inletkeeper

Protecting Alaska's Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains since 1995.

Cook Inletkeeper

NEW COOK INLET BELUGA WHALE ABUNDANCE ESTIMATE HIGHLIGHTS UNCERTAINTY INSTATUS AND UNDERSCORES NEED FOR PRECAUTIONARY MANAGEMENT APPROACH

By | June 18, 2023

Joint Media Statement from Environmental Investigation Agency, Alaska Wildlife Alliance, Cook Inletkeeper, and Defenders of Wildlife NEW COOK INLET BELUGA WHALE ABUNDANCE ESTIMATE HIGHLIGHTS UNCERTAINTY IN STATUS AND UNDERSCORES NEED FOR PRECAUTIONARY MANAGEMENT APPROACH A highly-anticipated, and long-delayed, abundance estimate suggests that the precipitous decline of endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales may be stabilizing but […]

An Ode to the Clean Water Act

By | June 16, 2023

On May 25th, we entered a new era of clean water work.  For more than a generation, the Clean Water Act has been used to protect the waters of the United States. That work will be more difficult now. The Clean Water Act has been largely disempowered of its ability to protect wetlands from pollutant […]

Another Salmon Loving Alaskan

By | June 14, 2023

By Kendall Johanson, Alaska Conservation Foundation Intern I am a born and raised Alaskan from Anchorage, and credit my passion for the environment to growing up in the incredibly diverse landscape that is Alaska. Many of my favorite childhood memories include being outside, from running around the forest at the end of my street with […]

EPA Issues Final Rule Governing Use of Chemical Dispersants on Oil Spills

By | June 13, 2023

Rules Are an Improvement But Further Local Action Will Be Essential FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Sharon DonovanCommunications Director, Earth Island Institute(510) 859-9161, sharondonovan@earthisland.org Berkeley, CA (June 13, 2023) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a long-awaited final rule governing oil spill response that may better safeguard the health of millions of people living […]

The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act Is A Dangerous and Misleading Example Of Corporate Welfare Amidst The Critical Minerals Mining Boom

By | May 8, 2023

On April 25th, Senators Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) introduced the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act – a bill that represents an unprecedented rollback of protections for federal public lands and prioritizes the interests of mining companies above all other land uses, including recreation, conservation, clean energy development, and the sacred sites of indigenous […]

Interrupting the Mine to Landfill Pipeline

By | April 24, 2023

The demand for the latest phone, gaming device, or even vacuum seems to be holding steady, if not growing. From mineral mining to landfills, every stage of the electronic evolution has detrimental impacts to the health of the Cook Inlet watershed. By growing electronic recycling throughout the watershed, we can bolster the recycling economy in […]

Why we endorse Levine over Jones for HEA

By | April 11, 2023

This post was co-authored by organizers Ben Boettger and Satchel Pondolfino Inletkeeper takes great care to endorse HEA candidates who understand that diversifying energy is not only essential for our climate, but also for stabilizing rates and maintaining energy security. We attend every HEA board meeting and track boardroom conversations and votes to ensure accountability […]

Your Power, Your Vote: Pro-Renewable Candidates for the HEA Board

By | March 14, 2023

In April Inletkeeper will be supporting three pro-renewable energy candidates for the Homer Electric Association Board of Directors.  All three are committed to driving down costs by reducing HEA’s natural gas consumption, the cause of about a third of the co-op’s spending and a growing vulnerability as affordable supplies of Cook Inlet gas diminish. This […]

Your Efforts for Bristol Bay have Paid off!

By | February 3, 2023

The EPA’s decision this week to veto the Pebble Mine and issue Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay is a victory for Alaskans and the Bristol Bay and Cook Inlet ecosystems! In all the ways you showed up: at rallies, signing petitions and postcards, with dollars and loud voices, you contributed to a landmark […]

Biden Administration Alaska Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Sale Confirms Lack of Industry Interest; Alaskans Call for the Administration to Remove Cook Inlet From Future Sales

By | December 30, 2022

After canceling the sale in May of 2022, the Biden Administration moved forward with leasing Alaska’s Lower Cook Inlet—resulting in only 1 bid on 1 block out of 193. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 30, 2022 Press Contact: Grace Nolan, grace@team-arc.com; Sue Mauger, sue@inletkeeper.org (Anchorage, Alaska) – Today, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held […]

We are Grateful 

By | December 21, 2022

For December, we wanted to do something a bit different amidst the hustle and bustle that has become a hallmark of the holiday season. Enduring serial years of the pandemic and political setbacks in a time when we need immediate climate action has taken a toll on our community. We wanted to use this time […]

