Acid drainage from the Tulsequah Chief Mine, northeast of Juneau, discolors a leaking containment pond next to the Tulsequah River in British Columbia in 2013. The U.S. State Department is addressing concerns that other B.C. mines will pollute Alaska rivers. (Photo courtesy Chris Miller/Trout Unlimited)

The federal government is taking on the transboundary mining issue.

The U.S. State Department now acknowledges Alaskans’ concerns about pollution from British Columbia mines. And it’s committed to engaging Canadian officials to protect salmon-rich, cross-boundary watersheds.

In November, the State Department issued a statement saying it was aware of Alaskans’ environmental concerns. And it said it was raising the issue with its Canadian counterparts.

But details were scarce.

Then, the department sent a letter to Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who released it Dec. 28. He’s headed up the administration’s efforts to address potential pollution from mineral prospects across the border in British Columbia.

Mines adviser Barbara Blake and tribal leader Rob Sanderson Jr. participate in a forum March 9, 2016, in Juneau. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

“We’re very excited to see the federal government engaged in this issue and their response that they’ve made to us and to see the actions going forward,” said Barbara Blake, the Walker-Mallott administration’s senior transboundary mines adviser.

She said one important promise is to research what the two governments can do to protect Southeast Alaska watersheds.

“They’re looking at the gaps and limitations of cooperation between our two countries right now,” Blake said. “And so we’re anxious to see what comes about from their analysis or their review of any gaps or limitations as they currently stand.”

The State Department will release its findings at an April meeting of the International Joint Commission, the panel that addresses transboundary water concerns.

The department earlier said it would not get involved with the issue.

The federal agency’s letter came in response to a November request from the Walker-Mallott administration and Alaska’s congressional delegation to address transboundary mining.

Mine critics have repeatedly called for commission involvement.

One is Frederick Olsen Jr., who chairs the SouthEast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission. He’s also tribal president of the Organized Village of Kasaan, on Prince of Wales Island.

“It looks like it’s a good first step,” Olsen said. “Of course, as it said in the letter, to have the International Joint Commission, you still have to have the Canadians support that.”

This aerial image from a British Columbia emergency office video shows the Mount Polley dam breaks and some of the damage downstream.

Heather Hardcastle of Salmon Beyond Borders agrees. She’s encouraged, but said there’s a lot more work to be done.

“I think first and foremost we’re looking at some sort of financial-assurances mechanism to be set up so that those of us downstream of these mega-mines know that appropriate bonding has been required of these mining companies,” she said.

Two mines are operating in transboundary watersheds that flow into Alaska, the Brucejack and the Red Chris. Another, the Tulsequah Chief, is closed and leaking polluted water.

Several others are in the exploration phase.

Developers and owners have said their operations are or will be safe and won’t damage the environment.

She said officials also need to press for better technology, including changes in the way waste rock from ore-processing is stored.

Mines commonly put them underwater behind earthen dams. Hardcastle said that will lead to spills of polluted water that will harm fish and people downstream.

That’s what happened in 2014, when an eastern British Columbia storage dam broke.

Observers estimated enough water, mud and rock escaped to fill 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Southeast tribal leader Frederick Olsen Jr., left, and Bristol Bay tribal leader Robert Heyano pose after signing an agreement to work together on mining issues Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by United Tribes of Bristol Bay)

Olsen said words can’t prevent that from happening closer to home.

“Not to be rude, but it’s just a letter. That little piece of paper, if you printed it out, would not stop a lake of poison debacle like Mount Polley or something like that,” Olsen said.

The State Department’s letter mentions tribal concerns. But it doesn’t say anything about tribal involvement.

Rob Sanderson Jr. is first vice president of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

“At the end of the day we are government. The tribes are government,” he said. “So we need to be able to use that leverage moving forward. Not just the state, but the tribes too.”

Walker-Mallott mines adviser Blake said officials are looking forward to learning more about the State Department’s plans.

But she said the administration is not turning the whole issue over to the federal government.

“We’re going to continue be engaged with them as necessary and wherever possible. The lieutenant governor would like the state to remain involved in this process,” she said.

She said Mallott will travel to Washington, D.C., for a federal interdepartmental work group led by the Environmental Protection Agency. He’ll also meet with Canadian officials in Ottawa.

