Trump-era decision on Ambler ignored subsistence issues and tribes, argues Biden admin

The decision, which was previewed during Murkowski's address to the Legislature, is a setback for the controversial mining project. She hopes it's temporary.

Good evening, Alaska!

In this edition: An update on the Redistricting trial; Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski delivers her annual address to the Legislature with a big focus on the infrastructure bill; and the Ambler Mine gets dealt a setback.

Legislative day: 36

A date with the Supreme Court

Mark your calendars! The Alaska Redistricting trial will be in front of the Alaska Supreme Court at 9 a.m. on March 18. This follows a hearing today to sort out the scheduling issues. Turns out the brouhaha over whether the Superior Court case was done or not—a bit of inside baseball outlined in a previous write-up—is more a bit of pedantry than anything else. The Supreme Court stands by its decision to essentially consider the Superior Court’s decision not final, but it appears that it will essentially allow the case to move forward as if it were final.

‘This is our time, so make it happen’

Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski shakes hands Anchorage Democratic Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson while entering the House chambers to deliver her annual address to the Legislature. Gray-Jackson announced earlier this month that she would be running against Murkowski in this year’s elections.

Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski delivered her annual address to the Alaska Legislature today, urging legislators to help the state maximize the benefit of the landmark infrastructure legislation that she helped negotiate. The more than $600 million that’s already been allocated for Alaska on everything from the Alaska Marine Highway to other infrastructure investments featured as a the main theme for the day.

“As we gain those benefits, we will be creating jobs, we will restore, we will grow our economy, we will improve Alaskans’ quality of life and we’ll leave a healthier, more resilient, better-developed and yet still beautiful state for our children,” she said. “This infrastructure bill only became law just a few months ago, but it’s already delivering real results. We’re seeing those results to our state. More than $608 million has already been announced for Alaska. This is from the Port of Nome to the Denali Park Road and there’s more to come.”

She implored legislators to be proactive about attaining the additional funds that will be available through grants on everything from improving broadband access to upgrading water infrastructure. That’ll require good grant writers, she said, as well as state funds to meet the grants’ matching requirements.