Alaska delegation calls bypass mail report inaccurate

Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich and Rep. Don Young on Friday responded to the report with a letter to U.S. Postal Service Inspector General David Williams. Williams issued the report Nov. 28. The letter requests analysis of nine "questionable claims" that the elected officials said it contains.

The bypass mail system uses commercial air carriers in Alaska to ship mail and commodities to rural communities at subsidized rates. The report said the Postal Service lost $73 million on bypass mail last fiscal year and has little means to control costs.

Alaska's delegation, however, said 82 percent of state communities are off the road system and bypass mail is needed to provide universal service at universal rates. The federal elected officials took issue with the conclusion that village residents do not see savings from shipments of groceries and other goods.

The delegation denied that bypass mail creates false demand for airline service, including a comparison the report made of 90 monthly flights between Anchorage tiny King Salmon and only 80 flights to Juneau. The delegation noted that aircraft to Juneau are roughly four times larger.

The delegation also questioned the suggestion that the state use its $40 billion Alaska Permanent Fund to pay for bypass mail or improve ground and air infrastructure. Alaska already spends $33 million annually to maintain the rural airport system, the delegation noted.

"We question why Alaska should pay for services provided to the Lower 48 at no cost and again whether your office considered that much of the land over which the recommended infrastructure would be built is either protected from any type of development or (is) in areas that prevent road construction and maintenance," the letter said.

A pending U.S. House bill would require Alaska to pay a bypass mail subsidy.

The Postal Service lost about $10 billion nationally in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, according to the Government Accountability Office.