Alaska News Daily Brief, Sunday, October 11

This is Alaska News for Sunday, October eleventh. It is a quieter Sunday, but an unusually unfinished one. Very little in today's brief is settled. Most of it is still a proposal, a pending vote or an open comment period, and several of those decisions are still waiting on you.

0:18State urges drivers to avoid Parks Highway from Talkeetna to Cantwell

Winter showed up early on the Parks Highway, and most of the rest of the news is about who gets to use what land and water. The state is asking drivers to stay off the Parks Highway between Talkeetna and Cantwell today unless they really have to go. That's 111 miles, from milepost 99 up to milepost 210. Snow and ice have made that whole stretch dangerous to drive. The Department of Transportation put the warning out on Alaska 511 last night. It's set to run until 8:32 tonight. The cause is an early-season storm that moved in last night. The National Weather Service called for up to 8 inches of snow in the southern Denali Borough, including Cantwell, with gusts up to 35 miles an hour. Wind like that is enough to blow snow right across the road. If you do have to be out there, the Weather Service says slow down and take it easy. Current road conditions are posted on Alaska 511.

1:13Alaska labor agency repeals religious-exemption union rules, effective Nov. 8

For public employees, the state's Labor Relations Agency has scrapped its rules for claiming a religious exemption from union membership. The repeal takes effect November 8th. But the state law behind those rules hasn't changed. That law still says the agency has to exempt a worker who shows proof of religious conviction. The worker then pays the equivalent of union dues to a charity instead. Agency records don't say how a worker will make that claim once the current rule is gone. The old rule dated back to 1995. Under it, an objector filed a sworn, notarized claim. The objector paid the dues amount into escrow, money held in a separate account. The union could then object and ask for a hearing. The agency points to the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus decision. That ruling says public employees can't be forced to join a union. Since workers can simply decline membership, the agency called the old sections moot, meaning no longer needed. But state law still lets employers and unions require membership or a service fee as a condition of the job. The board also tightened privacy for interest cards. Those are the cards workers sign to show support. Unions collect them. So do decertification campaigns, which are efforts to vote a union out. Either side needs cards from 30 percent of workers. Now only the agency can see them. Workers can also sign those cards electronically. The agency says all of this carries out Governor Mike Dunleavy's order to cut state regulations by 15 percent by the end of twenty twenty-six.

2:47State proposes giving 5,805 acres to energy authority for Bradley Lake hydro expansion

Over near Homer, the state wants to give the Alaska Energy Authority about 5,805 acres at the head of Kachemak Bay. The land would go over for free. It sits about 23 miles northeast of Homer, around the Bradley Lake hydro project. Bradley Lake has been running since nineteen ninety-one. It makes about 10 percent of the Railbelt's power every year. Right now the energy authority runs it on state land that it leases. With the land in hand, the energy authority says it'll move ahead with a long-planned expansion. Water from the Dixon Glacier watershed would run through a 4.6-mile tunnel into Bradley Lake. That would raise the lake 16 feet. The energy authority estimates the project would then put out 40 percent more power. The Department of Natural Resources is calling this a public and charitable transfer. That category lets the state hand land to another government agency without bidding, and below appraised value. The state would also give up its right to take the land back. The Fox River Flats and Kachemak Bay critical habitat areas are left out. Public access would mostly stay the same. But the energy authority could close areas at times for safety, including during construction. Public comments are due by 5 p.m. on November 3rd.

4:03State proposes five snowmachine trails near Wiseman after Dalton corridor transfer

Quickly, around the state. Up near Wiseman, the state is proposing five snowmachine trails that lead toward federal land. It's part of a promise the state made after the Dalton corridor transfer. With that transfer, subsistence users there lost their federal priority, a legal edge for rural subsistence users. The state says every trail it opens will be open to the public, not only subsistence users. Written comments are due November 8th.

4:31Bering Sea pollock fleet nears its 2026 limits as salmon bycatch debate continues

In the Bering Sea, the pollock fleet is closing in on its catch limits for twenty twenty-six. Those nets also catch salmon by accident, which is called bycatch. Yukon River tribes say their own salmon fishing stayed closed. A tribal group says rules to cut salmon bycatch are still years away.

4:48FAA posts first flight limits ahead of Trump’s Alaska visit

President Trump holds a rally in Wasilla on Tuesday. That day, the Federal Aviation Administration has banned drones over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson from 3:35 to 10:15 p.m. The zone takes in Government Hill and the Port of Alaska and stops near the edge of downtown. That's the first set of limits the agency has posted. Bigger flight restrictions reaching out 30 nautical miles could still be coming.

5:13East side Cook Inlet setnetters must prove recent fishing to stay in the fishery

On the east side of Cook Inlet, setnetters, fishermen who set nets off the beach, get their own permit area starting January 1st. To get in, a setnetter has to prove they fished there sometime between 2020 and 2024. Applications are due by December 31st.

5:30Kenai commission weighs letting a gravel operation dig into required setbacks

In Kenai, a city commission decides Wednesday whether a gravel pit can dig closer to its neighbors than city rules allow. An earlier exception like this one drew an appeal.

5:40Board of Fisheries to weigh closing Homer Spit waters to commercial fishing

In Homer, the Board of Fisheries is weighing two proposals to push commercial fishing back from the Homer Spit. One would set the line at half a mile. The other would make it a full mile. Written comments to the board are due November 16th. The board decides at its meeting in Seward in December. If you're headed north of Talkeetna, the warning holds until 8:32 tonight. If any of these proposals touch you, the first comment deadline is Bradley Lake, at 5 p.m. on November 3rd. Also out today: next year's Medicare drug plan prices for Alaska, and lower white-fronted goose limits for Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta hunters. The full stories are at Alaska News dot com.