Nature & Outdoors
RSSAlaska News covers outdoor recreation, trails, parks, wildlife viewing, fishing closures, and safety in Alaska's natural areas.
The council that runs Alaska's fisheries has no tribal vote
The North Pacific council that runs Alaska's federal fisheries has no tribal voting seat. Tribes have fought for years to change it, so far without success.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Nushagak kings close on the calendar, not on a recovery
Nushagak-Mulchatna kings close Friday, release-only to the end. The restrictions lift on the calendar even though projected passage is less than half the goal.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska takes over hazardous waste rules, with enforcement in question
Alaska just took over hazardous waste regulation from the feds — the first state in 25 years. The open question: can it enforce the rules in remote Alaska?
by Lucas Brown2mo ago1 min read
Strong sockeye run opens Fish Creek to six salmon a day
A banner sockeye run opens Fish Creek early, doubling the sport limit to six salmon a day through Aug. 15. Kings still off-limits, coho capped at two.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
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.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
State opens comment on $5.8 million Cook Inlet setnet relief plan
Cook Inlet's East Side setnetters get to weigh in on splitting $5.8 million in disaster relief, arriving two-plus years after the 2023 season that earned it.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
The state is opening Kenai lynx season — and already predicting it'll close next year
Alaska is opening Kenai lynx season Dec. 15–Feb. 28 while already predicting it'll close next year — the cats are heading toward the bottom of their boom-bust cycle.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
State cost-share helps Kenai and Mat-Su fix eroding riverbanks
Kenai and Mat-Su landowners can get the state to cover up to half or two-thirds of eroding-bank repairs — if they use salmon-friendly fixes, not rock armor.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A federal minerals program is funding science on the seafloor mining wants to dig
An NSF grant is funding UAF-run science at a Pacific seamount through a "critical minerals" program — on the same mineral-rich seafloor that deep-sea mining wants, and that scientists call living habitat.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
To understand today's coastal flooding, a UAF scientist will study an ancient one
A UAF scientist will spend two years studying how the sea drowned the Bering Land Bridge — because the same western Alaska coast is flooding again, and the ancient record is a forecast.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Weak sockeye run tightens fishing at Saltery Creek, twice in two days
A no-show sockeye run at Kodiak's Saltery Creek closes extra subsistence waters and cuts the sport limit from five fish to two, two restrictions in two days.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read
Kids get the Homer Spit's prime fishing spot for a day
Kids get the Homer Spit's best fishing hole to themselves Saturday for the lagoon's youth day — a perk some shut-out adults grumble about.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Begich bill would make Alaska trawlers carry salmon excluder gear
Alaska's delegation wants trawlers to carry salmon excluders and seafloor sensors, as bycatch keeps killing Chinook from western Alaska's collapsed runs.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
UAF grant aims to read what a volcano is doing while it does it
A UAF grant aims to turn a volcano's rumble and infrasound into a live readout of how hard it's erupting, with Aleutian air traffic as the stakes.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
NOAA asks how to simplify import rules Alaska waited a decade for
Import rules Alaska harvesters waited ten years for took effect Jan. 1. Seven months later, NOAA wants to know how to make them easier to run.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
The state ordered Cook Inlet setnetters onto gear their permits don't allow
Alaska ordered Cook Inlet setnetters onto gear their permits don't allow, deepening a years-long squeeze on a fishery it controls in state waters.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
With 331 belugas left, the Park Service is chartering a boat to learn what they eat
Just 331 Cook Inlet belugas remain, so the Park Service is chartering a boat to study what they eat in winter — while critics say research alone won't save them.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Portland fisherman cited for fishing during a closed period in Kvichak Section
Alaska Wildlife Troopers cited a Portland fisherman for illegal netting in Bristol Bay. This is one of 11 recent enforcement cases.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Alaskan Alpine Club seeks permit for new Alaska Range hut near Healy
A climbing club wants to build a new hut at the base of Nenana Mountain — a rare addition to Alaska's tiny backcountry hut network. Comments are open now.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Troopers cite 12 dipnetters on the Kenai in one day
