ALASKA NATIVES COMMISSION
JOINT FEDERAL-STATE COMMISSION
ON
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AFFECTING
ALASKA NATIVES
4000 Old Seward Highway, Suite 100
Anchorage,
Alaska 99503
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Witness List | Exhibit
List
| PDF Version
Deposition Exhibit #5 - Testimony
of Gary Moore and Edward Rutledge
Testimony For The Alaska Native Commission
by; Gary A. Moore, Economic Development Specialist
& Edward Rutledge, Planning Director
Noel Wein Library, Fairbanks, Alaska
July 18, 1992
ECONOMIC ISSUES
In order to determine the economic
viabililty of a specified region, state, or nation as a whole,
unemployment figures are
often used as one tool to paint a
picture of either a healthy, employed, productive society or one that is unemployed
and in despair. To try and portray the economic situation of the Interior Region
of Alaska, which encompasses the majority of the forty-two native villages served
by the Tanana Chiefs Conference, Inc., these same tools will be utilized, but
only to reflect a portion of the whole picture.
The Alaska Department of Labor's
latest unemployment figures, as stated in the Alaska Economic
Trends, July 1992 issue, indicates that the Interior Region of
Alaska had a regional unemployment rate of 12.3% for the month of March '92.
This is up 1.8% from two years prior or reflects an increase of 420 additional
unemployed individuals. To be more specific, we can break down the Interior Region
into three designated areas, the Fair-banks North Star Borough, Southeast Fairbanks,
and the Yukon-Koyukuk area. The North Star Borough contains all of the urban
residents within the entire Interior Region and had an unemployment rate of 11.8%
for March '92, also up 1.8% from two years earlier. The Southeast Fairbanks area,
containing rural residents, had an unemployment rate of 16.7% for the same month,
an increase of 3.8% from two years before. The Yukon-Koyukuk area, mostly consisting
of rural, remote (off the highway system) residents, acquired an unemployment
ratio of 14.5% for March of this year, up slightly by 0.2% from two years previous.
What these figures verify is that high unemployment
is commonplace for the Interior Region residents of Alaska and
the situation
is not improving. An economist with
the Alaska Department of Labor described the current economic situation in Alaska
as being in a stagnated state. The rates of unemployment for the Interior, as
high as they may appear, do not represent the true percentages for the region.
The Alaska Department of Labor's official definition of unemployment, currently
in place, excludes anyone who has made no attempt to find work in the previous
four-week period. Most Alaska economists believe that Alaska's rural localities
have proportionately more of these discouraged workers. What is not mentioned
by the Department of Labor is that in most rural, remote areas, discouraged workers
do not result from those individuals not seeking work, but as a result of no
work being available during much of the year. Therefore, after a period of four
non-working weeks they drop out of the system and no longer register on unemployment
statistics. If these factors could be sufficiently measured and incorporated
into the statistical system, actual unemployment figures would show numerous
rural villages with unemployment rates as high as 90+%.
In addition to minimal
job opportunities, we should also look at a few of the daily
living expenses from the rural resident's perspective. To avoid
giving
a worst case scenario of village life, we will select a village which has done
relatively better economically, in comparison to many other villages within the
Tanana Chiefs Conference Region.
The village of Holy Cross is located 420 miles
Southwest of Fairbanks on Ghost Creek Slough, just off the Yukon
River. The 1990 census showed Holy Cross to
have a total population of 227 residents of which 93.5% were Native. Holy Cross,
like many others on the Yukon River is dependent on a seasonal economy of fishing
for King, Silver and Chum salmon. Approximately 20 residents have commercial
fishing permits and approximately 50 full-time employment opportunities are located
within the village. 70 of the residents 16 years and over were registered as
being in the labor force. The registered unemployment figure for those in the
labor force was 38.6%. This percentage is quite high and cannot be interpreted
from reading the regional statistic from the "Alaska Economic Trends" monthly
publication, not to mention the number of discouraged workers who still are not
indicated if they have had four consecutive weeks of no employment at the time
the census was taken.
To present one example of the differences between
the urban and rural daily cost of living expenses, we gathered
prices of commonly used
food items, gas, and
heating oil in Holy Cross and compared them to Fairbanks prices. They are as
follows;
PRICE LIST
| |
Fairbanks |
Holy Cross |
% Up |
| Bread (loaf) |
$1.07 |
$2.00 |
87% |
| Meat (ground beef) |
$1.89 lb. |
$2.95 lb. |
56% |
| Cheese (sliced, 16 pk) |
$3.47 |
$4.95 |
43% |
| Milk (12 oz. can) |
$ .69 |
$1.25 |
81% |
| Peas (1 lb. can) |
$ .75 |
$1.50 |
100% |
| Corn (1 lb. can) |
$ .59 |
$1.39 |
135% |
| Green Beans (1 lb. can) |
$ .99 |
$1.35 |
36% |
| Tang (15 oz. jar) |
$2.39 |
$4.45 |
86% |
| Gas (1 gallon) |
$1.20 |
$2.25 |
88% |
| Heating Oil (1 gal.) |
$1.10 |
$2.15 |
95% |
| Total Cost Difference |
$14.14 |
$24.24 |
---- |
| Total Averaged Increase |
------ |
------ |
71% |
The above cost figures and percentages indicate
that rural villages and communities not only have to deal with
higher
rates of unemployment, but also with daily
living expenses that are considerably higher than urban centers. It must
be also noted that Eoly Cross has relatively good transportation,
access by plane
and
barge services, which keeps their cost of goods lower than many other villages
in the state which are not as fortunate.
