I call the Senate Arctic Affairs Committee to order.
Today is January 29th, 2026, and the time is 130 p.m.
Please turn off your cell phones.
Committee members present today,
Senator Kawasaki, Senator Vice Chair,
Senator Stevens, I'm expecting,
and myself, senator Gieselis, Chair.
We are also joined by Senator Donnie Olson.
I am expecting Senator Wilakowski along shortly.
We have a quorum to conduct business.
So our recording secretary today is Juliana, and running the LAO audio is Chloe.
So thank you to you for helping us out today.
Today we have a very interesting presentation from the Voice of the Arctic in Nupiet.
We have three speakers.
They will be in this order.
Harcharik, pardon me, Hacharic, Meghan Edwardson and Dr. Pearl Brower.
So, Nogrik is the president and CEO of Voice of the Arctic Anupiat.
Megan is vice president of
the Nupiot Community of Arctic Slope Tribal Council,
and Pearl is
the President and C.E.O. of An upiat, excuse me.
Ukiovic, Uphiot, Inupiate Corporation.
Committee members, you may wonder why this topic.
I have heard Nogruk speak many times,
most recently at the Arctic Encounter.
And I feel that it's time that we make sure
that the voice of the arctic is heard
as we deliberate on these policy issues,
issues that affected the North Slope
and certainly inupiate people.
We are part of The Circumpler Arctic.
those policies have implications for the people of our state, self-determination on the North Slope,
the history of the member entities on The North slope, highlighting what's happening in D.C.
and Juneau, and how it impacts the People of The north slope the homelands and their self
determination. And so that was my reason for inviting the north slope folks here today.
I worked for nine years for the Narsalpero School District.
And so on the map that's on their first slide,
I visited each of these schools.
And it's an amazing area of our state
that I don't think a lot of people have visited.
And, so this is an opportunity for us to hear clearly
the issues that matter to them and how what we do.
effects that part of the state.
So welcome.
Thank you for making the trip.
I hope you weren't caught in Anchorage in horrible weather.
We've heard terrible stories.
But we'll start with Nogruk.
If you would go ahead and roll it out.
Start us off.
Thank You Madam Chair and good afternoon,
members of The Special Committee and Arctic Affairs.
Thank for inviting us to speak today.
And we definitely appreciate the opportunity
to tell a bit of our story.
As was said before, I'm nugget of Karchark and I serve as the president and CEO of the
Voice of The Arctic Inuped.
With me today, as you mentioned, we have two members of Voice with us, the Inubed community
of Arctic Slope, represented here by Megan Edwardsson, Vice President of Council, and
the Uptavik Inuptat Corporation as The Alaskan Native Corporation for the Community of
the Kravik and is represented by Dr. Pearlbrouwer.
as a testament to the enduring strength and unbreakable unity that have defined our people
for millennia. For over 10,000 years, we have thrived on the North Slope, drawing from our
deep cultural ties and subsistence practices to forge a resilient identity. Today, I want to
share our story, a narrative of collective resolve, strategic action, and an yielding self-determination
that has shaped the north slope and continues to guide us forward. Our journey began long before
but it was in the face of change that our unity truly shown.
In 1867, the Treaty of Sessions transferred Alaska
from Russia to the United States for $7.2 million.
A transaction that overlooked our inherent land rights
entirely, we were not conquered, nor did we sign a treaty.
By 1884, The Organic Act established a civil government
for Alaska as a district, again disregarding our rights,
imposing external control.
tested us further, yet it revealed our strategic prowess.
In 1923, the creation of the Naval Petroleum Reserve
number four claimed 23 million acres of our lands
for national interests, again without our input.
But we turned this challenge in a momentum,
building alliances and knowledge that fortified our position.
As we moved into the area of Alaska Statehood in 1959,
the Alaska statehood act granted the new state
over 103 million acres, including portions
while stipulating that any native claims
would remain under federal purview
and ignoring our inherent rights.
Far from passive observers,
we leverage this framework to amplify our demands,
uniting elders, leaders, and youth
in a shared vision of reclaiming control.
Our self-determination shown through
in these foundational acts,
as we began building the alliances and knowledge
needed to negotiate on our own terms.
The 1960s were a decade of triumphant collective action where our unity directly translated
into victories that advanced our self-determination.
Consider Project Cherry in 1959 when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission proposed detonating
nuclear bombs near Point Hope to create a harbor, disregarding the profound impacts on
our lands and people.
Our Point hope leaders armed with traditional wisdom and supported by scientific reports
This unity birthed a tonter times in 1962, our first statewide Alaskan Native newspaper
edited by Howard Rock.
Born from the chariot fight, it became a powerful platform to articulate our land claims and
cultural sovereignty, ultimately forcing the project's cancellation in 1862.
This wasn't just a win against a misguided plan.
It was a declaration of our self-determination proving that when we stand together, blending
That same spirit fueled the duck-in of 1961 in Utkharvik, where we openly defied the
migratory waterfowl act of 1918, which banned hunting during the only season when
the birds were on the North Slope.
United as one and the defiance of failed regulations are people harvested migrator birds essential
to our subsistence, passed a bird out to each man, woman and child, and turned
themselves into the game-warden.
This act defined compelled the federal government to drop all charges by year's end.
they were threads in the tapestry of empowerment. In 1960, the creation of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge range at the time encompassed 8.9 million acres around Khokdolvik, a further
incursion on our ancestral lands without any engagement with the local people, another
and a long line of threats to our self-determination. By the mid-1960s, our organized power took shape.
In 1965, under leaders like Charles Itick Edwards and Junior,
we formed the Arctic Slope Native Association, known as ASNA,
filing historic 58 million acre land claim that eventually led
to the freezing of federal land transfers in 1966.
The discovery of commercial quantities of oil at Prudobe in 1968
catalyzed the land claims process.
This discovery supercharged the passage of the Alaska Native
Claim Settlement Act in 1971, also known AS ANXA,
and our region was the sole vote against AN XA.
with our principled opposition underscoring our commitment to true justice.
To be clear, the land's claims were not settled quickly
out of moral obligation by the federal government. It was settled
quickly because the newly created state,
industry, and the Federal government wanted the oil
and our Alaska Native communities and voices were an obstacle.
Our region went as far as lobbying President Nixon directly in Washington,
D.C. to veto the bill
but the Bill passed.
Despite this, our early leaders followed the edicts of ANXA, incorporating the Arctic
Slope Regional Corporation, known as ASRC, in 1972 to manage our resources and provide
for their shareholders with unique values at the forefront.
Thankfully prior to the implementation of AnXAR, people had formed a regional tribe,
federally recognized, they claimed 97,000 square miles of land in sea, which is sitting
here with us, ICAS.
Inks to split the political and economic arms of the Alaska Native people, the land went
to the newly formed ANC's and the government-to-government relationship in sovereignty
remained with the tribes, despite being landless.
Ten days after the incorporation of ASRC, The North Slope Borough was formed under the
leadership of Evan Hopson.
The first INUPAT led municipal government in Alaska in the largest municipality in
the United States, by landmass.
