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Arctic Commitment Act introduced in Senate seeks to raise U.S. profile at top of world
A wide-ranging bill introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Angus King seeks to boost U.S. investment in Arctic commerce, science and defense. The Arctic Commitment Act, introduced last week, focuses on ways that the United States can become a bigger player in Arctic marine shipping and commerce, which is increasing as sea ice diminishes. […]
Independence Mine, a ‘gem’ in state park system, gets big donation for restoration work
A private charity has donated $1.3 million to restore historic buildings at a popular Alaska state park. The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has provided the money to restore buildings at the Independence Mine Historical Park. The site, in the Talkeetna Mountains near Palmer, once housed a thriving gold-mining operation but has […]
On Utqiagvik’s edge, an observatory measures the gases that are warming the Arctic and the planet
For nearly 50 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration laboratory on the outskirts of the nation’s northernmost community has tracked a steady rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the byproduct of fossil-fuel burning that is enveloping the Earth and trapping its heat. Now the NOAA Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory has a new, expanded, […]
Alaska health organization secures $9.7 million grant to train new workers
Alaska health care organizations have an injection of federal money to help recruit and train more workers to fill a variety of in-demand positions. The Alaska Primary Care Association has won a $9.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Good Jobs Challenge program for a wide-ranging project to expand health care opportunities by […]
Indigenous knowledge entwined with Arctic research for 75 years in Utqiagvik
In the nation’s northernmost community, about 100 scientists, engineers and other Arctic experts are gathered this week to celebrate a cutting-edge research program that started in the 1940s. The event in Utqiagvik, also known by its former name of Barrow, is a conference marking the 75th anniversary of the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, or NARL. […]
Toolik Field Station gets $19.7 million for next five years of operations
The Arctic’s largest scientific research station, a facility on Alaska’s North Slope, has received an increase in funding for the coming five years of operations, the University of Alaska Fairbanks announced on Tuesday. Toolik Field Station, located 370 miles north of Fairbanks, has received $19.7 million in NSF funding for the next five years, UAF […]
Monkeypox arrives in Alaska with Anchorage man as state’s first patient
Alaska has recorded its first case of monkeypox, the viral disease that is currently causing a global epidemic. An Anchorage man has tested positive for the disease and is isolating at home, the Alaska Department of Health and Anchorage Health Department said in a joint statement Friday. The patient had not traveled recently but was […]
Report details Alaska demographics hurt most by 2021 spike in drug-overdose deaths
In Alaska, the state with the nation’s biggest increase in drug overdose deaths from 2020 to 2021, certain demographic groups have been at higher risk, according to a newly released report: men more than women, Alaska Natives more than other ethnic groups and Anchorage and Gulf Coast residents more than those in other parts of […]
Scientists team up to solve mysteries about dwindling Aleutian tern population
Yakutat, a coastal community on the northern edge of Southeast Alaska’s temperate rainforest, is something of an Alaska refuge for a bird that may be on the brink: the Aleutian tern. Its wide, sandy beaches – and particularly, a peaceful site called Blacksand Spit — holds Alaska’s biggest concentration of Aleutian terns, a long-distance migrator […]
Alaska abalone population, important to Indigenous traditions, gets new attention
There is only one species of abalone native to Alaska waters, and a new project is underway to try find ways to boost its depleted numbers. An Alaska Sea Grant program is examining ideas for strengthening the state’s vulnerable population of pinto abalones, also known as Northern abalones or, to the Indigenous peoples of the […]
Denali gets permanent superintendent as park, a top tourist destination, copes with disruptions
Denali National Park and Preserve, one of Alaska’s top tourist attractions, has a new superintendent, the National Park Service said on Friday. Brooke Merrell, a deputy superintendent who had been filling in for the last nine months as acting superintendent, has now been promoted to the top job in the 6 million-acre park, famous for […]
NOAA Fisheries wants public to weigh in on climate change studies of Alaska’s marine waters
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is seeking public input to help guide its climate-change research in waters off Alaska. Members of the public interested in having input on the future of federal research on Alaska’s fisheries face a deadline next week. Comments will be accepted through July 29 on plans drafted by NOAA’s Alaska […]