Alaska

Protecting Alaska’s wilderness and the Indigenous way of life is critical to a green future, says advocate

Published

2 years ago

January 11, 2024

Protecting Alaska’s wilderness and the Indigenous way of life is critical to a green future, says advocate

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

“Alaska is America’s natural resource warehouse.” That is what Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy told then-President Donald Trump in 2018. But our home is far more than storage for the next fad of consumer desires in the Lower 48 states. In Alaska, we are facing an onslaught of proposed projects that threaten to destroy our way of life. Perhaps the most concerning of these is the proposed Ambler industrial mining road.

The proposal is to build a road to a potential mining district in remote northwest Alaska, near the Arctic. Proponents of the plan claim they would be able to access copper and other minerals that could be used for the U.S. tech sector and green energy products, such as wind turbines. But this road would cut through 211 miles of pristine wilderness, through the watershed that feeds thousands of rivers, streams and lakes and would deal a possibly fatal blow to the subsistence way of life my people have maintained for millennia.

I teach my children to see this landscape as my ancestors did—it’s an intricately connected system we are only a small part of. We depend on the land, animals, water and fish for our food. Caribou, moose, ducks, geese, berries and fish make up most of our diet. We use every part of the animals we take, and depend on their hides and furs for our traditional clothing, tools, art and regalia.

The area that would be affected by the road includes the Brooks Range mountains; the Yukon, Koyukuk and Kobuk rivers; and the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, home to uninterrupted boreal forest, mountains, waterways and the 180,000 animals that make up the Western Arctic caribou herd. With the climate crisis, it is not just my people who will suffer at the destruction of my homelands but all of humanity. The true critical resource for a green future is intact wilderness.

When this project was given a rushed green light under the Trump administration, 41 tribes, including my own, sued the federal government and asked it to follow its own policy to review what the effects of the project would be. This report was recently released by the Bureau of Land Management and describes only a fraction of the incredible consequences. Nearly 90 tribes expressed opposition to the road during the recent window allowing for public comment on the report.

The road would require 3,000 culverts, or water channels, 200 major bridges and would lead to contamination of waterways. Trucks transporting hazardous materials would travel the gravel Ambler mining road daily, over permafrost tundra and waterways including the federally designated wild Kobuk River. There would also be fragmentation of Western Arctic caribou migration paths at a level never before seen; disruption of salmon, sheefish and whitefish spawning grounds; thawed permafrost; and the introduction of trespassing, noise and worse to our traditional tribal lands.

The huge corporations that want the road show up in villages promising it would help with affordable delivery of goods or bring jobs to Native communities. They claim it’s a single road leading to only one mine. We can see through these lies, however.

A map of mining claims shows they have made plans to use the road to industrialize our entire homelands. The mining claims they have already made cover many hundreds of miles. The road would be close enough to villages to contaminate their water, kill off their fish and prevent the caribou they depend on from migrating. But it would still be dozens of miles away and restricted to industrial use alone.

The promised jobs would be many miles away, and historically the only work made available to Native people would be low-paying and temporary. The road would be paid for by American taxpayers and used only by mining companies until they were done pillaging.

The companies that want the road and industrial mining development only care about profit. They use the constant talking point that we need the minerals for a green future. Yet the most recent data show that that claim is false and the only thing present in abundance is copper. A green future that destroys some of the last intact wilderness in the world defies logic.

The public comment period for the federal report on the road has closed. The Bureau of Land Management will make a decision in the coming months about whether to permit the road. In theory, the Biden administration recognizes the importance of Indigenous knowledge.

A 2022 White House memo stated that despite controlling only 24% of ecosystems worldwide, Indigenous people’s lands contain about 40% of all “ecologically intact landscapes and protected areas left on the planet,” and a staggering 80% of the world’s biodiversity, suggesting that “the most intact ecosystems on the planet rest in the hands of people who have remained close to nature.”

Yet, the unified tribal opposition to the proposed Ambler road has been largely dismissed. We are calling on our fellow Americans to stand with us. If we raise our voices together, we may be able to reverse this disastrous path. Follow the Ambler mining road issue and urge the leaders and people of influence in your own states and communities to oppose the road.

Indigenous people are still fighting for basic rights, such as having access to clean water as well as the hunting and fishing rights we depend on; protecting our lands and practicing our religion and culture. I want my children to be able to live on their traditional homelands. I want them to eat salmon and whitefish, hunt caribou and moose, practice our ceremonies—and to teach their children to do the same.

