02/13/2012 01:30 PM House FINANCE

HOUSE BILL NO. 246                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act naming certain bridges."                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
HOUSE BILL NO. 248                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act naming the Al Wright Airport at Minto."                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
HOUSE BILL NO. 249                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act naming the Koyukuk Station Veterans' Airport                                                                       
     at Koyukuk."                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
2:12:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stoltze explained that HB 248 and HB 249 would be                                                                      
merged into HB 246.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Thomas MOVED to ADOPT the proposed committee                                                                           
substitute for HB 246, Work Draft 27-LS0921\B (Wayne,                                                                           
2/10/12). There being NO OBJECTION it was so ordered.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
KACI  SCHROEDER-HOTCH,  STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE  BILL  THOMAS,                                                                    
explained that  HB 246  named 15 bridges  and 2  airports in                                                                    
the city of  Cordova. The city had requested that  15 of its                                                                    
bridges  be  named after  some  of  its "finest"  residents.                                                                    
First,  the city  requested that  the bridge  over the  Eyak                                                                    
River  be named  after Marie  Smith  Jones; she  had been  a                                                                    
community  elder who  worked to  preserve the  Eyak language                                                                    
and had  left one of  the most comprehensive records  of any                                                                    
aboriginal language upon her death.  Second, fourteen of the                                                                    
city's bridges  would be named  after each of the  young men                                                                    
that  had been  lost  in  World War  I,  World  War II,  and                                                                    
Vietnam. The names were as follows:                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     World  War I:  James  Bennet, William  M. Jones,  Steve                                                                    
     Green, Lucian Platt, Matthew  Anderson, W.H. Mumby, and                                                                    
     John W. Jones                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     World War II: Patrick  B. Burchett, Norman D. Osbourne,                                                                    
     and Leonard F. Olson                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Vietnam:  David  Henry   Elisovky,  David  Allen  Lape,                                                                    
     Warren Allen Paulsen, and Michael Dean Banta                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Ms.  Schroeder-Hotch  elaborated  that  naming  the  bridges                                                                    
after  the residents  was the  least  the city  could do  to                                                                    
thank them for their service and sacrifice.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CYNTHIA  ERICKSON,  STAFF,  REPRESENTATIVE ALAN  DICK,  read                                                                    
from the HB 248 Sponsor Statement (copy on file):                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     Al  Wright was  born at  Tanana Crossing  on April  26,                                                                    
     1925 to  Arthur and Myrtle Wright,  missionaries in the                                                                    
     Minto Flats  area. Arthur Wright was  Athabascan Indian                                                                    
     and Myrtle was white. Mrs.  Wright was one of the first                                                                    
     nurses in  the villages.  In 1930  the family  moved to                                                                    
     Minto.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     The  Wright family  lived a  subsistence lifestyle.  In                                                                    
     Minto his  dad tried to start  a school. He had  a hard                                                                    
     time  because  the kids  had  to  go back  to  seasonal                                                                    
     subsistence camps.  Each child  would bring a  stick of                                                                    
     wood as tuition.  When the wood ran out  that ended the                                                                    
     school day.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     When  Al  was nine,  they  moved  to Nenana  where  his                                                                    
     father started  work in the  shipyard. His  family also                                                                    
     cut   and  sold   wood  for   $8.00  a   cord  with   a                                                                    
     Sears&Roebuck wood  saw. They  dragged the wood  with a                                                                    
     model-T vehicle back to the village to sell.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     Al was  15 when he  started in construction  on defense                                                                    
     projects  all over  Interior Alaska.  He had  no formal                                                                    
     training and learned as he  went along. His skills were                                                                    
     in  high demand  on  the defense  projects; however  he                                                                    
     wanted to  join the Army.  The only way he  could leave                                                                    
     his  job was  to  quit the  construction  work and  get                                                                    
     drafted. When he  got out of the Army, he  found out he                                                                    
     could get  his pilot's license  with the G.I.  bill. He                                                                    
     originally  started for  fun, but  never got  away from                                                                    
     flying.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     His first  plane was  a 65 Taylorcraft.  One day  a man                                                                    
