Nature & Outdoors
RSSAlaska News covers outdoor recreation, trails, parks, wildlife viewing, fishing closures, and safety in Alaska's natural areas.
Sitka takes household hazardous waste free for two days next month, but not lithium-ion batteries
Sitka opens free household hazardous waste collection Saturday and Sunday at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, accepting oils, paints, antifreeze, and batteries except lithium-ion types.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Nine new deep-sea sponge species confirmed in Gulf of Alaska and Aleutians
Scientists found nine sponge species new to science off Alaska, one so strange it needed its own genus. Alaska now claims 232 kinds of sponge.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
A third Baranof Island goat zone closes early as the state guards the herd
Baranof Island's Lisa Creek goat zone closes Sept. 13 after two billies filled its quota — the third zone shut down early this year over population worries.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
NOAA is paying $735,000 for more cleanup at a site Alaska will not close
NOAA is paying $735,000 for another year of cleanup at a former weather office site, where the state has refused to close out one building yet.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min read
Alaska Fishermen's Fund appeals council to decide denied injury claims Oct. 14
Alaska commercial fishermen whose injury claims were denied get a decision Oct. 14, reached in a closed session before the council opens its doors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
The Yukon's fall chum run could support a fishery, none has opened
The Yukon's fall chum run is big enough to allow a commercial fishery for the first time since 2019. The state hasn't opened one or said why.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Subsistence salmon fishing reopens on the Tanana and Yukon after closures
Subsistence salmon fishing is reopening on the Tanana and Yukon rivers after a summer of closures, as the runs recover — though the long decline isn't over.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Retention of Aleutian rougheye and blackspotted rockfish closed for rest of 2026
Vessels working the Central and Western Aleutian districts can no longer keep blackspotted and rougheye rockfish.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Bronson calls for bottom trawling ban in state waters at Kodiak fisheries debate
Dave Bronson called for banning bottom trawling in Alaska's three-mile state waters, the only gubernatorial candidate to propose the measure at a Kodiak debate.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Gubernatorial candidates split on Board of Fisheries overhaul
Proposals range from expanding the board to nine or eleven members to stricter recusal rules and industry-conflict guidelines.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Pile driving at a Juneau fuel dock could damage seals' hearing
Federal regulators estimate a Juneau fuel dock rebuild could expose marine mammals to pile driving noise 1,660 times, 852 of them at injuring levels.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Juneau's wastewater permit would be renewed despite a record of violations
Juneau's permit to discharge treated wastewater into Gastineau Channel would be renewed, though the plant has broken its limits in 12 of the last 13 quarters.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Alaska closes another zone of the Fortymile caribou hunt
Alaska closed another zone of its Fortymile caribou hunt Friday, expecting the 100-bull limit met. Two of four state zones remain open.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Minnesota hunter cited for wanton waste of a caribou near Sagwon
Minnesota hunter cited for leaving edible meat unsalvaged on a bull caribou near Sagwon and removing antlers before finishing the salvage.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Kodiak's silver salmon are stacking up at the Buskin, waiting for rain
Kodiak's silver salmon are piling up at the mouth of the Buskin River, waiting for rain to move upstream — with only about 500 counted so far this season.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Red Dog's port has carried a top-tier air violation for years with no penalty
The port shipping Red Dog's ore has carried a top-tier EPA air-pollution violation for dust for nearly six years, with no formal state enforcement.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
Sand Point salmon fishery gets 131-hour opening in Stepovak sections
Sand Point salmon fishery opens for 131 hours Thursday through Tuesday in five Stepovak sections for purse seine and set gillnet permit holders.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Southeast geoduck season set at 264,000 pounds, first opening planned Oct. 7
Alaska cut Southeast geoduck harvest to 264,000 pounds this season, down 40% from last year, with the first opening set for October 7 pending toxin tests.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Pollock official puts bycatch impact on Western Alaska runs at 1.9%
Pollock fishing in the Bering Sea reduces Western Alaska salmon returns by 1.9% on average, but a proposed cap on chum bycatch won't take effect until 2028 and tribal groups say it's still not enough.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Bering Sea halibut boats would get a catch cap double the rest of Alaska
Bering Sea halibut boats have gone five years with no catch limit. Regulators want to fix that, at roughly double what the rest of Alaska lives with.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Bering Sea pollock companies are hiring at an Anchorage event
