Northern Highlights: Alaska’s energy and security policies are the guidance feds need amid transition, group says

EXCLUSIVE: Private citizens, down to the governor himself, are ready to be part of a new Alaska initiative aimed at promoting policies that have been effective in Juneau nationally, as a new administration signals a willingness to listen and adapt to new strategies.

Just as Florida’s education policy under Gov. Jeb Bush served as a model for national education reform, the nonprofit organization Future 49 aims to position Alaska as the current model, focusing mainly in national security and energy.

Its main funders are a group of Alaskans of all stripes, as well as a few Washington, DC-based advocates. He is non-partisan and simply pro-Alaskan, according to one of his advocates.

He also seeks to dispel what a source familiar with his foundation called the “out of sight, out of mind” feeling of some in the Lower 48 when it comes to how distant alaska he can translate his own successes in the cold north to a federal government that could benefit from his advice.

One of the founders of Future 49 is a commercial airline pilot whose family has lived in Alaska for over 125 years. He said he wanted to show the issues in Washington that Alaska deals with every day.

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Bob Griffin’s family has lived in Alaska since 1899, he said, noting that it’s an example of grassroots support to show Alaska’s potential to be the driving force in key sectors for the rest of the country.

Griffin said that while there has been no direct contact with the new administration, Gov. Mike Dunleavy is a ally of Trump and, in turn, ready to play a role in the group.

“We’re focusing not just on the Trump administration, but on other decision makers, just to highlight and announce that the successes we’ve had in Alaska on energy, natural resources and other policy priorities are a good adjustment and a benefit to all Americans.”

He noted that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge region spans the size of West Virginiabut the portion of the federal budget for exploration in a recent fiscal year was only an area half the size of Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, illustrating how Juneau must lead Washington.

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A source familiar with the Future 49 foundation told Fox News Digital how the group’s launch comes at a key time, as an administration averse to advice transitions to one that has signaled its openness to making recommendations from states and groups locals

“The resources that our nation must be energetically dominant they are in Alaska, not in hostile nations like Russia and Iran that despise what we stand for and commit serious environmental crimes on a daily basis,” the source said.

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While the group is prepared to express a pro-energy approach, it will remain nonpartisan and provide Washington with successful strategies for developing green and traditional energy based on the work done in Alaska.

Dunleavy has offered a similar two-pronged approach, saying in a recent interview that opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to responsible development can generate both economic growth for the nation and emerging green technology, such as a proposal to harness the second strongest tides in the world beating in Cook Inlet outside Anchorage.

These parallels show why the arrival of Future 49 comes at the right time, a source told Fox News Digital.

Future 49’s plan to use Alaska’s long-term goal of using its energy resources as a roadmap was a sentiment also expressed at another confirmation hearing Thursday. Interior candidate Doug Burgum emphasized the need for a domestic “energy domain” for economic and security reasons.

Since Russia has invaded Ukraine, Dunleavy said most of the sensitive national defense assets are in Alaska, so the state has a deep understanding of what it takes to deter malign actors.

“We are very close to the bear,” he said.

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Lessons learned from running a National Guard force so closely tied to top national security concerns is another avenue Future 49 will likely look to to help Washington.

The group plans to commission a survey of Americans in the Lower 48 about their view of the last frontier and how they perceive Alaska from thousands of miles away, Alaska pollster Matt Larkin said.