HB 122-FUNTER BAY MARINE PARK: UNANGAN CEMETERY  4:49:33 PM CHAIR MICCICHE announced the consideration of HOUSE BILL NO. 122 "An Act relating to the Funter Bay marine park unit of the state park system; relating to protection of the social and historical significance of the Unangax cemetery located in Funter Bay and providing for the amendment of the management plan for the Funter Bay marine park unit; and providing for an effective date." 4:49:47 PM REPRESENTATIVE SARA HANNAN, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of HB 122, explained that the bill will move a parcel of land in Funter Bay, which is 15 miles west of Juneau on the Mansfield Peninsula, but a long ways away in time and history. She referenced slides 1, 2, and 3 from her presentation on HB 122 as follows: • HB 122 will: o Provide protection of the Unagax Cemetery in Funter Bay for future generations; o Transfer cemetery site and surrounding area from Division of Land Mining and Water (DNR) to the Division of Parks and Recreation (DNR) - ; o Transferred land will become part of, and continued to be maintained by, as part of the Funter Bay Marine Park. • HB 122-Funter Bay Unagax Cemetery Map, approximately 30 miles from Juneau. She said an existing state marine park in Funter Bay, created in 1983, would add the parcel of land. The land is currently under the management of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Mining, Land and Water. The bill will transfer the parcel into the existing marine park. The Funter Bay Marine Park is an undeveloped state park with no plan, intention, or budget to promote usage or visitation to the Unangan Cemetery. She detailed that the cemetery on the parcel of land in Funter Bay comes about starting in World War II. On June 3 and 4 of 1942, the Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor. Three days later the Japanese invaded Kiska Island that resulted in the capture of U.S. Navy personnel. The following day the Japanese captured the native residents of Attu Island, those citizens remained in Japan as prisoners of war. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN said on June 12, 1942, Commanding General Simon Buckner in charge of the U.S. Army in Alaska, issued orders to remove the residents of St. Paul and St. George in the Pribilof Islands and to burn their homes in advance of the enemy's movement. Residents had an hour to gather belongings and board the vessel. On June 16, 1942, the transport ship USAT Delarof left the Pribilof Islands with 560 people from St. Paul and St. George. The U.S. Navy at that point did not know where the evacuated Alaskans were going to. The villagers of the Pribilof Islands arrived at Funter Bay on June 24, 1942. The villagers occupied an abandoned cannery that had not been in operation for over 10 years. The cannery was never meant to be a year-round location. 4:52:47 PM REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN detailed that over the course of the summer of 1942, there were additional voyages form other communities to a total of six relocation camps settled in Southeast Alaska. However, Funter Bay was by far the worst circumstances with the highest death rate. She explained that technically in Funter Bay, there were two relocation camps. One at the site of the old cannery and one at the site of the old mine, but the two camps shared the cemetery. There was little access to town, to services, there were no residents year-round in Funter Bay at that point. Of course, the rain forest environment in Funter Bay is dramatically different than the Pribilof Islands. By the end of that summer it was clear, babies had been born and a cemetery required. Today, there are approximately 30 known marked graves, but many more graves are unmarked. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN noted that there are no cemeteries at the other relocation camps, except in Killisnoo. The cemetery in Killisnoo is on private land and there is no intention from the state to every use it. She said a few years ago the descendants of the Killisnoo relocation camp cemetery did not receive approval to access to the land. The denial escalated what has been a 78-year journey to protect the cemetery and the grave sites. She remarked that legislators know that they carry water for somebody else's work most of the time. She said there are many people who have worked on protecting the ancestral grave sites for decades and the legislation is a very satisfactory zero fiscal note way to achieve that. There is no intent to develop and no additional cost to the state, but it would mean that descendants would be assured that those grave sites would never be developed, and they would always have access to visit their ancestors who are buried there. 