Program Manager:  Mike McKinnon – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Program Assistant: Automme Circosta – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In 2007, the Denali Commission (Commission) partnered with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District (USACE) to develop a Statewide Barge Landing Assessment to analyze barge mooring and fuel/freight transfer needs at Alaska’s coastal and riverside communities. This work was undertaken to further the general findings of three studies that had previously identified barge landing improvements as a critical need in rural Alaska.  This assessment is quickly becoming the center piece for one of the most needed construction programs in rural Alaska- shoreside infrastructure for barge operators that include mooring points and/or docks and gravel pad storage areas. 

USACE recently completed this assessment and a report was developed and is now completed. The executive summary is posted to both the Transportation Program Documents webpage as well as the Denali Commission Home Page.

The next phase of the barge landing assessment is to move the high priority projects (as noted in the executive summary) into design and then depending on funding and costs, move a select few to construction.

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Recently, Commission Transportation Staff and Management met with Western Federal Lands Highway Division (WFLHD) and completed a review of current projects; all are on schedule.  Also discussed was the assignment of FY09 selected projects, those projects are now in the process of scheduling.

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The Transportation Advisory Committee is meeting on May 11, 2009 in Anchorage, Alaska at the Denali Commission offices.  An agenda and announcement will be posted two weeks prior to May 11th.

In January, the Denali Commission made two staff changes within the energy program.  Ms. Denali Daniels was hired as the Senior Energy Program Manager and Ms. Jodi Fondy was promoted to Deputy Energy Program Manager.

The Denali Commissioners discussed the draft FY09 Work Plan at the last Quarterly Meeting, March 18-19, 2009.  The revised Work Plan can be found on our website and is available for public comment through May 3, 2009.

The Energy Advisory Committee (EAC) met February 9, 2009 in Anchorage, Alaska. The agenda included a draft strategy for alternative/renewable energy program areas, as well as a discussion around Phase 2 of the Intertie Study and implementation of program policies. The next meeting is scheduled for May 12, 2009 in Anchorage. Additional details and the agenda will be posted on our website as they become available.

Since 2007, Klukwan has been participating in RurAL CAP’s Village Planning and Development Initiative. Funded by the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, the Initiative is a 3-year program designed to provide technical planning assistance to 10 rural communities.

Klukwan is a small, ancient, Alaska Native village positioned on the banks of the Chilkat River in Southeast Alaska. Klukwan is located 22 miles north of Haines, off the Haines Highway. It lies at the junction of the Kleheni and Tsirku Rivers, 100 miles northeast of Juneau. Klukwan is the only inland settlement in Southeast Alaska. The name Klukwan is taken from the Tlingit phrase Tlakw Aan which literally means “Eternal Village”. According to local oral history, Klukwan was originally settled many years ago by a group of Gaanaxteidi (Raven Clan) men and their Kaagwaantaan (Eagle Clan) wives. The village site was chosen because of the rich, natural environment. The culture and people of Klukwan are predominately Tlingit.

On January 9, 2009, Charlene Stern and Janet Hall, Community Planners with RurAL CAP, facilitated a strategic planning meeting in Klukwan. During the meeting, 38 community members explored their collective vision, goals and priorities for the plan. Various members of the community were involved in the process of preparing this plan, including people associated with the tribal government, elders, youth, and other residents of Klukwan. The Chilkat Indian Village directed the planning process. In March, a draft plan was submitted to the community for review.

A primary resource in the development of this plan was the publication, Let Your Assets Be Your Guide: A Handbook for Community Planning, developed by the Rural Alaska Community Action Program in partnership with the Denali Commission. Using this framework, the community considered their vision, goals and priorities for the future. The plan is intended to act as an articulation of the community’s vision, and as a springboard from which more detailed plans may be developed. The Chilkat Indian Village Community Comprehensive Strategic Plan completed in 2002 was also used as a basis for the 2009 plan.

Program Manager Karen Johnson: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Program Assistant Adison Smith: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it                   

Ø  FY09 Funding News

The Denali Commission is receiving about 30% less funding this year and a 50% reduction in some of the main Denali Commission programs, such as training, health and energy.  The funding for the Training Program for FY09 is $3.3 million which is half of previous year’s appropriations.  The Training Program will continue to fund training projects that support other Denali Commission investments such as road, energy, and health projects.

