The state is getting some local support in its challenge of the roadless rule’s reinstatement in the Tongass National Forest. The nonprofit organization First Things First presented a $5,000 check to aid litigation fees as it joined with the Juneau Chamber of Commerce and other Southeast organizations as intervenors on the side of the state.
Attorney Jim Clark accepted the check before the Chamber on Thursday. Clark said he will be filing as the intervenors’ representation with attorney Steve Silver.
Clark talked about the support of the state’s appeal of the rule, which was just reinstated for the Tongass this summer by U.S. District Judge John W. Sedwick. Clark said the rule will have serious negative impacts to hydropower and renewable energy projects, timber and mining. He said the tourism industry will be indirectly affected due to dock use of interruptible power through transmission lines affected by the roadless rule.
Clark said the lawsuit will also go into rural areas’ difficulty in getting renewable energy under the rule. He said too many still have to rely on diesel when they could have access to geothermal and hydro resources.
Clark said the intervenors will help support reinstating the Tongass exemption.
“I really think it’s important to take on this rule and support the state’s lawsuit,” he said.
First Things First President Neil MacKinnon explained his stance in joining the fight against the roadless rule. He said that among other things, it only allows developments already in progress but closes the door on future projects. Clark also said the rule prohibits new geothermal leases.
“This just locks us right now in time,” said MacKinnon. “It turns us into a museum.”
MacKinnon and Clark both said that the rule inhibits progress and exploration in too many ways, such as the inability to transfer equipment through roads.
MacKinnon also said the rule has different implications in Alaska because of the already limited road infrastructure. He said, “Down south there are roads everywhere but we have barely enough roads to hold together what we have.”
“We see this roadless rule as probably the biggest economic impediment to the Southeast,” he said.
Entities that support the roadless rule say this is not the case. Grassroots Attorney Buck Lindekugel of Southeast Alaska Conservation Council said the roadless rule will not have any effect on mining or salmon-safe hydro development. He said the rule will not impede economic developments.
“We thought the court was very clear on that,” he said.
Lindekugel said the state is entitled to seek more answers through an appeal but doesn’t think the decision will change.
“SEACC is very supportive of smart energy development. We just don’t think the roadless rule is preventing it,” he said.
Lindekugel also said this will not change the Forest Service’s policies of transferring emphasis out of old-growth timber.
McKinnon said everything will all tie together in the case.
The Chamber is one of several Southeast organizations that have joined the group of intervenors. A few others that were listed include Alaska Electric Light and Power, Hyak Mining Co., Inside Passage Electric Cooperative and now First Things First.
Executive Director Mindy Rowland said First Things First’s mission is to promote public understanding of the facts on Alaska’s natural resources.
• Contact reporter Jonathan Grass at 523-2276 or jonathan.grass@juneauempire.com.
Comments (25)
Add commentI thought Jim Clark was in
I thought Jim Clark was in jail
Neil McKinnon early in the morning...
...is scary enough, but Neil McKinnon early in the morning in the newspaper saying 'First things first!' is a sign the end is near.
Neil McKinnon is what many would say - opinionated. He is also nutz, which has a slight effect on his opinions.
Sounds like first thing first
Sounds like first thing first is doing a pretty bad job of telling the "facts" if they are just repeating the same old b.s. with the same old people- clark, mackinnon and the rest.
Obama leadership?
Amazing how the Obama administration with open doors/no secrets (his campaign mantra), has managed to have one of his Czars be the only one to make decisions on the Tongass. Forget the science, forget the people that live and work here, by God, lets prevent anyone from utilizing our natural resources in Alaska.
People like Mr. Good above will blindly follow along with the SEACC crowd to put trees and animals above the human species that live here. They don't have to worry since they get their income from the Government or donations from outside Alaska for their "work"
notta
I'm with ya notta!
Great job Neil, and thanks
Great job Neil, and thanks for looking out for SE Alaska's economy. A strong economy means jobs, and there won't be too many of those if our emphasis is going to be on ecotourism. Economies are strong because of natural resources such as minerals, timber, fishing, etc. If SEACC and their ilk continue to block access to those natural resources, Southeast will continue to lose jobs and its residents.
Elections have consequences.
Elections have consequences. Vote very carefully in 2012. Don't be fooled again...