His office also will continue following up on a cooperative agreement Alaska and British Columbia signed last year.

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Eight transboundary watersheds feed into Southeast Alaska rivers. Alaska officials are pushing for stronger protections. (Map courtesy Alaska Department of Natural Resources)

Alaska leaders want Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to push Canadian officials to better protect Southeast fisheries from British Columbia mine projects.

The governor, lieutenant governor and Congressional delegation made the ask in a joint letter sent Nov. 13 to the U.S. State Department.

Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott said officials want environmental protections discussed at an upcoming meeting of the department and its Canadian counterpart.

“We focused on asking them to have the B.C. mining projects, the transboundary treaty and the implementation of it as it relates to transboundary rivers in Alaska be included on their agenda,” he said.

State officials made similar requests to John Kerry, the previous secretary of state. But his department sent the issue back to Alaska, since it already was consulting with British Columbia.

Since then, tribal, environmental and fisheries groups have demanded stronger action to protect watersheds where Alaska salmon spawn and grow.

Chris Zimmer works for Rivers Without Borders, an environmental group that has warned of the dangers of transboundary mining for more than a decade.

“This is what’s been needed all along, is this concerted approach from our members of Congress and the state to the U.S. federal government,” Zimmer said. “And then hopefully what that will result in is a concerted approach to B.C. and Canada both, to deal with some current issues we have with transboundary mining.”

Two mines and more than a half-dozen exploration projects are active not far from the Alaska border.

Another long-closed mine is leaking acidic water.

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said the agency is aware of the concerns expressed in the letter.

“This is an issue we have raised with our Canadian counterparts at a number of levels with both provincial and federal governments, and we will continue to engage with them on it,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.

British Columbia officials said they’ve improved permitting and regulation of mines and mining projects with Alaska and other downstream interests in mind.

Mine owners and developers have said their projects don’t pose serious threats to Alaska.

The letter asks for specific steps beyond what’s already been done to be taken to protect Alaska waters.

Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott signs a statement of cooperation with British Columbia in 2016. (Photo courtesy Office of the Governor)

Mallott said one important effort would standardize monitoring downstream from the mines and projects.

“Right now, water quality and other environmental data is gathered as the result of specific permits for specific projects,” Mallott said. “And we believe that that kind of monitoring should be undertaken on a consistent, over-time basis by our governments.”

The state signed a memorandum of understanding with British Columbia about a year ago.

But the provincial government has changed leadership, as have both federal governments.

Mallott said his administration continues working with provincial officials. He and other officials met with their British Columbia counterparts this month.

But he said the State Department needs to become a strong partner in those efforts.

The group Salmon Beyond Borders has recently criticized the state for acting too slowly. But spokeswoman Heather Hardcastle said the letter is a step in the right direction.

“They need to know that they’re not stepping on the toes of the state or the delegation, but instead (are) carrying out, really, united asks,” Hardcastle said.

The letter to Tillerson was signed by Mallott, Gov. Bill Walker, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Don Young.

It said the state department should:

• Encourage B.C. officials to develop public outreach tools to better explain their processes for considering the cumulative impacts of proposed mining projects on transboundary waters during the environmental assessment process.
• Determine whether an International Joint Commission reference is a suitable venue to evaluate whether mines operating in the transboundary region between B.C. and Alaska are implementing best management practices in the treatment of wastewaters and management of potential-acid-generating mine tailings and waste rock.
• Establish a formal consultation process with U.S. state agencies, other federal agencies, tribes and Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act corporations during the environmental assessment process, similar to the consultation process afforded to a cooperating agency under the National Environmental Policy Act in the U.S.
• Support and work toward robust funding and other needed resources for developing a reliable database of water quality and related data for transboundary waters that can be used to track cumulative impacts, trends and significant episodic changes associated with operating and historic mines in the  transboundary region.
• Establish an interagency task force led by the Department of State and including the Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies as necessary, to work in collaboration with the State of Alaska, and develop recommendations and direct funding to ensure protection of transboundary rivers.

