This satellite image provided by NASA Earth Observatory shows the retreat of Alsek Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska, as it loses contact with a land mass known as Prow Knob, center right, revealing an island, Aug. 6, 2025. (NASA Earth Observatory via AP)
AP- A retreating glacier revealed a new island in Alaska this summer, as lake water filled in to surround a land mass once hugged by ice.
Mauri S. Pelto, a glaciologist at Nichols College in Massachusetts, had anticipated for some time that the Alsek Glacier in southeast Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve would detach from the land mass referred to as Prow Knob. As the glacier has retreated, it has eroded a basin now filled by Alsek Lake, which is fed by the nearby Alsek River, glacier melt and icebergs, he said.
Pelto for years has used satellite imagery as part of his work chronicling changes in glaciers, and he had been checking images of the area at least once a month as he watched for the separation to occur, he said. It appears to have happened sometime between late July and early August.
Glacier Bay has over 1,000 glaciers, according to the park. While many glaciers in Alaska are retreating, not many new islands of size are revealed by their retreat, Pelto said. Prow Knob is roughly 2 square miles (5 square kilometers), and its highest point is just over 1,000 feet (304.8 meters), he said.
Imagery from the early 1980s, shared by NASA Earth Observatory, shows the Alsek Glacier largely surrounding Prow Knob, with Alsek Lake on one side. The glacier at that time shared a connection with Grand Plateau Glacier, the images show.
Over time, the lake has expanded as the glaciers have retreated. Alsek Lake is one of three lakes next to glaciers in the region that has seen marked growth since the 1980s, Pelto said.
Cook Inlet waves roll onto the beach at Kenai on Aug. 14, 2018. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is preparing a supplemental environmental impact statement to address legal deficiencies in a 2022 lease sale. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Federal regulators will accept no public comments on a pending environmental study of oil leasing in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, a U.S. Department of the Interior agency announced through a Federal Register notice published Thursday.
There will be no public comment period and no public hearing on a draft supplemental environmental impact statement for a Cook Inlet lease sale that was held in 2022 but found to be legally flawed, said U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which manages oil and gas development in federal offshore areas.
The rejection of public comments is in accordance with Trump administration changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, the 55-year-old law that guides federal decisions about activities that may have environmental impacts. The changes are aimed at speeding up environmental reviews and developing infrastructure projects.
BOEM is following the administration’s updated NEPA regulations and a new department handbook on the law, which went into effect on July 3, said Elizabeth Pearce, a U.S. Department of the Interior senior public affairs specialist.
“This Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement is narrowly focused on addressing the court’s concerns, without a separate public-comment round – streamlining what is typically a protracted, multi-year process down to a few months.” Pearce said by email on Thursday.
Although no public comments will be accepted, the public will be able to read the new environmental impact statement when it is finished, Pearce added. “The completed Supplemental EIS will be posted online so Alaskans and other stakeholders can see exactly how we addressed the court’s limited concerns,” she said.
The Cook Inlet environmental study stems from a federal lease sale that was held on Dec. 30, 2022. It drew only one bid.
Earlier in the year, the Biden administration had planned to cancel the sale because of lack of industry interest. But at the urging of former Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the Inflation Reduction Act that narrowly passed Congress that year included a mandate for the sale to take place. Hilcorp Inc., the dominant oil and gas operator in Cook Inlet, submitted the only bid.
In response to a lawsuit filed by environmental groups days before the lease sale was held, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled in 2024 that the lease sale had been held without adequate study of impacts to endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales. Her ruling put the lease sale results on hold, and she ordered BOEM to conduct a new review addressing impacts to the belugas.
BOEM’s announcement about the lack of public comment opportunities was blasted by environmental plaintiffs in the case.
“BOEM’s decision to exclude the public from its supplemental environmental statement is unacceptable. Public participation is not a box to check — it is the heart of NEPA,” Loren Barrett, co-executive director the water conservation non-profit Cook Inletkeeper, said in an emailed statement.
BOEM’s earlier lapses concerning Cook Inlet belugas were “not minor oversights; they are serious errors that must be corrected with rigor and transparency and a proper review that allows the time for public input,” Barrett added.
Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director for the Center for Biological Diversity, also cited risks to the endangered beluga population, which is estimated to number a little over 300.
“This secrecy around exploiting public waters for fossil fuels is completely unacceptable. It would only take one oil spill to devastate Cook Inlet and its beluga whales, which is why the law requires transparency for these dangerous sales,” Monsell said in a statement. “The court found that federal officials failed to look at several important factors that could harm endangered belugas, including vessel noise. If the agency hides its analysis, we won’t know whether these critical issues have been addressed to better protect the belugas.”
