Survival course trainees are exposed to subzero temperatures and winds that gust up to 30-plus miles an hour. “They don’t go back inside after they come out here and begin the training,” said instructor Sgt. Garrett Wright.
Ravenna Koenig, Alaska's Energy Desk
With spring whaling around the corner, sinew thread makers are hard at work
“Everything just falls into place,” says Nancy Leavitt of the hard work involved in sinew thread making. “The problems, the stress, the thoughts you have. Most of them just disappear.”
Interior Dept. kicks off new round of meetings on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Some people at the meeting expressed concern about the process. Lisa Baraff with the Northern Alaska Environmental Center said that the timeline BLM has been using for their environmental review is too short.
‘Life is going to spring back to us’: The sun returns to Utqiaġvik
“Life is going to spring back to us,” said Robin Mongoyak. “Spring is coming, summer is around the corner. Birds when they come in big flocks, it’s like thousands of people coming to greet us.”
After struggling for years to clean up its air, Fairbanks still faces contentious wood smoke problem
The area has been failing to meet a federal air quality standard since 2009, and this year is the deadline for meeting that standard. But after a decade of struggle, trying to get people to cut back on wood burning is still as contentious as ever.
State of Alaska issues two key permits for Donlin mine
The amount of money Donlin Gold will have to put down for reclamation has been bumped up from $317 million to $322 million.
Polar bear encounter reported in Arctic Village, many miles south of normal range
Polar bear researcher Eric Regehr says that in individual cases like this, it’s very difficult to attribute cause to why a bear wandered so far from its typical area.
Fairbanks’ famously severe cold snaps are getting less cold and more rare
Over the last 80-some years, there’s been a noticeable change in Fairbanks: The more recent cold snaps haven’t been as cold, and they’re occurring less frequently than they used to.
Japan whaling decision may have consequences for Alaska subsistence whalers
The chairman for the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission says the group will work with the United States and other International Whaling Commission countries to try to preserve Japan’s membership in the organization.
Adding insulation to the outside of your home? Watch out for mold.
“Every summer driving through Fairbanks, I will see somebody adding this kind of retrofit to their home,” said research engineer Robbin Garber-Slaght.