At our March quarterly meeting in Juneau, Commissioners approved a draft FY09 Work Plan.  The Work Plan is posted on our website for public comment through May 3, 2009.  

The next Denali Commission quarterly meeting will be held in Fairbanks, Alaska on June 4 & 5, 2009 at which time the Commissioners will be reviewing public comments and will take additional public comments.   

Ø  Advisory Meeting

Our next Training Advisory Committee will meet on August 27, 2009 at the Denali Commission offices in Anchorage.

Ø  Funding Opportunities and Process

Then Denali Training Program is administered by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) who provide quarterly request for grant applications (RGA) for the Denali Training Fund and Youth Initiatives on behalf of the Denali Commission.  To apply go to the www.state.ak.us , find quick links in the lower left corner and click on public notices on-line.   Keywords for searching are: Denali Training Fund.  Additionally, all Denali Commission funding opportunities will be linked to the Denali Commission web page.

Ø  Current Funding Opportunity

The Denali Youth Initiatives RGA seeks training projects that will prepare youth ages 16 to 24 for career paths that lead to employment in Alaska’s high demand, high wage occupations. Interested parties are encouraged to complete an application and budget for each program of interest.  The RGA, applications and budget forms are electronic and can be downloaded from this website. http://notes4.state.ak.us/pn/pubnotic.nsf/0fbaac2ac9267ecd89256785006ad908/0d5481bf17f215d089257591006352fd?OpenDocument

The applications are due on or before 5:00 p.m. May 1, 2009. DOLWD will host a question and answer teleconference at 1:30 p.m. April 15, 2009. The teleconference number is 1-888-942-8686, ID number 7345413#.

For More Information Contact:

 Carol Schumacher, Alaska Youth First Program Manager
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(907) 269-4658

Ø  Story’s of Success

The Alaska Rural Utility Cooperative (ARUC): It is common for Alaskan communities to experience major water system freeze-ups due to very cold temperatures and high heating fuel costs. Some Alaska Communities lost water service to most residents for weeks or months. The scope of ARUC was to create a regional utility cooperative by bundling local utilities with a successful parent organization to minimize administrative overhead, reduce unit-operating costs and improve stability of local utility services.  The outcome was that all the ARUC communities did not experience any major freeze-ups. This is a testament to the ARUC principal that preventative maintenance and prior planning will make water/sewer systems more efficient, dependable and sustainable. Key factors of success are operator training and retention, an adequate inventory of spare parts, adequate revenue to purchase fuel in bulk and professional management all play an important role in the operational success of ARUC water/sewer systems.

Chugach School District prepares Alaska’s youth for the world of work with a focus on high growth and priority industries. Students receive work-readiness training, instruction in math and literacy and drug and alcohol awareness as well as NCCER and culinary arts certification.  The Denali Commission’s Youth Initiative funding has supported this project for several years. For more  information visit the Anchorage Daily News at: http://www.adn.com/education/story/706441.html

Mark Allred - Program Manager - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Our program endeavors to extend and expand entrepreneurial knowledge and access in rural Alaskan communities.  Progress towards these strategic goals are being made by vital partnerships with the following projects;

Alaska Marketplace Business Ideas Competition

The award winning Alaska Marketplace, which is modeled after an initiative by the World Bank, is a business ideas competition in which entrepreneurial ideas are sparked by winners receiving an equity injection from the private sector for their entrepreneurial ideas.

Statewide Economic Development Plan

A statewide economic development strategic plan supported by the Governor’s office, the State Chamber of Commerce, and the Alaska Municipal League our program partner in this initiative is the Alaska Regional Development Organizations (ARDORs).

Alaska Source Link Entrepreneurial Web Portal

Lastly we are creating the Alaska Source Link web portal.  The Alaska Entrepreneurial Consortium is a coalition of 19 regional development organizations and statewide service providers who share the collaborative goal of strengthening support to entrepreneurs and small business owners by providing easy access to available resources.  The benefit to Federal Agencies is in making their programs more broadly inclusive to the outlying areas of our state.

