President Obama signed the Coast Guard Authorization Act last night, transferring 2,500 acres of federal land at Port Clarence to local, state, and federal stakeholders. Located 120 nautical miles northwest of Nome, Port Clarence has long been left out of discussion as the location for the nation’s Arctic deep draft port.
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said in a press release that this land transfer is one of the first steps in making Alaska a leader in the Arctic.
Bering Straits Native Corporation is the main recipient of the land transfer.
In a press release by Bering Straits, CEO Gail Shubert said in a press release last week that this land transfer will move the region toward a “promising Arctic future.”
Emily Russell is the voice of Alaska morning news as Alaska Public Media’s Morning News Host and Producer.
Originally from the Adirondacks in upstate New York, Emily moved to Alaska in 2012. She skied her way through three winters in Fairbanks, earning her Master’s degree in Northern Studies from UAF.
Emily’s career in radio started in Nome in 2015, reporting for KNOM on everything from subsistence whale harvests to housing shortages in Native villages. She then worked for KCAW in Sitka, finally seeing what all the fuss with Southeast, Alaska was all about.
Back on the road system, Emily is looking forward to driving her Subaru around the region to hike, hunt, fish and pick as many berries as possible. When she’s not talking into the mic in the morning, Emily can be found reporting from the peaks above Anchorage to the rivers around Southcentral.
