Fiscal Policy Study Group
July 26th
8am-9:30am
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
4300 Boniface Parkway
Commonwealth North is Alaska's premier non-partisan public policy forum.
Join us to learn more about critical policy issues facing Alaska.

Commonwealth North Reception
An evening with an Alaska Dinosaur Hunter!
Monday, July 29th
5:30pm-7:30pm
The Petroleum Club of Anchorage
3301 C Street
Tonight, Commonwealth North will host a reception of good food, drinks, conversation, and dinosaurs! It’s a fun, family-friendly event, so we encourage you to bring your kids!
On Monday evening we will host paleontologist Anthony Fiorillo, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Collections and Chief Curator at the Ross Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas. He will share his stories from his dinosaur hunts and what his groundbreaking work in Alaska can tell us about Alaska’s past, its environment, and our future.
Tony’s presentation can be viewed online here.

Dr. Fiorillo made news in 2001 when he found the first record of a dinosaur in any Alaskan national park. Since then, he has found dinosaur fossils in four Alaska national parks, including Denali National Park and Preserve, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and Yukon-Charlie Rivers National Preserve. He is the author of over 100 papers and recently published the book, Alaska Dinosaurs: An Ancient Arctic World.
Dr. Fiorillo has been the Curator of Earth Sciences since 1995 and is a research affiliate for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. While he has collected fossils throughout North America and parts of Asia, he has primarily worked in western Texas and Alaska. His pursuits have resulted in numerous discoveries including a new species of a tyrannosaur. His work on ancient terrestrial ecosystems has taken him into over a dozen units of the National Park Service and won him national recognition in 2007, receiving the National Park Service, Alaska Region Natural Resource Research Award.
There is no charge to attend. Beer, wine and spirits will be available for purchase.
Please RSVP to events@commonwealthnorth.org, or dial (907) 566-2396
Thank you to The Petroleum Club of Anchorage for sponsoring this event!

Fiscal Policy Study Group
July 26th
8am-9:30am
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
4300 Boniface Parkway
Energy Action Coalition
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union
500 W 36th Avenue
Room 201
noon-1pm
Pat Galvin, Chief Commercial Officer and General Counsel with Great Bear Petroleum, will give us an update on Great Bear’s current projects including Alkaid, its new discovery on the North Slope, and the other exploration targets.
Food Security Study Group
Alaska Village Initiatives
Wednesday, July 24th
8am-9am
We will continue our discussion of Health Impact Assessments as a potential tool for understating how public policies can impact food security. We will be joined by Sarah Yoder, Public Health Specialist and Deputy Environmental Public Health Program Manager at the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. She will discuss the department’s Health Impact Assessment program and examples of its use in Alaska and other states.
Click here to see the department’s webpage on HIAs and links to resources such as their HIA Tool Kit.
Energy and Natural Resource Policy Update
with U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski
Friday, July 19th
The Dena’ina Center
600 W 7th Ave
Noon-1:00pm
(doors open at 11:45am)
Video of this event is now available online.

CWN is pleased to welcome U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski for an update on congressional energy and natural resource policies affecting Alaska.
Senator Murkowski is the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where she is the Chairman of the Interior and Environment Subcommittee. Senator Murkowski is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee – the first Alaskan to serve on that panel – and is also a senior member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
Commonwealth North was co-founded by former Governors Walter J. Hickel and William A. Egan in 1979 to lead Alaskans to adopt enlightened policies that enhance Alaskans’ quality of life and improve the State’s ability to effectively manage its resources. Our mission is to educate our members and other Alaskans on the significant public policy issues affecting our state and to identify effective solutions. Commonwealth North is a non-partisan educational non-profit organization.
Thank you to Lynden for sponsoring this program!
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Table sponsorships available
Contact the CWN office at (907) 258-9524 for details.
Individual Tickets
CWN Members $30, Non-Members $40
Deven Mitchell, State Debt Manager
Understanding the Municipal Bond Bank
Friday, July 12th
8:00am-9:00am
First National Bank Alaska, Operations Center
1751 Gambell St
Deven Mitchell, State Debt Manager and Executive Director of the Alaska Municipal Bond Bank Authority, will give us a briefing on the Bond Bank and it’s role in funding capital improvement projects across the state.
CWN Energy Action Coalition
Friday, June 21st
AlaskaUSA Federal Credit Union
500 W 36th Avenue
noon-1pm
We will have a briefing from Amy Pettit, Executive Director at the Alaska Farmland Trust, about their work and recommendations to enhance food security for Alaskans. Following her presentation, we will have a work session to focus on our food security study.