Bettles
RSSNews from Bettles, Alaska
Weather service warns of icy spots on Fairbanks-area roads Tuesday morning
Weather service warns of icy roads across Fairbanks and Interior communities Tuesday morning as wet spots freeze.

Fairbanks logs wettest September since 1925 as Chena River hits late-season record
Fairbanks just had its rainiest September since 1925, and the Chena River hit a record high for so late in the year. No flooding, thanks to slow rain.

Three of 20 Alaska aviation accidents since July 19 were fatal
Twenty aircraft have crashed in Alaska in eight weeks. Three were fatal. The state's accident rate runs more than twice the national average.

A miner wants to run a cable across the Koyukuk and camp on its bank for five years
The public can comment through Sept. 2 on a plan for a supply cable across the Middle Fork Koyukuk River and a six-person mining camp on its bank for 5 years.

Park Service urges hard-sided bear containers in the Arrigetch Peaks
A brown bear took food from a soft-sided bear-resistant container in the Arrigetch Peaks on August 13. The Park Service now strongly recommends hard-sided containers, which backpackers can check out at the Bettles Ranger Station.

Three rescued after float plane crashes in forest near Bettles
Three people survived a floatplane crash near Bettles and were hoisted out overnight, after a satellite device let them relay their location to rescuers.

Upper Koyukuk and Innoko villages can keep every salmon again starting Monday
Six Koyukuk River villages and Shageluk can keep all salmon they catch starting Monday after Fish and Game confirmed local chum are a different stock than Canadian-protected fall chum.

Alaska closes District 4 subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho starting Wednesday
Alaska closes subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho salmon in District 4 starting Wednesday because the 2026 run is projected too weak to meet Canadian treaty obligations.

Alaska's quiet June fire season faces July's heat and lightning
Interior Alaska faces rising wildfire risk this weekend as July thunderstorms arrive over fuels that stayed wet through June's quiet fire season.

Yukon River District 4 opens for summer chum; Chinook closures hold
Yukon River District 4 opens summer chum harvest July 2 through late July, but all Chinook must be released alive under a rebuilding agreement that closes Chinook fisheries through 2030.

Rain offers Interior Alaska's fire crews a needed break
Rain and cooler air are headed for Interior Alaska this weekend — a real break for fire crews who've spent weeks protecting cabins, fish camps, and allotments.

New fire near Bettles strains crews
Twelve smokejumpers dropped on a new fire near Bettles — one more blaze stretching Interior crews thin as lightning keeps the dry north lighting up.

On the wild Alatna, a guide makes his case to the state
A Fairbanks guide wants the state's OK to run commercial trips on the Alatna — a Wild and Scenic river so remote the only way in is by floatplane.

High Water Threatens Alaska's Only Road North
A rain-fed surge down the Koyukuk could wash out the Dalton Highway — the lone road feeding the North Slope oil fields — the same way 2015's flooding shut it for 28 days.

Flood Watch: Koyukuk rises threaten Coldfoot, Wiseman, Bettles
National Weather Service issued a Flood Watch through Tuesday evening for the Upper Koyukuk Valley after heavy rain and snowmelt pushed steep water rises toward Wiseman, Coldfoot, and Bettles along the Dalton Highway.

Alaska closes Yukon subsistence salmon fishing through early June
Alaska closed subsistence Chinook and summer chum salmon fishing across the Yukon River through early June, affecting twelve upriver communities where weak salmon runs have triggered multi-year restrictions.