Companies that catch and process Bering Sea pollock are hiring at an Anchorage job event Oct. 29, for jobs that pay a share of the catch.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Fish and Wildlife is putting GPS collars on moose in the upper Tanana
Tetlin refuge would like a word with its moose. It is spending $94,542 on GPS collars to learn where they go and how well they are eating.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Southeast king crab reopens for a second year after a long drought
Southeast Alaska's king crab fishery reopens Nov. 1 for a second year after seven closed seasons — a modest comeback, still barely over the legal line.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
BLM rule would let NPR-A operators waive subsistence conditions without public notice
A new BLM rule lets oil and gas operators in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve waive mitigation conditions, including four protections for subsistence hunting, without public notice.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read
Chignik opens four districts to salmon fishing for 48 hours starting Monday
Alaska opens four Chignik districts to commercial salmon seining for 48 hours starting Monday as the region's weak king salmon run strains both fishing crews and conservation goals.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Norton Sound commercial salmon fishing closed for the rest of 2026
Norton Sound's commercial salmon fishery is closed for the rest of 2026 after most of the state's fish-counting projects failed, leaving too much uncertainty.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
Kamishak Bay pink and chum escapement runs preliminarily below goals
Pink and chum escapement in Kamishak Bay finished below their spawning targets as the Lower Cook Inlet commercial salmon season closed.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Federal money will put naloxone and first aid training on remote Alaska fishing boats
A nurse whose son died of an overdose at sea started mailing naloxone to fishing boats. Federal money will now expand it across remote Alaska.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Doyon says the Rig 26 tundra cleanup is in its final phase
Doyon says cleanup where its Rig 26 toppled near Nuiqsut has reached its final phase, though the state hasn't independently confirmed the company's account.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
NMFS closes directed perch fishing in the Western Aleutian district
Federal fisheries closed directed Pacific ocean perch fishing in the Western Aleutian district through year-end Friday after the trawl fleet's 214-metric-ton annual allowance was reached.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Southeast pink seining closes at 19.8 million fish; hatchery areas stay open
Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed Southeast pink salmon seining Friday after the fleet caught 18.7 million fish at the best prices in years.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
State opens four-permit muskox hunt in Unit 26B as herd falls to 220
Alaska will issue four bull muskox permits in Unit 26B starting Oct. 1, even though the herd has crashed to 220 animals, well below the 300-animal management target.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
The Peninsula caribou hunt opens Dec. 1 without a quota set
Alaska residents can take two caribou in the Northern Alaska Peninsula hunt opening Dec. 1, though the quota will not be set until fall surveys finish.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
NOAA will stop briefing Alaska tribes before every council meeting
NOAA Fisheries will stop briefing Alaska tribes before every North Pacific council meeting, citing a substantial drop in staff since 2025.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Razor clam permit still required on Cook Inlet as September digging season runs on
Cook Inlet razor clam diggers need a subsistence permit, not the new household permit, to harvest legally this season, and east side beaches stay closed through 2027.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
NOAA would let one boat take far more western halibut to get anyone fishing it
Alaska's halibut is not getting caught. NOAA wants to let a single boat take much more of the western quota to get somebody out there fishing it.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Volunteers are replanting a mining-scarred creek, and last year's willows lived
Volunteers replanted a mining-scarred creek near Fairbanks last year and the willows took. They are going back Sept. 26 to plant more for the grayling.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Two bulls close the bow-only moose hunt at Eklutna Lake, with hunters still out
Two bulls came out of the Eklutna Lake country and the bow hunt is over. That is roughly half a ton of meat taken off a herd of about seventy.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
NOAA proposes letting Seward cruise dock pile driving run into 2027
NOAA proposed extending Seward's cruise dock construction permit through September 2027 to finish pile driving that disturbs marine mammals in Resurrection Bay.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
Kodiak salmon fishing extended into Sunday across multiple districts
Alaska Department of Fish and Game extended Kodiak commercial salmon fishing into Sunday across multiple districts, with closing times varying by area between 6 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read