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Why I want to swim with whales. Alaska News Brief July

Talking about the weather isn’t chitchat anymore.

When wildfires turn the sky apocalyptic orange hundreds of miles away, when floods turn city infrastructure to rubble, when heat makes walking outside lethal, it isn’t filler conversation—it is THE conversation. This is where sperm whales come in; when I feel disheartened, frustrated, angry at our species, I want to hang out with whales…… Read More

Why you should care about D1 lands in Alaska

Maybe you’ve heard the term “D1” in sports (division 1) or in construction (course gravel material), but “D1” means something quite different when talking about land in Alaska.

Here, D1 lands refer to areas protected from mining and mineral leasing since the 1970s. They are commonly called D1 lands because they were withdrawn pursuant to section 17(d)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.… Read More

The light always returns: Alaska News Brief June 2023

Earlier this month, I joined my mom on her last—for now—“bucket list” adventure. We took the train to the Canadian Rocky Mountains for two days from Vancouver to Banff, going from an urban landscape and rainforest into high desert into boreal forest. Then we rented a car to spend some time in Lake Louise and Calgary. Stunning! And, because life works this way, I caught a virus at the end of this short-but-sweet trip.… Read More

It’s choice, not fate, on climate. Alaska News Brief April 2023.

Too many pandemic lessons have gotten lost as the engine of  “normal” revs back up. COVID awareness around the deep unfairness and unhealthiness baked into our economic and social systems has been swept under the rug of consumption and record profits and business as usual.

Even the lessons about how to prepare for deadly pandemics, wildfires, and storms has been forgotten in the rush to “get back at it.”

But business is not usual. Life is not “normal.” We’re already in a pot of hot water that’s set to boil, and we’re still resistant to change.… Read More

Why we like a proposed Park Service rule prohibiting destructive hunting practices on national preserves

In 2020 we went to court to stop a U.S. National Park Service rule from allowing sport hunting activities like brown bear baiting on national preserves in Alaska. We won in 2022 when a U.S. District Court judge found the rule unlawful and sent it back to Park Service to fix. Now there’s a new proposed rule and there’s a lot to like about it. … Read More

How a week of news tastes like a soggy cabbage sandwich: Alaska News Brief March 2023

I took some time off to see my family in early March. Within a day of returning, it felt like I hadn’t left at all.

Instead, I felt like someone delivered a soggy old cabbage sandwich made up of somewhat good news stuffed with clearly bad news. I’m as hungry for good news as anyone, but this dish tastes bitter.… Read More

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