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The Pebble Limited Partnership is one step away from a federal permit for the proposed Pebble Mine , a deeply controversial development that would tap large copper and gold deposits at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. Pebble CEO Tom Collier thinks the finished Environmental Impact Statement shows the mine can be built without harming the environment. “The final EIS is the first time that a federal agency has engaged in a rigorous review of the specific plan that we intend to use to build this

It’s getting late in the season and Yukon River king salmon passage remains very weak at the U.S.-Canada border. Holly Carroll is the State Yukon River summer season manager. The run was estimated to be a well below average 160 thousand fish entering the river. She says the run is tracking to fall short of the minimum objective for escapement into Canada. “That escapement goal is a range 42,500 to 55,000,” Carroll said. “At this point we may not meet the lower end of that goal.” Carroll says

The Alaska Federation of Natives’ top lawyer will join a five-person board tasked with redrawing the state’s legislative districts – based on the 2020 Census. Since 2014, Nicole Borromeo has been general counsel and executive vice president of the Alaska Federation of Natives. Borromeo is the fourth person named to the board. She was appointed by Alaska House Speaker Bryce Edgmon . Edgmon is an independent from Dillingham. Once the U.S. Census Bureau delivers the state’s 2020 data next year, the

Predicting the future is hard, unless you’ve got a crystal ball. In the basement of the Sitka Sound Science Center, a researcher has designed an experiment to study the future of ocean acidification, and her “crystal ball” is herring. Doctoral researcher Lauren Bell explores possible futures for our oceans, and one of its most important resources . Bell stands in about an inch of water, hovering over one of over twenty tanks in the basement of the Sitka Sound Science Center. The equipment used

As 2020 Census efforts continue throughout the United States, Alaska is well behind other states in regards to households self-responding either through online, telephone or by mail. In fact, the only thing that’s keeping Alaska from being in last place is Puerto Rico. And the coronavirus could impact how census takers in rural Alaska fill that gap. More than 92 million households in the U.S. have already responded to the 2020 Census – with a national average of more than 62 percent of

The mayor of Nenana and other local leaders are celebrating completion of an $18 million bridge project that will open up hundreds of thousands of acres west of town to development year-round . The leaders hope the bridge over the Nenana River will boost the area’s economy through land sales and resource development, and provide more access to hunting and fishing. Mayor Josh Verhagen says completion of the Nenana-Totchaket Bridge marks the culmination of decades of effort to provide overland

An Iñupiaq language survey is currently underway across the state. Organizers hope the survey helps build a comprehensive ten-year language plan to help grow and sustain the language. The Uuktuun Iñupiatun 2020 language survey is being conducted by a group of grassroots organizers called Kipiġniuqtit Iñupiurallanikun, or “Speaking our Language, We are Passionate,” which represents the Northwest Arctic, North Slope and Bering Straits regions, as well as Iñupiat living in other areas. The group

The community of Yakutat has its first case of COVID-19 . Yakutat’s Incident Commander John Waldron found out Thursday morning that a resident who recently travelled outside of the community had tested positive for the virus. The Yakutat Community Health Center, where the person was tested, said in a media release that the person is currently isolating at home. The health center is canceling all of its regular outpatient visits. But, medical providers will still be on-call at all times for

Editor’s note : This story is produced in part through a partnership between First Alaskans Institute and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation. Willie Iġġiaġruk Hensley serves on the First Alaskans Institute board of trustees, and previously served on the board for Koahnic Broadcast Corporation. With current conversations around the Alaska Federation of Natives, or AFN, Elders and Youth and the upcoming anniversary of ANCSA, I decided to sit down with Willie Iġġiaġruk Hensley to discuss his book, land

It’s a relatively quiet summer on Alaska waters, since COVID-19 mostly cancelled the cruise ship season and limited tourism. But this hiatus is an opening for scientists to gather water quality data in harbors across the state. It’s flat calm on Portage Cove in Haines, Alaska as a small charter boat comes into the harbor. But its passenger isn’t a fishing enthusiast from the Lower 48. “I was a science teacher for 22 years,” Patty Brown said. “So now I’m just a freelance scientist, it turns out.”