The AFN Board of Directors held its winter quarterly meeting on February 18, 2026, in Juneau. The meeting was held at the chambers of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, highlighting the importance of collaboration with Alaska Native organizations. The agenda included detailed updates and presentations from the Alaska Legal Services Corporation, the Arctic Indigenous Investment Conference, and Alaska Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell, focusing on legal, economic, and public safety issues impacting Alaska Native communities.
After the meeting, AFN hosted a legislative reception at the Aan Hít. This event allowed AFN’s leadership and board members to network with legislators, community leaders, and key stakeholders. The informal atmosphere encouraged insightful sidebar conversations about legislative goals, state priorities for Alaska Native peoples, and emerging challenges and opportunities.
On February 19, AFN’s Board and leadership met with members of Alaska’s legislature to discuss AFN’s 2026 priorities, which included health care, education, voting rights, public safety, and subsistence.
Also on February 19, AFN’s Ben Mallott, Geoff Toy, and Joe Nelson gave a presentation to the House Tribal Affairs Committee on understanding the dual regulatory framework for subsistence in Alaska. The session aimed to educate legislators and attendees about the legal history and development of the dual management system, outline potential changes to federal and state subsistence regulations, promote public participation in the legislative and regulatory process, and stress the significance of subsistence rights for Alaska Native communities. Later that day, Representative Neal Foster, Ben, Geoff, and Joe hosted a lunch and learn for legislators and staff on the same topic.
On the same day, AFN’s Kendra Kloster testified before the House State Affairs Committee and Senate State Affairs Committee, and on February 20, she also presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the Alaska Native Incarceration Report prepared by AFN with the Alaska Department of Corrections, the University of Alaska Anchorage, and University of Alaska Fairbanks. The DOC contracted AFN to manage and develop a study to offer recommendations to reduce the overrepresentation of Alaska Native people in the criminal justice system, which was a provision added in House Bill 66, an omnibus crime bill that passed in 2024.