Protecting Alaska's Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains since 1995.
Thank you to all the happy salmon supporters who connected with us at this year’s Salmonfest. The long hard work paid off, we are always happy to make a splash in the chaotic and joyous vortex that Salmonfest is. From a line-up of Salmon Champions speaking from the River Stage, to salmon dinner, to a […]
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 […]
As the global climate crisis intensifies, its impact beyond ecological concerns is increasingly evident. Climate change affects us all, but it disproportionately affects vulnerable communities, including the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Environmental justice recognizes that marginalized communities often bear the disproportionate brunt of its consequences and strives to address the intersecting inequalities exacerbated by climate change. The intersectionality […]
Vote online in the HEA election here, or send your mail-in ballot by May 4. We can’t predict what energy system we’ll have in 2030, but it won’t be the one we have today.Since the 1960s, the majority of our electricity has been fueled by Cook Inlet natural gas. In January, the state forecast that […]
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 […]
Wetland permits are critical to large mining and other industrial operations. The Dunleavy Administration, DEC, and mine promoters want to control wetland permitting to streamline the industrialization of areas like the Bristol Bay watershed. Unable to prevail in the court of public opinion or with the Federal EPA, the Dunleavy Administration is now attempting to […]
Cook Inlet natural gas – the fuel for roughly 85% of our region’s electricity – could fall short by 2027, according to a report released in January by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Previous DNR gas supply studies have estimated that prices would need to increase by 50-100% by 2030 for gas extraction to […]
Ḵaax̲gal.aat (“person who packs for themselves”) is the Tlingit name for Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich, who is now known as an Alaska Native social justice warrior, but in 1945, she was an extremely marginalized Alaska Native woman in a very hostile environment. She was also a concerned citizen in the state capital, Juneau. I imagine her […]
Nowhere is the disconnect between energy policy and climate impacts more evident than in Cook Inlet. In the same waters covered in last month’s federal Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258, federal fisheries managers closed the highly-lucrative Pacific cod fishery in 2019-2020, and they cited – for the first time ever – climate change as […]
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, […]
Since our last update, the Inflation Reduction Act passed, bringing with it a mandate to hold Lease Sale 258 in the federal waters of Lower Cook Inlet before the end of 2022. Although we can’t stop this unpopular sale from moving forward, Inletkeeper and partners will be monitoring the level of industry interest to push […]
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 […]
Over the three-day Nughelnik: Alaska Just Transition Summit in Anchorage May 20-22, Inletkeeper staff joined 500 other attendees from around the State of Alaska. Organized by The Alaska Just Transition Collective – a coalition of Alaska partners building a shared visionary path for Alaska by addressing the growing political, economic, and ecological crises we face. The goals […]
Working together, Alaskans are a powerful force for positive change in our communities. Let’s roll up our sleeves and put local solutions into action! We’ve all seen what happens when outsiders come in and do things without meaningful input from locals: We get cookie cutter houses built for Florida winters where all the roofs shed […]
An abbreviated version of this piece was initially published in our Spring 2022 newsletter. When America began to electrify, lights came on first in cities. It made commercial sense: the city’s affluent could easily foot the cost of power, and urban density meant less line to lay and easier maintenance. Electricity beyond the city made […]
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 […]
Homer Electric Association has officially begun its board of directors election, mailing out ballots on April 4. Use your power in our co-op – vote and mail them back by May 3rd. These often-overlooked elections have deep and long-lasting effects on the lives of Kenai Peninsula residents, and on the economies of our region and […]
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 […]
Within Inletkeeper’s 26 year lifetime, we’ve experienced a rapid change in the communications and media landscape. The technology that once seemed far off and of the future is here now. This landscape and the mediums available for spreading our message and empowering action will continue to shift and grow. The advent of the world wide […]
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 […]
