Alaska
Alaska feels impacts of ongoing avian flu outbreak in Lower 48
![Alaska feels impacts of ongoing avian flu outbreak in Lower 48](https://gray-ktuu-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/ipbLrrqFf59dSKIUGeIN_ugrpG8=/1200x600/smart/filters:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/O7C76MJZRZA6VEX4OOOO6GKS34.jpg)
PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) – Buyers won’t be capable of get a sure staple on their grocery checklist as of late, with cabinets within the egg sections of shops naked.
A current wave within the extremely pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak hit a industrial facility in Washington on Dec. 14, resulting in the lack of over 1 million chickens. Alaska Division of Agriculture Interim Director Mia Kirk stated that this vastly affected Alaska’s provide of imported eggs.
“A majority of the eggs that we import into Alaska are from Washington and the Pacific Northwest,” Kirk stated. “I might think about that that is simply not an Alaska difficulty, that it’s most likely a nationwide difficulty.”
Whereas shops wrestle to maintain cabinets stocked, enterprise has been good for Don Dyer, proprietor of Polaris Farm and hatchery in Palmer.
“I used to be already offered out, even earlier than the egg scarcity I used to be promoting every thing I had,” Dyer stated in regard to the eggs he sells. “In reality, I’m growing my flock by virtually 500% this subsequent yr.”
Dyer has been a industrial poultry farmer within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for almost a decade. On high of supplying eggs to native stands like Bushes Bunches and some shops in Anchorage, he additionally sells chickens. Enterprise has been so good, in reality, he plans to construct a much bigger facility this yr to accommodate the additional birds.
“My gross sales on child chicks is simply by way of the roof proper now,” Dyer stated. “I’ll be there to fulfill the demand, however at this level, it simply takes a long term to do it.”
Dyer has not skilled any outbreak of avian influenza on his farm. He stated he has biosecurity measures in place and the farm’s location within the Butte doesn’t see plenty of migrating wild birds.
That hasn’t been the case for different areas within the Valley. Sheila Pontier, who runs the Alaska Potbelly Pigs Rescue in Wasilla, misplaced her flock to the illness in late November.
In accordance with the Alaska State Veterinarian, Dr. Robert Gerlach, U.S. Division of Agriculture information exhibits that over 43 million egg-laying chickens have been misplaced within the U.S. for the reason that outbreak started within the early spring of final yr.
“Chatting with our federal supervisors that work in livestock and poultry division for USDA, they’re hoping that that is nearing its peak so long as there’s no extra services impacted or affected by avian flu,” Kirk stated.
However in keeping with native poultry farmers like Dyer, even when the outbreak ended tomorrow it would nonetheless be some time earlier than the industrial business can recuperate.
“It’s a couple of seven- to eight-month course of to go from an egg to a hen that can really produce,” Dyer stated. “So this scarcity goes to be, you recognize, no less than seven or eight months.”
Moreover, for him, the state of affairs serves as instance of the significance of supporting native meals growers within the state to advertise meals safety.
“Shopping for native is basically the important thing to creating the infrastructure and the market economic system for local-grown product and having a secure meals system,” Dyer stated.
Copyright 2023 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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Alaska
Heat spreads across Alaska with no widespread rain in sight
![Heat spreads across Alaska with no widespread rain in sight](https://gray-ktuu-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/TBW7W32TKBBTXMAHDLR3W7E25I.jpg?auth=9a765d6037d87fff5c1c24e1ede274790e78e93619de1c356824566f920a0e3d&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Tuesday was the fifth day in a row with above-average temperatures in Anchorage, and the 10th consecutive day without any measurable rainfall. This warm and dry trend will continue through the end of June, and likely into the first week of July.
High pressure is centered over the state. With the upper-level winds forced north, most of Alaska will stay storm-free.
The same cannot be said for the Aleutians or across the Bering Sea. An area of low pressure is spreading north, bringing high winds, rain, and a high surf to the northern Kuskokwim Bay coast. This area should be prepared for water levels to rise three to six feet above normal high tide. Wind gusts of 45 to 50 mph are also likely.
The Aleutians will also stay cool Wednesday, but high temperatures will climb back to the upper 60s and low 70s across Southcentral, mid- to upper 60s across Southeast, to the 80s across the Interior, and even to the 60s on the Slope.
Anchorage has already reached 75 degrees or above three times this month. We’ve only seen three days over 75 degrees in June six times in recorded history. The overall average temperature for June is only about half a degree above what is normal but is about 2 degrees above June to date of 2023. This month’s rainfall is also significantly lower than what most of Anchorage experienced last June, which brought 17 days with measurable precipitation, while this year, we’ve seen just four days with rain.
The number of active wildfires in the state is up to 222 as of Tuesday evening, and 22 of those are new in the past 24 hours. Fortunately, lighting activity was lower on Tuesday, with fewer than 1,000 strikes recorded. More than 5,000 lightning strikes were recorded in Alaska on Monday, and more than 6,000 were tallied on Sunday.
With high fire danger continuing, use extra caution to keep from adding any additional human-caused fires. Burn permits are suspended in the Mat-Su and Interior. Open fires are prohibited in Anchorage.
Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Report identifies opportunities restoring access to SE Alaska fisheries – The Cordova Times
![Report identifies opportunities restoring access to SE Alaska fisheries – The Cordova Times](https://thecordovatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/CT-02-05-Fish-Factor-1-696x851.jpg)
A new report compiled by the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT) in Sitka finds that Southeast Alaska communities are losing access to fisheries, but also identifies opportunities for implementing new ways to restore such access for the region.
“Based on what we heard from the dozens of community members who participated in our survey, it is clear that Southeast’s communities, particularly Indigenous communities, are losing access to fisheries and their future access remains uncertain,” said Linda Behnken, ASFT board president. “However, it is also clear that we have some real opportunities when it comes to designing and implementing new tools to help restore this access and ensure that local needs are being factored into larger discussions and decisions concerning Southeast’s economy.”
The report, released June 18, compiles findings of a regional survey ASFT distributed to area residents this spring in collaboration with the Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP) — proposing ways to address issues. The report was funded by the Southeast Conference through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy initiative.
ASFT said the goal is to assist local communities by providing data and information for future dialogues and community development planning, increasing awareness and encouraging more funds for fishery access-related projects. Participating communities included Angoon, Craig, Haines, Kake, Ketchikan, Klawock, Klukwan, Juneau, Sitka, Wrangell, and Yakutat.
Responses from these communities universally identified the fisheries as a crucial element of Southeast Alaska’s culture and economy moving forward. Respondents expressed concern about their ability to access and have a sustainable livelihood from local fisheries through traditional harvesting, commercial or recreational fishing.
Respondents’ key concerns included the changing climate and environment of Southeast Alaska and a sense of unpredictability for the future of marine resources. They expressed a lack of confidence that current scientific approaches to fishery management will be adequate in light of significant changes affecting the region and its resources due to climate change.
![](https://thecordovatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CDV-Times-Online-Banner5-1.jpg)
The report also discussed existing systems of governance that challenge access to fishery resources, challenges with limited access management at the state and federal levels and loss of community infrastructure such as processors, fish buyers, cold storage, marine services and/or transportation often initiated with the trend in outmigration of fishery access in remote communities.
Many participating area residents said the utmost priority is protection and perpetuation of a traditional way of life, with commercial fishing considered secondary, as a tool to bridge the traditional and cash economies.
They discussed the rapid growth of tourism in Southeast Alaska as something feeding competition and tensions between local-commercial and traditional-use harvesters and non-local harvesters in the sportfish sector.
The report included recommendations for building more equitable and accessible fisheries in Southeast Alaska, including incorporating climate change variability and unpredictability into fishery management tools to facilitate fishery access and to ensure that other industries, including tourism and mariculture, do not further limit fishery access.
Recommendations also included establishing regional entities to hold quota/permits (such as regional Community Quota Entities and regional fisheries trusts) and more investment in community infrastructure.
Behnken said that ASFT was grateful to everyone who shared their thoughts on this complex topic.
“We hope that this report will uplift their voices and be a chance for the public, policy makers, and others to better understand some of the challenges that many Southeast residents are facing so that we can collectively find solutions and build a resilient and vibrant future for Southeast’s fisheries and communities,” she said.
![](https://thecordovatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ANTHC-Behavioral-Health-Wellness-Clinic.jpg)
Alaska
Hot and dry conditions lead to increasing wildfire danger across Alaska
![Hot and dry conditions lead to increasing wildfire danger across Alaska](https://gray-ktuu-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/EOE3XYHJE5EANNZQ5FJEYWED4U.jpg?auth=cb22a4dac4d8159c30685dba536db55e9df4741456d47f6b6664ddce67b913ff&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Summer weather continues to build in across the state, as a ridge is greatly influencing the weather across Mainland Alaska. Temperatures have been warming into the 70s and 80s through the Interior, while Southcentral has seen highs in the 60s and the 70s. This stretch of warm weather will remain through the week, accompanied by possibly thunderstorm development.
While hot and dry conditions have been building, the Aleutians are dealing with wet and breezy weather. This comes as a low near the Aleutians continues to lift to the north. Expect widespread rain through parts of this region, with the heaviest rain near the Pribilof Islands. Winds will gust anywhere from 30 to 65 mph. As the rain pushes to the northeast, it will run into ridging and quickly taper off into Wednesday. Some light rain showers look possible through parts of Southwest Alaska tomorrow morning, before the rain comes to an end.
Outside of the Aleutians and areas with thunderstorm formation, Alaska will remain on the drier side this week. While the ridge isn’t strong enough to cap thunderstorm development, it will prevent its widespread activity. It’s likely isolated to scattered storms will persist through the Interior and in Southcentral Alaska. A quick reminder that burn permits have been suspended in the Mat-Su Valley and Fairbanks due to the hot and dry conditions.
Any storms across Southcentral today will primarily impact western parts of the Matanuska Valley, the foothills of the Talkeetna Mountains and into the Copper River Basin. Storm motion will be to the north, so Anchorage and surrounding locations will largely stay dry. A rogue thunderstorm can’t be ruled out for the Kenai, but any precipitation will come in the form of spotty to isolated morning showers.
This hot and dry weather pattern continues through the end of June. Here in Southcentral, the weekend is once again shaping up to warm into the 70s.
Have a wonderful and safe Tuesday!
Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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