News

At ‘Herring Camp,’ an advocate passes down subsistence traditions

By Katherine Rose (KCAW-Sitka) • Apr 13, 2021

The beginning of the herring spawn in Sitka Sound signals the wind-down of commercial fishing, and the start of the subsistence harvest: The millennia-old tradition of submerging hemlock branches along the shoreline, and waiting for herring to coat them in a thick layer of eggs.

Exploratory drilling to resume at controversial mine project near Haines, Klukwan

By Claire Stremple (Alaska's Energy Desk) • Apr 13, 2021

Exploratory drilling will resume this season at a controversial mine project in Southeast Alaska. Constantine Metal Resources announced one of its biggest work seasons yet after a slow year in 2020.

Drillers will be back on the mountain around the clock after a year-long hiatus at a mining project near Haines and Klukwan.

Waghiyi appointed White House advisor for environmental justice

By Kevin S. Fox (KNOM-Nome) • Apr 13, 2021

Savoonga resident Viola “Vi” Waghiyi is one of the 26 members chosen by President Biden and Vice President Harris for the new White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. The advisory council will provide advice and recommendations on how to address current and historic environmental injustices across the United States.

The ‘slow-motion genocide’ of the Chinook Indian Nation

By Anna V. Smith (High Country News) • Apr 12, 2021

New construction at Gustavus airport digs up old concerns about toxic chemicals

By Claire Stremple (Alaska’s Energy Desk) • Apr 9, 2021

Contractors plan to break ground on a multimillion dollar airport project in Gustavus this month. But newly discovered toxic chemicals at the site make the state-run project more complicated, and some residents don’t think the environmental oversight goes far enough to keep them safe.

The upgrade at Gustavus’ state-run airport is a decade in the making, but in 2018 contaminants were discovered at the airport — and in water, soil and wells around the Southeast community.

As the Nushagak braces for another large sockeye run, managers seek to preserve fragile king runs

By Isabelle Ross (KDLG-Dillingham) • Apr 8, 2021

Fifty-one million sockeye are forecast to return to Bristol Bay this summer.

If that holds, commercial fishermen will be able to harvest around 37 million reds. That’s 13% more than the average harvest of the past decade.

Federal rescue package complicates annual Alaska Permanent Fund dividend debate

By Andrew Kitchenman (KTOO and Alaska Public Media) • Apr 7, 2021

How much will Alaskans receive in permanent fund dividends this year? As the Legislature works its way through the annual budget process, the answer to that question is once again unclear. A new factor shaping the debate this year is the large amount of federal money coming into the state.

New ermine species found on Southeast Alaska island

By Angela Denning (KFSK-Petersburg) • Apr 6, 2021

New genetic research is expanding the family tree of a small weasel. A new species has been identified on an island of Southeast Alaska and some in British Columbia. It’s called the Haida Ermine and is one of three main species in the world. Scientists who studied the mammal believe there could be other animals that are also unique to this area.

When Jocelyn Colella was studying to become an evolutionary biologist she thought she would research something big, maybe large cats or bears.

Dunleavy tells feds Alaska is taking over management of 800,000 miles of river

By Liz Ruskin (Alaska Public Media) • Apr 5, 2021

Gov. Mike Dunleavy says, after 62 years of Alaska statehood, he’s finally asserting the state’s right to control submerged lands under navigable lakes and rivers.

“We’re now at the point where we will be physically exerting our sovereignty,” he said during a news conference.

Tongass stores more than 40 percent of all carbon stored by national forests

By Sage Smiley (KSTK-Wrangell) • Apr 5, 2021

New research reaffirms the temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska’s global importance for combating the effects of climate change. That’s according to data released Tuesday by a coalition of environmentalists and Tribes opposed to old growth logging in Tongass National Forest.

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