FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The McDonald Fire experienced thunderstorms with lightning and an estimated .15 inch of rain Thursday night. A flight over the fire Thursday afternoon showed minimal fire activity – smoldering and creeping – with some smoke on the northern edge. No fire growth was observed. The fire remains west of the Tanana River.

Isolated to scattered showers will continue the rest of Friday with widely scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening. These thunderstorms could have strong and gusty winds, small hail, and lightning. A portable weather station was set up Thursday to provide a more accurate weather forecast for the fire area closest to where firefighters are working.

BLM Alaska Fire Service Smokejumpers, the Midnight Sun Hotshot Crew and the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection (DOF) White Mountain module continue working on structure protection on cabins to the south the fire along 5 Mile Creek. This includes more cutting and clearing around the cabins to create defensible space. Smokejumpers reached the last two remote cabin sites Thursday and will start working on constructing protection measures Friday.

Firefighters are removing fire-weakened trees along the creek to prevent blowdown that would block access and egress to the area. Keeping the creek clear will allow safe travel for firefighters and for the cabin owners after firefighters leave.

DOF has 42 personnel staged near the McDonald Fire at Harding Lake. These crews, the Pioneer Peak Hotshots and Gannet Glacier, continue fuels mitigation work at the Harding Lake State Park and are prepared to quickly respond to any new starts in the Interior.

Weather Forecast:  Thunderstorms will end before midnight, but isolated to scattered showers will continue into Saturday morning. Warmer and drier conditions are expected over the weekend with a slight chance of evening thunderstorms. A high temperature of 69 degrees with a low humidity of 40% is expected for Friday.

Burn Permits:  There are no DOF burn suspensions for the area. Please check https://dnr.alaska.gov/burn/fireareas or call the burn permit hotline for the Fairbanks Area Forestry at (907) 451-2631 for the most current updates.

Air Quality:  The Alaska Department of Conservation  Air Quality Advisory for the Central and Eastern Alaska has expired and none are issued for this area. Find information on how to protect yourself from wildfire smoke at the Smoke Management page on akfireinfo.com.

Evacuation notices:  The Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) issued a Level 2: SET evacuation notice for the approximately 20 cabins that are near the fire’s southern edge. The FNSB also put areas along the lower Salcha River, Harding Lake, Hollies Acres, and Canaday neighborhoods in a READY status. Find more information and an interactive map of these areas on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Emergency Services website. 

-BLM-

Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service, P.O. Box 35005 1541 Gaffney Road, Fort Wainwright, Ak 99703

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Learn more at www.blm.gov/AlaskaFireService, and on Facebook and Twitter.

The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (AFS) located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, provides wildland fire suppression services for over 240 million acres of Department of the Interior and Native Corporation Lands in Alaska. In addition, AFS has other statewide responsibilities that include: interpretation of fire management policy; oversight of the BLM Alaska Aviation program; fuels management projects; and operating and maintaining advanced communication and computer systems such as the Alaska Lightning Detection System. AFS also maintains a National Incident Support Cache with a $18.1 million inventory. The Alaska Fire Service provides wildland fire suppression services for America’s “Last Frontier” on an interagency basis with the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Military in Alaska.

Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info, BLM Alaska Fire Service

Tags: 2024 Alaska Fire Season, McDonald Fire

June 14, 2024

Democrat Mary Peltola keynoted the Alaska Democrat Party convention where the party rewrote its party platform to call for the end of the state’s oil and gas industry, a new investigation revealed.

“Democrat Mary Peltola endorses Joe Biden and embraces her extreme party’s reckless, destructive war on Alaska. Alaskans are still waiting for Peltola to stand up to extreme liberals’ threats to put thousands of people out of work and devastate the economy.” – NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen

In case you missed it…

Alaska Dems Alter Platform To Remove Support for Oil and Gas and Call for ‘Rapid Transition to Renewable Energy’
Washington Free Beacon
Thomas Catenacci

The Alaska Democratic Party overhauled its party platform during its recent convention, inserting language in support of aggressive climate policies and rescinding its support for the state’s vital fossil fuel industry, which generates the large majority of Alaska’s revenue.

The changes were highlighted in an internal party document reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The document shows that the bulk of the changes to the Alaska Democratic Party’s final 2024 platform—an amended version of the platform last updated in May 2022—came in its environment, natural resources, and energy section.

Overall, the new platform opposes all fossil fuel exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, calls for a “rapid transition to renewable energy sources,” endorses carbon pricing as an explicit way of suppressing demand for fossil fuels, characterizes climate change as an “emergency of the highest order,” and rescinds the party’s past support for the fossil fuel industry.

