The soaring cost of energy in rural Alaska is forcing hundreds of families out of villages. But Anchorage city and school officials say the municipality doesn't have the resources to deal with this mass migration, so they're asking Gov. Sarah Palin for emergency measures.

The Iditarod Area School District has seen a 56-percent decrease in student enrollment in the last seven years, while the Anchorage School District has 400 more students this year than expected.

High energy costs in rural Alaska, eleven times that of the national average, have triggered a mass migration, the likes of which city and school officials say they're unprepared to deal with.

Emergency housing programs and shelters are already running at full capacity,

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich and Anchorage School District Superintendent Carol Comeau have written the governor requesting aid to deal with the bush migration. KTVA file photo.
so Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich and Superintendent Carol Comeau say time is of the essence.

"That's why we want to have this taskforce so we can deal with this before the snow hits and it gets below zero," Begich said, explaining why he and Comeau wrote to Palin. "Because at that point we're dealing with life and death issues."

Educators say the migration could also trigger culture shock.

"It's just sad that our current economic situation is driving people from their homes, and it's frightening because as they leave there's always that potential of losing the cultural component and that's dangerous," said Joe Banghart, Iditarod area superintendent.

It's a concern shared statewide.

"Any time you see that many kids in transition you always worry because transition means elements of their life will be different than they're used to," said Patrick Garrity, principal of Sand Lake Elementary.

Palin is on the campaign trail, preparing for the most important debate of her life, but her spokesman, Bill McAllister, says the governor does have the letter, although he doesn't know if she's read it yet.

But he says staff members are working on the problem, and points out that the governor has already taken action

on the energy issue by calling the Legislature to a summer session, and by issuing the energy rebate, which some rural residents say is not enough. Considering that $1,200 dollars basically pays for one month's worth of heating oil. Some say they're actually using that energy rebate money to move out of their villages.

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