The Carrick Capitol Connection

June 20, 2025

Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Fellow Fairbanksans,

Welcome to the 103rd Edition of the Carrick Capitol Connection! This Saturday is the longest day of the year, and summer solstice has arrived! I hope you and your family have been enjoying our warm summer days under the midnight sun. As you plan your events and outings this week, make sure to stay cool and take the high temperatures seriously, both indoors and outside.

In this edition of the Carrick Capitol Connection:

Stay Safe This Wildfire Season
Governor’s Budget Vetoes Create Uncertainty for Federal Highway Funding
Selling Alaska to the Highest Bidder
Creamers Field Nature Walks
Events In Our Community- A Summer Solstice Special

Rep Carrick with Mr. Pete Daley after touring his summer class "Girls Who Weld" at Hutchison High School last week. Congratulations to Mr. Daley on being selected as the 2026 Alaska Teacher of the Year and good luck on your efforts to become the National Teacher of the Year!

Stay Safe This Wildfire Season

With our first heatwave of the summer, we also have our first wildfires of the season. These current higher-than-average temperatures combined with the Governors cuts to fire suppression funds last week could translate into a large fire season this summer in the Interior. I hope you and your family will be able to remain safe during wildfire season, and I would like to personally thank all wildland firefighters for their service and sacrifice to ensure the safety of our community. Our community needs you and I deeply appreciate your work.

With fire season in full swing, I wanted to provide you with some important information about how to stay safe. Most importantly, if you are in immediate danger or are having an emergency, please call 911. Here is some additional helpful information:

To report a wildland fire, call 1-800-237-3633, or 911. If you see something, say something.
The Alaska Interagency Coordination Center is a repository of information for wildfire season merging information from Borough, State, and Federal emergency responders, as well as wildland firefighters.
For additional wildland fire information, go to Alaska Wildland Fire Information.
View a map of the active fires around Alaska on the Bureau of Land Management’s interactive map.
This thick smoke drastically reduces our air quality. For up-to-date information on our air quality you can view the Fairbanks North Star Boroughs air quality website, and their interactive map.
Sign up for Fairbanks North Star Borough Emergency updates online.
You can view the current fire danger for your area online.

Please stay safe and smart. In areas with very high fire danger, skip the campfire or make sure to keep your campfires small and make sure they are out cold when they’re done. Observe all burn restrictions and be cautious when starting a fire. We can get through this fire season with limited fires if we do as Smokey the Bear says and stay fire smart.

Governor’s Budget Vetoes Create Uncertainty for Federal Highway Funding

On Tuesday, the Co-Chairs of the House Transportation Committee – myself included – received a letter from the Alaska Department of Transportation expressing concerns about the state’s ability to provide necessary matching funds for federal highway projects. This comes because of the Governor’s vetoes to the capital budget last week. Specifically, the Governor vetoed over $62 million in matching funds for both the Federal-Aid Highway Program, and the Federal-Aid Aviation Program. These programs are responsible for funding highway and airport maintenance, construction, and operations around Alaska. It is imperative that the state provide necessary matching funds since every dollar we invest we get $9 back from the federal government.

Due to our current fiscal environment, the capital budget passed by the Legislature focused on using limited general fund dollars to leverage our federal highway match. That match was funded in part by reappropriation of existing funds – often called claw-backs. The Governor’s veto of these claw-backs risks our federal highway match. If the state is unable to provide necessary matching funds, that means badly needed construction projects including those outlined in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) will be even further delayed.

In last week’s edition of the Carrick Capitol Connection, and in a recent KTVF interview, I described the Governors vetoes as “unethical and unnecessary.” Gambling Alaska’s federal highway match on a disagreement about funding sources – without providing reasonable alternatives – is further proof of how these vetoes are unethical, unnecessary, and harmful. The Governor will likely continue his longstanding practice of vetoing funds and then requesting those same funds in a supplemental budget next year for these federal highway matching funds. In the meantime, we will be missing a full summer construction season and losing workers and apprenticeship labor to out of state contracts. As we continue into next session, the House and Senate Transportation Committees and the corresponding budget subcommittees will be working on studying the impacts of these cuts and finding solutions. This is an evolving situation so stay tuned for more information.