This new home requirement was our vehicle to ensure we benefited from the development that
was to take place in our backyard and had necessary oversight over activity on our ancestral
homelands.
Overcoming lawsuits from state and industry, the North Slope Borough enabled local taxation,
infrastructure planning and services and was described by one author to be the largest
peaceful redistribution of wealth in the history of mankind.
We extended our self-determination by forming our own school district that year,
incorporated village corporations like the one here with me,
and each of the communities and founded institutions like The University of
the Arctic in 1975,
the precursor to Elis
Our pursuit of self determination expanded globally in the 1970s and beyond,
showcasing our ability to unite across borders.
When the International Whaling Commission imposed a 1977 moratorium on bowhead whaling
based on flawed data, threatening our cultural core, we responded by forming the Alaska Eskimo
Whailing Commission, a unified body of whailing captains, scientists, and leaders that secured
sustainable quotas for all whiling communities in the state, not just the North Slope.
That same year, Evan Hopson spearheaded the formation of the Inuit Circumpolar Council,
a new target linking Inu8 from Alaska, Canada, & Greenland to assert our sovereignty internationally.
In 1979, we created the nurse-lobura department of wildlife management, the only one of its
kind in Alaska merging traditional knowledge with science for sustainable subsistence
harvest.
To this day, they are on the leading edge of conservation and subsistence research providing
crucial services to our people.
The 1980s saw further land grabs, further isolating our communities without regard for
the name of conservation. The Alaska Native Interest Lands Conservation Act or
NOCA, as it's known, was passed in 1980 and expanded the 8.9 million acre
Arctic National Wildlife range to 19 million acres and renamed it to what we
know today to be the Arctic national wildlife refuge or ANWR. Although the
axe set aside 1.5 million oakers of land on the coastal plain for development, it
further isolated the people of Khokdolwek, the only community within ANRWR
and prevented them from year-round access to their traditional hunting grounds.
The Act also isolated the North Slope community of Unuptuva Pass from
year round access their hunting ground through the creation of the Gates of
the Arctic National Park. As you can see throughout our history we have faced obstacles,
opposition, and at times complete disregard from the federal government,
and that times the state government as well.
Time and time again are people united, protested, and advocated against laws and policies that
it would have led to the eventual extinction of our culture.
And this David versus Goliath tale, we've always been and always will be David.
Honoring our region and people's history of unity and advocacy, our leaders recognized
the need for a more proactive approach to advancing our voices in the modern age to
Leaders from across our region unified all of the organizations on the North Slope under
one umbrella organization, but the sole purpose of fighting for our self-determination proactively.
They formed the Voice of The Articany Bet in 2015 to do just that.
The Voice Of The articiny Bet is a 501c4 with a mission to protect and advance the cultural
and economic self determination of North slope in the Bet.
We currently have 22 members made up of the elected leadership from tribes,
Alaska Native corporations, non-profits, municipalities, and
regional organizations that represent the interests of people of
the North Slope.
Our members have unique responsibilities and overlapping constituencies.
Membership is voluntary and no dues are required as we did not want that to be a barrier to entry.
We are a member funded organization.
And regardless of funding levels that our members provide, every member has a single vote.
And we act as a consensus driven organization on behalf of the majority of their entities in our region.
Our board controls the agenda, including legislative priorities and
staff only engage on issues that have been introduced and voted on by our board of directors.
Over the last ten years, our unity has been tested by shifting federal policies, yet we've consistently advocated for our self-determination.
The 2017 Tax-Cut and Jobs Act mandated ANMOR sales supported by Coptol.
We can our voice board for a balanced approach to development in the area.
Updates in 2020 under the Trump administration aligned more with our economic needs, while
recent revisions in 2022 and cancellations in 2023 under Biden administration, including
the withdrawal of 13 million NPRA acres and ANWR leases, prompted us to file suit, affirming
our right to economic self-determination.
We advocated alongside the entire state for the re-approval of the Willow project
and I provide a testimony in the State House and the Senate for
the passage of joint resolution that was in support of Willow and thank you all for
the support with that resolution.
I do think it helped and we made a presentation in DC that a couple of weeks later.
Last summer we were happy to host the National Energy Dominance Council in
Not through the news, not through anyone else, the Secretary told us himself.
This is the respect that we deserve when lawmakers are developing policies about our homelands.
Throughout our region's history and voices history, we have worked to advocate for the
self-determination of our people regardless of who is in power.
We want durable, lasting policies that are made with us,
not for us.
Honorable members, our history is not one of passive endurance, but a proactive unity.
a force that has built institutions, won battles, and sustained our people.
As we face ongoing challenges in energy, environment,
and self-governance, we invite you to partner with us,
recognizing the strength that comes from true collaboration.
Together,
we can ensure the North Slope and the state of Alaska's future
reflects the resilience that is always defined us.
Thank you.
And with that, Madam Chair, if I may turn it over to Meghan with ICAS.
That would be great, but if we could pause for a moment because I want to recognize your own House member who had just joined us a few minutes ago, Representative Robyn Fryer.
So welcome Representative Fryier.
Yes, please proceed.
Thank you.
Can you hear me?
Okay.
That's my first time presenting in front of a special committee, so good afternoon. Thank you
for inviting us. Madam Chair, members of the special Committee for Artic Affairs. My name is
Megan Edwardson. I'm the Vice President of The Inupia Community of Eric Slope Tribal Council,
ICAS. Some of you may know my parents, George and Debbie Edwardson.
I've been on the council since 2016,
The European Community of the Arctic Slope ICAS was established in 1971 and is a federally
recognized tribe and serves as the regional tribal government for the Nurslope and represents
over 14,000 in Iraq tribal citizens.
Excuse me.
We are one of two regional tribes in the whole state of Alaska, and our representation includes
all eight tribes of The North Slope.
Our mission is to exercise our sovereign rights and powers for the benefit of our tribal citizens,
to conserve and retain tribal lands and resources, including subsistence and the natural environment,
to establish and carry out justice systems,
including social services under Inabuch tribal law and custom,
and to increase the variety and quality of services provided to current tribal
citizens and, of course, for our future generations.
Our service area stretches over 97,000 square miles.
Our cultural duty is to protect our service
area, which includes our land, the sea,
the animals, and of course our tribal citizens.
It is important to note that ICAST does not own any land but we are still
responsible and have the authority to
protect the tribal citizen's, our lands,
sea animals and our right to live in our homelands,
including the advancement of the quality of lives of our Tribal citizens
I'm here today to highlight one of the ways in which we ensure the quality of life of
our citizens, combating some of perceived threats in the day-to-day of our daily lives with
tribal citizens.
One example that we're really proud of is the establishment of ICAST Department of Emergency
Management.
ICAS is one two tribal emergency management departments in this state of Alaska.
We have already seen several major wins.
don't the state and federal governments already have this handled?
Well, we believe that we know best how to communicate with our citizens.
A regional tribal emergency management system that protects the health, safety, and
Our mission is to enhance situational awareness and provide timely alerts and warnings to
the communities, establish strategies to mitigate hazards, prepare for and effectively
coordinate response and recovery to emergencies and disasters across the region.
