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The Tongass National Forest sign stands near the Auke Village Recreation Area. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

USDA announces intent to rescind Roadless Rule protections

The deadline for public comment is Sept. 19

The Tongass National Forest sign stands near the Auke Village Recreation Area. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
Waterfalls in Taku Inlet are seen during a 2024 boat excursion by participants in the third annual Transboundary Mining Conference. (Jasz Garrett/ Juneau Empire)

EPA announces $1.7M in transboundary watershed grants, including over $600K for Southeast projects

Recipients of the grant funding include Tlingit & Haida, Ketchikan Indian Community, and ADF&G

Waterfalls in Taku Inlet are seen during a 2024 boat excursion by participants in the third annual Transboundary Mining Conference. (Jasz Garrett/ Juneau Empire)
A harbor seal is released into Cook Inlet by the Alaska SeaLife Center’s Wildlife Response Program at North Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward’s SeaLife Center releases 2 harbor seals at Kenai beach

The two seals were admitted into the center’s Wildlife Response Program in June.

A harbor seal is released into Cook Inlet by the Alaska SeaLife Center’s Wildlife Response Program at North Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
COVID vaccine doses at a vaccination site at a shopping mall in Bayamn, Puerto Rico, Jan. 7, 2022. The FDA has approved updated Covid vaccines for the fall 2025 season that limit who can get the shots, the federal government’s most restrictive policy since the vaccines became available. (Erika P. Rodriguez/The New York Times)

FDA approves COVID shots with new restrictions

The policy is the federal government’s most restrictive since the vaccines became available

COVID vaccine doses at a vaccination site at a shopping mall in Bayamn, Puerto Rico, Jan. 7, 2022. The FDA has approved updated Covid vaccines for the fall 2025 season that limit who can get the shots, the federal government’s most restrictive policy since the vaccines became available. (Erika P. Rodriguez/The New York Times)
Members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources talk with reporters at Juneau International Airport on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

US House delegation visits Alaska this week, with focus on mining, timber and drilling

Ten members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources are visiting Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, including addressing the annual conference of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association

Members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources talk with reporters at Juneau International Airport on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Photo by Don Miller
Don Miller took this photograph of a Lituya Bay hillside shortly after the giant wave in 1958.

Alaska Science Forum: The giant wave of Lituya Bay

In 1958, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake triggered a tremendous landslide into the ocean.

Photo by Don Miller
Don Miller took this photograph of a Lituya Bay hillside shortly after the giant wave in 1958.
Haiyun Jiang / The New York Times
A container ship docks at Dutch Harbor in Unalaska, Aug. 13. Threatened by the president with political retribution, Republicans agreed to defund public broadcasting, imperiling a lifeline of communication in rural Alaska.

Public broadcast cuts hit rural areas, revealing a political shift

245 public broadcasting grantees in rural communities — including 27 stations in Alaska — are at risk of going off the air.

Haiyun Jiang / The New York Times
A container ship docks at Dutch Harbor in Unalaska, Aug. 13. Threatened by the president with political retribution, Republicans agreed to defund public broadcasting, imperiling a lifeline of communication in rural Alaska.
The Sealaska Corporation building is photographed July 11, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire)

Sealaska names new president

Sealaska is an Alaska Native corporation serving Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people

The Sealaska Corporation building is photographed July 11, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire)
The downed aircraft near Haines, Alaska, Aug. 24, 2025. The pilot was the only person aboard the aircraft and had no reported injuries. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Air Station Sitka)

Coast Guard rescues man from downed aircraft near Haines

The rescued pilot was reported “in good condition”

The downed aircraft near Haines, Alaska, Aug. 24, 2025. The pilot was the only person aboard the aircraft and had no reported injuries. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Air Station Sitka)
James Edens looks at 35mm film he had just developed. Photo by By Jonathon Dawe/ Wrangell Sentinel)

