What has Senator Sullivan done for you?

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, addresses the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 16, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Frank Bergstrom

Good question. Check it out.

After the 2024 glacial outburst flood the Army Corps of Engineers offered the city free access to its stock of HESCO barriers, which we all recognize now as felt-lined wire baskets filled with sandy gravel. That was the extent of their “emergency” response to a devastating recurring flood.

During Senate confirmation hearings, Sen. Sullivan laid it on the line for Adam Telle, now the assistant secretary for civil works for the Corps of Engineers. In May 2025, under direct televised questioning, Assistant Secretary Telle committed to fast-tracking solutions to the glacial flooding. Thirty million dollars later we have Hesco barriers and riprap most of the way up the river. Fixed? No, but without Sen. Sullivan’s adamant emphasis on the flood response, Phase 2 HESCOs may never have occurred. And it continues.

When I was in college (the ‘70s) the U.S. Coast Guard commissioned two new icebreakers — the Polar Star and Polar Sea. They were magnificent boats, and they were the last. Now as chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee overseeing the Coast Guard, Sen. Sullivan has played the key role in securing the largest investment in the U.S. Coast Guard’s history — nearly $25 billion. Through a specific request for information, we have learned that Sen. Sullivan made no less than 22 contacts and took steps with key Coast Guard leadership and Senate funding procedures, etc., to secure funding and authorization for new Coast Guard boats and other resources. As a result, not only the USCGS Storis, but an additional 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat may be homeported in Juneau.

All told this will bring perhaps 300 crew and family members to our community, along with support work needed for such vessels. Juneau will become an Arctic player.

In 2024, the Marine Debris Foundation established its headquarters in Juneau at the University of Alaska Southeast. This nonprofit foundation was created by Sen. Sullivan and the White House’s 2020 Save Our Seas 2.0 Act widely recognized as the most comprehensive legislation passed by Congress to address the plastic debris crisis. Sen. Sullivan put Juneau first among responders to this waste menace.

Juneau was one of six coastal communities for which Sen. Sullivan secured funding for critical port and maritime infrastructure, including the Aurora Harbor Drive down Float Project (November 2024) at $11.1 million to build a drive-down float and vehicle bridge plus two new five-ton electric cranes.

New FAA Medium Intensity Approach Lighting and Runway Alignment Indicator Lights were extended and ownership was retained by FAA, rather than transferred to the Juneau airport. This was a specific request by the Juneau airport requiring a regulatory fix, which Sen. Sullivan delivered.

Sen. Sullivan secured a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 118-31) for grant eligibility for funding electrification of shared-use cruise/cargo docks in Juneau. Sen. Sullivan also secured Army Corps participation in a wave attenuator project for Auke Bay navigation improvements – a project scheduled to be completed in 2028.

With assistance from Sen. Sullivan’s efforts, Alaska will receive $3.5 billion in surface transportation funding over five years. This includes $110 billion for road and bridge programs, and $1 billion for Essential Ferry Service to serve isolated rural communities, plus $250 million for an energy-efficient ferry pilot program.

Senator Sullivan co-introduced successful legislation to secure Medicare funding and payment to hospitals — including Bartlett — on the basis of “reasonable incurred costs” rather than the standard “prospective payment system”.

Following is a bullet list of other Sen. Sullivan-sponsored project funding for Juneau:

– DOT $16,454,000 for final design and document development for the Juneau-Douglas North Crossing

– DOT $7,264,000 CBJ vehicle storage and maintenance facility upgrades, plus electric bus charging infrastructure

– Alaska Native Ed Grants $5,642,767 Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Arts Campus in Juneau plus other art education

– DOT $653,520 Reconnecting Lemon Creek project and improving access

– NSF $349,962 Sealaska Heritage Institute two-year research project documenting cultural practices regarding black seaweed

When you are considering who and how your government is supporting life in Juneau, reread this list. The competition pales by comparison.

• Frank Bergstrom is a 38-year resident of Juneau. He holds a master of science in Earth sciences from Colorado State University, and has worked in coal and hardrock mining as a corporate hydrogeologist, environmental manager, project manager, consulting scientist, and contract operator. He has also owned and operated two farming projects. As president of First Things First Alaska Foundation, the organization has produced several white papers on glacial outburst flood mitigation — including conceptual design of a flood detention dam at Mendenhall Lake.