Inletkeeper Blog
Warm Winters bring Unwelcomed Aphids
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...
Fracking Opens Dangerous Door in Cook Inlet
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...
ACF Ted Smith Conservation Intern
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...
Salmon Are More Than Food & Money
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....
The Mining Industry Wants it Both Ways
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...
Help Stop Exxon from Running our Foreign Policy
Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson had his first confirmation hearing for the Secretary of State position before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, January 11. Now it’s time to tell our Senators Lisa Murkowski & Dan Sullivan to oppose this reckless...
Stop Climate Denier Scott Pruitt from Running EPA
Scott Pruitt is a climate change denier. As a Oklahoma Attorney General he has sued the EPA more than a dozen times to try to block regulations that protect our air, water and climate. There are a lot of frightening nominees to speak out against right now, but we...
AOGCC Fracking Hearing – March 23, 2017
The Issue: Current rules do not allow Alaskans to review and comment on applications for oil & gas hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations near their homes and communities. In September 2016, Inletkeeper petitioned the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation...
Hilcorp Gas Leak in Cook Inlet
On February 8, Alaskans learned Texas-based Hilcorp Alaska had “discovered” a large leak from a natural gas fuel line supplying power to platforms on Middle Ground Shoal in Cook Inlet. Several weeks later, we learned Hilcorp knew – or should have known – about the...
Sitka Harbor System Certified as Alaska’s 4th Clean Harbor
SITKA, AK – A year and a half after signing the Alaska Clean Harbors pledge, the ACH Advisory Committee certified the Sitka Harbor System as an Alaska Clean Harbor during their October meeting. The ACH Advisory Committee, the certifying body for the statewide program,...