A little history.
The global pandemic provided an opportunity to stand up the department to
enhance the situational-awareness during the COVID-19 response.
Wait, which provided benefits to our region well beyond COVID.
In 2023, when Chinese balloons flew over Alaska, a complete unknown, whether it was friendly
or adversarial or adverse heal.
It threatened our security.
We knew that we had to act.
We shouldn't hear about emergencies or threats to people on the news.
We now have direct communications with federal agencies to ensure our people are not an afterthought
unknown flag submarine off the coast of Point Hope was spotted and I want to say 20-23-24.
But this resulted in direct engagement with the Department of Defense and better communication.
Also in 2023, when the fiber optic line was cut for the first time, ICAS submitted the
first tribal emergency declaration to FEMA.
The 20-23 request was denied.
But when it happened again in 2025, IECAS requested once again.
And it has now led to the ice scouring, scowering recognition as a natural disaster.
a year ago. And we experienced during that time, you couldn't make 911 calls. We actually
lost a child in one of our communities because they couldn t call 911. So it definitely is
an emergency for us. Some of the key ICAST Department of Emergency Management activities
include, we established a regional emergency operations center that serves as a coordinating
We've conducted training on incident command system training in every ICAST community across
the Arctic. And we had a coordinated response to the 2023 scouring, ice scaring disaster event
with the North Slopeboro and partners.
We coordinated situational awareness and strategy for potential anti-wailing activities in
wailing communities in 2024 with the Elaskable Wailing Commission, UAF's Center for Artic
Security and Resilience, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast guard and partners.
Emergency management exercises consisted of conducting the first ever Arctic Integrated
Emergency Management course with FEMA and federal partners in September 2025.
ICAS also created a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan with the North Slope Borough
and is held up as a national model for region-wide collaboration. It includes all
eight villages, seven cities, ICas, and the north slope borough.
Today, with the official establishment of the ICAST Department of Emergency Management
in 2023, our goals are to ensure that our people can respond to natural hazards,
emerging threats, and heightened risks. We need to be able to respond
to national hazards including severe weather, geographic isolation, limited infrastructure,
and complete field dependency in many of our communities.
We also need better anticipate emerging threat, non-US factors like Russia or China,
accessible arctic. Are we unique with our risks? While other parts of the state also
have heightened risks, regardless, we want to ensure that the geographically isolated
communities, often inaccessible for days or weeks after storms, are taken into consideration.
How do we operationalize these responses and what has become of this?
We have an alert and warning capability.
ICAST is one of only 11 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States that
are granted FEMA authorized alert warning capabilities through the integrated public
alert-and-warning system IPOS.
constituting both wireless emergency alerts and emergency alert systems.
ICAST sought this authority and use of advanced technology for several reasons.
Arctic context requires earlier culturally clear and more frequent alerts to protect life
and safety, exercising our tribal sovereignty with direct government-to-government engagement
with FEMA, and ensuring tribal control over messaging to ICAS tribal citizens and in the greater
Greater Alaskan Arctic.
Since receiving that capability in 2022,
ICAS has issued alerts and warnings,
such as dozens of alerts for Arctic storms, extreme cold,
and hazardous travel conditions, community-wide
sheltering notifications, and safety guidance,
critical logistics messaging like field delivery delays
and door arrivals, routine testing,
and public familiarity with the emergency alerts,
like deliberate outreach campaign
and testing per individual community.
The following are some of the ways IPOS alert and warning has helped ICAS and our communities.
The ICAST Department of Emergency Management possesses the Arctic Wide
IPAS alerting authority. While the North Slope Bureau possesses
the arctic wide 911 dispatch capability, those two are separated, we have established a clear
division of responsibilities and roles with mutual respect regarding the ICast Department
The ICAST Department of Emergency Management,
LEEDS Emergency management, and EOC coordination,
and the North Slope borough
leads a powerful operations section.
It is a model of cooperation
while simultaneously promoting
not sacrificing tribal sovereignty.
One topic that's been on everyone's mind recently
is the Doyon 26 rig tipping over.
The ICAST Department of Emergency Management and the ICAS EPA have been assisting in the
response coordination to the Doyon 26 tip drilling rig incident outside the community
of NOCSIT.
Yeah, ICast Department Emergency management and ICAC EPA are included in a unified command
responding to an incident.
And ICask Department emergency management issued IPOS wireless emergency alert to
regarding the incident. So we were notified and we immediately were able to notify our citizens
and our communities in a timely manner. Another program we're really proud of and that we
aligns with our cultural beliefs and and are duty to protect our tribal members and citizens
Food security and threats to our food security are not limited to
our emergency department at ICAST.
We also face threats of food
security in food sovereignty for our ICast citizens.
To ensure that our people can live and eat on our homelands,
ICAS stood up the Hunter's Gather program.
ICAC aids with food
security throughout our region.
We sent also outside of our
region, we send traditional
neighbor foods to different communities.
Say.
an October past one year didn't get any caribou.
The carabou just didn' come.
I believe we sent over 2,000 pounds of carobou meat
to that community because they weren't going to make it
through the winter without that,
without the supply of careable they're so used to.
It's within our cultural values and our tradition
to provide sustenance for our own families,
but also communities that can't hunt and gather for themselves.
Not every community is a wailing community.
some are fish and berries and caribou.
So the whaling communities will bring whale
to these communities that don't have it.
Christmas and Thanksgiving, all the communities have feasts
and it's very regular that crews will take on snow machines
with sleds, thousands of pounds of whale
to go bring to this community so that we can share.
We would not be able to survive if we did not do this.
time immemorial and into the future. When the plane doesn't make it and the store doesn
have any meat, we have to rely on the foods that we can go out and gather. So this program
we're really proud of and we know that it is working and it's providing elderly and disabled
When COVID happened, we knew that our food security was at risk.
We started the program and began hunting and fishing for our elders and disabled across the region,
and even for tribal members who reside in Anchorage and Fairbanks.
We've sent traditional foods to Anchorage in Fairbinks for members there as well.
Because of the melting permafrost, ICAS invested in a thermosyphin project and opened up the
project to coastal villages and offered to install thermo siphons in ice sellers or civil
oxes, we call them, that were failing due to the Melting permefrost. We ran into some drill rig
problems, so we have successfully installed one and are seeking funding for another drill
rig to continue the project. Our hunter-gatherer program also participates in youth education,
as well as other things and has partnered with the Arctic Education Foundation.
We attend their summer culture camps and participate in teaching youth to hunt,
transport camping equipment and provide security while camping.
This allows our traditions to be taught to the younger generations
to continue our cultural practices of hunting and gathering
and to ensure that we can still subsist into the future.
To further this commitment to educating our youth,
we have established a Cuddly Academy, a tribal school,
if you will, that we saw a need that the Western education
system was failing some of our students,
and they weren't thriving in that environment.
So we stood up our education department,
and it's still kind of new, but we
are aiming to put a cuddley academy,
tribal operated school in each of the villages,
so students have a choice.
If you don't want to do your typical Western education
and go to the Northropora School District,
then you tribal members students can enroll in our school,
and so far it's turning out really well.
