Here’s how a Kenai Peninsula wildfire could cause higher electric bills in Anchorage and Fairbanks
The wildfire damaged transmission lines that carry power from a major hydroelectric dam near Homer, officials said. And it could be months before the lines are fixed.
After leaving Trump administration, Balash will work for oil company that’s developing an Alaska project
Joe Balash, the high-level Alaskan appointee at the U.S. Department of the Interior who pushed to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil leasing, is taking a job with an oil company seeking to develop a major project in Alaska.
Democratic presidential candidates spent seven hours talking climate change. Alaska wasn’t discussed.
In the first-ever prime-time presidential climate change forum, Democratics spent seven hours on the issue. But there was no substantive discussion of Alaska, even though the state is one of the most affected by global warming.
A year after a dam was removed, this river near Anchorage is still waiting for water
The effort to remove the dam on the lower Eklutna River couldn’t succeed on its own because upstream, utilities divert the river into a hydroelectric power plant. Officials say it will take years before they decide whether to add more water that could help restore salmon.
Trump administration rolls out final environmental review for Arctic Refuge oil leasing
Today, the Trump administration took one of the last necessary steps before it allows oil leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Interior Department...
These Anchorage students skipped school to attend a climate protest. Here’s why, in their own words
Despite pouring rain, about 300 people of all ages gathered at a park in midtown Anchorage to take part in the global protest.
Records show federal government, tasked with rewriting Tongass rules, also funded Alaska timber group
The State of Alaska was granted millions of dollars in federal funds to help facilitate dialogue about potential changes to the Roadless Rule. Some of that money went to timber industry groups — and environmentalists say that's not fair.
8 key takeaways for Alaska in a major new United Nations report on climate change
The United Nations on Wednesday released a major new report on how climate change is affecting the world’s oceans and frozen areas, like glaciers, ice sheets and permafrost. It contains stark warnings on how rising emissions will affect the environments that blanket most of the earth's surface -- and much of Alaska.
About 300 BP union employees will keep their jobs — for now
According to Hilcorp, about 300 BP union workers at Prudhoe Bay will remain in their jobs, at least through the end of their current contract.
As BP exits Alaska, 1,600 employees are waiting to find out what’s next
BP has operated in Alaska for over half a century and has long had a hand in running the state’s biggest oilfield, Prudhoe Bay. The oil company’s plans to exit the state has left hundreds of workers like McFarland in limbo.
Pebble opponents sue Trump administration over EPA reversal
They are challenging EPA’s decision this summer to throw out what some saw as a “preemptive veto” of the proposed copper and gold mine, claiming the agency did not properly justify the decision.
There’s a new fight over Bering Sea black cod. Warming water may be to blame.
Small-boat fishermen who catch black cod are sounding alarms about increasing numbers of black cod that are being caught accidentally, as bycatch, by larger Seattle-based trawlers that fish in the Bering Sea.
Lawyers spar over whether young Alaskans’ climate lawsuit can move forward
The case, Sinnok v. State of Alaska, is being brought by 16 young Alaskans arguing that current policy violates their right to "a stable climate system" under the state constitution.
A new inventory of old growth trees could be coming. Will it be too late?
A proposed exemption from the federal Roadless Rule means prohibitions on logging could be removed for millions of acres of old growth trees in the region.
Forest Service kicks off Roadless Rule discussion in Juneau
People who attended the meeting had a lot of questions about the process.
Increase in observer fees has people in the fishing industry questioning how their dollars are being spent
Observer fees are going up for Alaska fishermen and processors. In Kodiak, fishermen aren’t too worried about the modest increase, but some would like to see improvements made to the decades-old program.
In Tlingit land-rights loss, a Native American rights attorney lays out injustice and hope for the future
In a lecture at the Sealaska Heritage Institute, Walter Echo-Hawk laid out the factors leading to the Supreme Court’s 1955 Tee-Hit-Ton Tlingit land rights decision.
Rains erase last of ‘severe drought’ in Southeast as conditions improve statewide
Places like Ketchikan, Wrangell and as far north as Juneau are still in “moderate drought.”
BLM responds to tribes’ criticism over planning process for draft resource management plan
The Orutsararmiut Native Council is calling the federal planning process for how 13 million acres of public land is managed in the region “woefully inadequate.” BLM says that they are taking more steps to reach out.
Elected officials, economic groups push to deploy Tazlina amid ferry service reductions
Several communities in Southeast Alaska lost ferry service this winter when the Alaska Marine Highway System docked the M/V Leconte for expensive repairs. Now some in the region are pushing the state to deploy the M/V Tazlina to make up for the reduced sailings.