Copper River Basin
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Cordova council waives protest of Moose Caboose liquor license despite doubts about its hours
Cordova's council won't fight the Moose Caboose's liquor license renewal, though members doubt it's open much. Proving that is the hard part.

State approves easement to rebuild Cordova's failing Eyak Lake weir, built in 1972
Cordova's 1972 Eyak Lake weir is leaking and leaning. The state just cleared the way to rebuild it, with construction slated to start this winter.

Snow and freezing rain advisories cover Copper Valley and McCarthy into Sunday morning
Winter weather advisories cover Copper Valley and McCarthy through Sunday morning, with 2 to 4 inches of snow and freezing rain expected to make travel very difficult.

UAA gets $725,000 for nursing simulation equipment at rural campus sites
UAA got $725,000 in federal money for nursing simulation gear for rural students, where clinical placements are a big limit on how many can enroll.

Copper River EMS gets $291,000 in federal money to rebuild its main 911 ambulance
Copper River EMS has $291,000 in federal money to rebuild its main 911 ambulance instead of buying a new one. Its backup rig is nearly 30 years old.

Chitina dip net permit holders must report online by Oct. 15
Chitina dipnetters: report your 2026 harvest online by Oct. 15, even if you got skunked. Miss it, and your whole household sits out next season.

Board of Fisheries takes written comments through Oct. 13 for its October work session
The Board of Fisheries meets in Anchorage Oct. 28-29 to decide which off-cycle proposals to take up. Want a say? Written comments only, due Oct. 13.

Maximum SNAP food benefits in Alaska rise about 1.6% starting Thursday, with rural areas highest
Alaska's SNAP maximums rise about 1.6% Thursday. A rural family of four can now get up to $2,027 a month, though actual benefits depend on income.

MatCom adds two fire and EMS dispatch positions paid for by the Mat-Su Borough
MatCom gets two more fire and medical dispatch positions so a second dispatcher and call taker can be on duty around the clock. The borough pays.

McCarthy meeting to take up Copper River proposals on salmon eligibility and dip net limits
A local subsistence panel meets Oct. 9 in McCarthy on proposals to add McCarthy Road residents to a salmon fishery and ban dip nets near Copper River streams.

FBI renews $1.37 million visitor-management software order with Anchorage-based company
The FBI is paying an Anchorage-based, tribally owned company $1.37 million to renew the software it uses to manage visitors at its facilities.

Copper River commercial salmon season closes Oct. 13 after weak sockeye and strong coho runs
Copper River's commercial salmon season ends Oct. 13. Sockeye came in at a third of forecast, kings hit an eight-year low, and coho decided to make up for it.

Bering River moose hunt closes after hunters reach 15-bull cap
The Bering River moose hunt closes Friday at its 15-bull cap. The herd behind it is estimated at 213 animals, against an objective of 300 to 350.

Alaska released 310 acres near Slana to the university over its own agencies' objections
The state released 310 acres near Slana for the university over objections from DOT, two of its own land sections and every commenter. DNR's reply: thanks.

Copper River responders will learn to start addiction treatment in the field
One paid ambulance crew and 20 volunteers cover an area bigger than West Virginia. A $300,000 grant will train them to reverse overdoses in the field.

Nelchina caribou could be hunted again in 2027 under a state proposal
Nelchina caribou hunters could get 150 Tier II bulls in 2027. The herd has more than doubled since 2023 but is still below the state's goal.

The park could have added ten days of moose hunting. It added two.
Unit 11 subsistence moose hunters get two extra days out of a possible ten, with the park citing a declining population and no current estimate.

A goat season that runs to January is closing after six days
A goat hunt east of Unakwik Inlet closes Sunday, six days into a season that runs to January. The department says 30 days is closer to normal.

Kotzebue's chum run beat the forecast; the state will not say by how much
Kotzebue's chum harvest beat the forecast, and the state will not say by how much. Nobody counted the fish upriver for the second year running.

Copper River coho periods stretch to 36 hours next week
Copper River gillnetters get 36-hour openings Monday and Thursday, up from 24-hour periods, after a delta survey counted 40,780 coho above the expected range, following a difficult summer.

