Protecting Alaska's Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains since 1995.
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 […]
Barack Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel once famously said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you could not do before.” Emmanuel must have had a crystal ball to channel the Trump Administration when he uttered those prescient words. […]
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. Â 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 […]