Gene Kane – Program Manager – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Adison Smith – Program Assistant – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ted Jacobson Receives Denali Commission Best Practice Award

On March 19, Ted Jacobson received the Denali Commission Best Practice Award during the Denali Commission’s quarterly meeting in Juneau. Ted serves as Solid Waste Tribal Liaison for Alaska under the auspices of Senior Services America, Inc. and RurAL CAP. For the past three years, he has visited communities throughout Alaska to offer technical assistance on solid waste projects.

Last year, Ted served as technical advisor to fourteen communities awarded solid waste projects through the Denali Commission. He researched supplies and equipment to best meet respective community requirements and tracked costs relating to time, technique, equipment, and other resources necessary for efficient operation of rural landfills.

This summary provides an overview of the FY 2009 Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) Project Selection meeting, held in Anchorage, AK on December 16-17, 2008.  The agenda and meeting minutes from the US Army Corps of Engineers meeting on December 18, 2008 in Anchorage, AK regarding project updates and the barge landing study are also included as an attachment.  The summary also provides the list of the projects selected at the TAC project selection meeting. 

The primary purpose of this meeting was for the TAC to select FY 2009 road and waterfront development projects on December 16th and 17th, 2008, for TAC approval and incorporation into the Transportation Program.  Other Committee work included:

• Program overview including status of program finances and operations
• Review and discussion of draft Commission-wide project selection policies
• Receive the program quarterly report and updated project status list
• Report on major project partnerships with the FHWA Western Federal Lands Highway Division (WFLHD) and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
• Review of project nomination and selection processes 
• Set date and location of next meeting

In a separate meeting on December 18, several Committee members attended a Commission/USACE joint-projects status meeting.  These monthly meetings are important to the success of the joint project mission.  The December meeting included a review of the new project development section at the USACE, Interagency and International Support, that has been set up to serve an array of agency and international clients, including the Denali Commission.  

Program Development

The TAC and Denali Commission management, through the program’s project nomination and selection processes have successfully guided the program to a focus on basic safety and quality of life capital projects throughout rural Alaska.  Agencies and communities recognize this focus across the state as an appropriate target for program funding.

Selected road projects are generally basic community street improvements and waterfront development projects have focused on community needs and projects to improve regional transshipment operations.  An emerging and important capital project effort is barge landing improvements throughout coastal and riverine Alaska that can significantly improve the safety and efficiency of barge operations.  These barge landing improvements are likely to become a significant portion of program’s future waterfront development work.

Over the course of program development, the FHWA Western Federal Lands Highway Division, and the US Army Corps of Engineers have become central partners in project delivery.  In both cases, product delivery and interactions with communities has been excellent.  Partnerships with regional borough and tribal governments continue to develop and improve, and many midsized coastal communities continue to successfully partner with the Commission on local port and harbor projects.  DOT&PF also continues to be a solid partner on state-owned local roads projects that improve safety and quality of life. 

The key to program success continues to be grounded in the annual project nomination process that maintains local control over project scope, and the TAC project selection process that keeps the Commission focused on rural Alaska’s most pressing transportation improvement needs. 

Meeting Start Up  

Due to an array of factors, largely assignable to the Program Manager, the Committee faced not only the material mailed to them prior to the meeting, but also a mass of paperwork when they arrived at the meeting conference room.   

What initially was a stack of reports at 9:00 am quickly became a mound of paper that by 10:00 am had literally melded into one large paper morass on the conference table.  There were two lessons learned from this experience.  One, all documents to be used at the meeting must be in the binders sent to committee members 3-4 weeks in advance of the meeting.  The Committee has to have time to review and be familiar with all documents.  Two, if additional documents are brought to the meeting, they and their respective index sheets must be put into the binders before the meeting begins. 