This school is an example of serving the next generation
and sharing that we keep our youth and our communities
with the language and knowledge of the land and more.
While these are not exhaustive examples,
I wanna provide some of these examples
where ICAS meets their citizens in the areas
that are important to them
because in end we are
not a
We're not here for profit.
We are not ASRC.
We aren't interested in money.
We weren't just in protecting our land,
protecting people, protecting animals,
and ensuring we have a future where we live
and want to be.
So with that, thank you again for inviting me here today.
I cast looks forward to working with you more.
And I can answer questions afterwards,
but I will hand it off to Dr. Brewer.
All right, great.
I was able to get it.
There's still one more piece of this, but let's see if I can make that happen as well.
Well, Madam Chair, members of the Senate Committee on Arctic Affairs.
Uvangana-Nagayak, Tenetun-senagad, Dr. Pearl-Kionbrouwer, Cavilliruma, Uwanga,
Beowgavik, Nupiat Corporation, Wum.
Good afternoon.
So happy to be here with all of you today. Thank you so much for inviting us to talk to this special committee
My new back name is Nakaak, but my much better known as Pearl
Dr. Pearl Kionbrouwer, and I have the privilege of serving as
President and CEO of a bienugavic and Nupia corporation
So a little bit about us. We are the Alaskan native village corporation of what a topic
We provide social and economic resources to over 4,000
Inupit shareholders and their descendants.
We have a very diversified investment,
and we investment and consistently rank
among the top Alaskan-owned companies.
We employ more than 4400 people and provide services
to clients in a variety of industries,
including operations in an acrylic construction.
architecture and engineering, regulatory consulting,
information technology, marine operations, logistics,
professional services, and maintenance and manufacturing.
At a glance, we were established in 1973,
and we have provided these social and economic resources to our shareholders
now for over 50 years.
Our corporate headquarters are in Utcayagavic,
but we have over 290 locations worldwide.
As I noted, we had approximately 4,400 employees.
620 of those are here in the state of Alaska.
We operate over 70 subsidiary companies
across the country and internationally
in over 25 different industries.
And we over 4 thousand class A and class B
Shareholders who are primarily located in a chaotic, but very exciting for us a couple
years ago.
We opened our enrollment to first and second generation descendants of our original shareholders.
So very excited because they are most certainly our future.
Our mission is to bring our Inupia values to the services and products that we provide
to enhance the lives of our shareholders.
And our vision is be one of the top three Alaskan companies by 2030.
We are well on our way to doing that.
This past year we reached a billion dollars in revenue.
A bit of a note on where our share holders are located around the state.
big portion of our shareholders are in Utpagavic. We have a large portion, of course, in south
central and then some in the interior. This is in this state and, then, if we look a little bit
broader, we have shareholders all across the country.
Six, way up high in the Canadian North, I've decided that I do want to go up there, but
we do also have Hawaii.
So maybe we need a shareholder meeting in both places moving forward,
but a very diversified group of shareholders across our country.
When we think about the locations in which we do work in all of those with all
of the subsidiary companies, this is our current map of locations
in the state of Alaska in, which, we, do business, so very diversified across the
state. And then, if we look through the United States,
we are very much across, the states. I believe we have employees in 48 of our 50
States. We also are in the Pacific in Japan and in kind of some of our Asian countries
as well as in The Caribbean. So definitely a lot of things happening. And again, Hawaii
just have to go visit.
So we were asked to talk a little bit about security in particular to the Arctic.
If the Arctic is a strategic priority for the U.S. in regards to national defense, we know
that melting sea ice is opening up new sea routes and increasing access to resources.
We know that Russia has expanded its military presence across the arctic.
And Alaska's north is the United States' front line for Arctic homeland defense.
The Department of Defense has significantly increased Arctic training and operations across
specialized logistics, infrastructure, and local expertise that cannot be provided from
outside of Alaska.
So why is Alaska's North so critical?
Training in Alaska is North provides these real-world Arctic conditions that can not be
replicated elsewhere.
Extreme cold, sea ice, limited daylight, complicated logistics define modern Arctic operations.
local logistics and facilities, environmental and wildlife awareness, and cultural and community coordination.
So, why are, is UIC uniquely positioned?
So of course, we are our Alaska Native Corporation based in a Arabic and therefore rooted in our Inupeq community.
UIC Science, which is one of our companies, in particular, the one located at home in
Utclyagavic, who works the mostly within Arctic security, draws on generations of indigenous
subject matter experts.
This is a company that is primarily run locally by local Inupac people who know the land and
have lived on the lands and have all these generations knowledge behind them.
ice and terrain mobility, shelter construction, wildlife and environmental safety, and UIC
we have trusted relationships with our North Slope communities. Military operations supported
by UAC are safer, more effective and culturally informed. This level of trust and experience
So we have a proven track record of supporting Arctic operations.
UIC science is already a primary Arctic-based logistics and operations partner for the Department of Defense.
And in 2025, UAC science supported
approximately 270 military personnel across six Arctic missions, so just last year.
Military support has increased significantly compared to prior years, and the demand for
So, some key examples, and I've got some pictures and so I need to get caught up on my...
Some key example are the U.S. Air Force Arctic Survival School.
So they conduct their survival school in Utcavic under real Arctic conditions.
And our company provides facilities and logistics support, academic extraction, support and indigenous
subject matter experts.
Training actually includes Arctic shelter construction,
survival and mobility techniques,
and a culturally immersion with the local Inupit community.
And this has been found to directly improve
the air crew survivor,
survive ability and mission readiness.
This is really exciting.
We actually just had this group present to our Board of Directors
a couple of weeks ago in Utpuyagavik.
The main Air Force commander was there.
And he wanted to commend UIC Science for the work that they do commend our employees,
our local employees for what they've done for their company and provide the board a specific
thank you.
So that was really exciting to be a part of that.
Another example is the Army 11th Airborne Division Training.
in 2024, platoon-sized out-of-sector
Arctic deployment. So they were testing a rapid deployment to a remote Arctic location.
UIC science provided at that point trucks and snow machines, mobility refueling capability,
and 24-7 bear guard coverage, and our indigenous knowledge was integrated into their tactics and
procedures. It really was demonstrated of the value of their local Arctic expertise. I was home
And it was incredible.
We saw a massive group of military officers.
They were jumped into the back of pickup trucks,
and they were going all over.
We had a big storm.
And they we're trying to use tents
that they had brought up with them.
And the tents all blew away in the big storms.
So all of our local UIC science employees said.
This is a perfect example of use the tents that we use,
because we know how to not let them blow away in the storm.
So with that, we have a video we'd
like to show of this group.
So let me borrow or look at a week.
It's the top of the world.
it's a perfect place to do training, you know, and we support that in every way.
One of the good things about coming up here for training is completely
diverse from all the other places in Alaska, such as Fairbanks or Anchorage,
just for the fact that we don't have to treat our mountains that they could hide behind.
whatever the wind chilli is outside, that's what they're going to get.
So UIC Science is an eight-day subsidiary for the
Ayagavic Inupia Corporation and we essentially provide logistical support
for science researchers and military units up in the Arctic.
