It doesn’t take long spending time with dogs, bears, birds and bees to know they communicate. Some animals even manipulate. Only human animals uniquely share knowledge, wisdom, tall tales and lies through stories. The writer Margaret Atwood describes the origin of storytelling as the coupling of language with concepts of the past, present, and future to help people learn about what happened before—to teach people things to avoid having to learn by trial and error every time.… Read More

A report released this month shows that the number of documented spills between 1995 and 2020 at the five major operational hardrock mines in Alaska far exceeded those estimated in permit applications and environmental reports.… Read More

What does it mean to intervene in a lawsuit? Let’s use our recent legal action to protect the Arctic Refuge to explain. … Read More

The Biden administration failed to rescind permits for the Ambler road proposal while refusing to acknowledge the full and long list of legal problems with the Interior Department’s approval process.
This means the applicant, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, can continue funding and working on the project with outside corporate mining interests.… Read More

The thick sludge of winter can get to me sometimes. The dark, the cold, the cycling from snow to slush to ice to snow to—you get the picture. All of it gets old. I suppose that’s how cycles feel sometimes. That’s why we have to break out of them—at least in terms of our emotions and perspectives.… Read More

UPDATED: The Alaska office of the Bureau of Land Management announced on Feb. 3 that it will open a 30-day public comment period on the Willow oil and gas proposal. The comment period will close March 9. “We’re glad that … Read More

The Biden administration announced in January 2022 that it intends to reverse a Trump-era plan that would have allowed for increased and extensive oil extraction within the largest unit of public land in the country. This is good news, and also it’s not enough. … Read More

Our work feels less frantic and chaotic than it did a year ago. Nonetheless, the divisive 2020 election that led to an insurrection slashed any hope of taking a break from staying vigilant about defending democracy, ensuring climate action, and sustaining the health of Alaska’s lands and waters.

Yes, a lot has changed in 2021, with real hope that climate policy will honor and prioritize frontline communities and Indigenous ways of life. Yet the Biden administration continues to defend Trump era decisions and actions that threaten Alaska communities, animals, and landscapes. … Read More

Birds give us song, beauty, food, a vision of flight. Some birds use tools. Some fly thousands and thousands of miles nonstop one way on annual migrations. Some swim as seamlessly as they fly. Some birds rely on specific foods like eelgrass while others eat almost anything. Some birds live all year in Alaska and others fly over oceans and continents to get here.

… Read More