Groups Sue to Stop Biden Administration from Leasing Cook Inlet, Alaska for Oil and Gas Drilling

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Groups cite Department of Interior’s failure to meaningfully consider climate impacts of auctioning off close to a million acres FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 21, 2022 MEDIA CONTACTSBecca Bowe, Earthjustice (Pacific time), rbowe@earthjustice.org Jackson Chiappinelli, Earthjustice (Eastern time), (585) 402-2005, jchiappinelli@earthjustice.org  Anne Hawke, NRDC, (646) 823-4518 ahawke@nrdc.org Sue Mauger, Cook Inletkeeper, (907) 399-2070, sue@inletkeeper.org  Penelope Haas, […]

Fostering Local Resilience Through Food

By | December 2, 2022

Alaska Food Hub is nearing completion of its seventh year of operation. It has weathered someextreme circumstances, even thrived in them. We have proved, and continue to prove, that oursystems work, our service keeps our communities safe, our software capabilities allow us to innovate, andwe sell and provide fresh, healthy, local food. When you think […]

Teen Corner

By | December 1, 2022

— Sarah Anne Sulzer This year, I connected with Inletkeeperafter my mom and I went into the Community Action Studio in Soldotna. I love animals and got hooked feeding the baby goats and chickens through the Community Compost project. I’m passionate about climate change and decided I could help get more young people involved with […]

Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258 is a False Solution to High Gas Prices and Sacrifices Cook Inlet Communities

By | September 22, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 22, 2022 FOR MORE INFORMATION: Sue Mauger, 907.399.2070, sue@inletkeeper.org Taylor Kendal Smith, 907.802.0534, taylor@inletkeeper.org Ben Boettger, 603.306.1352, ben@inletkeeper.org HOMER, Alaska — Today, the Department of the Interior released the Proposed Notice of Sale for Lease Sale 258 in Cook Inlet, Alaska. This is in direct response to the passing of the […]

In Pursuit of a Better Alaska Food System for All

By | September 5, 2022

My childhood was filled with happy meals and the cool toys that came with them, an occasional McRiblet sandwich, and hours on the golden arches’ playgrounds before and after school. My father put in 47 years working in Georgia for McDonald’s.  Although my experiences from a lifelong relationship with the restaurant chain are directly influenced […]

White Noise and Our Vision for Cook Inlet

By | August 3, 2022

Cook Inletkeeper has been fighting alongside our supporters for our collective vision of Cook Inlet for the last 27 years. This vision has focused on clean water, healthy salmon, and strong communities. One central theme of this fight has been limiting oil and gas development and corresponding pollution.  That vision is still central today. Inletkeeper’s […]

PROPOSED BILL IN CONGRESS IGNORES ALASKANS, WOULD SACRIFICE COOK INLET

By | July 28, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2022 FOR MORE INFORMATION: Liz Mering, Inletkeeper (907.235.3459)  Marissa Wilson, Executive Director AMCC (907.299.6566)  PROPOSED BILL IN CONGRESS IGNORES ALASKANS, WOULD SACRIFICE COOK INLET 40 years of oil and gas development in undeveloped Lower Cook Inlet puts local economies at risk HOMER, AK – The proposed climate and energy package […]

Western Conservationism Isn’t Working

By | July 14, 2022

Western conservationism isn’t working. As we face the fact that our environmental laws are ill-equipped to address the all-encompassing nature of the climate crisis, we must learn from the holistic land, water, and forest management practices born from a millennia of experience.

Celebrating Alaska’s connection to salmon at Salmonfest

By | July 13, 2022

It’s salmon season in Alaska and that means people all over the State are putting on their waders or grundens, pulling out their nets and poles, and heading out to our salmon waters at all hours of the day and night. In our watershed, Dena’ina, Alutiiq and Sugpiaq people have been in relationship with salmon […]

Defend Your Vision for Cook Inlet

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If you are like me, you feel like we just celebrated Lease Sale 258 in Lower Cook Inlet being taken off the table. Unfortunately, as many of you are only too familiar with, we are again facing a proposed lease sale in Lower Cook Inlet.  President Biden and the Department of Interior proposed a five-year plan […]

Regenerative Economies: Cornerstones for a Just Transition

By | June 2, 2022

“It’s time to find our way back to what our ancestors had. Our people come from just economies, and we need to bring everyone with us, especially those most intent on destroying the Earth because we can’t afford that anymore”  – Karlin Itchoak, Alaska State Director at the Wilderness Society This past May, many of […]

