A number of proposed mines close to rivers that flow from British Columbia into Alaska have raised concerns among conservation, fishing industry and Native groups.
Economy
Sitka herring forecast lowest in a decade
Fish and Game expects 44,237 tons of herring to spawn in and around Sitka Sound. That’s the lowest forecast in a decade, and well below the past several years when forecasts have consistently been above 70,000 tons.
NOAA designates Kachemak Bay ‘Habitat Focus Area’
The bay is already a State of Alaska Critical Habitat Area and a National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Regional tribal government considered in Western Alaska
The delegates will look at major changes to how the YK Delta is governed through four main resolutions under discussion.
Forest Service: Transition means fewer unmilled logs
About half of the timber cut in the Tongass National Forest is shipped in the round. When all that unmilled timber leaves the region, potential jobs leave with it.
Delinquent Mine Fines: ‘Clearly Troubling … More Can Be Done’
Delinquent mines collectively have an average injury rate 50 percent higher than that of mines that paid their fines.
Tongass Advisory Committee meets in Sitka
It’s the fourth meeting of the Tongass Advisory Committee, which is working with the U.S. Forest Service as it tries to switch its focus from old-growth logging to harvesting smaller, younger trees.
Review of Red Chris Mine finds tailings dam concerns
As Southeast Alaskans become more concerned about mine development in British Columbia, a copper and gold mine in the Stikine River watershed is expected to start full operations next month. But an independent review of its tailings facility found issues with the design.
Report: Subsidized logging costs feds millions
A new report says the Forest Service is wasting millions of dollars by propping up a failing Southeast Alaska timber industry.
Officer credited for saving life of airport traveler
A police officer was able to resuscitate a collapsed, 81-year-old man at the Juneau International Airport on Monday. A traveling companion indicated the man had heart surgery recently.