The Petersburg Borough Assembly today considered a few new resolutions regarding animal destruction mitigation and upgrades to its power supplier.
One resolution would ask both the state and federal government for help managing the impact of rising sea otter populations in Southeast Alaska.
Sea otters were reintroduced to the region in the 1960s after the fur trade wiped them out, but populations have skyrocketed. Sea otters consume a lot of shellfish, putting them at odds with fishermen. Proponents say they’re depleting the shellfish resource and taking harvest from fisheries, causing trouble for not only the ecology, but the economy as well.
But sea otters are federally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Only individuals who are either at least a quarter Alaska Native or an enrolled member of a coastal Alaskan tribe can harvest sea otters.
The proposed borough resolution asks for disaster assistance for Southeast crab and dive fisheries. It also asks that the federal government loosen regulations for how Alaska Native subsistence hunters can use harvested sea otters.
Assembly member Bob Lynn, who brought the proposal forward, said he wants to make amendments to the resolution and expand it more. Vice Mayor Donna Marsh offered to recuse herself from the vote, noting a potential financial interest in the resolution because her husband fishes crab in the region. However, only four assembly members were present at today’s meeting — and four is the minimum number of votes needed in order to pass agenda items. Assembly member Jeigh Stanton Gregor moved to table the sea otter resolution until late September, and the assembly agreed unanimously.
Petersburg’s borough assembly also considered a different resolution to address black bears in town. At the July 21 assembly meeting, the borough discussed frustrations about a few bears consistently breaking into local trash cans.
Petersburg has laws about securing trash to dissuade bears. Residents can be fined for not attempting to secure their refuse containers. But torn up garbage cans — even ones with bear resistant straps — are making the borough reconsider its options.
The resolution sponsored by Police Chief Jim Kerr called for local police, in coordination with state wildlife agencies, to lawfully get rid of these so-called “nuisance bears” from Petersburg.
It stated that the destroyed garbage cans place an “unsustainable financial burden” on the community. It described the destruction as a threat to borough property and public safety, and said the dispatch and removal of the bears is “necessary and responsible,” though concerning for some community members.
That resolution failed in a 3–1 vote, with Assembly Member Jeigh Stanton Gregor opposed. He told KFSK after the meeting that he had concerns about potential clashes with state law, and felt it was redundant to existing mechanisms in place. Local police are already coordinating with wildlife agencies to respond to bear problems in town. Police Chief Jim Kerr said at the meeting that the resolution was a formality: to enhance direction and public education. He told KFSK that the local agencies will continue to coordinate in addressing the issue lawfully and for public safety.
The assembly unanimously approved a third resolution. It supports the construction of a new Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) substation in Ketchikan.
That agency provides power to Petersburg, Wrangell, and Ketchikan. Energy usage is increasing among the communities, and SEAPA identified an “urgent need” to upgrade infrastructure to meet future demands, according to the resolution.
Such upgrades include a new substation that would expand the power delivery capacity for the regional grid, directly benefiting Petersburg. The power agency is applying for a grant from the Alaska Energy Authority Grid Resilience Formula Grant Program to help support the multi-million dollar project.
Mayor Mark Jensen and assembly members Rob Schwartz and Scott Newman were excused from the meeting.
Editor’s Note (Aug. 4, 4 p.m.): This story has been updated with vote result details following the noon assembly meeting.