Father and son share love for old-school film photography

For photographers like James Edens, film photography never lost its allure

James Edens looks at 35mm film he had just developed. Photo by By Jonathon Dawe/ Wrangell Sentinel)
Old growth habitat is as impressive as it is spectacular. (Photo by Jeff Lund/Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: The right investments

Engaged participation in restoration and meaningful investment in recreation can make the future of Southeast special

Old growth habitat is as impressive as it is spectacular. (Photo by Jeff Lund/Juneau Empire)
An ultra-endurance long-range drone registered to Vanilla Unmanned crashed into a bluff near Ninilchik, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (Contributed photo)
An ultra-endurance long-range drone registered to Vanilla Unmanned crashed into a bluff near Ninilchik, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (Contributed photo)
Photo by Erin Thompson / Peninsula Clarion
KTOO, Juneau’s public radio station, is photographed July 11.

Grants to boost local emergency alert systems in question as public media agency closes

The change comes after Republican lawmakers voted last month to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Photo by Erin Thompson / Peninsula Clarion
KTOO, Juneau’s public radio station, is photographed July 11.
Salmon dry on a rack in Quinhagak, a Yup’ik village in Western Alaska, in July 2023. Salmon is a staple of the traditional Indigenous diet in Alaska and one of the main foods harvested through subsistence practices. (Alice Bailey/University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Federal appeals court preserves Alaska’s two-tier system for subsistence fishing management

State attorneys had argued for a new interpretation after recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions

Salmon dry on a rack in Quinhagak, a Yup’ik village in Western Alaska, in July 2023. Salmon is a staple of the traditional Indigenous diet in Alaska and one of the main foods harvested through subsistence practices. (Alice Bailey/University of Alaska Fairbanks)
Former Alaska House Rep. Ben Carpenter and Ray Southwell rise in support of speaker David Haeg during a town hall on the Alaska grand jury process in the Betty J. Glick Assembly Chambers in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

State attorney general discusses new ‘investigative grand jury’ process at town hall

The State Department of Law in July rolled out a new, formalized process for Alaska residents to request an investigation by a grand jury.

Former Alaska House Rep. Ben Carpenter and Ray Southwell rise in support of speaker David Haeg during a town hall on the Alaska grand jury process in the Betty J. Glick Assembly Chambers in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Yukon government / Yukon.ca
Jeanie McLean, James Cockrell and Tracy-Anne McPhee signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of Yukon and Alaska on Aug. 12 to share information on gender-based violence in the North.

Yukon and Alaska will share data on gender-based violence against Indigenous people

Cross-border agreement aims to protect Indigenous communities and prevent gender-based violence in the North

Yukon government / Yukon.ca
Jeanie McLean, James Cockrell and Tracy-Anne McPhee signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of Yukon and Alaska on Aug. 12 to share information on gender-based violence in the North.
The Alaska Capitol is photographed Friday, July 11, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire)

Alaska Legislature gavels in and out, taking no further action in special session

Legislative leaders say they’ve already accomplished their priorities

The Alaska Capitol is photographed Friday, July 11, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire)
Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File
This April 12, 2022, photo shows former Alaska Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, D-Anchorage. Begich announced his candidacy for Alaska governor this week.

Former state Sen. Tom Begich becomes 1st Democrat to indicate run for Alaska governor in 2026

The Anchorage resident, from a prominent political family, says he will conduct statewide listening tour, and focus on the state’s future

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File
This April 12, 2022, photo shows former Alaska Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, D-Anchorage. Begich announced his candidacy for Alaska governor this week.
Broad-petaled gentian flowers were almost hidden in the other vegetation. (M.F. Wilson)

On the Trails: Late summer flowers

A stroll on the dike trail yielded floral signs that it was now late summer

Broad-petaled gentian flowers were almost hidden in the other vegetation. (M.F. Wilson)
Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire
A black bear eats dandelions in a field on June 20 in Juneau.

Weekly Wonder: Bears: Beloved fuzzy Juneau residents — Part 1

My favorite sight, often visible from Egan drive, is the black bear

Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire
A black bear eats dandelions in a field on June 20 in Juneau.