6/3/13 Flood warnings and advisories are in effect in the Mat-Su and Tok areas, and along the Yukon River; Athabascan Elder and Alaska Native rights advocate Katie John has died

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Anchorage, AK – The National Weather Service has a flood advisory in effect for the Montana and Willow creeks, and the Talkeetna, Little Susitna, Matanuska, and Nenana rivers. A flood warning is in effect for Tok, where the Tok River is spreading beyond the areas of Tok already flooded with waters two-three feet deep.
The Yukon River has flooded low-lying roads in Stevens Village.
Ahtna Athabascan Elder Katie John has died at age 97. She was the lead petitioner in a landmark lawsuit over subsistence use of a traditional fish camp on the Copper River, in the Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, or ANILCA, set a subsistence priority for rural residents. In 1985 John and the Mentasta Village Council sued, saying under ANILCA, the federal government was obligated to take over management of subsistence fisheries on federal public lands and navigable waters. Katie John prevailed and in 1999, fish and wildlife management on the 60% of land in Alaska in federal ownership transferred from the state of Alaska to the federal government.