Project Selection

After staff reports, a draft Commission policies discussion, and Committee housekeeping items, the project nomination process got underway.  The Committee’s experience with project selection quickly revealed several trends that held throughout the FY 2009 process:  

• An established project nomination process and Committee consensus about project priorities has narrowed the range of nominated projects.  It is apparent from the FY 2009 nominations that communities generally understand from posted ranking criteria and project selection guidelines that the Commission is looking to address basic rural transportation needs. 
• Community street and board road reconstruction and extension
• Regional port improvement and small boat harbor  inner-harbor facilities construction 
• As a result, the Committee saw a narrow range of project scores for basic repairs and improvements took away some of the numeric scoring value. 
• It became clear through project discussions both amongst Committee members and with project sponsors, whether a project was ready for the stage of work being requested and whether the project was serving a basic transportation improvement purpose

• In those cases where project sponsors had sufficient funds for design, the Committee asked the sponsor to complete design and return to the Commission for consideration of construction funding when final design documents were complete

• In some cases, there was a need to segregate utilities including water/sewer, lighting and electrical from the road work to evaluate eligible construction costs and to determine the percent of participation a Commission award would make to the road element.  In at least one major project, this exercise showed the road element was not ready for construction and that the Commission contribution would have been 100%, which is undesirable given the opportunity for Tribal Shares to contribute to the project

• Community, regional and in some cases, owner support played key roles in decisions about accepting some projects.  In at least two cases, local sponsors nominated good projects, but either the land or the facility itself was owned by another entity or agency.  If the owner did not support the nomination, the Committee did not evaluate the project, and asked the owner and sponsor to coordinate on a new nomination for FY 2010

• In some cases, the Committee selected a project for funding, but did so with directions to the sponsor.  In the case of the Gambell Evacuation Road project for instance, the Committee specified that Commission funding go to the first 2.5 miles of roadway, as this is the distance to a safe elevation and the proposed road beyond that distance is to reach other termini. 

• Four projects moving from design to construction, or experiencing substantive construction phase increases did not have nomination forms.  These were approved after much Committee discussion, and in light of funding availability.  However, the Committee directed staff that in the future all such proposals need to be submitted as project nominations within the timing and document requirements of new nominations.

• Several waterfront development projects were approved with the requirement that there be a review in July to determine that proposed State General Funds were in fact assigned to the projects through the State legislative and executive capital budget processes.  Projects that did not receive needed funding would be withdrawn.

• In the waterfront development program, the Committee investigated all opportunities to joint fund projects with the State of Alaska.  In the case of the Gustavus Dock, the requested funding of $1,300,000 was reduced to $750,000 with the remaining 50% to come from a State General Fund appropriation.

• In another example, the King Cove Boat Harbor project was assigned the full $1,500,000 request, even though it is substantially over the recommended cap of $1,000,000 because that funding matched to $1,500,000 in local funds brought in $3,000,000 in State funds to the community’s harbor rebuild.

• A late project brought to the nomination process during the meeting was the recently completed reconnaissance engineering report for the Shaktoolik Evacuation Road.  The project, which was discussed and approved during the meeting, will gain a design year.  This type of extenuating circumstance is accounted for in the project selection procedures, but the Committee clearly would have appreciated having this and other project presented under ordinary procedures and documentation.  

Project Nomination and Selection Process Modifications

At the close of the meeting, the Committee directed staff to implement the following modifications to the Project Nomination and Selection Process:

• Begin the nomination process on August 1 as usual, but include a specific effort to notify rural regional entities including boroughs, regional hub communities, regional tribal non-profits, Community Development Quota organizations and other organizations to ensure they are aware of the nomination process and schedule

• Extend the project nomination period by 30 days to November 1 each year to provide additional time after fishing and hunting seasons for nominations

• Add a third meeting to the annual calendar.  A meeting in early November would examine project nominations and would receive annual progress reports from major Program partners

• Reschedule the Committee’s Project Selection Meeting to mid-January each year to provide adequate time for staff products, including due diligence efforts to review and/or prepare all project nominations

• All projects to be considered by the Committee including Commission projects transitioning from one phase to another must be submitted in the project nomination format and must be submitted to the Committee in the original mail out of the project books 3-4 weeks in advance of the project selection meeting 

• Staff is to request an opportunity to present the Transportation Program to the annual CDQ meeting and at annual regional organization meetings as appropriate 