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 […]
A few minutes after midnight on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef, a glaring navigation hazard in Prince William Sound. The rest is history. Today marks the 32nd anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS). And as we look back on the devastation and heartbreak wrought by the EVOS, it’s important […]
On January 15, the Dunleavy Administration welcomed-in 2021 with new proposed rules to strip Alaskans of our rights to keep water in our streams and lakes to protect our fish (see original post, below). Now, in response to strong public pushback, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has extended the public comment period until […]
Cook Inletkeeper today applauded the decision by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to cancel public hearings around the proposed million-acre Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258 in Lower Cook Inlet. BOEM’s move comes in the wake of President Biden’s January 27 Executive Order placing a pause on all oil and gas leasing […]
In my early years learning about the ecology of streams, I spent a few summers in the sagebrush country of southeastern Oregon. I was studying desert springs measuring water chemistry, collecting bugs and identifying plants associated with each little oasis. I was discovering the complex connections of the natural world at a very micro-scale. I also learned […]
The manufactured upheaval around this year’s Presidential election begs a vital question: how do we address our society’s most pressing issues when facts and science have been thrown under the bus? By all accounts, our communications ecosystem today is toxic. Shadowy “news” sites sprout like mushrooms, amplified by profit-driven, social media algorithms and funded with […]
How do we value the land? This is the conversation the Homer Drawdown community has begun to explore. The most emphasized valuation of land is based on its market value. Of course, the worth of land cannot wholly be captured by monetary figures. The way the land feeds our soul, renders our way of life, […]
On the day before Thanksgiving, Alaskans woke to astounding news: the Army Corps rejected a major permit for the Pebble mine. Never before had the Army Corps rejected a major permit for a large oil, gas or mining project in Alaska. Never. And it only came about after years and years of relentless pressure from […]
Today another public relations bombshell tore into the Pebble Partnership, with the release of new tapes by the Environmental Investigation Agency showing Northern Dynasty’s Ron Thiessen bragging about the company’s political influence over Alaska Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski. Thiessen also boasts how Alaskans will pay at least $1.5 billion for the roads, ports […]
As the fishing season hit its stride this summer, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Jason Brune sent a letter to commercial fishermen about the hazards of dumping raw sewage close to shore. And while sewage management — especially on smaller boats — can be a challenge, Mr. Brune was right. It’s illegal to dump […]
There is an enduring struggle in Cook Inlet to maintain a balance between developing oil and natural gas resources while also protecting the watershed’s rich biodiversity and thriving tourism and fishing industries. To date, the scale has tipped in favor of development, and one of the most irrevocable outcomes may be the extinction of the […]
First impressions are often telling. Inletkeeper first met with Northern Dynasty in Homer in 2005, before the Candian junior mining interest – which had never before developed a mining project – formed the Pebble Limited Partnership. The meeting was cordial but somewhat fraught, because Northern Dynasty had recently announced plans to dig a massive hole […]
On June 2, 2020, a federal court ruled the Trump EPA must revise rules governing the Clean Water Act’s National Contingency Plan – which covers oil spill prevention and response in Alaska and across the United States. Inletkeeper joined Alaska Natives and other plaintiffs in the litigation to force EPA to comply with the law […]
During January 2020’s first-ever Alaska Just Transition Summit, participants explored what “food sovereignty” meant to them and shared ways in which they are helping to build a more just Alaskan food system for all. This post explores the concept of self-determination within food systems, and how we got to where we are today. In his […]
The Iditarod is truly the Last Great Race. But it has also struggled for funding in recent years, and in 2016, it capitulated to major sponsors – including Donlin Gold – to install a “gag rule,” which prohibits mushers from criticizing race sponsors, among others. Rule 53 of the Iditarod Official 2020 Rules states: “All Iditarod mushers will be held […]
