Tanana Chiefs Conference leader meets five state commissioners

Tanana Chiefs Conference Chief/Chairman Sharon Hildebrand met five state commissioners in Anchorage in September to discuss maintaining recent progress as a new state administration approaches, TCC said in a release published Friday. The meetings also recognized state progress and thanked commissioners and their teams for their partnership.

She met with Commissioner James Cockrell of the Department of Public Safety, Acting Commissioner Tracy Dompeling of the Department of Family & Community Services, Major General Torrence Saxe of the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, Commissioner Heidi Hedberg of the Department of Health and Commissioner Julie Sande of the Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development.

Topics included the Village Public Safety Officer program, child welfare, emergency response, health and behavioral health services, public assistance, and economic and community development.

"In recent years, TCC has seen state leaders respond to feedback and make important changes to policies and operations that impact Tribes and rural communities," the release said. It does not specify which changes.

The VPSO program had 90 officers statewide as of March 2026, 80 VPSOs and 10 regional public safety officers, according to the Department of Public Safety's annual VPSO report. VPSOs are employed by regional partners such as TCC, not the state. TCC's region covers 235,000 square miles, about 37 percent of Alaska, and 39 villages.

Hildebrand, of Nulato, was elected in March, succeeding Brian Ridley of Eagle. She works with 42 member tribes. Her term runs through 2029.

In a second release, TCC said its leadership and tribal leaders met in August with staff for seven U.S. senators and two board members of the American Lands Project, a Seattle-based nonprofit. They discussed tribes' concerns about the proposed Ambler Road's potential impacts on subsistence, wildlife, waterways, cultural resources and tribal communities.

Both accounts come only from TCC. Neither describes what officials said or whether any commitments were made.

Hildebrand's October letter says her team has also met with policymakers and congressional delegation staff. TCC's first Fall Summit, covering health, housing and food security, is set for Nov. 12-13 in Fairbanks.