Hilcorp currently holds eight federal leases in Cook Inlet, including the sole lease acquired in the disputed 2022 sale. The company relinquished seven other federal leases in Cook Inlet. The BOEM website does not list any Hilcorp plans for exploring its remaining leases in the inlet.
FILE – Clouds and fog hang in the area near and along Mount Roberts trail on Sept. 22, 2012, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
AP- One man is dead and another injured after falling from a trail in the mountains above downtown Juneau, authorities said. Both men were cruise ship passengers who were visiting Alaska’s capital city.
Alaska State Troopers said they were notified late Tuesday about a search and rescue involving two men who had fallen from a trail and slid down the mountainside. One of the men was found with minor injuries. The body of the other man, a 36-year-old from Texas, was located by drones farther down the mountain, according to troopers, who said he died from injuries sustained in the fall.
One of the men had called 911 for help, troopers’ spokesperson Tess Williams said by email. She said the men had mistakenly followed a path that was not the actual trail and is in the vicinity of a tram. The tram shuttles people between the downtown area where cruise ships dock and a developed site about 1,800 feet (548.6 meters) up a mountainside; it’s popular with cruise passengers. The Mount Roberts trail passes through that area and heads up toward a ridgeline and peaks that tower over downtown.
Williams said at the time of the incident it was dark with dense fog and periods of light rain. She said the ground was soggy and wet, and conditions off trail were slick.
In July, another cruise passenger, a Kentucky woman, also was found dead in the mountains above downtown Juneau. Authorities had initiated a search for her after she did not return to her cruise ship following a hike.
The campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks is seen from the air on Sept. 20, 2022. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Officials at the University of Alaska said this week that previously announced cuts to federally funded programs for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students will be worse than initially thought.
At the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the canceled funding will amount to an estimated $8.8 million, and University of Alaska Southeast programs will also be affected but to a lesser degree.
“It was quite a shock, because there was no forewarning to this,” said Bryan Uher, interim vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education at UAF in a phone interview Wednesday.
Uher said the elimination of the grant funding for the University of Alaska Fairbanks affects programs at the Bristol Bay campus in Dillingham and in Fairbanks at the Community and Technical College focused on career training and workforce development, as well as student services.
In total, for the five-year grant programs, Uher said the cancellation is estimated at $8.8 million of $12.9 million in grant funding previously awarded.
“This award funding is unique in that it funds faculty for new program development, and then it also funds staff for student support — so advisors, outreach, individual wellness coordinators, admissions, graduation – student services, essentially,” he said.
Uher said new programs in development that will be impacted — for students in person or through distance education — include American Sign Language, information technology technician training and private pilot ground school, helping students train for their pilot’s license.
Uher said those programs will continue through this academic year, and then the university will evaluate whether or how to continue them. University officials say they were given one year to close out grant-funded programs.
UAF includes campuses in Fairbanks, Dillingham, Bethel, Nome and Kotzebue. Uher said while these programs must have at least 20% Native students to be eligible for the funding, they serve a wider student population, especially student services at rural campuses that serve wider regions of rural Alaska.
“They provide follow-ups, financial aid support like, how do you apply for financial aid? Are there scholarships out there?” Uher said. “They provide financial literacy to students. So it really is a comprehensive service that we provide to these students who are not living in or located in urban centers like Fairbanks or Anchorage.”
An estimated 17% of the University of Alaska student population identified as Alaska Native in 2024, or 3,254 students statewide, and roughly 1.3% or 266 students identified as Native Hawaiian.
UAA and UAS expect less impact
University of Alaska Anchorage has grant-funded programs for Native students, but officials say they are not expecting them to be affected.
University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Aparna Palmer said in a university-wide email Monday that a grant-funded program on its Sitka campus to support student services is already set to end this month, and the university is authorized to continue to spend remaining funds for another year.
“I want to assure you that we will continue to support the many ways in which we are rooted in Alaska Native culture, history, language, and arts,” Palmer said, adding emphasis by underlining her statement.
Palmer said programs and courses in Indigenous studies, as well as support for Indigenous students, will continue. “Our programs and courses in Indigenous Studies at UAS are strong and will continue to thrive and grow. The UA President, Pat Pitney, and I are fully aligned on this,” she said. “Our Native and Rural Student Center will continue to be a space that provides support for Alaska Native students while welcoming all students.”
Faculty union president Jill Dumesnill, professor of mathematics at UAS, said by email on Monday that the announcement also disrupts future programs, faculty positions and student services.