Rep Carrick at a recent ceremony celebrating collaboration between the UAF Geophysical Institute and the Alaska Aerospace Corporation. Pictured from left to right: Dr. Robert McCoy, Geophysical Institute Director, Sen. Scott Kawasaki, John Oberst, President of Alaska Aerospace, Rep. Maxine Dibert, Rep. Ashley Carrick, and UA President Pat Pitney

Selling Alaska to the Highest Bidder

The United States Senate recently unveiled its version of HR 1, the Presidents Big Beautiful Bill. This is a sprawling 1000+ page budget reconciliation bill that among other things makes devastating cuts to Medicaid. Not only does the new Senate version of that bill provide deeper cuts to Medicaid than those that passed the US House, it also would sell off many of Alaska’s public lands. Specifically, this bill would sell off over 82 million acers of public land in Alaska owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service. The bill puts the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska and Chugach National Forest in Prince William Sound up for sale alongside parcels in all parts of Alaska, including the Fairbanks North Star Borough. The lands being put on the auction block cover a wide variety of wildlife habits, sacred tribal lands, and recreational trails with few restrictions in terms of development projects that may be able to take place, once purchased.

If you are worried about the future of our public lands, please reach out to Senator Murkowski and Senator Sullivan to voice your concern and urge them to have all of some of these land sales removed from HR 1. You can see how much of Alaska is affected by this proposed bill through an interactive map online.

While I support responsible development of lands, including for natural resource extraction and mining industries, I also believe in having a sensible and robust process for ensuring that land uses match the intent in our constitution to develop our lands to the greatest maximum benefit of the people of Alaska. This sometimes, but does not always, mean monetizing lands through mining development. I am concerned with the wholesale approach to auctioning lands as presented in this budget reconciliation bill and encourage others who are interested in this issue to speak up and give a call or send an email to our U.S. Senators.

Creamers Field Nature Walks

Creamers Field is a gem of Fairbanks that is managed by the non-profit Friends of Creamers Field (FOCF). Every year FOCF provides great community programs for the whole family, and this year is no exception. This summer they are continuing their free summer nature walks on Wednesdays, Thursday, and Fridays at 10:00 p.m. until August 30. These are a great opportunity for Fairbanksans to enjoy Creamers field and get out into the outdoors. To find out more information about these nature walks, or other events and programs go to friendsofcreamersfield.org.

Rep Carrick listening to a constituent at a community event

Events In Our Community- A Summer Solstice Special

120th Annual Midnight Sun Baseball Game

The annual midnight sun game will be TONIGHT (6/20) starting at 10 p.m. at Growden field. This is always a wonderful and entertaining family friendly event. You can purchase tickets and learn more online.

Midnight Sun Festival

Celebrate the summer solstice with the Midnight Sun Festival! On Saturday, join your neighbors downtown from noon to midnight to enjoy community, art, and the sun! For more information, click here. Please remember to bring water and sun protection, as we are likely to have another hot day for celebrating solstice!

Midnight Sun Run

The annual Midnight Sun Run will be on Saturday June 21 starting at 10:00 p.m. This 10-kilometer race starts at the UAF Patty Center and weaves through the streets of Fairbanks, eventually ending at Pioneer Park. I will be running/walking the race this year, so I hope to see you there! You can register and learn more online.

18th Annual Design Alaska Wild Arts Walk

On Sunday, June 22nd, from 11:00am-4:00pm, join the Friends of Creamers Field for their 18th annual Design Alaska Wild Arts Walk! Over 30 talented local artists will be scattered throughout Creamer’s Field where you’ll be able to browse unique pieces and support local artists while taking a peaceful walk! There’s a $5 admission fee which benefits the Friends of Creamer’s Field, to learn more and see the impressive list of artists, click here.

Wildfire Season Community Volunteer Recruitment

Join the Volunteers in Policing, American Red Cross, and Fairbanks Animal Control for a volunteer recruitment event to help prepare for wildfire response! This presentation will take place on Thursday, June 26th, at the Carlson Centers Pioneer Room from 6:30pm-8:30pm. There are already 51 wildfires statewide. With the unusually hot weather Fairbanks has recently had, this presentation is timely and important. To find out more, click here.

UAF Summer Sessions and Life Long Learning are Underway

UAF Summer Sessions and Lifelong Learning are in full swing for the summer. There are many community programs and courses that are open to the public including Music in the Garden, the Legacy Lecture Series, the Fairbanks Tall Timber Series which highlights active members of our community, the Healthy Living Series, and much more! You can learn more about Summer Sessions, and find out about upcoming events online.

My Staff and I Are Here For You!

My team and I are working from our office in the Fairbanks Legislative Information Office in the Global Credit Union building across from Home Depot at 1292 Sadler Way, Third Floor. Feel free to swing by if we may be of service to you, give us a call at 907-452-6084, email us at Rep.Ashley.Carrick@akleg.gov, and follow us on social media @RepCarrick. Until next week!

All In For Alaska,