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Storm to raise water up to 5 feet above the tide line, Golovin to Wainwright

Coastal flooding could push water 2 to 5 feet above the high tide line along much of western and northern Alaska this week, across several tide cycles.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Western Alaska coast from Golovin to Wainwright
Cover image for article: Storm to raise water up to 5 feet above the tide line, Golovin to Wainwright

A court struck down a fishery council's power. Alaska's council has the same one.

A court found a Gulf fishery council's veto unconstitutional — and Alaska's council holds the same power, behind the CDQ program and other fishing regimes.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Alaska
Cover image for article: A court struck down a fishery council's power. Alaska's council has the same one.

The paperwork behind 65 villages' share of the Bering Sea is up for renewal

Sixty-five Western Alaska villages hold a share of the Bering Sea. Keeping the paperwork current takes 36 hours a year, and it is up for renewal.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Western Alaska
Cover image for article: The paperwork behind 65 villages' share of the Bering Sea is up for renewal

Water forecast 2 to 4 feet above normal high tide in Eastern Norton Sound

Water along Eastern Norton Sound should run 2 to 4 feet above normal high tide from late Thursday into Saturday, with beach erosion likely.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Eastern Norton Sound, Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Water forecast 2 to 4 feet above normal high tide in Eastern Norton Sound

Tanana subsistence chum fishing reopens while coho stays closed

Tanana subsistence fishers can take chum around the clock again. Coho stay closed, with the run projected near a third of its historical average.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Yukon River District 6, Alaska
Cover image for article: Tanana subsistence chum fishing reopens while coho stays closed

Anchorage marks preparedness month after housing 655 evacuees

Anchorage took in 655 evacuees from Western Alaska after Typhoon Halong. The Assembly recognizes September as National Preparedness Month on Tuesday.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage, Alaska
Cover image for article: Anchorage marks preparedness month after housing 655 evacuees

Forecasters expect 25 to 35 mph gusts across Fairbanks area Saturday

Gusty west-southwest winds of 25 to 35 mph will hit the Fairbanks area and Interior valleys through Saturday night, with the National Weather Service warning pilots to get aviation-specific briefings.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Fairbanks, Alaska
Cover image for article: Forecasters expect 25 to 35 mph gusts across Fairbanks area Saturday

Federal Judge threw out Trump's offshore drilling without deciding the question

A judge dismissed the challenge to Trump's offshore reopening on standing, without ruling on whether he had the authority. The groups can refile.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Alaska
Cover image for article: Federal Judge threw out Trump's offshore drilling without deciding the question

Yukon families get chum back, but only in the tributaries

Yukon families can take chum again, but only in the tributaries. The mainstem carries the Canadian-origin run, projected far below its border goal.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon families get chum back, but only in the tributaries

Storm-displaced western Alaska workers can still get job help

Western Alaska workers displaced by last fall's storms can still get job-search help at the state's job centers, even as one disaster aid deadline has passed.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Storm-displaced western Alaska workers can still get job help

A village-based fire crew from Nulato gets federal funding through 2031

BLM awarded Nulato Hills Enterprises $495,000 to staff a Type 2 wildland fire crew through March 2031, continuing a pattern of federal contracts that bring seasonal cash to rural Alaska villages.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Nulato, Alaska
Cover image for article: A village-based fire crew from Nulato gets federal funding through 2031

Charter plane crash at Cape Newenham radar site kills eight

Eight people died when a charter plane crashed on approach to the Cape Newenham radar site in western Alaska. Two pilots and six passengers were aboard.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Cape Newenham, Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Charter plane crash at Cape Newenham radar site kills eight

A Fort Yukon tribal crew that fights fire across the country just locked in funding through 2031

A Fort Yukon tribal fire crew — Native firefighters protecting an area larger than Texas — just locked in federal funding through 2031.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fort Yukon, Alaska
Cover image for article: A Fort Yukon tribal crew that fights fire across the country just locked in funding through 2031

Yukon coho are running far below normal, and even a strong chum year likely won't reopen fishing