4:55:21 PM REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN addressed slide 4, Funter Bay SMP, as follows: • Funter Bay Shoreline Master Program (SMP) map o A01 - Existing Funter Bay Marine Park. 162 acres. o A02 - Areas to be added by HB 122 o A03 - Island in bay to be added by HB 122 o Total acreage added - 251 acres REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN noted that questions arose in the House that the land transfer is bigger than the cemetery's borders. DNR said they preferred not to have a little carveout that they would be responsible for and requested the land transfer to State Parks. 4:56:35 PM She referenced slide 5, photos of Old Bunk House used for housing and a headstone of 18-month-old child that died at camp. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN said the Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation is in attendance and is supportive of the transfer of land as well as a group called The Friends of Admiralty Island. Much of Admiralty Island is part of the Admiralty Island National Monument. Both the Funter Bay and the Killisnoo relocation camps are on Admiralty Island. The Friends of Admiralty Island have worked with descendants of both camps' cemeteries for a number of years to seek federal protection under monument status, but the request did not meet the threshold for monument protection. She displayed slide 6, Resettlement Sailings Map in 1942: • USAT Delarof, June 17-24 to Funter Bay Cannery, Funter Bay Mine, Killisnoo near Angoon. • SS Columbia, July 3-6 to Wrangell Institute on Wrangell Island and Ward Lake near Ketchikan. • SS Alaska, July 26 to Wrangell Institute on Wrangell Island and Burnett Inlet on Etolin Island. SENATOR COGHILL asked if the bill would impact any potential mining is Funter Bay. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN answered that there is an abandoned mine located on the southern shore of the bay. The land transfer does not include the abandoned mine. It remains as a private holding. 4:58:01 PM CHAIR MICCICHE asked why the bill includes an island transfer. He remarked that the island transfer seems inconsistent with the intent of the bill. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN explained that DNR probably included the island as part of the marine park that already exists. SENATOR GIESSEL noted that similar bills ultimately exhibited property description errors. She asked if the property descriptions for the bill were doublechecked. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN answered yes. She explained that due to an amendment on the House floor, DNR verified that the current coordinates are accurate. SENATOR GIESSEL replied that was reassuring. 5:00:36 PM RICKY GEASE, Director, Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Anchorage, Alaska, introduced Superintendent Preston Kroes from Southeast who will address committee members in person. He said Mr. Kroes has been working with Representative Hannan on the bill and can fill in specifics. 5:00:54 PM PRESTON KROES, Superintendent-Southeast Area, Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation, Juneau, Alaska, said he is going to address some of concerns that committee members have already voiced with Representative Hannan. SENATOR COGHILL asked for an explanation of land footprints for both the cemetery and the land that is going to become a park. MR. KROES answered that cemetery is approximately an acre and a half. The reason for the larger parcel is that the Division of Mining, Land, and Water asked that the Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation take over management. Not transferring the land would have resulted in bits and pieces of acreage to manage by the Division of Mining, Land, and Water. SENATOR COGHILL asked how the division plans to manage the land, are forest resources present, and will the land be multi-use. MR. KROES answered that state parks are generally multi-use and does not allow resource development, which is part of the reason why becoming part of the state park will protect the cemetery. The bill states that the management for the parcels will be identical to the state marine park. 5:03:19 PM SENATOR COGHILL asked if the land transfer requires a park plan. MR. KROES answered that the division would like to, but it is not a priority. The division has other parks with greater accessibility that do need plans. The division will absorb and manage the land as it currently does. The division will develop or advertise the land. The division will answer questions if people inquire about the park. The division will visit the land a minimum of once a year to check on the park unit and adjust any management if needed. SENATOR COGHILL asked if there will be fishing restrictions in Funter Bay. MR. KROES answered no. He said the division does not plan on adding or changing any regulations. Any changes attempted in the future will strictly be to help protect the historic cemetery site. SENATOR