Troopers wrote at least 12 dipnet citations on the Kenai in a single day, mostly for fishing after hours. The reward: $120 bail and a long drive home.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read
Alaska opens all of Togiak to fishing with the sockeye count far below goal
Alaska is opening the whole Togiak District to commercial fishing with the sockeye count at a fraction of its goal — and no stated reason why.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Cook Inlet drifters get 12 more hours as Kasilof sockeye double the goal
Kasilof sockeye are running at double the escapement goal, so Cook Inlet drifters get 12 hours Monday — still two miles off the beach for the kings.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kenai dipnetting goes 24 hours as sockeye run hits 3 million
Daaaaang! Kenai sockeye are running hot — 3 million projected — so dipnetting goes 24 hours a day through Friday's season close. Residents only, and kings go back.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Whale permit for Ketchikan bridge counts down to the single animal
Federal regulators will let a Ketchikan bridge project disturb up to 63 humpback whales. Last season's number was 62. Nobody filed a comment either way.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Copper River stays closed to commercial fishing as sockeye run under forecast
Copper River stays shut to commercial fishing as sockeye lag forecast; the only opening on the books is a 12-hour subsistence period Monday morning.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A routine Yakutat fishing closure lands on a shrinking fleet
Yakutat's dusky rockfish season closed on schedule — routine, except for a shrinking small-boat fleet counting the ways left to make a living.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Kuskokwim mainstem reopens early as six spawning tributaries stay closed to Chinook and chum
Strong sonar counts returned the Kuskokwim mainstem to state management July 13, but six spawning tributaries stay closed to Chinook and chum through July 31.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kuskokwim Bay subsistence fishing closes so commercial boats can fish
Kuskokwim Bay subsistence fishing closes Monday through Friday so the same waters can open to commercial fishing — the latest such swap this month.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Southeast shrimp fishery closes, and three areas won't reopen
Southeast's commercial shrimp fishery closes in eight areas July 31, and three won't reopen this fall or winter as shrimp numbers keep sliding.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Frederick Sound chum stays below average as pink salmon rebound
Chum Slumps. Chum Slumps. Chum Slumps.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A permit to study 14 Alaska marine mammal species is up for comment
A Fairbanks firm wants a federal permit to study 14 Alaska marine mammal species. NOAA is taking public comment through Aug. 26.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A Kodiak king salmon collapse is squeezing everyone who fishes
Just 93 king salmon reached the Karluk to spawn last year, against a goal of 3,000-plus. That collapse is why Kodiak's fleet is fishing on the clock.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
The North Slope's fuel farms sit on thawing ground
The state is renewing spill plans for eight North Slope fuel farms sitting on ground that is thawing and eroding out from under them.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Mercury in Western Aleutian sea lion pups exceeds safety thresholds, prompting $1.5M NSF study
Mercury in endangered Aleutian sea lions has doubled in a decade, and pups now top safety limits. Scientists want to know why before it reaches people.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Kodiak boats have nowhere legal to store hazardous waste
Kodiak boats make hazardous waste year-round, but the island collects it twice a year — and nowhere on Kodiak can legally hold it in between.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Cook Inlet clammers need a permit, and the east-side beaches stay empty
You now need a permit to dig razor clams on Cook Inlet — though on the Kenai's east-side beaches, closed since 2015, there is almost nothing left to dig.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Strong escapement at one weir is driving long Alaska Peninsula openings
One weir at Orzinski counts salmon for the whole South Alaska Peninsula. It's running above average, and the openings have gotten long to match.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A dog reported killed in the Bear Valley bear attack turned up alive
The dog reported killed in Saturday's Bear Valley bear attack is alive and unhurt — another hiking party found it and brought it home.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Togiak sockeye escapement far below goal as fishing cuts loom
Low Fish counts lead to questions on season in Togiak
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read