Made in Alaska
Made in Alaska hosts Holiday Market at Alaska Pacific University
The Made in Alaska Program hosted its first official Holiday Market on November 22, 2025, at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. Eighty-two vendors attended, with a wide range of products available, from artwork and jewelry to small-batch foods, pet gear, skincare items, textile goods, and more. The market was deemed a success, with many vendors reporting excellent customer turnout and a few citing it as their best sales day yet. The Made in Alaska Program looks forward to hosting future market events in Anchorage and beyond.
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Resilience, Planning, and Land Management
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
NFIP and Alaska Risk MAP coordinators worked in collaboration with FEMA’s Floodplain Management Crew Lead for Typhoon Halong’s disaster response. Technical assistance is offered to guide communities through the next steps in recovery which includes guidance on damage assessments, building permitting, and making updates to high water marks. The goal is to improve community preparedness.
Floodplain Management Training Opportunity (L0273 Managing Floodplain Development through the National Floodplain Insurance Program): FEMA Region 10 and DCRA are hosting a 4-day course designed for local officials responsible for administering their local floodplain management ordinance. The course will focus on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and concepts of floodplain management, maps and studies, ordinances, administration, and the relationship between floodplain management and flood insurance. The dates for this course are March 10-13, 2026, at the Atwood Conference Center in Anchorage. Reach out to NFIP coordinator Zayleen Kalalo (zayleen.kalalo@alaska.gov) for more information.
Local Boundary Commission (LBC)
LBC staff have been reviewing a draft petition from the Eaglexit group, proposing to detach a portion of the Municipality of Anchorage and incorporate as a home rule borough. This is the second draft petition submitted by the group. A previous draft was reviewed in 2023 and found to contain major errors with its proposed borough boundary, as well as deficiencies in its transition plan.
Municipal Lands Trustee
Public notice was accomplished for the following projects and communities:
- Land Lease for Public Works Facility (Karluk)
- Renewal and Amendment No. 1 of Lease for a Community Hall (Pedro Bay)
- Land Lease for Telecommunications Site (South Naknek)
- Land Lease for Solar Energy Facility (Kokhanok)
- Renewal and Amendment No. 1 of Firehall Lease (Kokhanok).
At the conclusion of each public notice, the leases are prepared for signatures and recording at the State of Alaska Recorder's Office.
Mapping, Analytics, and Data Resources
Municipal Lands Trust (MLT) Parcels mapped
In the 4th Quarter of 2025, the GIS team mapped MLT parcels for the communities of Manley Hot Springs, Sleetmute, Ekuk, and Evansville as well as a few other small MLT parcels in Kipnuk, Kwigillingok, and Tuntutuliak. At this time 97 percent of the acres held by MLT have been mapped and are publicly visible in the DCRA Parcel Collection Service.
Grants and Funding
Alaska Broadband Grant Program
On Thursday, October 16th, the Alaska Broadband Grant Program final proposal was submitted to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for final review and approval. The final proposal included 29 applications from 17 prospective subgrantees with a total of $791,632,688 in funds requested. These sub-awards will represent 46,214 locations that are currently unserved or underserved by broadband access across Alaska. NTIA is expected to provide their approval of the final proposal to the State of Alaska by early January 2026. Upon final approval by NTIA, the Alaska Broadband Office and DCRA will begin the subgrantee award process.
 DCRA Grants & Funding Section: Total Alaska Broadband Grant Program Budget Requests
Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR)
The CDBG-DR program team made significant progress on CDBG-DR action plans, which must be reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to release funding. For the 2023 Lower Yukon and 2024 Juneau flooding CDBG-DR grant, DCRA drafted the action plan, conducted a public hearing and 30-day public comment period, then submitted its action plan to HUD a full year ahead of the original due date. DCRA also received HUD approval for the 2022 Typhoon Merbok action plan that was submitted during 3rd quarter 2025, unlocking $38,490,000 in disaster recovery funding. Finally, a Substantial Amendment to the 2018 Cook Inlet Earthquake Mitigation Grant under CDBG-MIT was submitted to HUD, a key step in enabling modified program activities to move forward.
CDBG-DR recently completed the interview process to hire a Grants Administrator 2 who will be focused on CDBG-DR related tasks. The CDBG-DR team has also completed an internal financial audit process to validate that State of Alaska CDBG-DR procedures comply with HUD regulations.
National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (NPR-A)
NPR-A completed its first application period in DCRAGrants. The program received 22 applications for FY2026. Currently, the review committee has received access and are in the process of reviewing and providing initial scoring for the applications. The NPR-A Grants Administrator held several workshops to assist NPR-A communities with questions about the new application process. FY2026 is the first cycle of using DCRAGrants for this grant program, from application to grant award and then to grant closure.
Other Federal Grant Programs:
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program completed its first application round in DCRAGrants, receiving 13 applications. The application selection committee is currently reviewing all applications that passed the threshold review and will convene on January 21, 2026, to finalize its recommendations.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the first round of FFY2026 Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding after approving Alaska's state plan.
DCRA hired a Grants Administrator 3 in September 2025 to work with CDBG, CSBG, Targeted Air Shed, and other federal funding nexus programs. The Grants Administrator 3 will serve as a liaison between DCRA and federal funding agencies, as well as provide guidance to the Grants Administrator 2 serving these programs and to grantees. During the fourth quarter, this team has made significant progress toward overall compliance and standardization that will strengthen these programs' internal controls.
Office of the State Assessor
Full Value Determination letters mailed
The Office of the State Assessor (OSA) completed the 2025 Full Value Determination (FVD), with letters mailed to the 35 jurisdictions on Wednesday, October 1, 2025. FVD is completed annually by OSA and is used to determine local education funding. The 2025 FVD increased by an overall average of 8.15 percent across the 35 jurisdictions. The majority of the increase in the 2025 FVD was attributed to real property which increased 5.5 percent, while personal property increased by 4.7 percent. Jurisdictions may appeal their FVD within 30 days from the date of issuance; however, there were no appeals filed this year.
Following the completion of FVD, the next major accomplishment of OSA was the completion of the Alaska Taxable publication. The 2025 publication marks the 65th edition of Alaska Taxable. OSA made several improvements to this year’s edition including changes to the content (with the inclusion of graphs, charts, and maps) and format of the report. The Alaska Taxable is an annual publication due to the Alaska State Legislature on January 15th. OSA annually collects tax and debt information from 165 cities and boroughs across Alaska. The Alaska Taxable publication is the state's official report to the legislature on the taxation practices of municipalities. The included information provides a glimpse into the taxation and financial obligations across the state and identifies where there is potential for the generation of additional funding through different types of tax. The publication is not intended to make recommendations or to endorse or promote any specific policy decision.
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