Search Results for: SUSTAINABLE ALASKA

Zach Gionatti
Aerial image of Kipnuk, the Kugkaktlik River, and surrounding lakes in 2023.

Rural communities, tribes sue EPA over $2.8B in canceled funding for flood mitigation and resilience projects

The sudden withholding of federal funds poses an existential threat to projects that have been in the works for years in communities across the U.S.

Zach Gionatti
Aerial image of Kipnuk, the Kugkaktlik River, and surrounding lakes in 2023.
KCAW in Sitka is one of more than two dozen public radio stations broadcasting across Alaska. (Photo by Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
KCAW in Sitka is one of more than two dozen public radio stations broadcasting across Alaska. (Photo by Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
Fresh-picked lettuces are for sale at the final Homer Farmers Market of the year on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

USDA ends regional food program, pulls $6M from Alaska businesses

On July 15, the Alaska Food Policy Council was notified that the USDA had terminated the Regional Food Business Center Program “effective immediately.”

Fresh-picked lettuces are for sale at the final Homer Farmers Market of the year on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Bob Girt works with the Alaska Youth Stewards on Prince of Wales Island in 2022. (Photo courtesy of Bethany Goodrich / Sustainable Southeast Partnership)

Threads of the Tongass: Building a sustainable future

“These students can look back and say, ‘I helped build that. I was a contributor.’”

Bob Girt works with the Alaska Youth Stewards on Prince of Wales Island in 2022. (Photo courtesy of Bethany Goodrich / Sustainable Southeast Partnership)
Photo courtesy Scott Burton
The first Resilience Circles cohort gathers in Juneau for a cohort retreat.

Woven Peoples and Place: Bridging knowledge systems

Across Southeast Alaska, partners are advancing the co-production of knowledge

Photo courtesy Scott Burton
The first Resilience Circles cohort gathers in Juneau for a cohort retreat.
Autumn leaves lie on a trail in the Campbell Tract on Oct. 8, 2020. The tract appears to be the largest piece of salable land in urban Anchorage under a U.S. Senate Republican proposal. Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s office said the tract is a recreational gem for Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen / Alaska Beacon)

Federal land sales, more logging and more oil revenue: What’s in the big federal bill for Alaska?

A look at the lands and energy pieces of the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ and where they stand right now in the U.S. Senate

Autumn leaves lie on a trail in the Campbell Tract on Oct. 8, 2020. The tract appears to be the largest piece of salable land in urban Anchorage under a U.S. Senate Republican proposal. Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s office said the tract is a recreational gem for Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen / Alaska Beacon)
A ferry worker ties up the Hubbard on Sunday, April 21, 2024, as it docks in Haines, Alaska. (Rashah McChesney / Chilkat Valley News)

Weekend ferry cancellation complicates travel for bike relay, solstice

A ferry cancellation will affect travel plans for some participants of the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay. The annual bike relay sees hundreds of people… Continue reading

A ferry worker ties up the Hubbard on Sunday, April 21, 2024, as it docks in Haines, Alaska. (Rashah McChesney / Chilkat Valley News)
A row of tents on Teal Street across the street from the Glory Hall on the morning of Saturday, May 14, 2025. Occupants of the tents received a 48-hour vacate notice from the Juneau Police Department on Friday morning. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Large homeless encampment on Teal Street gets JPD vacate notice; where will occupants go next?

People who keep moving from place to place under “dispersed camping” policy unsure where they’ll go.

A row of tents on Teal Street across the street from the Glory Hall on the morning of Saturday, May 14, 2025. Occupants of the tents received a 48-hour vacate notice from the Juneau Police Department on Friday morning. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Fishing boats are seen in Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor on Oct. 3, 2022. Deep job cuts at NOAA Fisheries will negatively affect the scientific work normally done to support fishery management, agency officials warned. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

NOAA firings, cuts will reduce services used to manage Alaska fisheries, officials say

Data analysis, salmon research and other services will be impacted, officials say.

Fishing boats are seen in Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor on Oct. 3, 2022. Deep job cuts at NOAA Fisheries will negatively affect the scientific work normally done to support fishery management, agency officials warned. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The trans-Alaska pipeline is seen on Sept. 19, 2022, in Fairbanks. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Praise but no firm promises, as Trump administration officials talk Alaska oil and gas

U.S. Energy Secretary Wright said gas pipeline could get access to a green-energy loan program.

