Rural Alaska blog: The Village : Friday: Live at AFN

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Kyle Hopkins

I was born in Sitka, have lived in Kake, Skagway and Fairbanks and joined the ADN in 2005 after writing for the Anchorage Press and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. I started blogging for the paper in 2006 with The Trail, our blog about the governor's race. Then came the Alaska Politics blog. Now I'm covering government and rural affairs and live in Anchorage with my wife, Rebecca. (Update: Our daughter Alice was born May 31. Thanks everyone for the suggestions.) E-mail me at khopkins@adn.com and find me on Twitter at twitter.com/ADNVillage.

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Rural blog: The Village

Friday: Live at AFN

Posted by thevillage

Posted: October 23, 2009 - 9:41 am

Comments (0) |

Finally!

Here's Kim Elton, director of Alaska affairs for the Interior Department, talking about the Obama administration's plans to do a broad, rapid review of federal subsistence management in Alaska:

...

And the second half:

4:35 p.m. Back in the newsroom, working on tomorrow's print story. Meantime, check back here for a video of Kim Elton answering questions about the feds big subsistence announcement today. Most importantly -- what does it mean, what could it mean for hunters and fishermen across the state?

Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters at the convention that she welcomes the review, but has concerns about how fast it will be. (Just a couple, three months.)

Trying to get someone from the governor's office, ideally the governor, on the phone.

1:40 p.m. Just filed an update on the Salazar's announcement ... look for it on the main site soon.

10:55 a.m. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar just announced that the Obama administration is launching a "comprehensive review of the department's subsistence-management program."

“The system, frankly, today is broken," he said.

The review will take place quickly, over the next few months, said Kim Elton, the department's director of Alaska affairs.

10:35 a.m. Shared an interview with Sen. Al Kookesh with Rhonda McBride ... we wanted to know if he'd heard what the Interior Department will announce. He says Elton won't even tell him.

Kookesh said AFN will consider one main subsistence resolution tomorrow, calling for an overhaul of the federal subsistence board, among other changes. Click here to read more about his ideas.

One proposal we've heard a couple times: A kind of "Native-plus-rural" subsistence priority on federal lands. Kookesh said that means that Alaska Natives who move from villages to the cities would still get first crack at subsistence hunting and fishing -- even in times of shortage. Said it would take Congressional action to make that happen.

10:30 a.m. A row of computers are available in the lobby for free Internet access. On the browser history: Facebook, Dogster, YouTube, crimemapping.com. Two boys from Anchorage -- their dad is from St. Paul -- played a skateboarding video game in the seat next to me.

10 a.m. In the lobby: Alaska Inter-Tribal Council chairman Mike Williams sat with Gary Chythlook, who has started his own marketing firm, talking about subsistence rights & plans to drill oil exploration wells off the north coast. A woman in a backpack, raced up, gave Williams a silent hug, and sped away.

9:45 a.m. Anyone here from Diomede? Let me know. I'd love to know how you made it to the convention.

9:40 a.m. At 10:30 this morning, the Interior Department is expected to make some kind of subsistence-related announcement.

Kim Elton, the former Juneau senator who now the Department's director of Alaska Affairs, is standing at the back of the room, waiting for his turn to speak. He declined to spill the beans.

Also: Why are the Dena'ina center escalators always busted?

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