Nature & Outdoors
RSSAlaska News covers outdoor recreation, trails, parks, wildlife viewing, fishing closures, and safety in Alaska's natural areas.
The state gave Red Dog another decade of eased water limits as the mine looks to run longer
Alaska extended Red Dog's wastewater permit 10 years, to 2036, past the mine's own expected ore life, citing thawing permafrost with no available remedy.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Mat-Su loses its fall silver harvest, with one river closed without even a count
Mat-Su loses its fall silver harvest on the Susitna and Little Susitna after four weak coho years — one river closed without a count, its weir washed out.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Southeast gillnetters ride a strong pink run, with the season about to turn toward coho
Southeast gillnetters are working a strong pink salmon season, with several areas open into Thursday and the focus set to turn toward coho later this month.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Fall chum and coho fishing is closed across the Tanana drainage
Fall chum and coho fishing is closed across the Tanana drainage through year's end, a precautionary move after chum was listed as a stock of concern.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A weak sockeye return has managers ready to open a Juneau-area fishery on six hours' notice
A weak Speel Lake sockeye return near Juneau has managers ready to open a terminal fishery on six hours' notice. Escapement is below its goal range.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
Southeast seiners get another opening, with one district carrying a below-forecast pink season
Southeast seiners get another opening Tuesday, with one district carrying more than half the catch in a pink season running below the regionwide forecast.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Cook Inlet drift gillnetters drop to two days a week as the sockeye catch thins out
Cook Inlet drift gillnetters are down to Mondays and Thursdays for the season, after two openings in a row each took under 1% of the sockeye harvest.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
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.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Wasilla man fined $320 for false residency claim on a fishing and hunting license
A Wasilla man paid $320 for fudging where he lives on a fishing license. The residency rule he ran afoul of just survived a veto fight in Juneau.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
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.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Kodiak westside, Afognak and Alitak sections get a 45-hour extension
Kodiak commercial salmon fishing extended 45 hours into Monday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. across westside, Afognak and Alitak sections under state emergency order.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Prince William Sound seiners get 12 hours Sunday across six districts
Twelve hours, six districts, 8 am to 8 pm Sunday. Escapement finally looks good enough that Fish and Game is talking about every-other-day openings.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
An FAA cleanup contract for Gustavus, most of it at Metlakatla
A small new FAA contract targets Gustavus, where PFAS 'forever chemicals' from firefighting foam have kept residents on hauled-in water since 2018.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read
Three anglers cited for over-limit sockeye on the Middle Kenai River
Three anglers were cited Aug. 1 on the Middle Kenai River for keeping more sockeye salmon than the limit allowed; the excess fish were seized and donated.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
State says Kodiak landfill is out of compliance on bears and borough could be fined
Alaska says Kodiak's landfill violates wildlife rules because bears keep reaching trash, and the borough could face fines for negligently feeding them. A $250,000 fence won't solve it alone.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
In Kake, showing up means a vote on fish and game
Any voting-age Kake resident who shows up can nominate and vote at the fish and game advisory committee's Aug. 26 meeting in the subsistence-salmon village.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
NOAA is looking for a fishing boat to carry its scientists across the Gulf and Aleutians
NOAA is hiring an Alaska fishing boat to carry its scientists on a 55-day voyage across the Gulf and Aleutians, running the survey that helps set catch limits.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A federal rule will stop habitat destruction from counting as "harm" to listed species
A federal rule effective Sept. 14 stops habitat destruction from counting as harm to listed species like Cook Inlet belugas. It doesn't reach Alaska salmon.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Two Fortymile caribou zones will close after just 48 hours
Alaska closes Fortymile caribou hunt in Zones 1 and 4 on Aug. 21, just two days after opening, expecting to fill the 190-bull quota in that window.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
ADF&G asks Kenai bull moose hunters for tissue samples within 24 hours of harvest
Alaska Fish and Game wants Kenai bull moose hunters to deliver tissue samples within 24 hours of harvest, a tight window that will force some hunters to cut their field time short.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Homer's eroded Watermelon Trail is getting rerouted to protect a salmon stream
A 1920s trail near Homer, eroded 6 feet deep and dumping sediment into a salmon stream, is finally getting rerouted. Work starts Aug. 19 and wraps in 2027.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Federal regulators weigh a noise permit for a Douglas Island cruise terminal, with sea otters in the balance
Federal regulators are weighing a noise permit for a Douglas Island cruise terminal that could affect sea otters, with public comment open through Sept. 11.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Trail runner injured by brown bear near Anchorage's Prospect Heights trailhead
A woman running alone on Wolverine Bowl trail near Anchorage was injured by a brown bear Thursday, deployed bear spray, and walked out; she was hospitalized and the bear was not located.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Cook Inlet razor clam permit holders must file a harvest report or lose next year's permit
Cook Inlet razor clam permit holders have to file a harvest report by Dec. 31 — even if they never dug a clam — or lose eligibility for a permit next year.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Juneau's wastewater plant has been out of compliance for three years, and ratepayers foot the bill
Juneau's main wastewater plant has been out of federal compliance for three years, its permit expired — and sewer customers will pay the $20 million fix.