The world is watching the Arctic right now, whether it's a military support for security, for national security or its cooperation.
As far as climate change, the arctic is warming faster than any other part on the planet.
And the accelerated change is something that we can look at now and extrapolate that information to other parts of the
planet as it happens a little bit slower. So it is kind of a focal point right
now for the world in many ways.
The type of logistics support we provide for military personnel when they do come up.
We provide snowmobiles, sleds, tents and heaters and generators if they need them.
Facilities for housing, it's more like a man camp, so two beds per room and they're separate
restrooms for men and women.
They also have a full-blown kitchen where you can cook whatever food you want to cook
Barrow Arctic Research Center known as the BARC, which is state-of-the-art
laboratories, office spaces, a conference room for community gatherings. If we can
focus some of the research on things that are important to the community, I
think we could actually bring value to community and science is trying to do
that. We're trying bring researchers up that will do things
that matter to that community. With the military groups, we provide more
traditional knowledge support.
We do provide cars and
ATVs and boats and the things that they need but also our traditional knowledge holders go out
with them and help navigate and keep them safe and bring them home and
help understand how to effectively work in the Arctic. I think it's important to engage the people
who live in The Arctic because they know it better than anybody. We do our best to, you know, let
people from the military get a feel for our inner pathway of life here.
us to know more about what they do and why they're up here for their trainings and also
it's good for them to go from people with knowledge and who've been out here especially
hunting and subsistence. At the ending of it they reached out and you know a couple of them were
It was fun to explain to them, you know, the tricks and shortcuts we have up here, living
up all our lives.
The goal is to come back prepared.
That's the biggest factor.
Come up, get a feel for our weather and get the knowledge from locals here so when they
do come, they are prepared
out of myself. So another key example is Arctic Edge 2024 and 2025. They're
already planning for Arctic edge 2026. This is a NORAD and U.S. Northern
Command Homeland Defense Exercise. It does demonstrate an incredible join in
multinational readiness in extreme cold science again provided a number of
fueling coordination with our local governments, and really it enabled a safe and continuous
operation throughout the exercise, really showing our ability to support these large-scale
joint arctic missions. Operation ICE camp, which is known as ICEX, the last ICEEX was 2024. They
operation conducted on floating sea ice. They make an ice island and they float
around on an Ice Island. This is actually something that used to happen in the
70s and there were they were all labeled T1 T like we have some really
interesting relics from that time of those operations but basically they
They are testing and evaluating various Arctic operational capabilities.
UIC science actually provides employees out there, technical and logistical support, equipment maintenance.
They do the whole camp infrastructure.
They create runways so that planes are landing on this ice island and airlift planning and coordination.
represents one of the most demanding Arctic conditions faced by U.S. forces. I'm happy to
let them handle that. And I will watch from 160 miles on shore.
We love engaging with our community. The Marine Corps does Toys for Tots the last two years.
We have supported this operation. They actually come to Barrow.
They get all outfitted out and then they travel by snow machine to communities
and provide a Toys For Tuts program. So very exciting. This year they traveled to Atka-Sook
and they did a program in Barow as well. But really, you know, community is so important.
And we want our communities to feel like they are connected to the military as well.
It goes both ways.
So this is really important for us to be a part of this program.
The U.S. Coast Guard Arctic support, we support the Arctic icebreaker coordinating committee.
And do deploy a community observer aboard the Healy twice annually.
our communication and maritime situational awareness and trust during these Arctic operations.
We do engage with the Ted Stephen Center for security.
It is, you know, the TED Stephen center is a department of defense regional center.
focused on global and Arctic security.
We want to be a part of that collaboration,
so we have supported two ambassador level events
that happened a couple of years ago,
over 20 people from Arctic nations participated in that,
and we helped to coordinate the tours
and brought everybody out to Pointe Barrow,
wildlife viewing, got them out on the ocean,
catered meals, and provided some panels
on Arctic topics for that event.
The innovative readiness training delivers joint training opportunities while providing
these lasting community benefits.
It was hosted by our Housing Authority, TNHA, but we had the partnership.
We included the Alaska Air National Guard, the Cold Climate Housing Research Center, Senator
Dan Sullivan, and we provided, again, some of those logistics and survival training for
their travel out to New York City.
We do have research support with other security relevance.
We support Arctic researchers who come up to do federally funded projects.
This Michigan ice crystal research that's happening, the Pisces Project, many Department
of Energy and science projects have military and security connections.
And these research activities really reinforce the need for secure coordinated Arctic operations.
in particular two maritime is just how many ships are actually traversing the Arctic Ocean
as we know it. It's fascinating. I was provided a few different apps that we can see in real time.
All these ships that are off of our coastline and it
blew my mind. Like dozens of ships at any point in time in the, in, you know, when it's ice-free.
And who are they and what are we doing? We had a situation this summer where a foreign icebreaker
appeared offshore of Utkavik, and people started coming ashore,
and nobody had any idea who they were. We actually thought that they
were the Coast Guard. I was home. The Coast Guards here. It was not the coast guard.
research vessel that had actually come in and they came actually all the way
through, they come from ADAC, and came into U.S. coast in ADAK and
came all day up. And they started coming in like
going to different offices and like introducing themselves, but we were very concerned as to
do is anybody know you're here? What's what's happening with all of this? From a UIC perspective,
you know, we have a lot of government contracts and we are, as many of you have been, I maybe all
of, you've been to the Bariatric Research Center, the BARC, and you don't, they wanted to go visit and
Security concerns about all of that.
So, this brought up a lot of interesting questions.
I'll talk a little bit more about what we're doing now,
but how quickly could unplanned arrivals be identified?
What safeguards are in place for Arctic coastal communities?
Right, we have the most coastline of any state in the nation.
And so, what is our awareness?
How can we as a community lead the security coordination?
And what does this local presence look like for us?
So, as we noted, we operate a number of facilities.
We maintain a big fleet of vehicles, and we as the Village Corporation do own more than
220,000 acres of land that can support all of this future training.
And we do have this potential that we're looking into to develop some mock villages or training
infrastructure in the Arctic.
We know this training is growing we know we need more investment in our communities to support a lot of this
Training as you all have seen a
Lot of our facilities especially in the north and in at Calvick are from the naval arctic research laboratory
That was built in
the 1940s and so we are looking at different ways that we can
Ramp that up a little bit and provide some needed investment and
In the infrastructure, we knew that better infrastructure does is more safe
we have better logistics capacity and we can be more quick to respond to needs across
our communities.
Some of the things that Megan talked about, and an investment, you know, at home and
with UIC is this investment in national security, which is an Alaska's strategic role in that.
So it's a quick part of that.
We do have formed an Utkalvik Tri-Lateral Group,
which connects the native village of Barrow,
the city of Utukalvic, and UIC.
This is our, you know, our city government,
our tribal government and then the village corp.
that are just based there in Barrow.
We have some priority focus areas,
but one of the most important things that came out of this
was that we did host a visit from the Department
of Homeland Security to talk to the trilateral about
the security situation that we found ourselves in this summer because it we really recognize
that this offshore activity is increasing and they weren't aware of the situation either.