KIEHL pointed out that state marine parks have a specific provision in statute that parks may not place any restrictions on hunting and fishing beyond what the Alaska Department of Fish and Game places for the surrounding game management unit. 5:05:01 PM CHAIR MICCICHE noted that the committee will hold the bill to look at any impact on land and possible opportunities. He remarked that evaluations often did not happen in his area for lands turned into parks. He said he strongly supports preserving the cemetery and bringing it into park management. He conceded that he is a little bit concerned at this point about the other pieces of property. He emphasized that there should be no alarm because he just wants to learn more. MR. KROES addressed some of Chair Micciche's concerns. He referenced a map on a previous slide that showed the U.S. Forest Service surrounded most of the land. The U.S. Forest Service land already has trails developed that interact with the state marine park and the A-2 parcel. The parcel is relatively small, and the historic park will provide a good buffer. He said private landowners in the area will testify in support. MR. KROES addressed Chair Micciche's previous comment and noted that part of the reason the division was also accepting the full 251 acres transfer was to help connect the parks instead of having a bunch of disjointed parcels. 5:07:24 PM CHAIR MICCICHE opened public testimony. 5:08:20 PM DANIEL MONTEITH, Board President, Friends of Admiralty Island, Juneau, Alaska, testified in support of HB 122. He said the organization has 350 to 400 members who represent many different communities in Southeast Alaska from Juneau, Angoon, Hoonah, and areas surrounding Admiralty Island. He explained that the Friends of Admiralty Island became involved because one of its missions is research, education, and outreach of Admiralty Island and the monument. In 2014 the organization took the public to view the Aleut burial sites at the Killisnoo cemetery. In 2017, kind of the seedling for HB 122, the organization sponsored a trip called A Pathway to Healing to Funter Bay, and that is where he met his colleague, Mr. Stepetin, who is also a board member for the Friends of Admiralty Island. The organization became very interested in a pathway for preserving and protected the Funter Bay site when members realized the location was on state land. He said the Friends of Admiralty Island and the Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation are committed to working together. The organization will also have an interpretive exhibit at the City Museum in Juneau. The organization is committed to helping provide funding for personnel to conduct research and outreach on interpretive panels with the division for the historic cemetery site. He remarked that as an educator in Alaska, furthering the bill is important in terms of protecting the Unangan's historic cemetery. He said respecting one's ancestors is important to the respect of the Unangan culture, descendants, and people today. 5:11:49 PM MARTIN STEPETIN SR., Board Member, Friends of Admiralty Island, Juneau, Alaska, testified in support of HB 122. He said he is from St. Paul and a direct descendent of interned individuals at Funter Bay. He expressed that the bill is near and dear to his heart. With Friends of Admiralty Island working on different ways to protect the lands. MR. STEPETIN explained that he learned about the relocation lands when he went to Killisnoo on the Friends of Admiralty Island trip in 2014. He said the cemetery at Killisnoo is on private property and in terrible shape. The landowners made it clear that they do not want anything to do with trying to do anything with their land, and rightfully so. He remarked that because the cemetery in Killisnoo is on private land, visitation and the tending of 17 burial sites of people from Atka will never happen. The biggest difference is the cemetery in Funter Bay is on state land. He emphasized that the State of Alaska had nothing to do with the resettlement camps and is not at fault. He said the fault lies with the federal government. He noted that his father was born in Douglas, Alaska in 1942. He said he did not know how his grandparents got to Douglas, but luckily, they did because many other babies died in Funter Bay. MR. STEPETIN stated that the purpose of the bill is to recognize the history and significance of the Aleuts and Unangans and their time in Southeast Alaska. It was a terrible time and to honor that history, this is now not just Unangan history, it's not just State of Alaska's history, this is American history that now recognized on state land. CHAIR MICCICHE remarked that the bill is very important. He said he is supportive and assumes that the committee is supportive of honoring and respecting Mr. Stepetin's ancestors. 5:15:10 PM CHAIR MICCICHE held HB 122 in committee.