Coming to the conclusion that
rural communities or villages endure greater economic hardships
certainly comes as no surprise. However, what villages
critically depend
on to offset the high cost of living is the utilization of subsistence
wildlife resources. Without this resource the village quickly perish.
Bringing rural
Alaska into a cash dependent economy is still fairly new, considering
that Alaska Natives
lived and survived solely in a subsistence way of life for thousands
of years prior to the onslaught of Western civilization in this
country. In
the anticipated
future, all change, adaption, and evolving of the Native way of life
should be controlled by Native people. This can be accomplished
by maximizing
their participation
in proposed changes. This state and our nation, as a whole, has had a
notorious history of paying little or no regard for the indigenous
people's rich
cultural past, prior to permanently altering their lifestyle. Let is
be noted, that
regardless of future economic conditions in rural communities, subsistence
activities will
always play a vital role in the lives and cultural practices of modern
Native people.
Other related factors affecting the economic development
in rural Alaska are the state and federal budget processes.
It is not uncommon to hear
state and
federal officials focus on the costs of economic development programs.
It may be advantageous for these officials to consider the costs of
not adequately
funding such programs. The combination of the lack of jobs and high
cost of
living results
in a myriad of social and behavioral problems that burden society in
general, and cost the state and federal government millions of dollars
each year.
These funds are spent to support social, family and mental health programs,
including
alcohol and drug abuse programs, which, to some degree, are the result
of low self esteem stemming from chronic unemployment.
Specific economic
considerations for jobs in rural Alaska have two basic points.
1) Save existing jobs.
2) Create new jobs.
Probably the most significant segment of
jobs at risk of loss are those that pertain to fisheries
-both commercial and
subsistence. The combination
of
high seas interception, of Alaska salmon and the exploitation
of mixed stock fisheries,
most notably the False Pass fishery, have resulted in a drastic
reduction in the wild resource available for harvest in our
Interior rivers.
We are the
last in line to have a chance at harvesting salmon and are the
first in line to suffer
due to diminishing salmon populations.
Salmon enhancement programs
for the Yukon River, the Kuskokwim River, and the tributaries
of both of these rivers will greatly
enhance
the economic
conditions
of the Interior. The value of fisheries is not limited to only
the dollars earned by fishermen, crews and processors, but
also includes
the import
substitution value of salmon products harvested and used by
subsistence fishermen.
The Economic Development Administration
has documented that saving jobs is far less costly than creating
new jobs, not
even considering
the social
costs
discussed
earlier.
Creating new jobs in the rural communities of the
Interior will involve overcoming many obstacles, such as:
a)
High cost of transportation, both time and money.
b) Lack of human resource with business skills.
c) Land use obstacles for any enterprise larger than a cottage
industry.
d) Difficult access to capital.
e) Lack of business support infrastructure.
New jobs are more
likely to evolve if those jobs are culturally relevant, employ
locally available skills,
and are grass
roots; that is, evolve
out of community
needs and desires.
Employment opportunities in the
villages typically occur at four different levels:
1) Entrepeneurial
activities, including proprietorships and partnerships. Job
creation at this level should
probably focus on providing
persons with the
business skills necessary to allow them to become
self-employed. These newly acquired
skills, combined with vocational and cultural expertise,
could also open up or enhance additional opportunities,
such
as in
tourism.
2) Cooperatives/ Village Corporations/
Tribal-Owned Enterprises. Job creation at this level will likely
require land and
capital in addition
to the human
resources.
3) Local government (City or Tribal).
Job creation would likely involve the implementation or expansion
of health
services,
public safety
(including Tribal Courts), and/or
utilities.
4) State Government, typically involving
airfield maintenance and School Districts. Job creation
in the areas of
Native Language and Native
Arts curriculums would
not only infuse cash into the village economies,
but would likely strengthen the relationship
between schools
and
residents.
5) Federal government employment
in Interior villages is almost nonexistent - the exemption
being those
few communities
with
military sites that
hire civilian services.
The ultimate repercussion
for failure to adequately address economic development
needs, in the
future, for, rural
Alaska will be;
1) Continued influx of
rural residents to urban centers, resulting in rural
community and village
regression
and possibly extinction.
2) Additional
competition for urban jobs by a larger residency, in turn
increasing
unemployment
percentages.
3) Increased cost to
address social needs of rural displaced residents
in urban
areas.
This document was ocr scanned. We have made every attempt to
keep the online document the same as the original, including
the recorder's original misspellings or typos.
