Protecting Alaska's Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains since 1995.
On Monday, I saw a helicopter pilot I hadnât seen in 14 years. Stan piloted my first trip in Bristol Bay to sample small headwater streams near the Pebble deposit. Seeing Stan brought up a flood of memories and names of people who have contributed to the decades of work to protect Bristol Bay, each […]
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 […]
âItâs 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 canât afford that anymoreâ – Karlin Itchoak, Alaska State Director at the Wilderness Society This past May, many of […]
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! Weâve 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
After a short winter lull, Inletkeeperâs 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 […]
Are you ever on social media and you see articles titled something like âAll the Things Youâve Been Doing Wrong Your Entire Lifeâ or âApparently eating chips isnât as simple as popping them inside your mouth. No, there is a proper way to truly enjoy these crispy snacks.â 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 â 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 […]
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 isnât […]
On this date 33 years ago, Alaskans experienced the oiling of Prince William Sound and beyond. You know the story â 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 Alaskaâs history. Alaskans learned important lessons […]
Almost a million acres in the Susitna Basin are under threat by a plan by the state to issue two licenses for exploration and possibly future drilling for Coalbed methane. (links to the state documents below) Take action here – this link will take you to a form to email the Division of Oil and […]
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 […]
Cook Inletkeeper has been keeping a watchful eye on the west side of the Susitna River for years. When the state of Alaska permitted a 315-mile right-of-way for a gas pipeline to fuel the proposed Donlin Gold Mine, cutting a massive swath from Cook Inlet, over the Alaska Range to the mine site, we joined […]
The Alaska State government has an incredible responsibility to protect Alaska and Alaskans from oil spills and leaks. The state often says âtrust usâ we are doing enough. The state is re-doing the regulations on oil spill prevention and response and Inletkeeper has some concerns mostly on what actions the state isnât taking to protect […]
Salmon are no canaries. They have robust life-history strategies and diverse habitat needs. If we keep their freshwater habitat cold, clean and intact and their marine food web stable without large blobs of warm water, wild Pacific salmon will persist and continue to contribute to global and local food security. Their greatest vulnerability is that […]
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 […]
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 âInletkeeperâ title from Bob, Iâd like to share my vision for the future of the Cook Inlet watershed in the decades ahead: Alaskaâs economy has […]
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 […]
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 […]
Lease ART Sale 258 Update: Thank you all for a successful Art Sale 258 and Draft Environmental Impact Statement comment period! We are able to do this work because of member support from concerned citizens like you. Please donate today to protect Cook Inlet for our future generations. In the world we wish to inhabit, there is no […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 nationâs tragic history with the indigenous peoples who have called North America home from time immemorial. We are trying to recognize both of […]
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 ârightâ path […]
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 […]
Last week we asked you – our Inletkeepers – to stand up for Lower Cook Inlet and say ânoâ to the proposed oil and gas lease sale in Lower Cook Inlet. If you havenât already signed the petition, please do so at inletkeeper.org/ls258 – and then share with 5 friends (or five more friends!)! Many […]
Central to most Alaskanâs plates are salmon and other foods from the sea. Itâs hard to visit Kachemak Bay without also enjoying fresh oysters or beer-battered fish. Halibut and salmon are common freezer staples all year long. Itâs hard to imagine Alaska without this plentiful bounty. Given our high food costs, many Alaskan families supplement […]
You are Inletkeeper – and NOW is a critical time to stand up for Cook Inlet. Last Friday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed oil and gas lease sale in Lower Cook Inlet. We now have 45 days to explain to our government why this […]
In case you do not get our quarterly newsletter, Stand to Protect Lower Cook Inlet was originally printed there. If you want to get our print newsletter, you can do so by becoming a member here! Stand to Protect Lower Cook Inlet: www.tinyurl.com/LeaseSale258 Update: Since the time Inletkeeper wrote this article, the Biden Administration has […]
This past weekend there was quite the stir in Homer as a jack-up rig came down Cook Inlet, into Kachemak Bay, and around the spit. Meanwhile, California communities were hit with the news of a massive oil spill from a pipeline leak off the southern coast. These events made me reflect on the history of […]
