical paranoia about its physical security. Worldwide economic sanctions against Russia, while painful, will likely not shake his resolve. Nonetheless, they, as well as continued battlefield reverses largely due to Western-supplied weaponry could tempt him into employing tactical nukes to achieve definitive battlefield dominance. Then what? At that moment the least bit of confusion — over a misread radar screen, for instance — could easily trigger a massive nuclear launch by either side.

Ukraine’s been engaged in a low-grade civil war between Ukrainian and Russian-speaking citizens since at least 2014. It’s not critical to our security or well-being.

The worst that will happen in Ukraine (excluding war casualties) is that Russia occupies the country for awhile until a stable Russian-oriented government is established. In that event the march of democracy in Ukraine is simply delayed for 10 or 15 years. That’s a small price to pay to fend off nuclear winter and the extermination of 99% of humanity.

Please immediately send messages to Congress and the President demanding they stop doubling-down, and give Putin breathing space.

Your life may depend upon it.

Larry Slone

CACS grateful for grant, foundation support

The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS) would like to thank the City of Homer for continuing to support local nonprofits in the community through the City of Homer Grants Program administered through the Homer Foundation. We are especially thankful for the $1,000 in operational support we received in 2021 through this program. This annual support in the form of unrestricted funds helps to support the vital operations of non-profits, especially since these types of funds are difficult to raise.

City of Homer grant funds are used primarily to support free and reduced priced afterschool and community programs and our CoastWalk program. CoastWalk is conducted every fall and contributes to coastal monitoring and marine debris data collection. In 2021 we had 24 individual volunteers and over 500 students and groups involved in CoastWalk. An additional 210 people engaged in presentations about marine debris and its impact on healthy ocean ecosystems. This program, started in 1984, is an important stewardship activity for the Homer community. In partnership with the City of Homer we continued to monitor 4 recycling stations at key public venues

Community partnerships are very important to CACS and our programs. These funds help leverage other grants and opportunities for collaboration. We thank the City of Homer for their continuing support of non-profits in Homer, all contributing to the important work being done to promote a healthy ecosystem, and an engaged and connected community.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Trowbridge, Executive Director, Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies

Grateful for end-of-life support

I would like to thank everyone who helped me care for my husband, Howard.

Thanks to Dr. Giulia Tortora and Dr. Brent Adcox and their staff; the EMTs who come to help me lift Howard off the floor when he fell and transported him to the emergency room; the hospital staff in the emergency and during the test he had to take and to my neighbor, Eric.

I especially want to thank Homer Health Care nurse Matt for his compassion and kindness to both me and my husband.

And last, but not least, thanks to the wonderful staff at Hospice of Homer, including Marie, Elicia and Maya and the others too many to name.

Thanks to all of the wonderful people who helped me keep my husband at home where he wanted to be until his passing.

With much love,

Cece Grevenberg

Thanks to those who tried to save eagle

Heading into town last Tuesday, just south of Diamond Ridge Road at the bottom of the hill, there was an injured eagle in the middle of my lane. It was alert but could not fly.

I stopped, put on my flashers and called U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Homer. I didn’t want another driver accidentally hitting it. A young couple stopped to help and set out some flares to warn traffic while we waited for the wildlife officer.

The eagle was likely feeding on something in the road; there looked to be some large animal remains off to the side.

What a beautiful magnificent bird. The young man who stopped commented he’d never been this close to an eagle. He used his coat to try to move it closer to the roadside, away from traffic, and maybe in some way comfort it.

I learned the next day from the wildlife officer that the eagle had to be euthanized — a broken wing, leg and internal injuries. He informed me the remains will be sent to the National Eagle Repository, where their parts can be shipped to Native American and Alaska Natives enrolled as federally recognized tribes for use in their religious ceremonies. It pleased me to learn this beautiful creature will be honored.

Thank you to the wildlife officer who came to the rescue and aid of the eagle, and to the young couple, and to all the traffic who slowed and gave a nod to what they saw as a potential eagle rescue. It’s nice to know that while many these days are so mean to one another with imagined opposing views on whatever, we can agree wildlife is our common ground and needs our care.

Therese Lewandowski

Logical?

Biden shut down the XL pipeline capable of producing more than 700,000 barrels per day of oil. He shut down drilling on federal land. Then he had the tax payers buy 232 million barrels of oil from Russia in 2021. Is this logical?

Ray Dawson