2024 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Protecting Alaska’s wilderness and the Indigenous way of life is critical to a green future, says advocate (2024, January 11)
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Alaska

Wayne and Wanda: I love Alaska winters, but my wife has grown weary and wants to move

Published

52 minutes ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Wayne and Wanda: I love Alaska winters, but my wife has grown weary and wants to move

Wanda and Wayne,

My wife and I moved to Alaska four years ago for work and adventure, thinking we’d stay a couple of years and see how it felt. We fell hard for it almost immediately. But by our second winter, my wife started talking about how hard the cold and dark were on her, and every winter since that feeling has grown heavier.

This recent cold snap and snow dump really pushed things over the edge. She’s deeply unhappy right now, withdrawn, sad and openly talking about how depressing it feels to live here, especially being so far from family and old friends. She tries to manage it with running, yoga, the gym, but even those things she often does alone. She hasn’t really built a community here, partly because she’s introverted and partly because she sticks closely to her routines and her co-workers aren’t the very social. Meanwhile, I’ve found connections through work and the outdoors, especially skiing in the winter (cross country and touring, downhill, backcountry, all of it!), and Alaska still feels full of possibilities to me.

But now she’s done. She wants to move back “home” soon. She wants to start trying for kids within the next year and doesn’t feel like Alaska is the right place to raise a family. She worries about schools, politics, the economy and being so far from family support. We both have careers that could take us almost anywhere, as well as savings, and a house we could sell quickly, and many of the Alaska toys we could also sell. Logistically, it would be easy. Emotionally, I feel like I’m being told to leave after I just got settled.

There are places I still want to explore, trips I’ve been planning, seasons I want to experience differently now that we’re more established. I keep thinking: If we can just get through to summer, maybe she’ll feel better. But I don’t know if that’s hope or denial, and yeah, summer feels a long ways away and goes by pretty quickly. Honestly, now I’m starting to get bummed about the idea of leaving.

I love my wife and I don’t want her to be miserable. But I’m scared that if we leave now, I’ll resent her, and if we stay she’ll resent me. Is there a way to buy time without dragging this out painfully? Or is this one of those moments where love means choosing between two incompatible futures?

Wanda says:

If this was your first Cheechako winter here, or your second, I could write off your wife’s apprehension to culture shock or a sophomore slump. But this is year four, which means she’s endured winters of record snowfalls, weird snow shortfalls, terrible windstorms, bleak darkness and desolate below-zero temps. Sorry to say, but it’s likely there’s no number of laps at the Dome or downward dogs on the mat that will make her find the special beauty of an Alaska winter.

This place is tough. For every old-timer who jokes, “I came for two years and I’m still here,” there are plenty who maybe made it that long and bailed. While the state shines with possibilities, rugged beauty, unique traits and cool people, it’s also far from basically everything, pretty expensive and definitely extreme. Some people will thrive here. Some people won’t. No one’s better or worse, or wins or loses. Were you on your own, at a different point in life, you may have made your forever home here. But instead you pledged forever to your wife, and I’m afraid it’s time to start out on your next adventure — in the Lower 48.

Your wife gave this a real shot. She’s stayed four years. That’s four long — and for her, miserable — winters. It was also four seasons of no doubt incredible summers, full of fresh halibut and farmers markets and quirky festivals and blue skies at 11 p.m. If these special aspects of Alaska haven’t yet been enough to convince her the winters are worth it, they won’t ever be.

Wayne says:

Sure, your Alaska bucket list is still growing faster than you can check things off, but take it from a lifelong Alaskan: You’ll never do it all. People fall in love with this place in a million different ways. You and I? We believe there’s always another season of adventures ahead, another trail and another corner of the state to explore, and we’ll always feel some serious AK FOMO when we’re stuck at the office working while everyone else is ice skating on a perfect winter day or dipnetting during a hot salmon run.

Here’s the perspective shift you need. You love your wife. You’re committed to a happy life together. And by any reasonable measure, you’ve made the most of your four years here. So ask yourself this honestly: Is another spring of shredding pow in the Chugach more important than her mental health and your marriage? And why resent her for being ready for a new chapter after she showed up and gave Alaska a chance? When you frame it that way, “incompatible futures” sounds dramatic and “buying time” sounds selfish.

And Alaska isn’t going anywhere. You know that. It’s a flight or two away no matter where you end up Outside. Maintain your friendships, stay on the airline alerts, narrow your must-do list to the Alaska all-timers, and plan to come back regularly. And imagine this: years from now, bringing your kids here after years of telling them stories about the winters you survived and the mountains you climbed. That’s not losing Alaska, that’s carrying it with you wherever you go, along with your wife and your marriage.

[Wayne and Wanda: How can I support my partner’s hardcore New Year’s reset, even if it’s not for me?]