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Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott opens the first teleconferenced meeting of a bilateral working group on transboundary mines Dec. 16. Shown are, from the left, Meghan Topkok, First Alaskans Institute; Barbara Blake, senior advisor to Mallott; Mallott; and David Rogers and Jackie Timothy, Department of Fish and Game. (Photo courtesy Governor’s Office.)

Alaska and British Columbia are working out details of how they will handle transboundary mine concerns. They’re figuring out how to coordinate the work of monitoring and permitting on both sides of the border.

A statement of cooperation between the state and the province signed in early October promised openness, transparency and increased environmental monitoring.

Now begins the work of meeting those goals.

Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott heads up the state’s effort to address concerns about British Columbia mines near rivers that flow into Southeast Alaska.

He said state and provincial officials met via teleconference meeting Dec. 16.

“We’re trying to create a big tent here, but with a very specific process of engagement and sharing and review and critical examination of all those things that we need to,” he said.

The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation will address water-quality concerns. Terri Lomax is a manager in the agency’s Monitoring and Assessment Program.

“We, of course, can do our testing on the Alaska side and we’re hoping our B.C. counterparts can do testing on the British Columbia side, but that hasn’t been determined yet,” she said.

Testing will create a record of what’s in transboundary river water now — with an eye toward changes that could threaten fisheries, wildlife and people.

“Some of the groups that are already doing monitoring are collecting water and sediment contaminates of concern, specifically like trace metals. That kind of information is going to really help us in deciding how to narrow down our focus and … how to pick the right parameters and methods to be looking at,” she said.

Those other groups include tribal governments in Southeast Alaska and northwest British Columbia. They’ll be asked to help develop the regionwide monitoring program.

B.C. Mines Minister Bill Bennett discusses transboundary mining as Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott and other state officials listen during a 2015 press conference. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska News)

Other state agencies will work on protocols for input into B.C.’s permitting process.

Mallott said the state will also develop a website to share information about transboundary mines.

“You can never say nothing will drop through the cracks,” he said. “But at least we will have a process and a working relationship that is stronger and more focused and with a value construct that did not exist before.”

The state’s efforts accelerated last year after environmental, fisheries, tribal and community leaders pushed for active engagement with B.C. leaders.

One mine, the Red Chris, began operations in the Stikine River watershed last year. Another, the Tulsequah Chief, is closed and leaking pollutants into the Taku watershed. A half-dozen to a dozen others are being explored or considered for development.

Guy Archibald works with Inside Passage Waterkeeper and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council.

“I think the process itself is helping make things safe. Any time Alaska and B.C. can communicate on these projects to each other and ask for expertise, I think is constructive,” he said.

But he said the state needs to do more than monitor water quality or put information on a new website. He said it needs to worry about more than mines. For example: new dams.

“Anything that brings the cost down for developing these mines, such as access to hydropower, makes their development that much more likely,” he said.

Other mine critics also say the state’s agreement with B.C. needs to go further.

Salmon Beyond Borders’ Heather Hardcastle speaks during a panel including Rivers Without Borders’ Chris Zimmer, center, and the Douglas Indian Association’s John Morris in 2015. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/ CoastAlaska News)

Fisheries business owner Heather Hardcastle is with the group Salmon Beyond Borders.

“We would like to see enforceable protections and financial assurances that we will not be negatively impacted by upstream mining in British Columbia. And I still don’t see how the state of Alaska is pushing for those,” she said.

Hardcastle said future meetings following up on the transboundary agreement should be advertised and made open to the public.

State officials say more details will be available in January.

Mallott said a meeting of stakeholders, including mine critics, will happen within the next six months.

Salmon Beyond Borders and other groups continue to pursue federal involvement in the issue.

Hardcastle points to a longtime goal of invoking part of a treaty that governs U.S- Canada water conflicts.

“One way to get closer to such an agreement would be for the International Joint Commission to get involved,” she said. “But at this point we’d like to see any sort of true federal engagement on this issue and we just haven’t yet.”

Mallott said that’s on his agenda when he heads to Washington, D.C. And federal officials have been responsive, to a point.

In a prepared statement, British Columbia officials said the province will share equal responsibilities under the agreement. That includes water-quality monitoring.

They say tribal governments, called First Nations in Canada, will participate, as will the mining industry.

The post Alaska, B.C. detail transboundary mine pact appeared first on KRBD.

