Timber. Transportation. Tourism. Those are the three T’s Wrangell officials are focusing on for growing its economy. They discussed these goals with Senator Dan Sullivan during his visit to the Southeast island community Saturday morning, and how federal support, like the budget reconciliation bill, fits into the city’s agenda.
“Industry transformation is the track that we’re under,” Kate Thomas, Wrangell’s economic executive director, said. “So it’s from our purview, expanding and revitalizing legacy industries.”
Along the lines of transportation, Senator Dan Sullivan said he was curious about a project that’s been approved and is slowly in the works. That’s Wrangell’s Harbor Basin Revitalization and Transportation Resiliency project. It is funded through a $25 million federal grant, known as the RAISE grant.
He said the project fits an executive order that President Trump signed on the first day of office. It focuses on fast-tracking the extraction of Alaska’s natural resources, like energy and timber.
“I talked to the President two weeks ago. He said, ‘How’s it going, Dan, I want things going in Alaska,'” Sullivan said. “So this is directly from the President, but I think in terms of implementation, particularly on the harbor project, this is the ace in the hole, or what I like to call it the Trump card.”
City officials said that the National Environmental Policy Act’s process has been slowing Wrangell’s project down.
“This is giant for this community,” Sullivan said. “We don’t want to waste a day, we don’t want a 10-year NEPA, we don’t even want a two-year NEPA. We want a six-month NEPA.”
“…the backbone of our industry”
As the meeting progressed, Thomas gave Sullivan a list of projects the city’s focusing on. It includes sea otter management and wetlands mitigation, but harbors are the priority.
She said, “We’re really focused on our harbor infrastructure because that’s the backbone of our industry and our livelihood in a maritime community.”
Thomas said all the incentives that the assembly has been focusing on, in terms of infrastructure, maintenance and quality of life, have been benefiting the city. The city’s even expanded childcare with Head Start this school year.
“Families are moving back,” she said. “Youth are staying here post graduation. Our trades are getting stronger. We have a super robust health care workforce here.”
She said the goal of federal investment will allow Wrangell to invest in the private sector, where it would help build the economy, like timber.
Thomas said, “Wrangell has established its own timber initiative.”
Thomas said that this timber initiative involves partnerships with the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority and the local Forest Service Ranger District.
New business development opportunities
She also pointed to redeveloping the old mill site and new business development opportunities. That includes bringing in a data center.
“If we could bring all of those entities into one nuclear environment, that would set the stage for the next 50 years here in Wrangell,” Thomas said.
Senator Sullivan left with key action points that community leaders said would help support Wrangell’s growth. This includes collaborating with the current head of the Forest Service, Chief Tom Schultz, and advocating for federal funds that anchor in Wrangell’s three T’s – timber, transportation and tourism.