Defend the Bear Coast from Pebble Mine

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Alaska’s bears and salmon are inextricably linked. During the summer months, while Alaskans are filling our freezers with salmon, the brown bears on the Alaska Peninsula are storing up their salmon for the winter. Bears of the Alaska Peninsula are incredible — eating dozens of salmon and gaining up to 4 pounds a day. The […]

Living as Conservation Medicine Experts in Alaska

By | June 1, 2022

By Kayla Walsh, Alaska Conservation Foundation Intern What brings a city girl like me to Cook Inlet, a place I hadn’t heard of just 6 months ago? Well, I started a graduate program in Conservation Medicine and I’m here to learn all about it from the real experts: Alaskans! I’ve been asked what Conservation Medicine […]

Tell the EPA to Finish the Job & Defend Bristol Bay

By | May 26, 2022

On May 26, we started what we hope will be the LAST comment period advocating for strong protections under the Clean Water Act to defend Bristol Bay from destructive mining by a Canadian company. Many of you have been with us in this fight for years and years. Bristol Bay Native Corporation put together a […]

Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258 in Lower Cook Inlet Canceled

By | May 13, 2022

Late on Wednesday the Biden Administration quietly announced that the Department of Interior would not be pursuing Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258 in Lower Cook Inlet.  First, we are thankful! Alaskans have been fighting the industrialization of Cook Inlet since the 90s and each of these victories is important for our communities that rely […]

Electronic Recycling: Inletkeeper’s Annual Game of Tetris

By | April 28, 2022

After a short winter lull, Inletkeeper’s programs start revving up come spring. One program that Kenai Peninsula residents have grown to count on are our annual spring electronics recycling events. This year is no different. Mark your calendars for April 30th for our annual e-recycling events in Soldotna and Homer. Drop off your old devices […]

How to Be an Advocate!

By | April 22, 2022

Are you ever on social media and you see articles titled something like “All the Things You’ve Been Doing Wrong Your Entire Life” or “Apparently eating chips isn’t as simple as popping them inside your mouth. No, there is a proper way to truly enjoy these crispy snacks.”  Now if there can be a right […]

Elevating Local Knowledge to Protect Our Salmon

By | April 5, 2022

Salmon and agriculture are two of Alaska’s most important renewable resources. Alaska’s agricultural sectors are growing faster than any other state in the nation. With the formation of both the Alaska Grown Caucus in the Alaska Legislature and the announcement by the Governor of the Food Security & Independence Task Force, farming is poised to […]

Say No to 404 Permitting in the State Budget!

By | April 3, 2022

This year will mark 50 years since Congress passed and enacted the Clean Water Act (CWA) after our nation’s rivers literally caught fire. This disregard of pollution was not unique to the Lower 48 as Alaska fishermen were finding blobs of oil floating in the ocean from passing tankers. While the Clean Water Act isn’t […]

Why We Can’t Forget the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

By | March 24, 2022

On this date 33 years ago, Alaskans experienced the oiling of Prince William Sound and beyond. You know the story – Bligh Reef, drunk captain, North Slope crude oil. A disastrous trifecta that fouled our waters and shoreline resulting in the most significant environmental and coastal community catastrophe in Alaska’s history.   Alaskans learned important lessons […]

War, Energy and the Climate Crisis

By | March 3, 2022

Like the rest of the world, we at Inletkeeper are watching the Russian invasion unfold in Ukraine. Our heart goes out to those caught in the crossfire and those fearing for the safety of friends and family. While we have been processing this crisis, we also are digesting the dire warning in the latest IPCC […]

Organizing for Community Wellness, Hope and Resiliency

By | December 24, 2021

How does a community organizer cultivate and captivate a room full of energy without sharing physical space? What draws people in when gathering and sharing a meal just isn’t possible? If there is one thing organizing during a pandemic has taught me it is that we need each other. I love organizing because I love […]

The Future of Food: Prioritizing Local and Sustainable

By | December 21, 2021

The past 18 months have illuminated the tremendous unsustainable practices and social inequities throughout many sectors, including our globalized food system. We have seen food processors fall ill from lack of sick leave and protective equipment. Severely delayed global supply chains have led to massive food waste and higher food costs. Lost incomes have exacerbated […]

Energy for the future is here now

By | December 20, 2021

The climate damage of fossil fuels has been widely known since at least the 1980s, and as an Inletkeeper, you don’t need reminding how hazardous its infrastructure is for our watershed. Still, in the past it’s been creditable to say that with cheap, abundant natural gas, and with renewable energy technologies just not ready to […]

