Alaska

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a buck?

Published

8 months ago

July 15, 2025

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a buck?

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The Trump Administration’s announcement to rescind the National Forest’s ‘Roadless Rule’ in June has sparked outrage from some, and support from others. With the two largest National forests in the country, the announcement has caught the attention of Alaska businesses.

The rule, adopted in 2001, essentially prevents new roads from being built in a little over 58 million acres of National Forest, including the Tongass and Chugach National forests in Alaska. In an area that relies heavily on tourism, some fear its natural beauty could be compromised.

“Those magical places could become few and far between, and that’s a major problem,” said Hunter McIntosh, president of the Boat Company, a southeast Alaska non-profit that gives boat tours throughout the region.

Fewer roads means less timber harvest, and that reason, alongside wildfire prevention and others, was given by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who announced the USDA would be rescinding the Roadless Rule last month.

Greater access to the forests by roads has local environmental advocates and business owners like McIntosh concerned that logging and mining interests will be renewed.

“All these things potentially have a significant environmental impact on the fisheries and the wildlife, the hunting, subsistence and whatnot,” McIntosh said. “But then along with that also major impact on the largest economic driver of Southeast Alaska being tourism.”

Not only does McIntosh believe rescinding the rule will damage the environment, but he believes that the timber industry in Southeast Alaska is not economically feasible.

“The economics and what we do are really intertwined, in that — the timber industry is a heavily subsidized industry — and the tourism industry is not subsidized at all,” McIntosh said.

According to a report by the Southeast Conference, timber made up 4% of jobs and employment earnings in 2024.

For those who rely on timber for income, like Viking Lumber Mill in Klawock on Prince of Wales Island, they’d like to see growth in the industry. While the repeal of the roadless rule is a “step forward,” they say the forest service needs to better meet market demand.

“What the timber industry needs in order to survive is for the Forest Service to provide a continuous and ample supply,” said Sarah Dahlstrom, spokesperson for Viking Lumber.

“It is their obligation to do that. They are the largest landowner, and our industry relies on the largest landowner to supply our mill and all of the other micro mills, or mom-and-pop mills on our island.”

”State land is very limited and so we are relying on the Forest Service and the federal government to put timber sales out and it’s been a major struggle.”

Viking Lumber is Alaska’s largest mill, and nearly all of the finished lumber gets shipped to the Lower 48, or internationally.

Dahlstrom’s father, Kirk, bought the bankrupt mill in 1994, returning it to a profitable operation, but says they’re not quite out of the woods yet.

“For decades the Forest Service has failed to provide a sufficient timber supply to the entire industry,” Dahlstrom said.

Dahlstrom said that Viking is largely open because of a legislated land exchange between the Alaska Mental Health Trust and the U.S. Forest Service. For about a decade, the Forest Service has harvested off the land they received, but Dahlstrom said their sale agreement with them will be complete by August of this year.

In a local economy that Dahlstrom said benefits from roads built for timber harvest and wood by-products used to heat schools and public buildings, they hope to stay in business.

“We don’t want to take more than what we need,” Dahlstrom said.

“We want what we’ve been doing. It is a sustainable and renewable business.”

Meanwhile, McIntosh said the Boat Company generally avoids Prince of Wales Island on their tours because of the large swathes of clear-cut forest.

“People from the lower 48, guests and clients, they don’t want to see clear-cut,” McIntosh said. “They want to see wilderness. They want to see, you know, old growth trees. They want to be able to fish for salmon. They want to see bears and whales, and seeing huge swaths of sides of mountains completely clear-cut and then left is not something that that most tourists expect or want to see.”

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Alaska

Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

Published

9 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A musician with Alaska Native roots recorded an hour-long live set in Interior Alaska beneath the aurora.

Chastity Ashley, a drummer, vocalist and DJ who performs under the name Neon Pony, celebrated a year since she traveled to Nenana to record a live music set beneath the northern lights for her series Beats and Hidden Retreats.

Ashley, who has Indigenous roots in New Mexico, said she was drawn to Alaska in part because of the role drums play in Alaska Native culture. A handmade Alaskan hand drum, brought to her by a man from just outside Anchorage, was incorporated into the performance in February 2025.

Recording in the cold

The team spent eight days in Nenana waiting for the aurora to appear. Ashley said the lights did not come out until around 4 a.m., and she performed a continuous, uninterrupted hour-long set in 17-degree weather without gloves.

“It was freezing. I couldn’t wear gloves because I’m actually playing, yeah, hand drums and holding drumsticks. And there was ice underneath my feet,” Ashley said.

“So, I had to really utilize my balance and my willpower and my ability to just really immerse in the music and let go and make it about the celebration of what I was doing as opposed to worrying about all the other elements or what could go wrong.”

She said she performed in a leotard to allow full range of motion while drumming, DJing and singing.

Filming on Nenana tribal land

Ashley said she did not initially know the filming location was on indigenous land. After local authorities told her the decision was not theirs to make, she contacted the Nenana tribe directly for permission.

“I went into it kind of starting to tell them who I was and that I too was a part of a native background,” Ashley said. “And they just did not even care. They’re like, listen, we’re about to have a party for one of our friends here. Go and do what you like.”

Ashley said the tribe gave her full permission to film on the reservation, and that the aurora footage seen in the episode was captured there.

Seeing the aurora for the first time

Ashley said the Nenana performance marked her first time seeing the northern lights in person.

“It felt as if I were awake in a dream,” she said. “It really doesn’t seem real.”

She said she felt humbled and blessed to perform beneath the aurora and to celebrate its beauty and grandeur through her music.

“I feel incredibly humbled and blessed that not only did I get to take part in seeing something like that, but to play underneath it and celebrate its beauty and its grandeur.”

The Alaska episode is the second installment of Beats and Hidden Retreats, which is available on YouTube at @NeonPony. Ashley said two additional episodes are in production and she hopes to make it back up to Alaska in the future.

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Alaska

Over $150K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

Published

21 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Over 0K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – An Alaska drug task force seized roughly $162,000 worth of controlled substances during an operation in Juneau Thursday, according to the Juneau Police Department.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, investigators with the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) approached 50-year-old Juneau resident Jermiah Pond in the Nugget Mall parking lot while he was sitting in his car, according to JPD.

A probation search of the car revealed a container holding about 7.3 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, as well as about 1.21 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for fentanyl.

As part of the investigation, investigators executed a search warrant at Pond’s residence, during which they found about 46.63 gross grams of ketamine, 293.56 gross grams of fentanyl, 25.84 gross grams of methamphetamine and 25.5 gross grams of MDMA.

In all, it amounted to just less than a pound of drugs worth $162,500.

Investigators also seized $102,640 in cash and multiple recreational vehicles believed to be associated with the investigation.

Pond was lodged on charges of second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, two counts of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, five counts of fourth-degree misconduct involving a substance and an outstanding felony probation warrant.

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Alaska

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

SAND POINT, Alaska (KTUU) – A teenage boy who was last seen Monday when the canoe he was in tipped over has been found by a dive team in a lake near Sand Point, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Alaska’s News Source confirmed with the person, who is close to the search efforts, that the dive team found 15-year-old Kaipo Kaminanga deceased Thursday in Red Cove Lake, located a short drive from the town of Sand Point on the Aleutian Island chain.

Kaminanga was last seen canoeing with three other friends on Monday when the boat tipped over.

A search and rescue operation ensued shortly after.

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team posted on Facebook Thursday night that they were able to “locate and recover” Kaminanga at around 5 p.m. Thursday.

“We are glad we could bring closure to his family, friends and community,” the post said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more details become available.

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