Alaska Board of Game delays consideration of Southwest Alaska game proposals; Board of Fish to consider future meeting schedule changes next week

The Alaska Board of Game met today in Work Session via webconference, the first agenda item in the afternoon was rescheduling of meetings for the 2020/2021 Board of Game meeting cycle. The Board decided to delay all future in-person meetings of the Board for one year, due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns, and to move the entire cycle forward one year. 

The Board of Game was scheduled to meet January 22nd through the 29th 2021 in person in Wasilla to consider game proposals for Central and Southwest Alaska, including game management units (GMU) 9 & 10. That meeting is now postponed for one year, until January 21-28, 2022. The call for proposals will be re-released for public input. The Board of Game will hold a special teleconference meeting March 18th 2021 to address only pressing issues.

Current game proposals in GMUs 9 & 10 of interest to Aleutians East Borough residents: 

• Proposal 25: Review the management findings for Unimak caribou and determine objectives 
• Proposal 26: Determine customary and traditional uses of the Unimak Island caribou herd 
• Proposal 28: Remove the resident bag limit of one brown bear every four years in Unit 9 
• Proposals 33 through 50 propose varying solutions to nonresident harvest of Emperor geese in game management units 9, 10 & 17. 

The current Alaska Board of Game proposal book for the 2020/2021 cycle can be found here. 

The Joint Boards of Fish and Game Committee had met on January 19 to review options for meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Committee members agreed that in-person meetings are the real strength of the Board process, but in-person meetings are currently extremely problematic due to COVID-19. 

The Alaska Board of Fisheries is scheduled to consider any changes to their meeting schedule at a special meeting on January 25th at 1pm, to be livestreamed here. 

Board of Fish currently scheduled meetings that may be impacted: 

• Statewide All Shellfish March 5-10, 2021 
• Prince William Sound Finfish and Shellfish March 30-April 5, 2021 
• Southeast and Yakutat Finfish & Shellfish April 17-29, 2021 
• Alaska Peninsula, AI,BS & Chignik Pacific Cod October 22-23 , 2021 
• Bristol Bay Finfish November 28-December 4, 2021 
• Arctic / Yukon / Kuskokwim Finfish January 8-12, 2022 
• Alaska Peninsula/Aleutian Island/Chignik Finfish February 18-23, 2022 
• Statewide Finfish and Supplemental Issues March 11-14, 2022

PPP and EIDL application information IMPORTANT!

Sharing this info on behalf of SWAMC 1/12/21 Southwest Alaska! The U.S. Small Business Administration announced last Friday that the next round of Paycheck Protection Program borrowing will begin Jan. 11, but there will be a catch. Select lenders will have exclusive access to accept PPP applications for first-time borrowers on Monday, January 11 and for second-time borrowers on Wednesday, January 13 using what the SBA is calling “community financial institutions.” The SBA defines those as Community Development Financial Institutions, minority deposit institutions, certified development companies and microloan intermediaries, and Alaska has none participating in the State. The SBA has not yet announced a timeline by which other mainline financial institutions will be invited to participate, but It is assumed to be on or possibly before January 18 and both first time and second time borrowers may apply through these mainline financial institutions. As long as the PPP funds are spent to keep employee and compensations levels maintained, they can be used for other eligible expenses including lease payments, mortgage interest, worker protection costs, utilities and other business needs. IF you spend at least 60% directly on payroll costs, the loan qualifies for full loan forgiveness. The PPP Loan has a 1% interest fee and there are no payments due for the first 10 months. The EIDL Loan has a 3.75% interest rate with a 30 year term, can be forgiven in some circumstances and offers an advance grant (no payback) of $10,000.00 on receipt of a complete application. Even if you don’t qualify for the EIDL Loan, you keep the 10K with no payback. The following links will take you directly to the application rules and process for Northrim Bank, First National Bank of Alaska, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citibank who are all ready to participate when allowed by the SBA. They all walk you through the eligibility/application process and have a FAQ link as well. Please choose your provider now and get ready for the rollout before it happens. The application process for PPP and EIDL loans will be open until March 31, but the money should go fairly fast. Please be ready! https://www.northrim.com/coronavirus/loan-relief-and-aid-programs https://www.fnbalaska.com/business-solutions/fuel-your-business/loan-relief-programs https://www.wellsfargo.com/biz/paycheck-protection-forgiveness https://about.bankofamerica.com/promo/assistance/latest-updates-from-bank-of-america-coronavirus/small-business-assistance https://online.citi.com/US/JRS/pands/detail.do?ID=paycheck-protection-program Shirley Marquardt Executive Director SouthWest Alaska Municipal Conference (SWAMC) 3300 Arctic Blvd, Suite 203 Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 562-7380 Office (907) 538-9088