Tim Ellis, KUAC - Fairbanks
Tim Ellis is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
Online fundraiser nets nearly $50k for erosion control project at Delta-area park
Donors gave nearly $50,000 to an online fundraiser last month to help pay for a project to prevent the Tanana River from washing away the bank that runs along Big Delta State Historical Park near Delta Junction. Alaska State Parks will use the donations as a match for further fundraising to pay for a bank-stabilization project riverbank to prevent further erosion. Listen Now
Luxury cruises don’t signal Arctic shipping boom, expert says
The company that sent the first big luxury cruise ship through U.S. and Canadian Arctic waters is preparing the Crystal Serenity for a repeat performance in 2017. But one expert believes this year’s historic transit doesn’t mean the Arctic is likely to become a hotspot for global shipping anytime soon. Listen Now
Alaska Wildlife Troopers ask public’s help in solving 4 cases of killed moose
More than a week after they began an investigation of the killing of four moose that were left unsalvaged in three areas along the Richardson Highway south of Fairbanks last week, Alaska Wildlife Troopers are asking for the public’s help.
High winds knock out power to 33,000 Interior households
Anchorage didn't experience high winds as predicted last night but winds up to 70-miles-per-hour knocked out power to about 33,000 households around the Interior, including more than 500 in the Delta Junction area that went without electricity for about 15 hours. Hundreds of Delta-area residents were still waiting for power to be restored by mid-afternoon.
‘Amazing’ new Clearwater Lodge rises from ashes of historic structure
he Clearwater Lodge is back in business. Two years after the old structure was burglarized and burned to the ground, owner Kevin Ewing has opened a bigger, fancier lodge in the same scenic spot, on the banks of the Clearwater River near Delta Junction.
Diesel spill cleanup continues south of Fairbanks
Cleanup work continues today near Birch Lake south of Fairbanks where a tractor-trailer tank loaded with 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel overturned Monday, spilling the fuel into a ditch that runs between a small wetland and the Richardson Highway. Listen now
Cruise-ship evacuation exercise begins as luxury liner prepares for Arctic Ocean transit
The U.S. Northern Command and Coast Guard have launched a major field-training exercise off Alaska’s northwest coast. Arctic Chinook is intended to demonstrate how local, state and federal agencies would respond to a simulated cruise ship accident. Coincidentally, a big luxury cruise ship will sail through the area while the exercise is under way. And to further complicate things, bad weather has just set in. Listen now
Logistical-support soldiers enabled Army to hold biggest Alaska training exercise in years
Some 5,000 soldiers from around the country and Canada are headed back home after a grueling three-week field-training exercise on ranges around Fort Greely. Arctic Anvil was the biggest exercise U.S. Army-Alaska has held since 2001. Listen now
Small dam on slough helps Big Delta man protect his home along Tanana River
Big Delta resident Tom Gorman said a small dam he built earlier this year to protect his home from the meandering Tanana River held steady over the past couple of weeks as the river rose to near-flood level, due to recent rains. Gorman now hopes the river falls quickly enough to allow him to finish work on the dam before snow flies. Listen now
Volunteers remove artifacts from historic building threatened by riverbank erosion
Volunteers with State Parks and the Delta Historical Society have removed artifacts from a 110-year-old building at Big Delta State Historical Park. The agencies had planned to wait, to see if the Tanana River washed away more of the riverbank on which the building sits. But Sunday’s move was prompted by concerns over erosion accelerated by recent rains. Listen now
Nenana runs out of money to complete bridge intended to open agricultural lands
An ambitious plan to develop agricultural land west of Nenana is on hold until the town can find another $5 million to complete work build a bridge across the Nenana River. Download Audio
UAF researchers study effects of wildfires and thawing permafrost on carbon production
A new study co-authored by two UAF researchers suggests that contrary to previous studies Alaska’s wildfires and thawing permafrost may not generate more carbon that its ecosystems can capture – at least, through the end of the century. Download Audio
Tanana River erosion closes trail, threatens cabins at Big Delta State Historical Park
Alaska State Parks officials have closed a section of trail in Big Delta State Historical Park near Delta Junction, because the Tanana River been cutting sharply into its southern bank where the trail is located. The extreme erosion now threatens a couple of historical cabins within the park. State and local officials are working on a plan to shore up the bank – and to come up with a way to pay for it. Download Audio
Quintillion continues work on major cable project
Anchorage-based Quintillion Networks has resumed work on a major fiber-optic cable project that will improve broadband internet service in five communities in northern Alaska. Quintillion hopes to link the Alaska cable to a larger system that eventually will run from Japan to Europe.
‘In Amundsen’s Footsteps’: Expedition re-traces route of explorer’s 1905 Journey
An international team of explorers returned last week from a grueling 700-mile dog-sled journey from the Arctic Ocean to Eagle, Alaska. They were the first to re-trace the route that legendary explorer Roald Amundsen took in 1905 after his historic transit of the Northwest Passage. Download Audio
‘Huge anomaly’: warm winter limits sea-ice formation, experts say
Scientists say warm winter weather around the circumpolar north has led to another record-setting year of decreasing sea-ice coverage of the Arctic Ocean. The extent of sea ice formed over this past winter fell short of the previous record-low extent set last year.
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Arctic Council meeting ends, climate change among topics
A contingent of senior Arctic Council officials wrapped up a three-day meeting at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Thursday. And Friday morning, the U.S. chairman of the group reported on their deliberations, much of which dealt with the impact of climate change on the Arctic and how to adapt to it. Download Audio
Drones becoming more popular in the Arctic
U.S. State Department official Julie Gourley told a crowd at the Carlson Center Monday that the use of unmanned aircraft systems has grown widespread in the circumpolar north in recent years because they serve as the perfect platform for surveying the vast expanse of the Arctic for such purposes as research and environmental monitoring.
Arctic science summit gets underway at UAF
The first of dozens of events to be held as part of the 18th annual Arctic Science Summit Week gets under way Wednesday on the University of Alaska-Fairbanks campus. UAF Vice Chancellor for Research Larry Hinzman said this year’s summit is the first to be held on U.S. soil. And it’ll be the biggest yet.
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Researcher: Science must protect key species from climate change-driven extinction
Mark Urban, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at University of Connecticut, and other researchers say climate change could wipe out one-sixth of Earth’s species that won’t be able to adapt to the warming planet.