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Washington-based conservation group wants Endangered Species Act protections for Alaska king salmon
A Washington-based conservation group whose actions have already caused the closure of an iconic Southeast Alaska fishery is now planning to ask the federal government to list several Alaska king salmon stocks under the Endangered Species Act. Last month the Wild Fish Conservancy formally notified the state of Alaska of its plans to file the […]
No relief for beleaguered Southeast Alaska trollers as judge rejects request to keep fishery open
A federal judge has rejected a request to allow a staple Southeast Alaska king salmon fishery to proceed this summer while an appeal challenging its court-imposed closure plays out. Richard Jones, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington state, denied the request by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration to set aside his own ruling from […]
Ambler delays, a North Slope tax dispute and growing opposition to Alaska’s LNG project
In this week’s digest of short news items from across Alaska, there are some updates on delays to the Ambler mine and road projects, a simmering tax dispute involving Hilcorp and the North Slope Borough and a new obstacle for the Alaska LNG gas pipeline project. The executive leading development of a major mine in […]
Anchorage’s electric utility elects two “clean energy” board candidates, reelects incumbent chair
Members of Chugach Electric Association, the Anchorage-based cooperative utility that generates nearly half of urban Alaska’s power, rejected one incumbent and elected two new board members who campaigned on an aggressive shift toward renewable energy in an election that ended Friday. The election of challengers Susanne Fleek-Green and Jim Nordlund, who campaigned as “clean energy […]
Gov. Dunleavy and Kim Kardashian in the same place? A new tourism lodge in Girdwood?
This is my weekly digest with short items of news from across Alaska. It’s time for some news doughnuts — my analogy for these high-calorie pieces of information. This week, I’ve got items on a new Girdwood tourism venture led by some familiar names, a major Anchorage-area trail project, renewable energy feuding and some seafood business […]
As natural gas shortage looms, Alaska utilities and advocates feud over renewable power bill
Even before Alaska GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveiled a bill to require the state’s utilities to generate more power from renewable sources, executives were springing into action. Four months before Dunleavy introduced his legislation, the state official who would be responsible for pushing it was already hearing from utility leaders who were worried the governor’s […]
Alaska’s university system says two science education leaders are on administrative leave
One of Alaska’s pioneers in science education is on “non-disciplinary administrative leave” along with one of his deputies as part of “confidential administrative processes,” a University of Alaska Anchorage official said Thursday. The status of Herb Schroeder, the founder and director of the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, is “in accordance with standard operating […]
To protect orcas, federal judge orders closure of iconic Southeast Alaska troll fishery
A federal judge issued an order Tuesday that appears to close an iconic Southeast Alaska salmon fishery for at least the summer season — a decision that threatens hundreds of jobs and a $30 million industry in response to a conservation group’s lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by the Washington state-based Wild Fish Conservancy, seeks to […]
Alaska development authority paid $63,500 to settle ex-spokesperson’s wrongful termination lawsuit
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration late last year quietly settled a lawsuit against the state’s embattled economic development agency, agreeing to pay its former spokesperson $63,500 in exchange for dropping his legal claims of age discrimination and wrongful termination. Karsten Rodvik, who was laid off in 2020, sued the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority […]
Yakutat tribal leader fears loss of land as bank sues Southeast Alaska village corporation for $13.3 million
A Washington state-based bank has sued the Alaska Native corporation based in the Southeast village of Yakutat over what it says is $13.3 million in unpaid loans — sparking fears in the community about the loss of Indigenous lands. Yak-Tat Kwaan received some 36 square miles of land near Yakutat through the 1971 Alaska Native […]
Fish hatcheries, long seen as a last resort, get a new look amid Yukon River salmon crisis
The salmon crisis in Western Alaska is prompting new discussions in the U.S. and Canada about an idea that would have been a non-starter a decade ago: building hatcheries to stem the steep fish declines on the Yukon River. Indigenous culture along the Yukon, in both the U.S. and Canada, is centered on wild salmon […]
Alaska lawmakers: Keep your pay raise. But it’s time to fix per diem.
Eating at Juneau’s fanciest restaurant, Salt, is like sitting in a fishbowl. The place has huge windows that look directly out at Seward Street, which means that the many passersby — reporters, legislative aides, state workers — can stare directly in to see who’s eating parmesan truffle fries and $38 steaks. In four years of […]