Billions of dollars in federal funding going to Alaska nonprofits and other entities are in jeopardy after a funding freeze implemented by the Trump administration. The fallout in Kodiak is impacting domestic violence shelters, agriculture programs and many other organizations.
Ian Zacher is the agriculture coordinator with the Kodiak Soil and Water Conservation District. He works with farmers, ranchers and growers around the island to keep their costs down and connect them with various resources, which ultimately helps improve local food security.
"Part of my job is to promote healthy agricultural and soil communities," Zacher stated. "And we do have pernicious weeds that are invasive and that are pretty toxic to livestock animals. And so some of the funding that’s been on hold was to ameliorate that to an extent where we could do it without having to spray herbicide."
That part of Zacher’s job is funded by federal grants that the Trump administration recently froze. He is able to keep working at least this year, but funding is uncertain beyond that.
“My current job status is a mixed bag. We do have funding to continue but whether or not that funding will be re-upped in the upcoming year is uncertain," he said.
For now, Zacher said he will have to scale back his hours. He also won’t be able to increase his staff’s wages, pay for soil tests, or curb invasive species like orange hawkweed and creeping buttercup. They’re two of at least 20 invasive plants around the Kodiak Archipelago the district normally keeps in check that threaten all of the island’s growers and ranchers.
The Trump administration is holding back money Congress and former President Joe Biden approved through the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Roughly $90,000 of that IRA money was going to Zacher’s program. And Zacher said another $20,000 grant from the Bureau of Land Management was canceled.
Approximately 95% of his entire organization is funded by federal grants. The Kodiak Soil and Water Conservation District also partners with the Sun'aq Tribe to monitor and eradicate crayfish in the Buskin Lake, which threaten local salmon returns.
Similarly, federal officials through the U.S. Department of Agriculture have abruptly paused or canceled millions in funding affecting the district’s partners, like the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Farm Service Agency and other agriculture programs in Alaska.
More recently, the head of the USDA, Secretary Brooke Rollins, ordered on Feb. 20 that some funding will be released. But it’s been piecemeal, and isn’t clear yet how that will affect Alaska.
Meanwhile, the federal funding freeze is already having far-reaching consequences in Kodiak.
The Kodiak Women’s Resource and Crisis Center’s Executive Director Rebecca Shields said 70% of the center’s funding comes directly or indirectly from the federal government. It can’t afford to stay open if the freeze continues.
“I’ve used their services in dangerous situations, trying to get out of a relationship that I was in," a client of KWRCC told KMXT.
We’re not using this woman’s name because she’s concerned about retaliation from her perpetrator or others in the community. But she said she’s a client that has used the center’s services for more than a decade. There are no other domestic violence shelters in Kodiak.
“That’s what’s scary about it [maybe] closing, is the good thing about KWRCC is the safety of being behind doors that people can’t just walk in," the client said. "The door has to be opened for them and the security system is connected to the police station. So if someone tried breaking in then the cops would be there.”
Another client, who is a single mother with a school-aged daughter, told KMXT she and her kid would effectively be homeless if the center were to close.
Even KMXT Radio had more than $50,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency frozen as a result of President Donald Trump’s executive orders. KMXT is one of at least 9 public radio stations in Alaska that were slated to receive Next Generation Warning System grant funding. The funding freeze undermines the system used to alert local residents about emergencies like tsunamis or earthquakes.
And then there are indirect impacts. For example, Hospice & Palliative Care of Kodiak relies partially on money from entities who have had their funding frozen. Hospice is a non-medical entity and the only one providing end-of-life services for those experiencing serious illness, death and bereavement in Kodiak.
Executive director Diane Ibarra explained the organization’s funding structure during a local public affairs show, Talk of the Rock, on Feb. 18.
"So although we’re not directly reliant on federal funds, the people that often donate to us are. So if federal funding goes out the window, there goes our funding," Ibarra explained.
The legality of the Trump administration’s funding freeze is being challenged as it’s being fought out in multiple federal court cases. A judge in one case on Tuesday, Feb. 25, temporarily ordered the feds to stop freezing spending.
But the uncertainty continues and has led some nonprofits to scale back operations and employees’ hours.
According to a report released by the Foraker Group earlier this week on Feb. 24, nonprofits across Alaska received $1.2 billion in federal funding in 2023. That’s out of $38 billion total that came to the state – not all is affected by the funding freeze.
But the freeze is also impacting the more than $12 billion bound for Alaska through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and broadband funding.
According to the Foraker Group, dozens of organizations across the state said they would have to cease operations, or shut down completely, if the funding freeze continues.
As nonprofits continue to navigate uncertain funding realities, some are looking for alternatives. But Rebecca Shields with the Kodiak Women’s Resource and Crisis Center, says local or state options don’t look promising.