The trans-Alaska pipeline is seen on Sept. 19, 2022, in Fairbanks. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Along the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, pictured here, runs a smaller-diameter natural gas line used to fuel the oil pipeline’s pumps. That small-diameter line could be a source of fuel for a new Bitcoin mining operation on the North Slope. (Arthur T. LaBar/Flickr under Creative Commons License)

New Alaska Bitcoin mine would use as much power as the state’s largest coal plant produces

Startup planning operation near North Slope oil fields would power computers with natural gas.

  • Jun 3, 2025
  • By Nathaniel Herz, Northern Journal
Along the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, pictured here, runs a smaller-diameter natural gas line used to fuel the oil pipeline’s pumps. That small-diameter line could be a source of fuel for a new Bitcoin mining operation on the North Slope. (Arthur T. LaBar/Flickr under Creative Commons License)
A few snow drifts remain on June 18, 2004, on the Arctic coastal plain of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. (Craig McCaa/U.S. Bureau of Land Management)

As Trump officials visit Alaska, feds announce plans to remove some restrictions on Arctic drilling

The Trump administration plans to lift environmental protections on roughly half of the National Petroleum Reserve on Alaska’s North Slope, reopening the area to possible… Continue reading

A few snow drifts remain on June 18, 2004, on the Arctic coastal plain of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. (Craig McCaa/U.S. Bureau of Land Management)
Butch Laiti is president of the Douglas Indian Association, a tribal government in Juneau. The association has purchased a fishing boat and wants to buy a commercial fishing permit for its members to share, but a state law bars it from doing so. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)

Coastal Alaskans see commercial fishing limits as a ‘crisis.’ Lawmakers don’t.

Legislature adjourned without addressing expanding access to commercial fishing careers.

Butch Laiti is president of the Douglas Indian Association, a tribal government in Juneau. The association has purchased a fishing boat and wants to buy a commercial fishing permit for its members to share, but a state law bars it from doing so. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
(Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion: City spending relies on cruise visitor spending

The recent failure of activists to gain sufficient signatures to put yet another anti-cruise initiative on the ballot in October is evidence that Juneau residents… Continue reading

(Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
The F/V Liberty, captained by Trenton Clark, fishes the Pacific near Metlakatla on Aug. 20, 2024. Over the last few years, the $6 billion Alaskan wild seafood market has been ensnared in a mix of geopolitics, macroeconomics, changing ocean temperatures and post-Covid whiplash that piled on top of long-building vulnerabilities in the business model. (Ash Adams/The New York Times)

My Turn: Funding sustainable fisheries

Spring is always a busy season for Alaska’s fishermen and fishing communities. The air is full of anticipation as we prepare for the inevitable surprises… Continue reading

  • May 27, 2025
  • By Linda Behnken
  • Opinion
The F/V Liberty, captained by Trenton Clark, fishes the Pacific near Metlakatla on Aug. 20, 2024. Over the last few years, the $6 billion Alaskan wild seafood market has been ensnared in a mix of geopolitics, macroeconomics, changing ocean temperatures and post-Covid whiplash that piled on top of long-building vulnerabilities in the business model. (Ash Adams/The New York Times)
Angela Rodell is a member of the Affordable Juneau Coalition. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

My Turn: It’s time for a government that works for working people

The Juneau Assembly voted to raise your property taxes — again. They did this while the cost of living continues to climb, while residents struggle… Continue reading

  • May 27, 2025
  • By Angela Rodell
  • Opinion
Angela Rodell is a member of the Affordable Juneau Coalition. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference on Monday, May 19, 2025, to discuss his decision to veto an education bill. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion: On fiscal policy, Dunleavy is a governor in name only

“Any serious effort to stabilize Alaska’s fiscal future must also focus on diversifying our economy and creating new industries, which in turn broadens the economic… Continue reading

Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference on Monday, May 19, 2025, to discuss his decision to veto an education bill. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Lupita Alvarez, a teacher at Montessori Borealis Children’s House, testifies at a Juneau Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

Educators, the ‘backbone of our schools,’ are breaking

Teachers say district contract counteroffer with less pay sends the message they should leave.

Lupita Alvarez, a teacher at Montessori Borealis Children’s House, testifies at a Juneau Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
A reflection of a cold-water dip in Sitka Sound. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich)

Woven Peoples and Place: We are coming out of the water

For the second year, the Sustainable Southeast Partnership is releasing “Woven” as a printed and digital collection of stories. The second edition “��̲andleeandlee sdu t’aláng… Continue reading

A reflection of a cold-water dip in Sitka Sound. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters during a press conference at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Dunleavy orders freeze on state employee hiring, travel and new regulations due to fiscal crunch

Exemptions allowed for certain occupations and “mission-critical” purposes.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters during a press conference at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)