Inletkeeper recently reported about Alaska’s unenviable status as the most toxic state in America due to pollution from large metal mines. Today, a new report issued today by Earthworks pulls back the curtain on Alaska’s phony permitting scheme, with key findings about pollution violations from large Alaskan mines that include: 100% – All five mines […]
It’s curious why any Governor would continually poke a stick into the eye of his constituents, but Mike Dunleavy seems to have a unique penchant for it. In just the past several months, Mike Dunleavy’s apparent distaste for coastal Alaskans has taken a variety of forms, including: Loss of Ferry Service: In perhaps his biggest […]
Youth Voices are Integral in Creating a Just Transition to a Regenerative and Fossil Fuel Free Economy in Alaska by Satchel Pondolfino When you walk into a decision-making space, take note of who is in the room. The decisions that come out of that room are going to reflect those people and their world views. […]
This is the second piece in a series of Inletkeeper’s staff reflections from their experience at the Alaska’s first-ever Just Transition Summit Alaska’s Just Transition is about getting from where we’re at to where we want to be. We’re in a single revenue source, fossil-fuel based economy that is unsustainable for workers and the environment. […]
Kohtr’elneyh • Remembering Forward • Alaska’s Just Transition Summit, January 8 – 10, 2020 • Fairbanks Kohtr’elneyh (We Remember) is the Lower Tanana language of the Benhti’ Kenaga So what is a Just Transition? Just Transition initiatives shift the economy from dirty energy to community-controlled energy: from funding new roads to expanding public transit, from incinerators […]
December 30, 2019 Bob Shavelson The revelation that Gov. Mike Dunleavy parroted corporate talking points in his efforts to lobby the Trump administration to open the Pebble Mine should concern every Alaskan who cares about wild salmon and strong local economies. And it reveals a disturbing trend that ignores the rule of law and poses […]
What’s Happening: The Alaska Department of Fish & Game recently issued a public notice to repeal the current ban on jetskis and other personal watercraft in the Kachemak Bay Critical Habitat Area. The deadline for comments has been extended to no later than 5:00 p.m. on January 21, 2020 The Substance Problem: The Alaska Legislature created […]
It’s safe to say Mike Dunleavy is the least popular governor in state history, and for good reason. He ran for office on a wave of dark money, with the phony promise every Alaskan would get a $6,700 PFD check. Then he locked arms with the billionaire Koch Brothers and their front group Americans for […]
The recent heat wave and forest fires ravaging Alaska are yet another reminder that the Last Frontier lies on the front lines of rapid climate change. Through the smoky haze, however, one thing remains clear: the billionaire Koch Brothers have their hands around the throat of democracy in Alaska, and Mike Dunleavy is their dutiful […]
Court Dismisses Pebble’s Bogus Effort to Silence Fishermen Dunleavy Administration Wastes State Money on Frivolous Lawsuit In April we wrote about Pebble’s ham-fisted attempts to silence Bristol Bay fishermen with a frivolous lawsuit (see below). Today, the Alaska Superior Court agreed that Pebble’s lawsuit had absolutely no merit, and it dismissed the case. If you’ve […]
BACKGROUND: In January 2019, Governor Dunleavy lopped-off $20 million in education funding in the state’s supplemental budget – an amount approved through bipartisan negotiations in the Alaska House and Senate last year, and money school districts relied on in their budgets through the remainder of the fiscal year. But the real bombshell came on February […]
Sue Mauger, Science Director at Cook Inletkeeper, connects the dots on climate change and calls out the negligence of Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy in his administration’s swift removal of the Climate Action Plan from the official State website. Sign the petition to the Governor, Here! Originally Published in Alaska Dispatch News, Dec. 28, 2018 When our new governor […]
Written by Sue Mauger, Science Director We live in, play around and benefit from a salmon landscape. Wild salmon unite and define us as Alaskans. We pride ourselves in living differently up here, but we are making the same mistakes that others made across the world when they chose incompatible development over salmon. Stand for […]
On the same day PFD dividends hit bank accounts this year, I thawed a filet of silver salmon from the Kenai River. I remember feeling so grateful with that particular fresh, beautiful fish in my hands this August. With the sockeye fishery closed just weeks before, I started to wonder what our freezer would look […]
In March, Cook Inletkeeper’s Central Peninsula team had the opportunity to travel to Juneau along with three Alaskan fisherpoets to meet with our elected officials. Here are reflections on the trip from two fisherpoets, both lifelong Alaskans who made the trip to Juneau for the first time. Commercial fishing in with my father in Cook […]