Deja Vu
Jim Clark & Steve Silver, together again for another fruitless appeal. These 1-ring-circus clowns started by defending the foreign-owned pulp mill in Sitka 40 years ago. It's deja-vu time.
More fear mongering
The roadless rule has nothing to do with hydrodevelopment. Hydro is regulated by FERC and that trumps the roadless rule.
Opinions are OK and you can support anything you want, but please at least try to be honest.
Deja?
I'm not familiar with what exactly happened to that pulp mill, could you educate me a bit? Did this foreign owned pulp mill employ Sitka residents? What were they defending the pulp mill for? Are you referencing a lawsuit or were they simply attempting to keep the business open? Was the pulp mill doing something illegal? What affect was it having on the ecosystem? When the pulp mill closed how did it affect the local economy? What was the unemployment rate in Sitka before and after the pulp mill closed? How many people ended up out of work? Why didn't a US based company come in and open a pulp mill of their own? Was it because of the regulations set forth by the Department of the Interior / Forest Service?
There are many parts of that post that I'm not clear on. Could you please fill in the blanks?
Chip baby....
I guess everyone should use your attorney Chippy...what was it you got caught doing several years ago that was in the news???
NOW that is newsworthy.
Chip calling anybody a 1-ring
Chip calling anybody a 1-ring circus clown? Hello, Kettle? This is Pot...you're black!
money down the drain
Wow, what suckers. That's $5K that could have actually been used on something that has a chance to succeed.
They might think they're helping the SE Alaska economy, but they're not. The roadless rule helps the economy over the long term (healthier natural resources such as fish, more attractive landscape for tourism), while the logging industry needs to be propped up with subsidies to balance the books. They're just giving money to the legal careers of Clark and Silver.
Jim Clark plead guilty, but a court (in Weyrauch's case) later ruled that the the statute under which Clark had been charged did not support the criminal legal claim. Clark got his plea reversed and now walks free, one of the luckiest men in Alaska (next to Ben Stevens).
Chip Thoma's 1-ring circus
It's already been mentioned a couple of times, but Chip Thoma calling this a "1-ring circus" is about as hypocritical as it comes.
How about the one-ring circus that you've got us into against the woman-who-shall-not-be-named?!?!?! Your frivolous lawsuit is now going to cost the State of Alaska money to defend! Thanks for nothing, Chip!!!
I'll honk my horn and blast my stereo every time I'm in your neighborhood now!
Niel MacKinnon local Tea
Niel MacKinnon is also a Tea Bagger and has joint ownership of several AEL&p companies. Which makes this about shareholders that stand to benifit from opening the Tongass to more mining and by providing power to them.
"The Greens Creek unit has historically been powered completely by diesel generators located on site. However, an agreement was reached during 2005 to purchase excess hydroelectric power from the local power company, Alaska Electric Light and Power Company (“AEL&P”)". http://www.hecla-mining.com/hmc_prop_greenscreek.html
Niel is also responsible for bringing in the movie last year called "Not Evil Just Wrong".
The First Things First Foundation (FTFF) group of individuals all push the idea that global warming is a hoax and that anyone who works to protect the environment is a radical environmentalist. FTFF played a huge role in pushing back 30 years of progress made in the Clean Water Act and as a result, mining companies and other industries can now dump their toxic waste into our water ways. You know what I call THAT radical. Just how is dumping toxic waste into our lakes and water ways helping Southeast Alaska??
Thank you Niel, thats quite an accomplishment and I bet you even sleep well at night.
And lets be real clear here and ask Niel to show all of us how many mining claims he has that he wants roads built to at Tax Payers expense! This is hypocritical if you know what I mean, these tea baggers.
Yep, this is not about helping SE economy this is about helping Niel and all his friends line their own pockets.
Hyak Mining also owned by Niel
Hyak Mining Co is also owned by Niel.
and the so called "Build the Road" well guess who benifits from that? Niel does:
"The 23-mile, gravel "pioneer" road, a preliminary step toward building a highway connecting the capital with the rest of Alaska, would be built with $45 million in state money. The road also would stop at John MacKinnon's family property (Niels brother), which holds a potential gold mine leased to the Kensington Mine near Berners Bay".
http://juneauempire.com/stories/121306/loc_20061213029.shtml
@ deja
The two pulp mills in S.E. Ak, Ketch. & Sitka, basically were make work programs by the Federal Gov't in the 50's and 60's, tied in with the U.S. sponsored rebuilding of Japan's economy...Tongass timber has generally been considered inferior, economically, to Lower 48 timber, for lumber, the stuff you build houses out of.
