Dear Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott,
Last week, you lifted a great weight from my shoulders when you selected the no-build alternative for the unnecessary and harmful “Juneau Access” road. I am both grateful and relieved. Some road supporters complain that your decision was political. I strongly disagree. Your decision not to spend another nickel on this project and use the money set aside for this project on other, more urgent priorities was not a gift to your political supporters but a courageous and morally just decision. Your decision elevates the true meaning of community above the profit for a few.
I am writing you as the eldest person of the Auk Kwaan, the original settlers of the Juneau area. Traditional Auk territory extended from Berners Bay south to Seymour Canal. We had several villages in Berners Bay. Where there were villages, there are burial sites. For nearly 40 years, I fought plans by first the Forest Service and then the Alaska Department of Transportation to punch a road through our ancestral lands in Berners Bay, desecrating our burial sites. There has been enough desecration of our lands and interests over the years in the name of “progress.” Your common-sense leadership respects our deep connections to these lands and to the spirits of our ancestors.
Gunal’cheech,
Rosa Miller,
Juneau