Federal funding freezes imposed by President Donald Trump have put the Copper River Watershed Project’s Eyak Lake Weir project, along with the watershed’s other general operations, in limbo.
CRWP has been working to replace the falling weir for more than five years, Kate Morse, executive director of the environmental entity, said on Feb. 12. CRWP had been supporting their partners at The Eyak Corporation in finalizing an agreement with the Federal Highway Administration that included $3.5 million for construction – a significant part of the overall construction budget.
In the wake of a call for bids in December, the bids came in days after the Trump administration enacted a funding freeze, Morse said. CWRP had been working on the agreement with the Federal Highway Administration for more than 14 months, but the federal agency had not signed onto the deal, and the ability to move the weir project forward is now in jeopardy, she said.
And the funding freeze is also causing more financial problems for CRWP.
“While trying to trouble-shoot and advocate for the weir, I also can’t ignore that there are still significant implications for general operations, specifically that 15 of our 23 grants are still frozen and inaccessible to us to draw down,” Morse said. “We have a budget and staff structure based on significant federal funding – largely because our federal partners have seen us as an effective organization to get work done, and we grew our staff to meet that demand, and now are wondering how long we can maintain our staff.”
A lot of those grants include funding for large contracts for design and construction, and such projects are hard to move forward without confidence that the grant funding will remain available consistently, according to Morse.
“The fact that our existing awards have been stalled … is overwhelming and something I never thought was at risk,” she said. “I assumed we might have less resources available to us through federal programs, but I never imagined our existing awards would freeze.”
Other Cordova entities keeping an eye on DEI impacts
Meanwhile, the Trump administration stance on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives and its impact on federal funds is being closely monitored by others in Cordova.
“Honestly, it is still unclear,” said Nicole Songer, of the Cordova Family Resource Center (CFRC), responding via email to a question on how federal funding for the center might be impacted.
A lot of the funding for the CFRC comes from the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and both that entity and the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault are staying on top of this issue, Songer said.
“At this point we don’t know how it will play out,” said Zeke Brown, president of Cordova District Fishermen United. “There is a lot of uncertainty going on at NOAA right now on fishery management and research. It could have an impact on that.”
While there is also uncertainty about people’s jobs at NOAA, it is yet to be seen and not time to ring any alarm bells yet, he said.
“If federal grants were frozen across the board or if overhead rates were capped for federal grants, it would have significant negative effects on the science center and many other organizations around Alaska,” said Katrina Hoffman, president and CEO of the Prince William Sound Science Center.
The Cordova Chamber of Commerce, which already experienced a big budget cut at the city level late last year, could also be impacted.
“We do have some funding tied up in the federal funding freeze,” said Chamber Executive Director Cathy Renfeldt. “None of our grants have to do with DEI, but the funding freeze is not limited to only DEI-related funding.”
She added that some federal entitles are freezing large swaths of funding even if there is no direct relation to anything related to DEI.
“For us so far, I know of about $6,000 that is held up,” Renfeldt said. “I’m not sure if there will be any trickle down affects from impacts to the city’s funding.”
Cordova Mayor David Alison said that to his knowledge no federal DEI issues would be affecting the city economically.
Clay Koplin, CEO of the Cordova Electric Cooperative, said DEI issues were not a concern for the electric utility, but tariff issues were.
“There has been quite a bit of discussion on seafood tariffs,” Koplin said.
Cordova Telephone Cooperative CEO Jeremiah Beckett echoed that concern, saying tariffs are also more of an issue than DEI funding cuts.
As of Feb. 12, the Trump administration was facing legal challenges to the president’s executive orders to eliminate DEI programs and initiatives after diversity officers, professors, and restaurant worker advocates filed litigation in federal court in Maryland on Feb. 3. The plaintiffs are alleging that those executive orders are vague and unconstitutional.
NBC News reported that members of employee resource groups were shutting down their groups themselves or removed email distribution lists out of fear that any potential noncompliance with the DEI directive might threaten their jobs.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement saying the DEI move was an example of “promises made, promises kept.”
“President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit-based society where people are hired based on their skills, not for the color of their skin,” Leavitt said. “This is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds.”