“Writing these grant applications takes an enormous amount of faculty time and effort, and the Sitka proposal would have provided two additional faculty on the Sitka campus. That loss is significant because there are currently no Alaskan Native faculty members on the Sitka campus,” she said. “You don’t make campuses welcoming simply by calling them welcoming.”
Alaska’s U.S. Senators say they’re working to fund higher education
U.S. Sen Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in a statement Wednesday that the funds are already legally authorized by Congress, and support students as well as address workforce shortages in the state.
Alaska Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (Alaska Beacon file photos)
“I am working with my colleagues to reinforce to the administration that these are statutory grant programs authorized and appropriated by Congress that align with the President’s goal of providing career technical education to the next generation for high-impact workforce needs such as fisheries, healthcare, skilled trades, and energy,” Murksowski said.
“As Alaska partners with this administration on several large-scale and exciting projects that can help transform our state, we need a local workforce trained to meet this moment,” she said. “Cancelling these funds takes us further away from that objective.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, also repeated the impact on career training and workforce development education.
“Senator Sullivan and his team are in touch with the Department of Education regarding these grants. The University of Alaska serves thousands of students across the state, including Alaska Natives, and provides critical programs, such as job training and technical education, that build up Alaska’s trained workforce. President Trump’s Day 1 executive order to ‘Unleash Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential’ makes it clear we must be training the next generation to power projects like the Alaska LNG pipeline and keep these good-paying jobs in Alaska,” said spokesperson Amanda Coyne by email on Tuesday.
“Senator Sullivan will continue to work with the administration to fund secondary education and job training to continue building up Alaska’s economy and workforce,” she said.
Alaska’s U.S. House Representative Nick Begich did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The announcement follows the Trump administration’s move to cancel $350 million in congressionally approved grant funding for minority-serving institutions last week, saying the funds will be allocated elsewhere.
There are an estimated 5 million students enrolled in 800 minority-serving institutions nationwide. The grant funding is aimed at supporting students of color and from low-income backgrounds to pursue and complete higher education.
A copy of the Alaska Constitution is seen on Thursday, July 28, 2022. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
In Anchorage Superior Court on Wednesday, attorneys for the state of Alaska defended Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s decision to name a former attorney to a public seat on Alaska’s judge-picking board, saying the choice was within the governor’s powers under the Alaska Constitution.
The governor’s choice of John W. Wood has been challenged by lawsuits filed by Juneau resident James Forrer and Alaskans for Fair Courts, a group devoted to the defense of the court system as an independent, apolitical branch of government.
They argue that if Wood’s appointment stands, it would give attorneys four of the six seats on the Alaska Judicial Council, the state board that accepts applications for judicial vacancies, selects nominees and forwards them to the governor for final selection.
Under the Alaska Constitution, the council consists of three attorneys picked by the Alaska Bar Association and three non-lawyer members of the public appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature. In ties, the chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court may cast a seventh vote.
The state contends that Wood is no longer an attorney and that he was a valid pick for an open seat. Both sides have asked for summary judgment, allowing Judge Yvonne Lamoureux to decide the case short of trial.
Wood’s appointment has been challenged on three main points. First, was the governor’s choice a valid recess appointment? Second, is Wood an attorney? Third, was he employed by the state at the time of the appointment?
Dunleavy appointed Wood in a letter dated May 29, filling a position that had been vacant since March, when a prior appointment expired. That was after the Legislature had adjourned for the year.
Under the Alaska Constitution and state law, a governor may fill vacant positions on boards and commissions when the Legislature is out of session, but the appointee will be subject to confirmation during the next regular legislative session.
Attorney James Reeves, arguing on behalf of Alaskans for Fair Courts, said his group contends that because a position on the Judicial Council became vacant during the legislative session, Wood may not begin serving until a confirmation vote takes place.
That contradicts existing practice, and Alaska Department of Law attorney Claire C. Keneally said in court on Wednesday that “it’s also not supported by the history of the (Alaska) Constitution” or the clause of the constitution that deals with appointments that take place when the Legislature is out of session.
“This is not a new or novel practice,” Keneally said of Dunleavy’s decision to not fill a March vacancy until May.
In 2015, then-Gov. Bill Walker filled a public seat on the Alaska Judicial Council in October; that seat had also been vacant since March, when the Legislature was in session.
Because of that timing issue, Keneally argued both in court and in writing, the case should be dismissed. Other arguments would be ripe for discussion only if the Legislature approves Wood’s appointment.