     asked to  charter him to  pick up furs. He  said, "boy,                                                                    
     this  is  the way  to  make  money."  From then  on  he                                                                    
     started  hauling trappers  and  developing a  business.                                                                    
     His first charter  was $20.00 an hour  with fuel, plane                                                                    
     and pilot. He  taught himself to fly  with floats. With                                                                    
     no formal training,  his first flight was to  pick up a                                                                    
     dying  man in  a Minto  fish  camp. He  flew about  200                                                                    
     hours before  he was  forced to  get an  official float                                                                    
     rating. He  had trouble  getting ratings  and licenses,                                                                    
     because  he  had  little education.  He  struggled  his                                                                    
     whole life because  he never learned how  to read well,                                                                    
     write or  spell. He quit  school after the  sixth grade                                                                    
     as he took on more seasonal work with the family.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Al  started   Wright's  Air   Service  in   1950  which                                                                    
     continued to grow in Interior  Alaska. His focus was on                                                                    
     maintaining  high standards  with maintenance  and with                                                                    
     his employees.  He was the critical  link for scheduled                                                                    
     mail  and   charter  flights  to  about   20  villages.                                                                    
     Wright's Air  today is  a well-known  charter operation                                                                    
     in   the  Interior,   supporting  government   surveys,                                                                    
     seasonal  camps,   firefighting,  land   surveying  and                                                                    
     hunting  expeditions. In  1983 Al  sold his  airline to                                                                    
     long-time friend and pilot,  Bob Burcell. Bob continues                                                                    
     to  run the  airline  with the  same  old time  values,                                                                    
     kindness  and  respect  Al  had   for  his  people  and                                                                    
     villages.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
2:18:01 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stoltze appreciated having information about the                                                                       
individuals on the record. He noted that the bridges were                                                                       
all currently either unnamed or had generic designations.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Thomas agreed.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
Representative Gara wondered whether  the names moved with a                                                                    
bridge when it was moved as a result of a washout.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Thomas replied  often times  bridges were  rebuilt                                                                    
and not  moved. He added  that Cordova was currently  in the                                                                    
middle of a disaster conference;  therefore it was unable to                                                                    
call in to testify.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Stoltze had  been moved  by  the participation  of                                                                    
Cordova residents  in 2006 when the  Vietnam Veterans Moving                                                                    
Wall had come  to town. He believed that Cordova  was one of                                                                    
the  communities that  had  paid the  highest  price in  its                                                                    
contribution to war.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Ms. Erickson  read from the  HB 249 Sponsor  Statement (copy                                                                    
on file):                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     The original village of  Koyukuk, primarily all Koyukon                                                                    
     Athabascan  Indians, was  established  around 1867.  It                                                                    
     used to  be called Koyukuk Station,  because a military                                                                    
     telegraph line was constructed along  the North side of                                                                    
     the  Yukon,   and  Koyukuk  became  the   site  of  the                                                                    
     telegraph   station.  In   naming   the  airport,   the                                                                    
     residents also  wish to honor the  many Native military                                                                    
     veterans who have served their country.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     Koyukuk is  located on the  Yukon River, 30  miles west                                                                    
     of  Galena and  290  air miles  from  Fairbanks. It  is                                                                    
     adjacent to the Koyukuk and Innoko River Refuges.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     The Russian traders were a  big influence in this area,                                                                    
     opening  a trading  post  around  1880. Roman  Catholic                                                                    
     Missionaries   also  had   a   major   impact  on   the                                                                    
     Athabascans. The first school  was constructed in 1939,                                                                    
     this  resulted  in the  Koyukon  people  living in  the                                                                    
     village year around.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Up  until   then,  the  Koyukon  Athabascans   lived  a                                                                    
     subsistence lifestyle,  moving among seasonal  fish and                                                                    
     game  camps.  They moved  as  the  wild game  migrated.                                                                    