A Vision for Cook Inlet’s Next 25 Years

By | December 15, 2021

I am incredibly honored by Bob, Sue, and of your trust as I step into the role Bob has, seemingly effortlessly, managed for so many years. As I inherit the “Inletkeeper” title from Bob, I’d like to share my vision for the future of the Cook Inlet watershed in the decades ahead: Alaska’s economy has […]

FEDS IGNORE SERIOUS IMPACTS TO TRIBAL COMMUNITIES, FISHERIES, WILDLIFE & BUSINESSES IN COOK INLET

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PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:     December 14, 2021  FOR MORE INFORMATION:     Liz Mering, Inletkeeper (907.235.3459)  FEDS IGNORE SERIOUS IMPACTS TO TRIBAL COMMUNITIES, FISHERIES, WILDLIFE & BUSINESSES IN COOK INLET President Biden promised no more offshore oil leasing, and Alaskans push the administration to use this authority and cancel Lease Sale 258 HOMER, AK […]

Reflecting on 26 Years of Protecting Cook Inlet

By | December 14, 2021

I remember ice floes in fast-moving water and hoarfrost on cars. I remember a steaming volcano in the distance. I remember 100 bald eagles in the trees. In late 1995, I drove down the Kenai Peninsula to accept the job running Cook Inletkeeper. It felt like another world. The year before, a dedicated group of […]

ART (NOT Lease) Sale 258

By | December 3, 2021

Friday, 3 December 2021: For Immediate Release Soldotna, AK: Five local artists from the Cook Inlet basin have come together to raise awareness about the federal government’s Lease Sale 258, which would open up over a million acres of Lower Cook Inlet to oil and gas development. The area, from below Kalgin Island down to […]

Protect our Bear Coast – Say No to Oil Spills

By | December 2, 2021

Fat Bear Week brings the wonder and joy of our Cook Inlet bears to people around the world!  This year–for the fourth time!!–Otis (or brown bear 480) was crowned king!  Otis–relying on the amazing rich nutrients in Katmai–ended the season weighing over 1,000 pounds. Not the largest bear of the bunch but a survivor! Otis […]

Growing Sustainable Roots for Alaska’s Farmers Markets, Farm Stands, and CSAs

By | December 1, 2021

December 1, 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Alaska Farmers Market Association awarded a USDA Grant to support farmers markets, farm stands, and Community Support Agriculture Homer, AK- The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $37.5 Million this year to 84 recipients across the country, including funding to Alaska’s Cook Inletkeeper, fiscal sponsor, and incubator […]

Thankful and Reflective

By | November 24, 2021

This Thursday is complex. Many of us grew up spending the day with friends and family celebrating Thanksgiving. But Thursday is also a National Day of Mourning where we must remember our nation’s tragic history with the indigenous peoples who have called North America home from time immemorial. We are trying to recognize both of […]

We Cannot Wait for International Politics: Climate Action Now.

By | November 17, 2021

International politics, law, and negotiation are crazy things. They are essential for world-wide problems where without global commitment, we cannot likely achieve an outcome; but at the same time incredibly frustrating and more aspirational than proactive in trying to unite 197 nations to reach collective agreement on the right path forward.  And the “right” path […]

Playing Russian Roulette with Lower Cook Inlet

By | November 15, 2021

Over the last fifty years, U.S. waters  have been affected by almost 50 oil spills over 420,000 gallons.  A few of the most famous are:  Santa Barbara, California (1969): 3 million  gallons spilled from an offshore platform blowout creating a 35 mile long oil slick.  Exxon Valdez, Alaska (1989): 10.8 million gallons spilled from a […]

Make Your Voice Heard for the Inlet!

By | November 10, 2021

Last week we asked you – our Inletkeepers – to stand up for Lower Cook Inlet and say “no” to the proposed oil and gas lease sale in Lower Cook Inlet. If you haven’t already signed the petition, please do so at inletkeeper.org/ls258 – and then share with 5 friends (or five more friends!)! Many […]

ALASKANS CALL FOR STOP TO TOXIC OIL DUMPING IN COOK INLET

By | November 8, 2021

STATE MAKES MOCKERY OF “RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT” BY LETTING OIL INDUSTRY INCREASE TOXIC POLLUTION IN PRIME BELUGA & FISH HABITAT Download the Press Release here HOMER, AK – Today a coalition of groups, filed by Trustees for Alaska, pressed the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) to reconsider a final Clean Water Act permit that allows […]

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