Our paper: "Summer temperature regimes in southcentral Alaska streams: watershed drivers of variation and potential implications for Pacific salmon" has just come out in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. We posed some specific questions: Which streams run hot? Which streams run cold? And does that change year to year? We...
Fall is my favorite time to bicycle commute through Anchorage. I like to watch the birch trees turn from their summer shades of green, to the yellow of autumn, and ultimately to their final resting place on the bike path where they crunch under my tires. I also like to see our salmon change as they slowly dawn their spawning colors while working...
Inspired by the Patagonia-sponsored film Damnation, the Susitna River Coalition decided to fund the creation of a film that told the story of the fight against the Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project. Thus Super Salmon was born, directed and created by Alaska filmmaker Ryan Peterson with the support of Patagonia. The film follows the incredible...
Wild salmon define who we are as Alaskans; they shape our cultures, they feed our families and they support our local economies. Yet today, Alaska’s laws and rules contain few hard and fast safeguards to protect the water and other habitat salmon need to thrive. More specifically, there is no requirement to retain sufficient water in our lakes...
As our third mild winter in a row brightens into spring in southcentral Alaska, we are seeing a new indicator of our changing climate: spruce aphid. Originally from Europe, spruce aphid has become established along the Pacific west coast infesting spruce trees especially along tidewater areas and other stressed environments. In Alaska, spruce...
Hydraulic fracturing—or “fracking”—has jumped into the American lexicon in the past decade, largely due to the advent of directional drilling technology targeting shallow shale gas plays in the Lower 48, and the drinking and groundwater contamination threats they pose. The Bush Administration compounded the problem when Dick Cheney—fresh off his...
This summer I have been granted an amazing opportunity to work with Cook Inletkeeper as the ACF Ted Smith Conservation Intern in Homer, AK. I am currently a junior at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, studying Environmental Studies, a major that I have found much passion in. I am from the Big Island of Hawaii, but I also grew up part time in...
By Maya Goodini, Inletkeeper Intern, Summer 2016 The rich salmon-filled streams of Cook Inlet are a crucial part of what gives this region a sense of place, an identity. Salmon fisheries and canaries have played a significant role in shaping the history of Cook Inlet. Wild salmon are the heartbeat of south-central Alaska and define who we are as...
The Pebble Partnership has grabbed headlines recently by attacking an EPA scientist and claiming EPA somehow violated federal law by communicating with Alaskans. It’s all a phony story, of course, to pump up fear around the bogey man of “federal overreach.” But there’s a healthy dose of irony here, because while the Pebble people are crying foul...
What’s Happening: The Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADFG) is revising the management plan for Kachemak Bay and Fox River Flats Critical Habitat Areas. This process is now in the “scoping phase,” which means ADFG is looking for the issues it should address in the management plan revision. Scoping comments are due November 4. Read...