At great, eternal Federal subsidy, Tongass trees were clearcut, chipped, and boiled into pulp, then shipped to Japan for greater processing and manufacture of useful products, like rayon (I won't wear rayon, it's nasty stuff), some paper, and even the inert bleached filler used in ice cream and instant mashed potatos. Great.
The Forest Service expenditures to promote this industry never were even remotely replenished by sales..Funny how so many "free, independent Alaskans" made their livings from corporate welfare.
In the 80's and particularly the 90's a lot of people began to get fed up, and in Sitka anyway, which as a subsidiary of bigger Japanese conglomerates needed endless domestic (Japanese) subsidy as well, Sitka Pulp decided to just bag it..."We're outta here!" , blaming the economic farce of their whole operation on greenies. Sound familiar? Think anything's changed?
BTW, the only really significant "timber" industry in the Tongass area has been the clearcutting, sale and shipping of whole, unprocessed logs to Oriental mills from private, typically Native forest holdings. There used to be "cant" mills around and about, squaring round logs and calling that significant processing, but I believe they're history too.
The milled lumber industry in S.E. has moaned for decades now that greenies have driven them out of business 'cause of the lack of logs, even as various environmental groups have expressed acceptance of greater allowable cutting than has been the historical norm.
"McKinnon said everything
"McKinnon said everything will all tie together in the case"
and I say you bet your a ss it will!
To the Chamber, AELP and others here, you should all be ashamed of what you are trying to pull off here, good lord, this IS twisted stuff
deja...
Great breakdown and thanks for the education. This all sounds familiar as I have family which worked for the Forest Circus here in Juneau. A relative of mine was disgusted that we would ship our timber overseas to be processed rather than process it here. That the timber wasn't even actually shipped overseas, but was shipped to the barges the Japanese had off our coast, then sold back to us at a premium price.
How the political game is played makes all the sense in the world with regard to what is happening, but makes no sense to people who actually love this country.
Here is an eye opener for anyone interested in corporate welfare. The federal government is now thinking about renting out property which was foreclosed on by companies the government has interest in, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. How long will it be before these government owned homes, which became government owned with the corporate bailouts, become some kind of entitlement?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOVERNMENT_HOME_RENTALS?SITE=A...
Jim Clark/Murky's Brain
I thought he was in jail, too.
Funny how the handful of Legislative grafters carrying wastewater for VECO and the Prison lobby were considered expendable by their sponsors.
Gee, jail time for undeclared $3500 push polls...Kinda like how somebody who steals an old used car does time but Pulp, Mine, and Oil shills go right back to the same old same old. Shame old Shame old?
JOBS!! (That seems to be a chronic favorite.) JOBS !!
Tallon, et al ...
Build your credibility and at least spell Neil's name right.
Alaska guy is only 1/2 right
Alaska guy is only 1/2 right when he says: "The roadless rule has nothing to do with hydro development. Hydro is regulated by FERC and that trumps the roadless rule."
Hydro generation, or hydro generation with a transmission line built as part of the generation project, may be regulated outside of the roadless rule.
However, building a transmission line from an existing hydro plant through a roadless area is subject to the roadless rule. This could be a line extension to another community, a mine project, or just connecting two hydro plants.
Thanks Aurora
I didn't want to be petty - but that was bugging me too.....
investing in the losing side
So far, the state and timber industry and Forest Service haven't done too well in federal court. The state would do well to give up on this nonsense and save its citizens the financial burden of paying all these lawyers. The timber industry may be a sacred cow, but it's just not fiscally responsible, especially considering that taxpayers will save millions in federal subsidies thanks to the roadless rule. People keep talking about fiscal responsibility and government waste. Peace and Quiet is exactly right that the whole federal timber sale program is about subsidizing raw low exports out of state. The federal timber sale program on the Tongass should be a poster child for the Tea Party.
Oh yeah. But apparently some of them want that subsidy for their mining operations.
for ratfishtim
Only if there will be a road built. I do not see many transmission corridors with roads, do you?