After being on life support for the past few funding cycles, The Denali Commission is full of muscle again with an expanded mission to help rural Alaska. The Commission, created by the late Senator Ted Stevens to fund village energy projects saw yearly funding up to $150 million at its peak. Currently the Commission’s budget is around $10 million, but a mandate by the White House to help combat the effects of climate change on remote communities may help it garner more federal dollars. Joel Niemeyer is the federal co-chair of the commission.
He told APRN’s Lori Townsend the commission will look at threats to communities from erosion, permafrost melting and flooding:
Joel Niemeyer is federal co-chair of the Denali Commission. He spoke with APRN’s Lori Townsend.
Lori Townsend is the chief editor, senior vice president of journalism and senior host for Alaska Public Media. You can send her news tips and program ideas for Talk of Alaska and Alaska Insight at ltownsend@alaskapublic.org or call 907-550-8452. Read more about Lori here.