And so we know that. We need more conversations around that, but we are proactively engaging
to think about that federal awareness of what is happening from the Arctic Coast and encourage
these maritime vessels getting closer and closer to the coast and to land.
So we know that Arctic Security is Alaska's security.
We are providing this Arctic support to
the military.
We do combine our local presence, indigenous knowledge, infrastructure, and these trusted
community relationships, really feel that we're the best – we are positioned to be
for the military and strength in, you know, supporting UIC
definitely supports both national security
and Alaska's northern communities.
So with that, Koyanak-Buk, and I'll turn it back to Navaruk.
Thank you.
That's all we had for presentations,
and, I don't know how much time we have left.
I'm sure we've plenty for questions.
Anybody wants to ask?
But thank you Madam Chair,
and remember to the committee for that.
Well, thank-you for this presentation.
with the gamut, right? History and to present national security. So yes, I suspect there are
quite a few questions. I have a list myself, but I'll start with committee members. Senator
Stevens. Well, thank you. Have a comment and a question. The comment has to do with
tribal schools we have been working for.
two years, this is the second year, working on a bill
on tribal schools, it's not gonna happen this year.
It's gonna be next year where it says a complex issue.
But we wanna make sure that you're a part of that discussion.
It is in Senate education right now.
Senator Tobin will be writing that bill.
So I wish you'd be able to work with it,
make that what we're doing fits with what your needs are.
You've made it very clear that many of your students,
young people are moving around the country.
They need to take a skill with them, whatever that might be.
So they need it to be well-educated.
on that bill to make sure it's what you want.
And so that's Senator Tobin's education.
And then the question has to do with 8A contract.
Is it 8As of the right terminology?
We've been following that because I think
many of our Native corporations depend on
that and the idea was just great to give these corporations
into businesses that make a profit
and make it profit the corporation.
Could you tell us where we are on 8a contract?
our congressional delegation is working on it.
I also know that at the administration,
the president has been talking about doing away with it,
so where are we anyway?
Absolutely, through the chair.
Such an important question for us here in the state,
and one that we are actively monitoring
and responding to consistently.
I think that 100% feel that it is an attack
that is probably not,
that really isn't necessary in so many ways.
I think the status is truthfully very much unknown.
We are consistently right, so just a quick note, right?
UIC science, all this work that we're doing,
U IC science is an 8A company.
And that is why the military you know one of the reasons why of course the
military reached out because they are in 8a and that's you
know a great opportunity to do that business. We are able to provide a
service that many others could not as an 8 a company. And so we are
consistently and I guess constantly responding to questions from the federal
government in regards to what it means to be an 8a company, what do we do,
what we provide to our constituents, our shareholders,
our community, and that's who we are in service to and what our
Alaska Native Corporations, you know, this is why they were created, to give back to our communities,
want to recognize that, there's a lot to talk about, the 8a program being race-based, and that
is 100% not the case. The 8A program is based on a political distinction that allows for us as
Alaska native corporations to be a part of this program. There are some ANCs that are
much more heavy in the 8a program than others.
Think that they're from UIC's perspective,
like I noted, we're very diversified,
but there is an impact.
There is 100% an effect,
and we are doing our very best.
You know,
we getting constant requests for information,
which
is it requires a lot of time and energy and effort to continuously be responding to questions
from the small business administration and from, you know, the other departments from
the federal side that consistently are asking us for more and more information.
And we are doing our due diligence to respond as appropriately as we can to the questions to try to
Kind of dissuade this these conversations that we really feel just are not the most truth
You know, oh, there's a lot of rhetoric that that were trying to dispel
Yes direct something to you
Maybe that would be a legitimate resolution from this committee to The legislature to support that a day
they had a project, they seemed to be so valuable.
That's a great idea, yes.
And we could reach out to you for input
on what we might say in that resolution.
Yes, Madam Chair, that would be fantastic.
And I would happily connect you
the Native American Contractors Association, NACA,
who we are working very heavily with.
They would a fantastic
group for me to connect and we can get all the right information and how best to formulate
that.
That would be fantastic.
Yes.
That's a great idea, Senator Stevens.
Thank you for that further questions or comments.
Senator Kawasaki.
Thank You.
Thank ThankYou for presenting.
This is great to learn more about.
I don't know much about what goes on in the North Slope and you I see science I'm particularly
do you work cooperatively at all with like the university system or other statewide systems
and can you talk a little about that? Through the chair.
Senator Kawasaki.
Absolutely.
We actually have a great working relationship with the universities in Alaska and beyond,
in particular, to all the research that, of course, happens on the North Slope UIC science
is the group, the logistics group that handles all of that when people come up.
And yeah, I just think, yeah.
We're definitely connected to them.
They have lot of different projects.
And kind of housed in particular, UAF and ARPIC is one of them.
And it's a long acronym and I'm not going to remember.
But we support that program for logistic support
and do a lot of different things with all of the stuff
that's happening in the Arctic.
Not as maybe articulate as I hope to be in that answer,
but happy to provide any further.
I don't have to know what AR PIC stands for.
Any further questions?
Well, I had a few.
Going back to education, you mentioned choice schools.
Do these include language immersion
into native languages, the Inupia language?
Tell me more about the schools, and are they
considered a public school that would get the BSA?
type allotment per student. Thank you, Madam Chair. We only have the one currently.
We have one in Wainwright. It's called Cully Academy. Okay. And it's a school that comes from a
culturally, culturally derived direction, right? They're everything they do.
starts with, starts within the culture.
I think they're still in talks with the school district
and the state about the BSA.
We're trying to get all that settled.
We have our education director, Mark Roseberry,
and we just recently at our last meeting, actually,
signed a resolution to join ANTEC,
the Alaska Native Tribal Education Consortium.
I believe there's five tribes in there so far,
and it's growing, and were using that arm
to try to help.
get stuff that we think we need past here in in June in legislation. So it still is very new.
The the north of borough school district has a very thriving in American immersion program.
I'm not sure that's been totally incorporated into our system yet. You know, we're just
this is a second year, I think, of the Cuddly Academy.
So we'll still work about the kinks and and
And it's really getting funding for it, right?
Because it is a tribal school, and we don't have the BSA stuff figured out yet, I don
think.
So the main goal right now is to find sustainable funding from now and into the future,
and how we're going to get that to all the other communities as well, because pretty much
every other community has expressed interest in wanting a Tribal school.
Students not graduating.
It's becoming a bigger and bigger problem,
especially in the smaller communities.
So this is our answer to that problem
but it is still very new
and we're still trying to get all of our everything,
everything so that it can be into the future and secured.
So I don't know if I have the exact answer
to your question but I can get back to you with that.
Sure, sure, it almost sounds like a charter school.
I think it is similar to that at the moment,
but we want it to be a tribally owned,
stand-alone school, not state charter school
but something that we own and we design.
So we're still in the beginning phases of that,
but one out of five tribes to compact
with the state of Alaska on education.