Yukon River coho are running far below normal as their peak season opens, and even a strong fall chum year likely won't reopen subsistence fishing.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon coho are running far below normal, and even a strong chum year likely won't reopen fishing

A company wants to rework historic Interior goldfields, mining two creeks for a decade

A company wants to mine gold for a decade from two creeks in Alaska's historic Ruby goldfields, first struck in 1911, disturbing about 35 acres of streambed.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Manley Hot Springs, Alaska
Cover image for article: A company wants to rework historic Interior goldfields, mining two creeks for a decade

Rain is coming to the Interior, and the small creeks will rise — but the big rivers are low enough to take it

Rain will raise the small creeks feeding the Koyukuk and Middle Yukon, but the big rivers are low enough to take it — a routine wet stretch, not a threat.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Interior Alaska
Cover image for article: Rain is coming to the Interior, and the small creeks will rise — but the big rivers are low enough to take it

Saint Mary's woman, 42, dies pinned under an ATV in Pitkas Point

Tragic accident - a woman from Saint Mary's died Saturday night after being pinned under an ATV in Pitkas Point, Troopers said

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Pitkas Point, Alaska
Cover image for article: Saint Mary's woman, 42, dies pinned under an ATV in Pitkas Point

Yukon fall salmon fishing closes at the peak of the season, not for a weak run but to meet Canada's share

Yukon fall salmon fishing closed at the peak of the season for Interior households — not for a weak run, but because Canada's treaty share has to pass first.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon fall salmon fishing closes at the peak of the season, not for a weak run but to meet Canada's share

Anchorage firm gets $77,900 more work at the Phoenix building it maintains

Anchorage firm Tunista Logistics Solutions won two federal repair contracts worth about $77,900 for a Phoenix building, part of a pattern of Alaska companies winning GSA work outside the state.

Melinda Communities.Newsby Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage, Alaska
Cover image for article: Anchorage firm gets $77,900 more work at the Phoenix building it maintains

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.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Koyukuk River and Innoko River drainages, Alaska
Cover image for article: Upper Koyukuk and Innoko villages can keep every salmon again starting Monday

Dalton corridor suit is not over: groups appeal, and 700,000 acres remain in dispute

Alaska is set to gain Dalton Highway land promised at statehood, but conservation groups fight it on appeal, and tribes warn it strips subsistence rights.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Dalton Highway corridor, Alaska
Cover image for article: Dalton corridor suit is not over: groups appeal, and 700,000 acres remain in dispute

Nearly four years on, Alaska has been paid 15 percent of Merbok's $90.9 million

Nearly four years after Typhoon Merbok, only about 15% of the FEMA rebuild money has been paid out — and the deadline to finish the work is seven weeks away.

Lucas Brownby Lucas Brown2mo ago3 min read
Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Nearly four years on, Alaska has been paid 15 percent of Merbok's $90.9 million

Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes as the Canadian-bound run comes in far below treaty levels

Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes Saturday as the Canada-bound run falls far below treaty levels, deepening food-security strain for families.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Yukon River
Cover image for article: Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes as the Canadian-bound run comes in far below treaty levels

Yukon salmon conservation rules are now locked into state regulation, not left to managers' discretion

Yukon salmon conservation is now binding state regulation — fixed thresholds that keep the river's own commercial and much subsistence fishing closed.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon salmon conservation rules are now locked into state regulation, not left to managers' discretion

The Yukon River is mostly closed to salmon fishing this year

The Yukon is mostly closed to salmon fishing in 2026 — kings, chum, likely coho — with runs badly depressed and kings barred under a U.S.-Canada pact.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: The Yukon River is mostly closed to salmon fishing this year

Ketchikan anglers can keep more kings this month, even with a slow run

Ketchikan anglers can keep more kings this month even though the run is slow, though area closures still apply and the department hasn't explained the increase.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Ketchikan, Alaska
Cover image for article: Ketchikan anglers can keep more kings this month, even with a slow run

Alaska would give up a land claim so three Native Vietnam veterans can finally get their allotments

Alaska would give up its claim to 480 acres on the Yukon so three Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans can finally get land allotments cut off when Congress ended the program in 1971.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Alaska would give up a land claim so three Native Vietnam veterans can finally get their allotments
· From

