NativeCo News
March 3rd, 2010 Posted By: Morgan Howard No Comments
By DAN JOLING
The Associated Press
A federal agency will begin an environmental review of a proposed road through an Alaska wildlife refuge that provides sanctuary to thousands of migratory birds.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans “scoping” meetings in Alaska and Washington, D.C., this month to collect testimony on issues to consider related to a land exchange and possible road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
The road proposal pits rural Alaskans, who want the road for safety reasons, against environmental groups, which call the road unnecessary.
The refuge is on the Alaska Peninsula.
It is an internationally important wetlands for migratory birds, said John Schoen of Audubon Alaska. CONTINUE »
NativeCo News
February 8th, 2010 Posted By: Morgan Howard No Comments
The following “Letter to the Editor” written by Maver Carey is reprinted from The Press Democrat, a newspaper in Santa Rosa, California.
Your Sunday front-page story about the Napa Valley Flood Control Project (“Economic boon or boondoggle?”) and the Tuesday editorial (“Off track”) included a number of inaccuracies about Suulutaaq, the prime contractor on the project, its management, Alaska Native corporations and the project’s benefits to the city of Napa.
The article (by Lance Williams from California Watch) stated that Suulutaaq is an Alaskan Native Corporation that “landed” a $54 million Stimulus-funded construction contract in Napa; employs an untrustworthy and unqualified executive to oversee that project; and has created only 12 jobs while performing little of the actual work. CONTINUE »
NativeCo News
February 4th, 2010 Posted By: Morgan Howard No Comments
Article is from Sam Friedman, Kodiak Daily Mirror
A prized piece of land around Portage Lake in Northern Afognak Island recently came available on the private market for $7.4 million.
Native Urban Corporation Natives of Kodiak Inc. (NOK) decided last month to list the nearly 2,000 acre parcel of “trophy” property after not being able to agree to a price in three years of conversations with conservation groups including the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) Trustee Council, San Francisco-based American Land Conservancy (ALC) and Montana-based Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF). CONTINUE »
NativeCo News
January 15th, 2010 Posted By: Morgan Howard No Comments
From Jill Burke at Alaska Dispatch
Already facing scrutiny over its status as a federal contractor, an Alaska Native corporation is now enmeshed in a multimillion-dollar legal fight with an ousted consultant and president. Tens of millions of dollars are at stake amid allegations of fraud and contractual irregularities.
The feud has spawned a trio of lawsuits in Nome and Virginia that include allegations a former lead consultant for Sitnasuak Native Corp. broke the law by milking a federal program that allows Alaska Native corporations to go after government contracts, often without competition. Nome-based Sitnasuak is the largest of 16 Native corporations in the Bering Strait region. It seeks to recover more than $15 million for its approximately 2,780 shareholders. CONTINUE »
NativeCo News
January 12th, 2010 Posted By: Morgan Howard No Comments
Joshua Saul- AlaskaDispatch.com
Far out on the Aleutian chain, on windy Adak Island, a world-class Nautilus gym sits dark and cold because the city of Adak can’t afford the electricity to light and heat it.
The gym is an artifact left over from when the island was a naval base, home to 6,000 military personnel. Today Adak has about 200 residents who are struggling to find a way to make their remote lifestyle sustainable. CONTINUE »