by Lucas Brown1mo ago2 min read
Deep Inlet reopens to the commercial fleet after the hatchery takes its cut
Alaska reopened Deep Inlet to commercial salmon fishing after the state hatchery finished cost-recovery operations, ending a closure that began June 28.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Chignik fishermen get a five-day opening, but most of the area stays closed on weak runs
Chignik Bay and Central districts open for commercial salmon Aug. 17-21, but the window is provisional and most other Chignik areas stay closed due to low pink and chum counts.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Gillnetters near Ketchikan and Haines get an extra day on the water
Drift gillnetters near Ketchikan and Haines got an extra day on the water this week, with some inlets and canal waters closed off in exchange.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
King salmon fishing stays closed across the Tanana drainage
King salmon fishing stays closed across the Tanana drainage, with no change, as Yukon king runs remain at historic lows and escapement goals go unmet.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Situk River's Nine Mile Bridge stretch stays closed to all fishing through Aug. 31
Alaska Fish and Game extended the Situk River Nine Mile Bridge fishing closure to Aug. 31 after the Chinook run fell to 219 fish, less than a quarter of the forecast.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Eklutna Tailrace closes stretch to anglers 16 and older Saturday
Alaska Department of Fish and Game closes a stretch of Eklutna Tailrace to anglers 16 and older on Saturday, Aug. 15, to give kids 15 and younger a youth-only coho salmon fishery from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
State testing finds little or no PFAS in Alaska marine fish, with one exception for pollock
Alaska tested 610 marine fish specimens from 2022 to 2024 and found PFAS in only five samples, all below European and Japanese food thresholds, suggesting locally caught fish pose little dietary risk.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
From California to Southeast Alaska, salmon fisheries are closing in lockstep this week — under the same treaty
Southeast Alaska's king troll fishery hit its treaty cap and closed the same week West Coast fisheries are closing — all tied to the same shared Chinook.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A NOAA study finds Pacific capelin may spawn more than once
A NOAA study found 41% of the Pacific capelin examined can spawn more than once — upending the assumption that, like salmon, they spawn once and die.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago3 min read
Kodiak's Saltery Cove anglers get their five-fish sockeye limit back after a thin July
Kodiak's Saltery Cove anglers get their five-fish sockeye limit back after a thin run recovered — though the area's subsistence closure remains in place.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
New $605k research asks why some Denali spruce survive the beetles
A spruce beetle outbreak has killed up to 60% of the spruce around Denali. New UAA research will dig into why some trees die and others survive.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
The panels that shape Alaska's pollock and cod catch limits meet next month
The scientific panels that shape catch limits for Alaska's pollock, cod and rockfish meet Sept. 8-11 to start setting what the fleet can take in 2027 and 2028.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
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.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Kamishak District closed to seining after survey found fewer pinks
Alaska closes the Kamishak District to commercial salmon seining Wednesday night after an aerial survey found fewer pink salmon than expected in Lower Cook Inlet.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Sheep mortality has run near triple its long-term rate in three Alaska ranges, state research finds
A GPS collar on a Dall sheep ram triggered a mortality signal, leading state biologists to a kill site showing signs of bear predation in the Alaska Range.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read