Fish and Game suspends ice house registration in the Copper Basin
Ice anglers in the Copper Basin won't have to register their fishing shelters this winter, after the state found there's no way to do it online.

Copper River Delta moose hunt closes six weeks early at 24 of 25 bulls
Bull moose hunting on the Copper River Delta closes Wednesday night, six weeks early, after hunters took 24 of the 25 bulls the state allowed.

Wasilla council commits to planning a regional dispatch center outside city limits
Wasilla agreed to help plan moving its emergency dispatch center out of town. The reason for the hurry is a fire station going up on Bogard Road.

The any-bull option closes in Unit 13C after three moose filled the quota
The any-bull option closes in Unit 13C at midnight Tuesday after three bulls filled the quota. The subunit's allotment dropped from five last year.

Alaska's August was warmer than its July, for the fourth time in a century
August was warmer than July in Alaska this year, which has happened four times since 1924. July was the coldest since 2008 and kept the fires down.

Wasilla weighs $569,600 for round-the-clock Fire/EMS dispatch at MatCom
Wasilla City Council will vote Monday on a $569,600 budget amendment to add round-the-clock dual dispatchers at MatCom, funded entirely by the Mat-Su Borough.

Moose hunter flown off upper Chistochina River after medical emergency
A moose hunter with a medical emergency on the remote upper Chistochina River was flown out by helicopter Monday and handed to waiting medics, troopers said.

An Ahtna-owned company will demolish buildings at a West Virginia park
An Anchorage company owned by the Ahtna regional corporation will demolish abandoned buildings at New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia.

Haines donation drive collects wood stoves and building supplies for Tok fire rebuilding
Haines residents are collecting wood stoves, refrigerators, and building supplies for Tok-area households rebuilding after the Mukluk Fire destroyed 50 homes in August.

A Cordova tribe's company will rebuild the Labor Department Great Hall
A tribe based in Cordova, a town you can reach only by boat or plane, will rebuild the Great Hall at the U.S. Department of Labor headquarters.

Alaska's smallest fire year since 1995 was also one of its most destructive
Alaska's quietest fire season in 30 years still took 50 homes at Tok, in a fire a climate specialist calls among the most destructive in state history.

Fifty homes destroyed at Tok in Alaska's lightest burn year since 1995
The Mukluk Fire destroyed more than 40 homes at Tok during Alaska's lightest burn year since 1995, making it one of the most destructive fires in state history despite record-low statewide acreage.

Copper River dipnet and subsistence fishing runs through Sept. 30
Copper River dipnetters have until Sept. 30 to fish, closing out a below-average sockeye year — and the river gauge is down, so check conditions first.

An Anchorage firm will guard a federal satellite archive in South Dakota
An Anchorage company owned by Ahtna Athabascan shareholders will guard a federal satellite data archive in South Dakota for five years.

When the Memphis courthouse needs work, the government calls Anchorage
An Anchorage company owned by a Copper River village corporation has taken five federal orders at one Memphis courthouse this year, worth about $514,000.

Cordova's visitor numbers support 0.03 of a tourism liquor license. Rounded up, that is one.
Copper River Brewing seeks Cordova's first seasonal tourism liquor license, which would let families dine and hear live music April through September if the state approves it Sept. 1.

Federal grant of $3.6 million funds seismic retrofits on eight Interior Alaska bridges
Alaska has $3.64 million in federal money to earthquake-proof eight bridges its own engineers priced at somewhere between $5 million and $10 million.

Alaska extends fire season to Sept. 14 in Delta, Tok and Copper River areas
Burn permits will stay required two extra weeks, through Sept. 14, in the Delta, Tok and Copper River areas, after a dry summer left fuels parched at depth.

A tiny Copper River village corporation is quietly renovating federal courthouses across Tennessee
A company owned by tiny Chitina Native Corporation, from a Copper River dipnetting town of about 260 shareholders, is racking up federal courthouse renovation jobs across Tennessee.

Copper River gillnetters get a 12-hour opener Monday, half the last period
Copper River and Bering River gillnetters get 12 hours Monday, half of last week's opener, as Fish and Game tries to keep building early salmon escapement.
