Author

Yereth Rosen

Yereth Rosen

Yereth Rosen came to Alaska in 1987 to work for the Anchorage Times. She has reported for Reuters, for the Alaska Dispatch News, for Arctic Today and for other organizations. She covers environmental issues, energy, climate change, natural resources, economic and business news, health, science and Arctic concerns. In her free time, she likes to ski and watch her son's hockey games.

The north end of the Dalton Highway, the only access road to Alaska's North Slope, is seen in April of 2015. Flooding near the northern end of the road caused a bried closure this week. The Arctic setting and permafrost terrain make maintenance and operation of the Dalton Highway challenging. (Photo provided by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

Flooding causes damage and brief closure of Alaska’s only road to the North Slope

By: - June 8, 2023

The sole road connection to Alaska’s North Slope oil fields was closed briefly on Wednesday and Thursday when floodwaters ate into a large chunk of roadway. The closure was near the northern end of the Dalton Highway, the 414-mile road that connects Livengood, a community 80 miles north of Fairbanks, to Deadhorse, the oilfield center […]

A bald eagle is seen on Feb. 6, 2018, perched in a tree in the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Avian influenza has returned to Alaska, and so have health advisories 

By: - June 8, 2023

Migrating birds have returned to Alaska, and so has the highly pathogenic avian influenza that began to sweep through global bird populations in 2020. That means Alaskans should continue to be vigilant about the strains that have arrived in the state from across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, experts said during a webinar Tuesday […]

A 200-mile road project would connect Ambler Metals’ proposed copper mine to the Dalton Highway. (Alaska Division of Mining, Land and Water map)

Court filings provide mixed picture of Ambler road progress

By: - June 6, 2023

A federal decision on the controversial plan to build a 211-mile road through the Brooks Range foothills to provide access for mining development might come a few months later than previously anticipated, according to recent court documents. However, other recent legal developments indicate positive signs for the road’s prospects. The Bureau of Land Management, the […]

Juvenile Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, are seen on July 12, 2006, swimming in the water in Togiak National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Alaska. (Photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Fishers harvesting abundant Bristol Bay sockeye could fill knowledge gaps about declining Chinook

By: - June 5, 2023

In the Bristol Bay region, sockeye salmon runs have been booming while Chinook runs have dwindled. Now scientists are seeking to enlist fishing crews in the effort to find out why, as well as what can be done about the Chinook troubles. A community-focused program called Skipper Science is asking for Bristol Bay fishermen working […]

The landslide at Pretty Rocks, at about the halfway point of the Denali National Park road, is seen on May 5. The project to install a new bridge that will allow the road to reopen is challenging because of geologic and logistical complexities, which include ice-rich permafrost, a band of difficult clay and overall remoteness, The expected completion is now midsummer of 2026, pushed back from an earlier esimate of 2025. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

As three seasons of bridge work loom, Denali managers and tourist industry adjust

By: - June 3, 2023

By midsummer in 2026, visitors will likely be traveling over a sophisticated new bridge that clears a geologic hazard that has become a poster child of climate change in Alaska. Until then, the National Park Service and the tourism industry will be coping with three more years of shutdowns at about the halfway point of […]

A sign seen on Thursday in Anchorage's Jewel Lake, a popular summer swimming site, warns that there are no lifeguards on duty that day. Alaska's rate of drowning deaths continues to be high, a new state report says. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska’s rate of drownings, highest in nation, changed little in 6 years, state report says

By: - June 1, 2023

Alaska has the nation’s highest rate of drowning deaths, and the rate was consistently high over the past six years, according to a new state report. A Division of Public Health epidemiology bulletin released on Wednesday examines drowning deaths from 2016 to 2021 and found some patterns and common factors. The vast majority were unrelated […]

The Atwood Center at the Alaska Pacific University campus is seen on April 24. A U.S. Department of Labor grant of nearly $3 million will be used by APU to vastly expand the university's nursing program. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Pacific University poised to expand nursing program, thanks to U.S. Department of Labor grant

By: - June 1, 2023

A federal grant of nearly $3 million over five years will enable Alaska Pacific University to vastly expand its nursing-education programs, the university announced on Wednesday. The grant, from the U.S. Department of Labor, was one of 25 given to public-private partnerships across the nation to expand nursing training, APU said. While the entire nation […]

Two chum salmon show the distinctive strips that emerge after they enter freshwater to spawn. Chum salmon are important to the diets of Indigenous residents of Western Alaska. (Photo provided by NOAA)

Disaster aid has arrived, but Western Alaska’s salmon and crab problems continue

By: - May 20, 2023

As $216 million in federal aid is flowing to help Alaskans cope with salmon and crab collapses over the past three years, conditions that caused some of the harvest failures persist. The Alaska congressional delegation announced on Friday that the U.S. Commerce Department released the disaster aid. The money is to go to harvesters, processors […]

Bags of heroin, some laced with the drug fentanyl, are displayed before a press conference regarding a major drug bust, at the office of the New York Attorney General, Sept. 23, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Bills on drug crimes and confinement of offenders fall short in Alaska Legislature

By: - May 19, 2023

Two criminal-justice bills remain pending in the Alaska Legislature after Wednesday’s adjournment of the 2023 session, even though each passed one of the bodies. The first bill would reclassify drug-overdose deaths as second-degree murders instead of manslaughter cases. It passed the House on May 11 but failed to advance out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. […]

Ship Creek flows through downtown Anchorage on Feb. 14. A study by Alaska Community Action on Toxics found the PFAS contaminants knows as "forever chemicals" are in this and other much-used waterways in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Ship Creek's major source, like that in other areas, is likely airports, where PFAS-containing firefighting foams are used. A bill passed by the Alaska Legislature would ban the use of such foams by Jan. 1, with some exceptions. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska lawmakers approve ban on firefighting ‘forever chemicals’ and refrigerants phase-out

By: - May 18, 2023

The Alaska Legislature has passed a bill requiring the end of use of firefighting foams containing substances known as “forever chemicals” because of their resistance to any natural degradation. Those substances, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been generally used by airport fire departments. The PFAS bill requires a switch to alternative foams by […]

A collection of flavored vapor liquids, each bought for $1, are seen on Tuesday in the state Capitol. In the background is a closed-system vaping device that uses a different type of liquid packaging. The products were collected by Tim Lamkin, an aide to Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, sponsor of the bill that would tax electronic cigarette products and raise the legal age for purchase. Advocates of the bill argue that manufacturers deliberately target youth with candylike and fruity flavors like these. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Targeting youth vaping, Alaska Senate passes tax and age limits, sends bill to House

By: - May 17, 2023

The Alaska Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would impose the state’s first-ever tax on electronic cigarette products. Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, spoke during floor debate in favor of the measure, Senate Bill 89, on behalf of its sponsor, Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak. “It is an important public-health measure, Mr. President,” Kiehl said, […]

A vast expanse of Interior Alaska's boreal forest is seen on Sept. 19, 2022, from the Ski Land ski and snowboard area in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska House follows Senate to pass bill authorizing sale of carbon credits from state land

By: - May 16, 2023

The Alaska House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that would allow the state to set up a system for using state land to sell carbon-offset credits. The House action amounted to final passage of the bill, which was approved the previous day by the state Senate. The measure, Senate Bill 48, authorizes the […]