[Wayne and Wanda: I kissed my high school crush during a holiday trip home. Now I’m questioning everything]

[Wayne and Wanda: My girlfriend’s dog fostering has consumed her life and derailed our relationship]

[Wayne & Wanda: My husband has been having a secret, yearslong emotional affair]

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Alaska

The Alarming Prices Of Groceries In Rural Alaska — And Why They’re So Expensive – Tasting Table

Published

13 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

The Alarming Prices Of Groceries In Rural Alaska — And Why They’re So Expensive – Tasting Table

ViDI Studio/Shutterstock

Many households across America have been struggling with their grocery bills due to inflation that hit the global markets after the COVID-19 pandemic, but for families in Alaska, especially in rural communities, the prices of basic goods have reached alarming heights. Alongside inflation, the main issue for the climbing prices is Alaska’s distance from the rest of the U.S., which influences the cost of transport that’s required to deliver the supplies.

Given that Alaska is a non-contiguous state, any trucks delivering grocery stock have to first cross Canada before reaching Alaska, which requires a very valuable resource: time. According to Alaska Beacon, “It takes around 40 hours of nonstop driving to cover the more than 2,200 highway miles from Seattle to Fairbanks” on the Alaska Highway. That’s why a fairly small percentage of the state’s food comes in on the road. For the most part, groceries are shipped in on barges and are then flown to more remote areas, since “82% of the state’s communities are not reachable by road,” per Alaska Beacon. As such, even takeout in Alaska is sometimes delivered by plane.

Planes, trucks, and boats all cost money, but they are also all vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, which are not uncommon in Alaska. Sometimes local stores are unable to restock basic staples like bread and milk for several weeks, so Alaskans struggle with high food insecurity.

How much do groceries cost in Alaska?

The storefront of a local City Market in Alaska

Ruben Ramos/Getty Images

Groceries in Alaska cost significantly more than in the rest of the U.S., but even within the state itself, the prices vary based on remoteness. You’ll find that prices of the same items can double or even triple, depending on how inaccessible a certain area is. The New Republic reported that prices in Unalakleet, a remote village that’s only accessible by plane, can be up to 80% higher than in Anchorage, Alaska’s most populated city. For example, the outlet cited Campbell’s Tomato Soup costing $1.69 in Anchorage and $4.25 in Unalakleet. Even more staggering is the price of apple juice: $3.29 in the city, $10.65 in the village. Such prices might make our jaw drop, but they’re a daily reality for many Alaskans.

As one resident shared on TikTok, butter in his local store costs $8 per pound — almost twice the national average. Fresh produce is even more expensive, with bananas going for $3 a pound, approximately five times the national average. It’s therefore not surprising that most of the people who live in Alaska have learned to rely on nature to survive.

Subsistence living has great importance for many communities. They hunt their own meat, forage for plants, and nurture their deep cultural connection to sourdough. For rural Alaskans, living off the land is a deep philosophy that embraces connection with nature and hones the survival knowledge that’s passed down through generations — including how to make Alaska’s traditional akutaq ice cream.

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Alaska

Backcountry avalanche warning issued for much of Southcentral Alaska

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Backcountry avalanche warning issued for much of Southcentral Alaska

High avalanche danger in the mountains around much of Southcentral Alaska prompted officials to issue a backcountry avalanche warning Saturday for areas from Anchorage to Seward.

The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center said that a combination of heavy snowfall, strong winds and low-elevation rain Saturday “will overload a weak snowpack, creating widespread areas of unstable snow.”

The warning is in effect from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday.

Human-triggered and natural slides are likely, and avalanche debris may run long distances into the bottoms of valleys and other lower-angle terrain, the center said.

In Saturday’s avalanche forecast, which noted high avalanche danger at all elevations in the Turnagain Pass and Girdwood areas, the center said avalanches were likely to fail on weak layers about 1.5 to 3 feet deep.

Forecasters recommended that people avoid traveling in avalanche terrain, staying clear of slopes steeper than 30 degrees.

“Avalanche conditions will remain very dangerous immediately after the snow finishes,” the avalanche center said in its warning.

The center also said conditions may cause roofs to shed snow, and urged that people watch for overhead hazards, use care in choosing where to park vehicles and watch out for children and pets.

Areas covered under the backcountry avalanche warning include the mountains around Anchorage, Girdwood, Portage, Turnagain Pass, Lost Lake and Seward.

Farther north, the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center in its forecast Saturday said danger was considerable at upper elevations and moderate at middle elevations.

Snowfall in Anchorage and Mat-Su

A winter weather advisory remained in effect until 9 a.m. Sunday from Anchorage up to the lower Matanuska Valley, including the cities of Eagle River, Palmer and Wasilla.

The National Weather Service said total accumulations of 4 to 8 inches of snow were possible, with localized areas potentially receiving up to a foot of snow.

The snowfall was expected to peak Saturday evening before tapering off Sunday morning, the weather service said.

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