Alaska Democrats’ blunt alterations to their official platform underscore the tension between the national Democratic Party’s broad support for left-wing climate policies and the state Democratic Party’s tenuous relationship with the fossil fuel industry, a key economic driver in Alaska. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the state’s energy demand per capita is the highest in the nation, and the state government is mainly funded by fossil fuel revenues. Last year, for example, 64 percent of the state’s revenue came from taxes on oil and gas production alone, according to data from the Alaska Department of Revenue.

“Although the Alaska oil and gas industry historically has made, and continues to make, vital contributions to Alaska’s economy, the currently advanced state of climate disruption requires that the world transition away from fossil fuel use as soon as possible,” the new platform states. “We support a rapid transition to renewable energy sources, which are now cheaper than fossil fuels.”

While the party’s previous platform opposed “unsafe” oil and gas exploration, leasing, and development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the new platform opposes all fossil fuel development in the refuge because of its impact on a nearby tribal community.

In addition, the new platform details support for a carbon pricing policy to be implemented at the state or federal level as a means to disincentivize continued reliance on fossil fuels. The document states that the policy, which essentially penalizes industry for emissions, is the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The document also scrubs a section from its 2022 platform on “conventional energy,” which endorsed continued onshore and offshore fossil fuel production. It now calls for an immediate transition from fossil fuels to green energy sources.

The platform puts a spotlight on Rep. Mary Peltola (D., Alaska), a first-term congresswoman representing the state’s at-large congressional district. Peltola is locked in a tight reelection contest for her seat, which has historically been held by Republicans.

While Peltola has sought to distance herself from many of the Biden administration’s climate policies targeting Alaska during her short tenure, she touted her efforts to push green energy during remarks she made last month at the Alaska Democratic Party’s convention, where the platform was finalized, the Juneau Empire reported. She also voted “present” on legislation to boost energy production in Alaska in early May.

Still, Peltola campaign spokeswoman Shannon Mason said the congresswoman thinks the new platform “doesn’t work for Alaska” and disagrees with the Biden administration’s actions curbing energy production in Alaska. Mason also noted a statement that was read on Peltola’s behalf at the convention that called for a “comprehensive energy approach” that harnesses both traditional resource industries and green energy development.

Peltola’s opponent, Republican Nancy Dahlstrom, offered a different assessment.

“The Alaska Democrats are codifying what Mary Peltola’s been pushing in Congress her entire term there: Marxist climate policies that will demolish Alaska energy production,” Dahlstrom, who serves as the state’s lieutenant governor, told the Free Beacon. “It shows that Mary Peltola and the Democrats are out of step with Alaskans.”

“We do not need ‘carbon pricing’ or a ‘rapid transition’ to less efficient and more expensive green energy. What we need to do is unleash Alaska’s energy potential, and I intend to promote policies to do just that when I unseat Mary Peltola in November.”

The Alaska Democratic Party did not respond to a request for comment.

Read more here.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Sometimes, when we finally hook on and reel in, we can’t help but take a fish frame.

And after that fish is released back into the river or put in the freezer, those photos can be turned in and recognized by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s ‘wefishak’ challenges.

“[The challenges] are really in effect to celebrate angler accomplishments,” Ryan Ragan, ADF&G Communications Coordinator for Sport Fishing said.

Five Salmon Family Challenge

Fishing is more fun with others, and the Five Salmon Family Challenge promotes family or group participation, proper salmon identification and ethical angling practices. The goal is to reel in the five species of Pacific Salmon found in Alaska waters – Chinook, Chum, Coho, Pink and Sockeye – with members of a family, family groups, or any other group of angling partners.

Fish must be legally caught within Alaskan waters that are open to the public and in compliance with current Alaska Fish and Game regulations.

When you haul in a salmon, simply take a photo displaying it so the species can be easily be identified, then submit it by email to ryan.ragan@alaska.gov. Those who complete the challenge will receive a certificate from ADF&G and an 11×7 poster by Alaskan artist Shelly Marshall of the five salmon species.

Trophy Fish Program

The Trophy Fish Program is the longest-running challenge offered by ADF&G, with data documenting recordholders over decades. There are more than a dozen species to showcase, giving special recognition to anglers that meet minimum weight for trophy certificates and length standards for catch-and-release, also offering a youth division.

Stocked Waters Challenge

There are three challenges within the Stocked Waters Challenge. “Five from Five” challenges anglers to catch five different species (Chinook, Coho, Rainbow trout, Arctic char and Arctic grayling’ from five different stocked waters; one type of species per body of water. To accomplish the “10 Lakes Challenge,” anglers must fish at any 10 stocked lakes within Alaska. However, catching a fish however is not required. This challenge is more about exploring fishing opportunities that you may not have previously experienced. For the “Two Over 20″ challenge, anglers aim to catch two fish of any species, over 20 inches in length.

Details regarding ‘wefishak’ and each challenge can be found here.

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