Committee Operations

As part of an overall review of Committee operations, the Committee directed staff to prepare material for a May 2009 Committee retreat.  Staff will investigate the merit of a facilitated meeting and report to the Committee by March.  Materials and/or issues for discussion at the retreat include:

• Review of ranking criteria to determine whether it is practical to develop a project ranking system within the established priorities that creates more separation in scores for basic projects

• Review of how to accommodate paving in approved projects.  The Committee continues to struggle with the issue of participating in the paving phase of road projects.  It is critical in many cases to preserve the road bed and to reduce dust and mud, but with so many unimproved roads in rural Alaska, paving can seem like a luxury.  The Committee will attempt to develop specific guidelines for supporting paving as part of approved projects

• Review and recommend improvements to the project status report.  This includes making the report more streamlined and adding a new column to indicate each project’s ‘difficulty score’.  Using a 1-5 designation indicate progress and funding stability with 1 being steady progress based on established scope-schedule-budget, and 5 being a project that is not moving forward and/or is likely to be closed out  

Project Selections for Commission approval and incorporation into the Transportation Program system

The attached FY 2009 project selections are provided for Commission review and approval.  Once approved, staff will send letters to each project nomination sponsor to indicate:

• Whether their project was selected for the Transportation Program
• If selected, what level of funding was assigned to the project  
• If selected, what agency is responsible for development and delivery?  This is a new step in the program system.  Most Borough, medium sized cities, regional Tribal non-profits and DOT&PF, will continue to receive awards directly.  However, most small governments, city or Tribal, will see their projects assigned to FHWA-competent development agencies as experience has shown Title 23 CFR regulations that govern Commission funding are too complex and burdensome for small community resources.  WFLHD will be the Program’s major road projects partner, while the USACE handles most waterfront development projects, including the major barge landing design effort currently underway

Please see Transportation's Program Documents webpage for FY09 Project Selections.

IRT Update

Meeting was held on January 15 to review the work plan for the IRT-sponsored survey of a 12-16-mile road corridor between Chignik Lagoon and Chignik Lake.  The corridor survey will set the base of the potential design and construction of a road between the two villages.  The road would provide two primary functions, one is to provide Chignik Lagoon with access to the Chignik Lake airport, a significant improvement over the substandard landing strip at the Lagoon.  The other is to provide Chignik Lake with access to the barge landing at Chignik Lagoon for fuel and freight deliveries.  Currently, Chignik Lake hauls fuel and freight by boat resulting in significant costs and safety risks. 

The survey is expected to take from early June to late August to conduct.  The Federal Highway Administration’s Western Federal Lands Highway Division, a primary transportation program partner to the Denali Commission will provide engineering support services to the military during the survey effort. 

Program Manager Karen Johnson: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Program Assistant Adison Smith: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it                   

 "Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope."  - Bill Crosby

The Denali Commission supports training programs that break-down barriers to employment.  One huge employment barrier in rural Alaska is many residents do not have their Alaska driver’s license.  We partnered up with Yuut Elitnaurviat which is the Regional Training Center for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area to target this disparity.  They recently completed a driver’s license training at their Bethel facility for 14 individuals from Nunapitchuk, Autmautluk and Bethel which resulted in each person obtaining their Alaska Driver’s License.  This is significant milestone for these young rural residents because they can now apply for apprentice programs and/or other jobs that require a drivers license. They will also be eligible to apply and test for their CDL in a year which will open more employment opportunities for them.  

The Denali Commission supports training programs that build the capacity of rural administrators and city clerks. Through Denali Commission training funds, our partner, the Alaska Association of Municipal Clerks sent rural clerks to attend an advanced academy accredited by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.  Continued training for our important local government clerks is not only to  help them successfully perform essential local government functions, but also gives them enough information and tools to keep them in their jobs longer.  Longevity helps provide stability and consistency for a community.

Denali Training Fund deadline for applications is April 15, 2009.

Complete proposals for the Denali Training Fund (DTF) are due by 5pm via fax, email or hand delivered to our administration partner, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development 1016 W 6th Avenue, Suite 205 Anchorage, Alaska 99516.  Call Gerry McDonagh (907) 269-4551 for more information or technical assistance. 

A link to the RGA should be posted in the near future on this site.