We're one of 5 that are trying to.
figure out that compacting situation and how how are we going to get funds that
these students are as state of Alaska residents deserve but
and how they want to use it, you know?
So how we, if they wanna go to Covington Academy,
there should be funding from the state
that would have been available to them
had they been in the North support of our school district.
So we're still trying to figure all that out,
but we are making great progress in those areas, I believe.
That's excellent.
Senator Stevens.
I think, we aren't working on that right now.
We've been working at it with the Department of Education
there, very supportive of tribal schools.
And I take this as the answer to your question
that you can get state funding, how that has formed.
And, you know, I think it's tribal schools
or something that I feel like progress is next year.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Very good, yeah.
Yeah, we agree that it is critical
to have local control of schools.
And clearly there's basic curriculum.
But nevertheless, there is, well, cultural
but local curriculum
regardless of where you live.
I remember not too, well, several years ago actually,
I saw a program happening in Anaktuvik
where an elder there was teaching the students
how to butcher a caribou.
It was super interesting, and it was actually a video
on ADN, Anchorage Daily News.
Put it out as a videos, it's very, is cool.
working in anaktuvik and I was doing health care, I'm a nurse practitioner.
And so I doing sports physicals and so this young man, the office had scheduled the appointments.
And young men hadn't shown up but I
was there the next day and was kind of packing up and he came running in.
And he said, I'm sorry I missed my appointment yesterday,
but I got my first caribou yesterday.
I was out getting, and so it was so exciting.
It was just so excited.
That was a really good day to hear his story about that.
It is great.
So what about,
and maybe this is,
now, Brooke, a question for you,
how do you interface with the Arctic Council,
the Circumpolar Arctic?
At the voice, Madam Chair, thank you for the question.
At The Voice, we don't, not directly, right?
I think that the more appropriate organization
for that would be the Inuit Circumpolar Council
who has interactions with them.
We do work with ICC just on smaller things,
but I that's in their wheelhouse
for international engagement,
and I don' t know if a program Megan can speak
to more of that, but that' s my understanding.
Yeah, they're a permanent participant. I do believe right. ICC is a Permanent participant on the Art of Council gotcha
You mentioned the you mentioned, the internet the whaling hold it.
I'm looking here the Whaling Commission
as
part of your presentation with
The prohibition on whailing that had been administered. So so you have interaction with the Wailing Commission
I attend meetings just as much as I can, just to stay up to make sure I have the information
that they have.
We're not asked to engage on their behalf.
They have their own body that does that for them, but yeah, the history of that, starting
of, that is a really powerful story on why that came up and that's why I include it because
of the idea of self-determination in there.
Stands on their own and does a very good job in that advocacy work that they do
Very good. Very Good
Let's see. What was another question I had well
You know the customs question, you know having a foreign vessel come
What's a can you get a custom agent in the villages and?
Yeah, I'm Adam chair you you can so
A few years ago, whatever that was, we actually knew of a cruise ship that
was coming in and so the right people got the
right
people to come up and actually have a point of entry station for that cruise
ship to
come and dock and
and bring and people could come off and they were walking around the community.
So it is most certainly possible. I think that from our perspective right the question is you
know is there someone there all the time? Is it just you know like is it seasonally is
it what does this really look like? And you from the trilateral perspective I
think we're still trying to figure that out. As a follow-up to our trilateral meeting we did
and the director there, Scott Evans, about how are we going
to partner, because the North liberal most certainly needs
to be a part of that conversation.
So we're planning for our next trilateral meeting
for continued conversation about it.
But you know, you can get one.
And I think the question just is, how do you do that
when you don't know if they're,
you now, who's to say who is going to.
dock right. I mean, it's incredible, right? And you've all been up to, you know,
you see that coastline. And we're not much different from others around our state who
just pull right up with me. You could have somebody pull
right, up and you just don't have a clue who they are or where they've come from.
And I, yeah, something we really need to be thinking about a little bit more clearly is that maritime
Get a lot past people in there.
And with the CIC melting, we're going
to have a presentation from one of the companies.
There are companies that track these vessels, right?
And it is phenomenal.
As you said, you can see it live on the screen.
They also, well, of course, the vessels
carry identification transmission.
So we'll have one the company come and present.
It's super interesting.
You can identify who's on the ship, what cargo they're being carried, how would flag they bear, all of that.
It seems like if that kind of a station was located in Ochiavik,
you would be able to foretell who is approaching your coast.
Do we need a customs agent here?
Do you need national security here because this is a Chinese vessel?
So all of that, I feel like we
need to beef up a little bit along our coast,
certainly through the Bering Straits.
All that traffic can easily take a right hand turn and head into your area.
So, yeah, it's a big concern on my part.
You know, another concern that I have, of course, is food security.
So I attended a circumpolar agriculture conference.
It was in Norway, up at the top of Norway this last September or so.
These countries were present as well as Alaska, but they were represented by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and so there was a lot of
agriculture type discussion
but and and frankly agriculture is moving further north with the warming I
Am also understanding that with
The warming vegetation is changing as it's moving north have you seen different?
let's say taller bushes type vegetation coming into the north slope burrow and
and where are you seeing it are seeing change in the animal life in in
the burrows thank you madam chair if i may and then i'll
turn it over to you guys this personal experience
grew up there lived up they're on the on land on
the water and on The Rivers specifically and
definitely have noticed things changing new colors are coming in
from my perspective, it doesn't necessarily seem to be invasive but does appear that things
are moving forward and I think some of the work that UIC science is doing and you could expand on
this more is there a lot of those researchers are looking at that kind of stuff and what is
coming in and if it does warm how does that affect that vegetation? On the water I
think that they're seeing and i've seen them different different whales, different remammals,
things are hanging out a little bit longer so things definitely are changing up there
I don't know if either of you want to expand on that any.
Thank you, not going to include the chair.
I agree personal experience.
The places that we go to hunt and where our cabin is,
for example.
when I was a kid the bushes wouldn't get higher than like knee high waist level.
Last time I went over there they were six feet tall with moose paths through these huge bushes
and my dad's like I've never seen them so high. So yeah we definitely see things are changing
and we're trying to work with those changes but sometimes it feels like they're happening a
I saw a presentation from, I think it was University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers.
They were working around the Cotsabew area.
And just as you described, the bushes becoming taller, moving in, and the moose.
But they were focused on the beaver, that were following these taller vegetation and
building dams which in turn created pools of water which, in turns, warmed the environment
because they're a heat sink, right?
And just wondering, and of course in this, it was last spring I saw this and they were
wondering what changes would be seen on the North Slope as beaver come in and build pools
and really change the environment.
wolves for example right now we're getting a lot warmer the winters aren't
quite as harsh as maybe they used to be these wolf populations are exponentially
growing and in turn affecting the caribou migration patterns affecting when the
carabou
get to where we in an area of 97,000 square miles.
And I want to go hunt a caribou.
I need to be extremely strategic on where I go
because gas is not cheap.
It's $17 a gallon in some of our communities.
Now, if we- where we normally would have gone, year after year, after
year at this exact week of this month, we know the caribou are going to be here and
then they're not, you know, because this huge wolf population has changed their
migration pattern or whatever it might be, the- you
know where they normally
would've gone. Like, my husband had a place where he would go carobou hunting
when they come- when- they were doing their migration back south, right?