A creek drains naturally occurring rusty water from the KSM mine prospect in northwest British Columbia. It runs into the Unuk River, which enters the ocean near Ketchikan.  (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

Southeast Alaska’s largest tribal organization said this month’s meetings with the U.S. State Department and Environmental Protection Agency were productive. Among other things, the agencies could help expand water-monitoring efforts along transboundary rivers

The 30,000-member Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska set up the government-to-government meetings.

President Richard Peterson said representatives heard about potential and existing pollution from British Columbia mines near rivers that flow into Alaska.

“I think we gave them some of our concerns and questions and whatnot,” he said. “That gives them a chance to go back and now have that next conversation that’s more action-based and promissory in nature.”

The federal officials met with tribal government and Native corporation leaders from Juneau, Ketchikan, Saxman, Douglas and Kasaan Aug. 9^th-11th.

Peterson said they talked about water-quality monitoring along fish-and-wildlife-rich transboundary rivers. He said the federal officials were interested in supporting the effort.

“And we were able to use that as an opportunity to push for more funding for activities regionwide, so that other communities can do that baseline analysis that needs to take place,” he said.

State Department and EPA public-affairs staff offered no comment on the meetings or any commitments made. That’s common for federal agencies.

But Peterson said they agreed to hold further meetings, which will happen this fall in Washington, D.C.

Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott and other state officials presented their concerns at the meetings.

He said they brought up a U.S. Canada boundary-waters treaty that includes a commission tasked with resolving such conflicts.

“We emphasized that if, when, how, in what manner, that the IJC, the International Joint Commission, might be engaged that we would No. 1, welcome it and No. 2, be part of it to the degree that that was appropriate,” he said.

Mallott heads up a state task force on transboundary mine concerns. He said his team also brought up the need for more federal support.

“To put it mildly, Alaska is resource-constrained, at least fiscal resource-constrained, right now,” he said. “And these collaborations and network-building is very important.”

Alaska and British Columbia officials have been discussing the state’s concerns for more than a year. A statement of cooperation detailing ways Alaska can provide more input into mine decisions is nearing a final draft.

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Gov. Bill Walker signs a memorandum of understanding with British Columbia on Wednesday as Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott watches. (Photo courtesy governor’s office)

Alaska and British Columbia signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation Wednesday expected to increase the state’s role in transboundary mine decisions.

Gov. Bill Walker and B.C. Premier Christy Clark signed the document during a teleconference. Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott and B.C. Mining Minister Bill Bennett oversaw its development.

Bennett says it’s an umbrella document that will eventually include detailed agreements covering permitting, water testing, transportation and other transboundary issues.

He says Alaska already has a voice in environmental reviews of provincial mining projects. That’s being expanded.

B.C. Mines Minister Bill Bennett discusses transboundary mining during an August trip to Juneau and Ketchikan. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

“So now, once a project gets an environmental certificate and it goes into the mine permitting phase, the state of Alaska will have an opportunity to be on something called a mine review development committee that consists of local people in B.C., First nations people, government people, conservation groups, etcetera,” Bennett says.

He says the other agreements should be completed early next year.

Mine critics in Alaska have said such an agreement would have no teeth. And the document specifically says it imposes no legally binding obligations that could be taken to court.

Still, Alaska Trollers Association Executive Director Dale Kelley says it’s an important step.

“I’m very glad to see the state and British Columbia include transboundary waters in their collaborative effort between neighbors. It remains our hope that the state will also continue to work to secure legally binding agreements between the U.S. and Canada for the protection of our rivers. Because neither the state or the residents of the region can bear to risk an expensive, catastrophic mining accident,” Kelley says.

Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott  has led Alaska’s effort to reach agreement on transboundary mine issues  with British Columbia officials. (KTOO file photo)

Bennett and Mallott say such provisions can only be part of a treaty between the federal governments of both nations.

The agreement comes shortly after Mallott asked his transboundary waters advisory group for input on a separate document, called a statement of cooperation.

The lieutenant governor says there’s no conflict between the two agreements.

“It is the umbrella memorandum of understanding between the two governments to which the statement of cooperation on transboundary issues will be appended when it is finalized,” Mallott says.

