Alaska’s ‘original’ Permanent Fund

The Tongass National Forest on Prince of Wales Island. (U.S. Forest Service photo)

By Michael Kampnich

Alaska’s Permanent Fund. It’s a source of wealth Alaskans enjoy that is unrivaled across the rest of our country. It is the envy of people throughout the United States. Its benefits touch virtually every Alaskan, from urban Anchorage to the most remote abodes of bush Alaska.

Today, I am afraid too many Alaskans have come to take it for granted. We look upon it as a source of wealth that can be continuously drawn upon, without serious consideration of its sustainability. There is continuous demand from some that "more should be allotted now" and "we are entitled to it" without thoughtful regard for sustainability or the needs and opportunities of future generations.

I am not talking about an annual PFD check, but rather Alaska’s original Permanent Fund, the wealth of our natural environment. This wealth emanates from the temperate rain forests of Southeast to the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean; it is a bounty that flows every year from the Y/K watersheds of Western Alaska to the vast tundra and boreal forests of our interior, from the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea to the large coastal rivers of Southeast and Southcentral.

This permanent fund pays dividends every year. The dividends include Alaska’s amazing fish and wildlife — the salmon, halibut, cod, herring, crab, and a vast array of other marine resources. On land, the dividends are moose, caribou, elk, bison, deer, bear, wolves, ducks, geese, and other wildlife, too extensive to list, that inspire or feed us. Then, of course, we have berries, kelp, herring roe, greens and many other harvestables that grow in abundance, simply provided by nature. 

Some dividends are less tangible: the splendor of our mountain regions, the solitude of a remote unnamed lake, the tranquility of an evening drift down a river whose course has been altered only by eons of time, the brilliance of winter snow on the Arctic Ocean or the raw power of an ocean storm.

These resources are the real wealth of Alaska and Alaskans—the dividends we receive every day by living in this great state.

We need to remember that those dividends only flow if the natural capital of our State is intact. Are we really managing our resources, that natural capital, sustainably or has the magnitude of Alaska’s abundance simply masked long-term drawdown? 

We hear much from our governor about environmental protections, sustainability, and world-class management, yet salmon runs in the Yukon/Kuskokwim region are depleted, halibut stocks are at historic low levels, major Bering Sea crab stocks have collapsed, and some caribou herds now number a small percentage of what they did just a decade ago. 

At the same time our governor says, “I need Alaska to say yes to everything,” and welcome development. While Alaskans understand that resource utilization is a basis of our economy, it cannot come at the expense of the natural capital that sustains us.  “Yes, to everything” will ultimately lead to "not much of anything."

Alaskans’ quality of life is directly tied to the wild country that surrounds and sustains us. Whether it is people in rural Alaska that lead a largely subsistence lifestyle or those from urban areas that fish, hunt, bike, hike, run sled dogs, engage in photography or participate in other outdoor activities, our remarkable environment is what makes this place so special. Increasingly, people are recognizing conservation must come first. 

Right now, much of this feels at risk.  Governor Dunleavy wants to build the West Susitna Road, expand oil exploration on the North Slope, build new mines, and return to large-scale old-growth logging in Southeast Alaska — all projects that will further denigrate the environment that sustains us. What will that do to our fish and wildlife? How much can we take from the natural capital before the permanent fund runs dry? 

Our governor is not listening to Alaskans or living up to his constitutional obligation to protect our environment and ensure that future generations thrive. Protecting our natural environment is the best economic investment we can make for present and future Alaskans. Let’s safeguard Alaska’s permanent fund, and the wild capital it holds, by electing a governor this fall who understands the Alaska way of life.

• Michael Kampnich is a greying of the fleet commercial fisherman, a former logger and a Craig City Council member. He is a 46-year resident of South Alaska.