Wood was granted a law license in 1972, but it was suspended in 2000 because of a failure to pay dues to the Alaska Bar Association. Under a sworn affidavit, Wood said he has not practiced law since 2000 and has no intention of practicing law.
But in court on Wednesday, Reeves with Alaskans for Fair Courts said, “the Constitutional Convention history, which both sides have cited, indicates that the framers who discussed this understood the word non-attorney to mean layman or lay member. Is a lawyer who chooses not to practice law a layman?”
Reeves and attorney Joseph Geldhof, who was representing James Forrer in a separate but combined lawsuit also challenging Wood’s appointment, argued that because Wood held a state consulting contract at the time of his appointment, he was ineligible to serve on the Judicial Council.
The contract calls for Wood to advise the Alaska Department of Law on labor relations matters and to provide advice to the governor’s office when needed.
The Alaska Constitution states that no member of the Judicial Council may hold “any other office or position of profit under the United States or the state.”
But Keneally noted that the Alaska Supreme Court has previously interpreted that phrase to mean “salaried, non-temporary employment” with the state, and that other members of the Alaska Judicial Council, including some current members, have also held state contracts while serving on the council.
Lamoureux, who heard Wednesday’s arguments, said she intends to issue a written order within 30 days, the timeline requested by both sides of the case in order to allow a speedy appeal.
Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor speaks at a news conference on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks / Alaska Beacon)
Treg Taylor, the former Alaska attorney general, is running for governor, he announced Wednesday morning.
“I have a four-and-a-half-year proven record as the attorney general of fighting crime, fighting Biden, and fighting for Alaska,” he said by phone.
In a campaign video and written statement, Taylor promoted himself as a “fearless conservative” who is the best successor to incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is term-limited and unable to run for another four years in office.
Taylor is the 10th Republican and 11th candidate overall to enter the 2026 Alaska governor’s race.
The lone non-Republican in the race is former state Sen. Tom Begich, an Anchorage Democrat.
The other Republicans are Anchorage business owner Bernadette Wilson; former state Sen. Click Bishop of Fairbanks; former Alaska Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum; current state Sen. Shelley Hughes of Palmer, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom of Eagle River; Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor Edna DeVries; podiatrist Matt Heilala of Anchorage; former teacher James William Parkin IV of Angoon; and Bruce Walden of Palmer.
“That is a ridiculous number of people in the race,” Taylor said when asked how he distinguishes himself from the other Republicans. “My answer is that I am the only candidate that has a proven record of fighting on behalf of Alaska. When I was the attorney general for four and a half years, I fought crime, I fought Biden, I fought for Alaska’s economic future. I’ve been heavily involved with the Trump administration. I helped draft Trump’s first day Executive Order unleashing Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential. And I’ve worked hard with the Trump administration, with (Department of the Interior), (Department of Justice), to see fulfillment of that executive order, which is going to push Alaska’s economic future.”
Asked about his campaign plans, Taylor said, “over the next few months, I’ll be hard at work, visiting with groups, visiting with individuals, working up support, fundraising. Obviously, I think the biggest tell in this race is going to be when everybody divulges their fundraising and our goal is to be at the top of that list, and I think we’ve got a good plan for getting there.”
Taylor, a longtime attorney with a degree from the Brigham Young University law school, worked in private practice and for Arctic Slope Regional Corp. before joining the Alaska Department of Law in 2018. He was head of the department’s civil division in 2021 when Dunleavy picked him as attorney general following the resignations of two other men amid sexual misconduct scandals.
Taylor, who has never held publicly elected office before, ran unsuccessfully for the Anchorage School Board in 2011 and for that city’s Assembly in 2016.
Taylor’s entry into the governor’s race marks an unusually early start for an Alaska campaign. Eight years ago, when now-Gov. Dunleavy launched his campaign in July 2017, he was the first high-profile candidate to challenge then-Gov. Bill Walker. This time around, three candidates had entered the race before June.
While the race is unusually crowded, additional candidates are still possible. Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has not ruled out a campaign, and a run by former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, is also possible.
NBC Sports will spotlight Juneau as part of a documentary on what football means to communities, Juneau-Douglas High School football coach Rich Sjoroos announced on Facebook.
The network has chosen a handful of cities nationwide to feature.
Juneau, home to the Crimson Bears, was selected from among more than 15,000 high school football programs in the United States.
A production crew will travel to the capital city this weekend to film Saturday’s game against Anchorage’s Dimond High School, scheduled for 3 p.m.
According to Sjoroos’ post, NBC will also interview players, parents and fans.
The footage is set to air as part of NBC’s Super Bowl pregame programming on Feb. 8, 2026.