The memorandum is about more than mining.

Walker issued a statement saying it could also boost economic development on both sides of the border. That includes improved transportation links and tourism promotion. Clark issued a similar statement.

Seabridge Gold, whidh is developing the KSM deposit east of Wrangell, issued a statement supporting the agreements.

“The MOU provides a vehicle for better communication and collaboration between B.C. and Alaska on major mine development on either side of the border, which Seabridge Gold fully supports,” the statement says.

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Acid drainage from the Tulsequah Chief Mine discolors a leaking containment pond next to the Tulsequah River in British Columbia in 2013. (Photo courtesy Chris Miller/Trout Unlimited)

British Columbia is telling owners of a leaky mine that it’s time to stop polluting a river that flows into Alaska.

Provincial officials on Nov. 10 notified the Tulsequah Chief Mine that it’s out of compliance with its permits.

The long closed project is on a tributary of the salmon-rich Taku River, which enters saltwater near Juneau. Fisheries, tribal and environmental groups have protested the ongoing discharges.

Owner Chieftain Metals plans to reopen the mine. But it continues to leak acidic wastewater containing metals that can harm fish.

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Deputy Commissioner Alice Edwards said British Columbia sent the state copies of the notices.

“We’re still in the process of analyzing what they found and what their plan is. But it does look like they are planning to take action. And it seems very similar to the type of process we would take on our side of the border if we were doing compliance action with the mine,” she said at a Monday meeting of the state’s Transboundary Waters Workgroup, chaired by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott.

Chieftain Metals built an on-site water treatment plant that began operating in the fall of 2011. It was closed the following summer because it was too expensive.

Chieftain could not be reached for immediate comment.

Environmental critics say the notice will only have meaning if British Columbia fines or otherwise penalizes the mine owners.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, left, and B.C. Minister of Mines Bill Bennett address the Alaska Power Association in August in Ketchikan. (Photo by Leila Kheiry)

Mallott said British Columbia’s actions stem from Mines Minister Bill Bennett’s meetings with Alaska officials over the summer.

“Fish and Game and myself took him up to see the Tulsequah Chief Mine and see the water spewing into the river from a severed, 6-inch pipe. At which he took a very long look, with the helicopter hovering right in front of the pipe,” he said.

The Transboundary Waters Workgroup is made up of commissioners and other officials from six state departments.

Monday’s meeting was the first including a tribal representative, Rob Sanderson Jr. of the United Tribal Transboundary Mining Work Group and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

The council’s Will Micklin, an alternate for the seat, also attended.

Mallott said the tribal seat reflects a cooperative approach to addressing common concerns. He said it also opens the door to new opportunities for monitoring water quality.

“We believe that tribes may have access to federal resources in the future for dealing with the transboundary issues. And opportunities that the state may not have access to,” he said.

The post British Columbia goes after leaking mine appeared first on KRBD.

The Tulsequah Chief Mine is on the banks of its namesake river, which flows into the Taku River, which enters an ocean inlet about 25 miles northeast of Juneau. The brownish pools contain acidic water draining from the mine. (Photo by Joe Hitselberger/ADF&G)

Can British Columbia stop polluted water from leaking out of a long-closed mine upstream from Juneau? The issue came up last month when the Canadian province’s top mining official traveled to the Capital City.

The Tulsequah Chief hasn’t been open for more than 50 years. But, like many old mines, it’s leaking pollution.

For decades, rusty, acidic water has drained from an old tunnel into a nearby river.

“I was there. I took pictures of it and you can see it,” says British Columbia Minister of Mines Bill Bennett, who saw the Tulsequah Chief during his August visit to Southeast Alaska.

It’s on the Tulsequah River, a tributary of the Taku River. That salmon-rich waterway empties into an ocean inlet about 25 miles northeast of Juneau.

B.C. Minister of Mines Bill Bennett discusses the Tulsequah Chief Mine as Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott listens, Aug. 24 in Juneau. (Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

“It’s something that B.C. is responsible for and I think if … I was from here I’d be asking all kinds of questions about the Tulsequah Chief Mine situation as well,” he says.

Bennett promised to do something about it, but didn’t offer specifics.