     Most of  the people who  settled here were from  up the                                                                    
     Koyukuk  River, as  far as  the Dolbi  River, which  is                                                                    
     close to  Huslia. Even when  people settled  in Koyukuk                                                                    
     they  continued  to travel  up  the  Koyukuk to  winter                                                                    
     trapping camps and returned in the spring.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     The  Native name  for Koyukuk  is, Meneelghaadze  T'oh.                                                                    
     Meneelghaadze is  the name of the  mountain at Koyukuk.                                                                    
     Madeline Solomon, now deceased  Elder from Koyukuk, had                                                                    
     said  the  mountain  was named  Meneelghaadze,  because                                                                    
     long ago,  the Koyukon  people used to  go get  clay at                                                                    
     the mountain  and mix with  bird feathers to  make clay                                                                    
     pots. Eliza  Jones an Elder  from Koyukuk said  that in                                                                    
     Athabascan, "T'oh"  would be  added on, meaning  at the                                                                    
     base  of the  mountain. Meneelghaadze  T'oh means,  "at                                                                    
     the base of the Koyukuk Mountain."                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     Today  Koyukuk people  are still  living a  subsistence                                                                    
     lifestyle.   The   main   employment   is   the   local                                                                    
     government, clinic, school,  store and any firefighting                                                                    
     and construction seasonal jobs.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
2:23:38 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative Guttenberg  remembered Al  Wright and  told a                                                                    
story related to the individual.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Stoltze referred  to a  proclamation from  Cordova                                                                    
that supported  the bill  (copy on  file). He  asked whether                                                                    
there  was  support  from other  communities.  Ms.  Erickson                                                                    
replied  in  the affirmative.  Minto  and  Koyukuk had  both                                                                    
vocalized support for the legislation.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stoltze requested that  the communities' support be                                                                    
officially  added to  the record.  Ms.  Erickson noted  that                                                                    
Minto had already created a sign with the new name.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
ANNETTE  KREITZER, STAFF,  REPRESENTATIVE  ALAN DICK,  noted                                                                    
that Al  Wright was not the  Wright brother who had  run for                                                                    
office.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:26:27 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Stoltze  understood how  important  it  was for  a                                                                    
community to  publicly appreciate  a member  who had  made a                                                                    
significant contribution.  He referred to street  names that                                                                    
had been named for members of his family.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Thomas MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 1:                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2, Line 23                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     Before Al Wright                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     Insert Minto -                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stoltze OBJECTED for discussion.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Thomas  explained that  the amendment  inserted the                                                                    
word "Minto"  before "Al Wright"  on page 2, line  23. There                                                                    
being NO further OBJECTION, Amendment 1 was ADOPTED.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Thomas  spoke  to the  names  included  under  the                                                                    
legislation. He  explained that Marie  Smith Jones  had been                                                                    
the  last  fluent Eyak  speaker  and  deserved the  tribute.                                                                    
David  Henry  Elisovky,  David   Allen  Lape,  Warren  Allen                                                                    
Paulsen,  and Michael  Dean  Banta had  all  been killed  in                                                                    
Vietnam;  Cordova  had  experienced the  highest  per-capita                                                                    
loss in the  state. He discussed the  soldiers' families and                                                                    
told a story about the  involvement of other soldiers in the                                                                    
Vietnam War.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:32:24 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Thomas  MOVED  to  report  CSHB  246(FIN)  out  of                                                                    
committee   with   individual    recommendations   and   the                                                                    
accompanying fiscal  note. There being NO  OBJECTION, it was                                                                    
so ordered.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stoltze referred the fiscal impact note.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CSHB  246(FIN) was  REPORTED  out of  committee  with a  "do                                                                    
pass" recommendation and with a  new fiscal impact note from                                                                    
the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
HB 248 was HEARD and HELD in Committee.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
HB 249 was HEARD and HELD in Committee.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:34:09 PM                                                                                                                    
AT EASE                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:35:58 PM                                                                                                                    
RECONVENED