Sjoroos encouraged residents to attend and “show all of America how much football means to Juneau.”
NOTN- Ketchikan police shut down the Visitor’s Bureau on Front Street Wednesday morning after a suspicious device was discovered on a wooden bench outside the building.
Officers responded around 8:12 a.m. and worked with Port Security to establish a perimeter. Video footage from inside the building was reviewed while the area remained closed to the public. A Carnival cruise ship was docked nearby at the time, but passengers had not yet disembarked. They were instructed to stay onboard and avoid the port side of the vessel closest to the device.
Police photographed the device and consulted with an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician, who determined it was safe to move. Officers then removed it and secured it off-site.
The area reopened and operations returned to normal at 9:47 a.m. The Ketchikan Police Department says it maintained communication with the U.S. Coast Guard during the incident. The case remains under active investigation until the device can be fully examined by an EOD specialist
This article will contain mentions of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
NOTN- September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and advocates in Juneau say the observance is an important chance to break stigma and share resources.
Jessica Gray, of NAMI Juneau, said Alaska continues to face persistently high rates of suicide, with nearly 200 deaths each year.
‘In Alaska, suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 10 to 24,” Said Gray, “Young people don’t want to feel like a burden. There’s so much stigma surrounding the topic as well. We don’t talk about mental health the same way that we talk about physical health.”
Gray noted that free resources are available statewide, including the Alaska Careline and the national suicide prevention hotline. Both are available 24/7 for people in crisis.
NAMI events throughout September have been aimed at creating open dialogue and community support.
A Wall of Remembrance launched during First Friday at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.
Gray said building community connections is one of the most powerful protective factors against suicide.
“That’s why Suicide Prevention Awareness Month is so important, because it opens up the conversation, and it gives people a chance to know that they’re not alone, that it is okay to ask for help,” Gray Said “It is okay to have these conversations about such a hard topic. It’s really powerful in that sense, because it builds connection. And we know that connection is one of the primary protective factors for suicide.”
Support group meetings will be taking place for the rest of the month, visit NAMI’s calendar, available at NAMI Juneau’s website for more details.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses proposed education legislation at a news conference on Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
NOTN- Alaska’s governor will not withdraw an executive order proposing to create a new state Department of Agriculture, he said in a letter sent Monday to the leaders of the state House and Senate.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s letter comes days after a joint House-Senate panel voted to spend up to $100,000 on a lawsuit against the governor if he goes ahead with his proposal to create the department unilaterally.
Alaska is one of only two states without a cabinet-level state Department of Agriculture, and legislators have spoken favorably about the idea of creating one, but a majority of the House and Senate want to authorize that new department through law, not by the governor’s executive order.
In March, the Legislature voted 32-28 to reject an administrative order that would have created the Department of Agriculture by splitting off part of the Department of Natural Resources, the agency that currently oversees agriculture.
Shortly before the vote, lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced new legislation to create the department. Neither the House bill nor the Senate bill advanced to a final vote, and either could be taken up during the next regular legislative session, which begins in January.
When Dunleavy called lawmakers into special session in August, he reissued the executive order, but the leaders of the state House and Senate declined to accept the order as valid, saying that the Alaska Constitution does not grant the governor the power to issue an order during a special session.
Lawmakers also say they believe that it isn’t legal to reintroduce a previously rejected order.
“There clearly exists a disagreement between the executive and legislative branch as to the governor’s ability to introduce an executive order in a special session,” the governor wrote in Monday’s letter. “When such a dispute exists, it is appropriate to seek clarification from the courts.”
The governor’s letter notes that lawmakers could have met during the special session to vote down his executive order. Legislators have previously said they did not wish to do so, because taking the vote would have been the equivalent of acknowledging that the governor has the power to issue an executive order during a special session.
Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, is chair of the Legislative Council, the joint House-Senate committee that authorized the lawsuit against the governor.
By phone on Tuesday, she said she isn’t sure when the suit will be filed, but she expects it to move quickly.
The executive branch is preparing to launch the new department by Jan. 1, and legislators want to stop it before then.
“We have two prime legal issues that we think need to be addressed by a court, because the executive branch is interpreting them completely different,” she said.
Hannan said she expects that once a trial judge decides the issue, the losing party in the case will rapidly appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court for a final determination.
Regardless of who wins the case, Hannan said the state may still end up with a Department of Agriculture by June because legislators are advancing bills that would create the department.
“The 34th Legislature still may create a Department of Agriculture, but the executive order action of creating that and attempting to do it in a special session and after an executive order has been rejected, those are the legal questions that we need addressed,” she said.
