Kreiss-Tomkins documents $20 milk, absent law enforcement in 11 Yukon River villages

Residents of Middle and Lower Yukon River villages told a Democratic gubernatorial candidate this week that milk runs $20 a gallon and gas runs $12 a gallon, according to his campaign.

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins completed a four-day, 450-mile boat journey Monday through 11 villages, traveling from Galena to St. Mary's in the Yukon River Delta, according to a campaign press release. His campaign released a four-part video series documenting extreme costs, minimal law enforcement, substandard infrastructure, and the collapse of Chinook and chum salmon runs. The villages visited were Galena, Koyukuk, Nulato, Kaltag, Grayling, Anvik, Holy Cross, Russian Mission, Marshall, Pilot Station, and St. Mary's. Most had not been visited by a gubernatorial candidate in recent memory.

"Vast swaths of Alaska are so often overlooked, and a huge focus of our campaign is giving rural Alaska a strong voice in Juneau. That means getting out to communities and spending time in villages. People on the Yukon have shouldered too much pain from dwindling salmon runs and skyrocketing costs. I want to share a heartfelt thank you to everyone we met for their incredible generosity," Kreiss-Tomkins said.

This year, Yukon River villages were permitted by the state of Alaska to harvest chum salmon for subsistence for the first time in two years, but federal managers allowed harvest only under area- and gear-specific restrictions. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warned that "Chum harvest is unlikely given historically low parent-year runs." The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed state waters in the Yukon River drainage to sport fishing for chum salmon, effective July 22.