Cook Inletkeeper works to ensure our state government protects our wild salmon. We fought the state when it authorized the industry to destroy 11 miles of Alaskan salmon streams for the proposed Chuitna Coal Mine. Our Government and industry repeatedly claim that they would never trade one of Alaskaâs resources (salmon) for another (coal). Yet […]
Most people donât know about the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia in 1921, or how, more recently, it helped shape resource development in Alaska. But this forgotten history is vital, because as the poet Maya Angelou famously put it: âYou canât really know where youâre going until you know where you have been.â […]
Decades-Old Regulations Currently Allow Use of Toxic Chemicals after Oil Spills A federal district court judge ruled on August 9 in favor of Inletkeeper and a coalition of individuals and environmental groups and ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its decades-old regulations on the use of toxic chemical dispersants in oil spill […]
The fact that fish need water and that Alaskans love their fish should not be controversial. But the House Fisheries Committee held a meeting to learn about the Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) proposed changes to the regulations that allow Alaskans to keep water in streams for fish. Although DNR refused to show up, Cook […]
When President Biden took office, he promptly delivered on his campaign promise to address climate change by pausing new oil and gas leasing in federal waters until his Administration could review the leasing program. The pause put the brakes on proposed federal Lease Sale 258, which had been rushed through in a matter of months […]
In the complex interplay between corporate profits and environmental protection, it can be hard to connect the dots to understand the larger picture. Inletkeeper is now engaged on two fronts which at first may appear disconnected, but on closer inspection, reveal a troubling linkage that requires heightened scrutiny. [Click here now to tell EPA we […]
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, itâs 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. BOEMâs move comes in the wake of President Bidenâs January 27 Executive Order placing a pause on all oil and gas leasing […]
In early January, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) spit out an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 1 million acre + Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258. BOEM spent a mere 3 months on the EIS; never before had the federal government rushed through an environmental review so quickly, and BOEM’s haste […]
In the last brutal days of the Trump Administration, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) threw a desperate lifeline to the oil and gas industry. On January 13, BOEM released a rushed and haphazard draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to pave the way for a million-acre oil and gas lease sale in the […]
What is the common thread between Concord, NH; Denton, TX; Norman, OK and a growing number of American cities? They all have a commitment to 100% clean energy within the next 30 years. The transition from fossil fuels to renewables is inevitable. Whatâs not inevitable is that this transition is just and, in the words […]
Early last September, as fishermen left the Homer Harbor for nearby cod and halibut fishing grounds, the 273â seismic vessel Polarcus Alima darkened the horizon in Kachemak Bay. The massive vessel – under contract to Hilcorp – proceeded to blast seismic airguns for weeks on end in a quest to explore for more oil and […]
This past week, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council sent shockwaves across Alaska when it abruptly closed commercial salmon fishing in the federal waters of Lower Cook Inlet. The closure resulted from the State of Alaskaâs blanket refusal to work with the federal government to co-manage the salmon fishery in Lower Cook Inlet. The irony […]
Background: The Exxon Valdez Trustees Council (EVOSTC) was established after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill to oversee restoration of the injured ecosystem through the use of the $900 million civil settlement. The Council consists of three state and three federal trustees (or their designees). The Council is advised by members of the public and by members of […]
Forty-five years ago a group of Alaskans with a passion for Cook Inlet took on the oil and gas industry. And in a remarkable David and Goliath battle, they prevailed. Thanks to this small but dogged group of fishermen, scientists, artists and activists, the epic view across Kachemak Bay – and the remarkable resources of […]
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 â especially on smaller boats â can be a challenge, Mr. Brune was right. Itâs illegal to dump […]
Alaskaâs land, water and communities are facing a climate crisis, and we all know the problem. Surface air temperatures in the Arctic are rising at twice the rate of average global warming. A hotter, more arid atmosphere is melting the stateâs iconic glaciers at a troubling pace, aggravating destructive forest fires. Climate change-induced ocean acidification […]
Mike Dunleavy recently flew all the way to the east coast to stand by Donald Trump as he gutted rules under the nationâs âenvironmental magna cartaâ â the National Environmental Policy Act. Of course Mike Dunleavy has contorted himself in any number of ways to coddle a President whoâs handling of the COVID pandemic has […]