Toronto-based Chieftain Metals, which owns and plans to develop the mine, did not respond to an interview request. But the company’s been in touch with the mines ministry.

Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott accompanied Bennett during much of his Alaska tour.

“While he was here, he informed me that he had contacted the CEO of the company and had talked to him about the continuing discharge and the need for water treatment or some mitigation,” he says.

Mallott says he hasn’t yet heard any details, and will follow up. British Columbia’s Mines Ministry offered no further information.

While Bennett promised to do something about the mine drainage, he downplayed its threat to the environment.

The Tulsequah Chief Mine is northeast of Juneau, just across the border in British Columbia. (Map by Chieftain Metals.)

“You’ve got a tremendous amount of data that shows that there isn’t any impact on water from what’s happening at Tulsequah Chief. There isn’t any impact on the Tulsequah River and certainly no impact that has been noted in all the testing that’s done in the Taku River,” he says.

“To say this is not harmful, you cannot say that,” says Chris Zimmer, Alaska campaign director for Rivers without Borders, which is highly critical of transboundary mine development.

He says the studies Bennett cites were not at all comprehensive.

“It didn’t look at juvenile salmon. It didn’t look at the sediment. It didn’t answer the question, where is the material that’s coming out of the mine ending up?” he says.

That rusty, acidic outflow is caused when water runs past tunnel walls and floors and waste rock leftover from mining. The Tulsequah Chief has no tailings dam.

Chieftain Metals addressed the problem in a promotional video it posted on YouTube in May of 2013.

“We’re building a water-treatment plant that will treat that acidic water and turn it into very clean water that will be released into the river,” Chief Operating Officer Keith Boyle says.

The plant went into operation, but only for awhile.

Chieftain said it cost too much to run without revenue from full-scale mining. But the company doesn’t have all the permits and investments needed to do that.

“So relying on the mining company to operate the mine and the clean it up seems like a nonstarter,” says Rivers without Borders’ Chris Zimmer.

He says the province could step in and fill the mine tunnels generating most of the polluted water.

“So the question comes down to, are you going to run that plant forever at $4 million a year? Or are you going to spend a lot of money right now and go shut down and reclaim the site?” he says.

Reclamation is not a step British Columbia is likely to take.

Chieftain has an environmental permit needed to build the mine. Bennett says recent plans to barge ore, rather than ship it via a new British Columbia road, mean the permit needs to be amended.

That will require consultation with the Taku River Tlingit First Nation. The mine is in their traditional territory and they’ve filed a lawsuit to block development.

The post Can B.C. stop Tulsequah Chief Mine pollution? appeared first on KRBD.

Byron Mallott poses at KRBD-FM in Ketchikan during a campaign visit. The candidate for governor says he will leave Sealaskas board of directors next month. (KRBD News)

Bryon Mallott will leave Sealaska’s board of directors next month to spend more time campaigning for governor.

He’s served on the Juneau-based regional Native corporation’s governing body – or been its CEO – since 1972.

Mallott, a Democrat, is all but assured to challenge Republican Gov. Sean Parnell in the November general election.

In a press release, he said he would complete his term, which ends at the corporation’s June 28th annual meeting. But he will not seek re-election to the board.

Sealaska Chairman and former state Sen. Albert Kookesh says the board supports Mallott’s decision.

“I think it was good step that he took to, one, allow him to concentrate on the governor’s race and, two, open it up for shareholders so he didn’t just hold onto his seat and have to give it up after that if he got elected,” he said.

Mallott could not be immediately reached for comment.

When Sealaska board incumbents leave, they often step down before the next election. The board then appoints a replacement, who can run as an incumbent.

Mallott’s decision leaves an open seat with no heir-apparent. That eases the way for other candidates. They include a recently-announced slate of shareholders with business experience outside the corporation.

“The people who are running on that slate have good intentions,” Kookesh said. “They want to run a clean race and I commend them for that. But we also have people who are independents who are running. And you have to commend them and recognize their want to be involved too.”

Sealaska will distribute ballots to its almost 22,000 shareholders on May 15th. They must be cast by June 26th.

In addition to Sealaska service, Mallott’s been Yakutat and Juneau mayor, Alaska Permanent Fund executive director and Alaska Federation of Natives president.

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