Alaska oil, mining education group alleges former director stole at least $187,000
Alaska Resource Education, which promotes the oil and gas, mining and forestry industries in Alaska's schools, is suing former executive director Michelle Brunner, alleging she embezzled nearly $200,000.
Study: Tundra fires induce permafrost melt, land change
Wildfire on Arctic tundra can cause permafrost melt from the top down, contributing to landscape slumping, known as thermokarst.
Download Audio
From the ashes: Life returns to Kasatochi volcano
Nearly every year since Kasatochi erupted, scientists have returned to study how ecosystems respond to cataclysmic destruction. Listen now
BlueCrest is latest company to stop work, citing state’s defunct cash-for-credits scheme
BlueCrest is the latest to fall victim to the now-defunct cashable credit program. It announced on August 1 that it couldn’t afford to keep drilling on the Kenai Peninsula and that it would be laying off about 150 people. Listen now
EPA head reverses course on Pebble, saying it may pose ‘unacceptable’ risk
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said the agency is suspending its effort to reverse an Obama-era proposal to put restrictions on the mine. Listen now
ConocoPhillips announces three new oil discoveries on the North Slope
Conoco didn’t release many details about the discoveries, including how much oil was found. But in a press release, the company called the results of this winter’s drilling season “promising.” Listen now
BLM projects ‘insignificant’ impact from seismic work in ANWR
Officials from the Bureau of Land Management expect "no significant impact" from a 3d seismic survey in the Arctic Refuge. They expect to approve the request in time for work to begin this winter. Enviros say the work could disturb denning polar bears. Listen now
St. Paul rat evades team of eradication experts
A rat is still on the loose on St. Paul Island, having evaded the community’s decades-old prevention program for more than seven weeks. A fish plant worker nearly caught it on Sunday, but it slipped out of his hands. Listen now
New salmon-counting technique treats Alaska stream like a crime scene
Oregon State University Professor Taal Levi has spent the past several years exploring whether a new technology called environmental DNA, or eDNA, can be used to count salmon.
U.S. Air Force ‘barren lands’ survival course teaches how to stay alive in Arctic wilderness
Survival course trainees are exposed to subzero temperatures and winds that gust up to 30-plus miles an hour. “They don’t go back inside after they come out here and begin the training,” said instructor Sgt. Garrett Wright.
For one petroleum engineering student, oil prices change but the dream stays the same
“I saw it as: I’m in a cyclic industry,” said Sydney Deering, who will be graduating this year with a B.S. in petroleum engineering. “I’m coming in in the trough. Hopefully it’s only up from here.”
Two of Alaska’s biggest exports are caught up in the US-China trade dispute
As President Donald Trump’s trade dispute with China continues to drag out, some of Alaska’s biggest exports expect to be hit with even steeper tariffs than they’ve seen in recent months.
Meet the Trump administration official whose signature could formally open ANWR to drilling
On his second day on the job at the U.S. Department of Interior, Joe Balash says he was personally tasked with carrying out Congress’ instructions to hold an oil lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "I am confident that we are able to move forward here and not devastate the Porcupine caribou herd. I am absolutely convinced of that,” Balash says.
Forest Service kicks off Roadless Rule discussion in Juneau
People who attended the meeting had a lot of questions about the process.
RCA says it needs another month to consider Hilcorp’s confidentiality request
Hilcorp is planning to buy BP's entire Alaska business, and it wants its financial records kept private.
Native groups object to prison sentence of Kaktovik man who shot and wasted polar bear
After a Kaktovik man was found guilty of killing and wasting a polar bear in a small North Slope village, several prominent Alaska Native organizations are calling the sentence “inappropriate.”
New Attorney General weighs in against ExxonMobil’s tactics fighting climate change investigations
Since last November, ExxonMobil has been the target of a growing number of state attorneys general investigating whether the company lied about its research about climate change. Listen now
Cook Inlet leaks draw more scrutiny for Hilcorp and its aging infrastructure
State regulators on Monday announced an oil leak from an underwater pipeline owned by Hilcorp in Cook Inlet was halted successfully. Listen now
In Iliamna, EPA hears mixed reactions to its new course on Pebble Mine
Unlike the hearing the day before in Dillingham -- where public input was unanimously against the proposed Pebble Mine and EPA’s new course -- the reaction in Iliamna was more mixed. Listen now
Unalaska revisits wind power, hoping for a renewable energy source
Residents are eager to find out if wind will be Unalaska's ticket to a greener future. Listen now