By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Two members of Congress on Monday requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Inspector General investigate the possible misuse of U.S. Forest Service funding by the state of Alaska.
On Wednesday Gov. Dunleavy issued a statement defending his administration’s use of the funds, and claimed that the Congress members based their request for a federal investigation on actions by “an extreme environmental organization” in Alaska.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-3) announced Monday that they have sent a letter to USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong that said: “We are concerned by a recent news report indicating the State of Alaska used a federal fire assistance grant for non-fire purposes, including a sub-grant to a timber industry stakeholder to support a rulemaking regarding roadless area management on the Tongass National Forest.”
Stabenow is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry. Grijalva is chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
As the source for their information about the issue, Stabenow and Grijalva cited a Sept. 24 story on KTOO in Juneau reporting Dunleavy’s award of $250,000 to a timber industry trade association, the Alaska Forest Association, for a study on the economic impact of the various alternatives now under public review regarding the USDA’s proposal to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 National Roadless Rule.
The Washington lawmakers asked Fong to investigate whether the funds were improperly diverted from a $2 million federal firefighting grant to the state of Alaska:
“What was this grant funding used for, and was it properly used by the State of Alaska and any subgrantees, including the Alaska Forest Association? Were other Alaska stakeholders such as the Organized Village of Kake made aware of or awarded any funding to support their abilities to assist in the rulemaking?”
The Village of Kake, which opposes the Roadless Rule exemption for the Tongass, has complained publicly that it is a cooperating agency in the roadless process, but did not receive any funding from the state.
In his Wednesday press release, Dunleavy defended the grant to AFA and said the state utilized the federal funding “in its role as a cooperating agency in the federal rulemaking process. DOF approved a grant of up to $250,000 to the Alaska Forest Association (AFA)... to conduct an economic analysis of the amount of timber produced under each alternative.”
In his statement he said, “The analysis by AFA will help inform the state as it prepares comments on the draft EIS, and is both important and necessary to determine where harvesting may take place while using the best available industry practices.”
Noting that the complaint by Stabenow and Grijalva followed a July records request to the state Department of Natural Resources by an environmental organization, Dunleavy said in the news release:
“This is another attempt of extreme environmentalists deliberately cherry-picking information to distort and mislead the American public and members of Congress The grant (to AFA) was appropriate and legal. All the information anyone needs to reach the same conclusion is available to the public.
“I respectfully request Congressman Grijalva and Senator Stabenow do their homework before asking a federal agency to conduct a costly, time consuming, and ultimately pointless investigation into a grant that will provide essential information about lifting the Roadless Rule. Exempting the Tongass from the Roadless Rule will create new jobs and economic activity in a region hard-hit by the misguided policies of a previous administration.
“As Alaskans we continually need to remind the Washington, D.C. establishment that Alaska is a sovereign state. As governor I will continue to use our resources and assets to the benefit of all Alaskans.”
The commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, Corri A. Feige, issued a companion news release on Wednesday, stating that the DNR used the federal grant funds “legally and appropriately.”
She concluded her summary of how the federal funds, and $2 million of matching state funds, were used in the public process considering the Tongass alternatives with a comment about those who are questioning the way the funds are being used.
“It is appalling that the public and other stakeholders are being intentionally misled about the integrity of (the Tongass rulemaking process) by politicians and special interests who disagree with Secretary Perdue’s apparent intent to select the ‘Full Exemption’ as the preferred alternative. This type of manipulation should not be tolerated.”
The DNR press release said that the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council was the environmental organization which had made the records request.
SEACC Tongass Forest Program Manager Dan Cannon told the Sentinel that “we filed a records request July 17, 2019, that said we did not receive a response on that records request until October 7, and the (KTOO) article originally highlighting the misuse of the USDA’s grant from KTOO happened on Sept. 24. So as much as they would like to point the finger on SEACC, I think they are misguided and they need to reach out and talk with KTOO.”
Commenting on Gov. Dunleavy’s statement, Cannon said “it’s interesting that this is seen as extreme. This is just ensuring that the public knows what is happening with taxpayer money.”
