Alaska odds and ends, and a quick European dispatch
Catching up on some nuggets from the state budget, news on a contentious mine and road proposal in Northwest Alaska, and links to some of my recent freelance pieces.
Nathaniel Herz
Letter from Yakutat: Deep cuts on the Lost Coast
Logging is on the decline across Southeast Alaska. But in Yakutat, the local Indigenous-owned corporation is still cutting, over the objections of tribal and cultural leaders. Here's a firsthand look.
After four years, joy in Utqiaġvik at the messenger feast's return
A dispatch from America's northernmost community, where hundreds gathered for a traditional Iñupiaq festival of dancing, gift-giving and connection.
Inside Kodiak's crab standoff
Crews from more than 100 boats say they're staying at the docks until processors offer them a higher price. But experts say the fishermen are facing global market forces that are unlikely to budge.
Alaska, long a resource exporter, now wants to profit by leaving timber uncut and pumping carbon underground
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, in an interview, said he doesn't accept that carbon emissions cause climate change. But he still wants the state to benefit from markets that have arisen to address the problem.
Two companies' dispute over access to Alaska's next big oil development is now headed to court
ConocoPhillips has sued Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration to block a state-issued permit that grants a competing company access to its new Pikka project, over Conoco-built roads.
Warming waters, not bycatch, are driving Bering Sea salmon and crab crashes. But Alaska’s fishing industry is barely talking about it.
Advocates say that seafood businesses, trade groups and fishermen need to take more action to advocate for lower carbon emissions, or risk continued catastrophic declines in their harvests.