Tanana's rebuilt village clinic has opened

Tanana's village health clinic has reopened after a tribe-led rehabilitation of a building that needed structural repair, one of nearly 40 clinics TCC runs in the Interior.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Tanana, Alaska
Cover image for article: Tanana's rebuilt village clinic has opened

Pollock fleet holds an Anchorage job fair days before a bycatch-shaped election

Days before the final vote, the Bering Sea pollock fleet holds an Anchorage job fair — as salmon bycatch, and a new mandatory chum cap, roil the 2026 campaign.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Anchorage, Alaska
Cover image for article: Pollock fleet holds an Anchorage job fair days before a bycatch-shaped election

Yukon fall salmon subsistence fishing closes as the run falls short

Fall chum and coho subsistence fishing is closing across the upper Yukon as the run falls short, the last in a season of closures that moved steadily up the river.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon fall salmon subsistence fishing closes as the run falls short

A 675-mile snowmachine patrol reached nine Interior villages

Tanana Chiefs Conference officers ran a 675-mile snowmachine patrol across nine Interior villages, part of a push to extend law enforcement to remote Alaska.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Interior Alaska
Cover image for article: A 675-mile snowmachine patrol reached nine Interior villages
· From

A war half a world away is about to freeze into rural Alaska's winter fuel bills

Rural Alaska buys a year of fuel in one summer barge delivery, so the Iran-driven price spike will lock into winter bills — with heating fuel hitting $15/gallon in some villages and the state's main subsidy covering none of it.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min read
Interior Alaska
Cover image for article: A war half a world away is about to freeze into rural Alaska's winter fuel bills

A fisherman found the stranded boaters before the Coast Guard could launch

A local fisherman found two overdue boaters stranded on a sandbar near Toksook Bay before the Coast Guard could even launch, a familiar story in Western Alaska.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Toksook Bay, Alaska
Cover image for article: A fisherman found the stranded boaters before the Coast Guard could launch

Carved salmon fill a Fairbanks health center as the real Yukon run collapses

Artist Ramy Brooks has installed two Yukon fish-camp salmon sculptures at a Fairbanks health center — arriving as the real Yukon runs collapse and closures shut off fishing across the drainage.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks, Alaska
Cover image for article: Carved salmon fill a Fairbanks health center as the real Yukon run collapses

Trident is renewing its tanker spill plan, in waters it has spilled in before

Trident is renewing the spill plan for two tankers that move oil through Alaska waters — and the company has spilled here before. Comment by Aug. 27.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Alaska
Cover image for article: Trident is renewing its tanker spill plan, in waters it has spilled in before

An Ekwok safety officer was assaulted doing the job alone

An Ekwok village safety officer was assaulted at the clinic following up on a case — the risk of being the lone law enforcement in a remote village.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Ekwok, Alaska
Cover image for article: An Ekwok safety officer was assaulted doing the job alone

Federal rule changes loosen protections for Alaska's listed species

New federal rules quietly loosen Endangered Species Act protections just as Alaska's development push accelerates, with belugas, polar bears and eiders in the balance.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska
Cover image for article: Federal rule changes loosen protections for Alaska's listed species

One new rural Alaska prosecutor, against deep tribal-justice cuts

The DOJ is adding one rural Alaska prosecutor while proposing to cut the budgets that fund tribal police and victim services by roughly a quarter.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Alaska
Cover image for article: One new rural Alaska prosecutor, against deep tribal-justice cuts

Western Alaska leaders take food security to a circumpolar assembly

Western Alaska tribal leaders are in Nunavut for the first circumpolar Inuit assembly in nearly a decade, with food security high on the agenda.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Iqaluit, Nunavut
Cover image for article: Western Alaska leaders take food security to a circumpolar assembly

A permitting bill could open the federal fast lane to Alaska projects

A bill would drop the federal fast-track permitting threshold to $50 million — opening the program to Alaska projects too small to qualify until now.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Washington, District of Columbia
Cover image for article: A permitting bill could open the federal fast lane to Alaska projects