And they came in for the summer.
They're eating, it's August, his birthday's
August first, so this is what he did on his
birthday, is go to this exact same spot
every year, hide behind a couple of
mounds, and then the entire herd is
going right in front of you. So things
like that change and that makes it a
lot more difficult for us to ensure
food security when the places that we go
to hunt are no longer as reliable as
they once were.
So that's one of the ways that
we're seeing that
change, yep.
Do you think the wolves are contributing
to the diminishment of the caribou herds?
Any thoughts on that?
Through the chair, I think that'd be a really good question
for the North Slobour Department of Wildlife Management
who I knew monitors some of that in partnership
with some the federal state agencies.
It'd a be good questions for that group,
and we could definitely put you in touch with folks
at the wildlife department for, first, more of, that.
more objective data if they have any related to it.
That would be interesting.
And you know, Nogruk, as you say that, it underscores the government to government entities.
What you've described is a tremendous government structure on the North Slope that I don't
think, well, I certainly wasn't as aware of how robust it was.
I mean, that's amazing.
what has developed there and and the substitute of data that you have it's
amazing. That would be great though to you know kind of go together with our
Alaska Fish and Game Department information. Thank you Madam Chair if I
tip the iceberg, right? We don't have all day, we could talk about this stuff for days,
right. The wildlife department is one that at least personally I'm really proud of,
worked with them when I was at UIC Science for a long time. I also have a search and rescue
department with fixed wing rotorcraft. Mr. Wilson's definitely familiar with that.
And I've been part of rescues where if it wasn't for them, who knows what would have happened,
right, or how long we would've have been out there. And so the services that they put up,
As a result of the economic development that allowed them to provide these services has been hugely beneficial
To the people of The North Slope to the People in the communities that they support
I know if you guys have ever seen Sullivan
Senator Sullivan's speech where he talks about that life expectancy increase of over 13 years in
since the 70s, late 70's to 2014, right?
So all of these services, all the economic development
that's provided all
of the services from our members collectively serving
their constituencies has been huge, huge.
And a lot of them were created by federal agencies.
We had to create the Alaska Native Corporations,
but a lotta them are created through our own will,
right, the North Slope Borough was something that.
Folks didn't want, except for us, right?
And we had to kind of force that hand.
Thankfully, it was allowable under the Constitution.
And so a lot of these services are provided
because we need them and because
we have the opportunity to do it,
right.
And if that's not a definition of self-determination,
I don't know what is.
Well, I'm glad you brought that up now,
Brooke, the reference that Senator Sullivan makes.
That was actually a Journal of Medical Association
discovered and presented at a resource development council breakfast that he
happened to be attending and so he's taken that article and and taken it
nationwide which is great which great it it definitely shows the wonderful
increase in life expectancy on the North Slope and it and calls out the article
it was completely unaffiliated with anything in Alaska it
was a nationwide study down to the county level
on the change of life expectancy.
And there was it on
the North Slope, very dark blue,
showing that the largest increase in life expectancy
as healthcare became available, education, clean water,
waste management, all of those things,
how it changed the life expectingcy.
So yeah, I'm glad that he has been traveling around with that.
One of the other things
All of this represents is financial resources.
And that makes me think about impact payments
from NPRA development.
And, of course, those are being challenged,
potentially changing.
That's probably outside of anything you want to comment
on that at this point, which is fine.
I understand.
But it's certainly something that I'm concerned about.
That was intended to to facilitate exactly what you've done as
research development impacts your communities
changing the environment and
animals, etc. So
Yeah, well, Madam chair will not a direct comment on it. I think an appreciation that of
Putting that out on the table
of the and continuing the conversation and of asking those questions, I know that while none
of us work directly with that, we are major partners of all of individuals and communities
who are impacted by the potential loss of those funds. And most certainly, you know,
we have seen the impact of funds in such positive ways over all these years. Just,
Please continue that conversation if you want to have any more information about that.
We would happily get you in touch with the right people for that as well.
They are talking to us, we are huge advocates of the program.
And really hope that we can fix this situation moving forward.
Very good, yes.
Further questions from committee members?
All right, seeing none, again, thank you so much for coming.
all this distance and and bringing information that we don't often hear.
If, as Senator Stevens said, we've got an education bill being developed,
we want your input. We've a gas pipeline under discussion. It's in my resources committee.
We want you input, so aggressively knock on our door.
Through the chair, yes, all of those conversations I think on some level are probably relevant
to one or more of our members even if we at the voice hasn't been brought to our attention yet.
If there are topics like that, like education,
Please reach out, you have Kate's contact information,
you'll have mine, we should be able to get you,
at least in touch with the right people
that might be be gonna comment on more of that level.
A lot of these issues are somewhat new
and still being kind of digested
at the individual member level,
and I'm sure at some point they'll be in our boardroom
and be to provide more comment
on in the future hopefully, or they might not, right?
They might still be dealt with at that
level and we might now engage.
But definitely reach information contacts,
one of the
One of our missions is to make sure that you have a conduit, right?
A single point of contact, and then we can put you in touch with other folks.
And the other way around as well, if ICAS needs to know who to speak to down here,
we could put them in-touch with the right people aswell.
But thank you for reaching out.
I'm glad we had that chance meeting at the Fairbanks Airport when the flight.
I think the fight was late.
I sat there all day waiting to go to Cocteauvick and the flag got cancelled.
But, thank for that.
Thank you, for the follow-up.
member to testify, provide information. We're definitely willing to do that as long as it's
something that we are able to comment on from the voice perspective. So thank all of you.
We appreciate the time. There's no trouble at all to fly down here. It's a lot closer
than DC.
Yes, that's true. Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree with Nogluk.
Thank You for inviting us.
Thank For giving us so much time to hear what we have to say and to
hear the concerns that
time, let us know. We'll get you in touch with the right people and and get
you the information that you're looking for to help you make decisions that will
help benefit us as well as rest of the state. So thank you for having us here.
I don't necessarily agree with NUC. It took me two days to get here from
Barrow. But I'm much happier than going here than DC.
So, thank very much.
Madam Chair, Senators, I just want to echo the invitation to visit us whenever you can.
I know it is a long trek to some, Senator Olson is, he's seen all the North Slope.
I now Senator Wielikowski just got an special experience up there towards the end of last year.
And so please come up, we'd happily host you at any point in time.
And just in closing,
I think I want I appreciate each one of you for your.
All of you sitting on this committee have served our state and all of our people for many, many years.
And in this climate, we really appreciate it.
We might not be each one of your constituents, necessarily.
We are Donnie's, but just thank you so very much for all that you've done for Alaska and us as Alaskans.
Very good, thank-you.
All right, so that concludes our meeting for today.
Our next meeting is scheduled for February 12th,
so we will not have a meeting next week, committee members.
The next will be the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute
of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Extension.
It'll be Jody Anderson talking about, again, food security.
So at this time, let the record reflect the meeting
is adjourned at 2.53 p.m.