With or without 'bridge to nowhere,' Gravina highway is a go

With or without 'bridge to nowhere,' Gravina highway is a go
By Melissa Campbell
Alaska Journal of Commerce
June 3, 2007

Ketchikan's airport ferry docks in the Southeast city. A much maligned bridge to Gravina Island and the airport won't be a reality any time soon, but a road will be built as part of the original funding package that included the bridge.

The state Department of Transportation has awarded a $25.7 million contract to build a highway on Gravina Island. The 3.2-mile road is being funded as part of a $48 million earmark that survived after a larger federal earmark was pulled from federal legislation for the Gravina Island Bridge.

Gov. Sarah Palin should give the money back, said Lois Epstein, of the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, a nonprofit group.

"My proposal to the Palin administration would be that it's a good idea to return this money. It would be a responsible, ethical step for the administration to take,” Epstein said. “She should send a message there is a new regime in Alaska, a new administration. In a very public way, she should say, ?We've had projects that had not been of good use and are looking at them, but we are responsible now."

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With or without 'bridge to nowhere,' Gravina highway is a go

State wants helicopters to rescue wolf-kill program

State wants helicopters to rescue wolf-kill program
By ALEX deMARBAN
Anchorage Daily News
March 12, 2007

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- With the state's wolf-kill program severely behind schedule - costly fuel and uncooperative weather have grounded many volunteer pilots and gunners - game managers want state helicopters to come to the rescue.

They need a decision from Gov. Sarah Palin to make it happen.

State biologists wanted at least 382 wolves killed before the snow melts. Snow allows pilots to track them.

But gunners have killed only 38 wolves so far this winter, said Matt Robus, wildlife conservation director.

March, with long daylight hours and ample snowfall, has proven to be one of the better killing months. But the clock is ticking, Board of Game members say. And if the state doesn't meet its goal, the four-year program could be set back.

The controversial program - mostly in Southcentral and the Interior - is designed to help hunters by killing the wolves that eat moose.

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State wants helicopters to rescue wolf-kill program