The tribe originally applied for the declaration in January, several months after an October 2025 storm destroyed an estimated 90% of homes and led to the mass evacuation of nearly all of the community’s roughly 1,000 residents.

The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge announced a 30-day closure for all migratory bird species. The closure will be in effect from June 6 through July 6 and applies to the entire region. The only exception is scoters, which have their own closure from June 11 through July 11.

Subsistence fishermen are fighting the attorney general’s decision to overturn the board’s action.

Robert Nick, a respected Yup'ik Elder and leader, is remembered for a lifetime of service following his death at the age of 84. He helped modernize rural Alaska through work in electrification, education, and regional leadership while preserving Yup'ik traditions.

KYUK’s Evan Erickson spoke with Northern Journal reporter Nat Herz, who traveled to Hooper Bay as part of a broader look at what leaders describe as an unfolding crisis that threatens barge-dependent communities in Western Alaska.

Bethel’s ONC tribe argued that the proposed mine’s removal of water from Crooked Creek, a Kuskokwim River tributary, would damage salmon spawning areas.

Consumers across the country are contending with sharply higher fuel prices amid a supply crunch brought on by the closure of a key strait in the Middle East. But even residents of California, where $6-a-gallon gas prices are making headlines, would face sticker shock if they traveled to Hooper Bay, or any of the dozens of other villages and hub towns across Western Alaska.

The increase would have been limited to disaster relief during the first 90 days after the storms. It would have covered the bulk of costs related to debris removal and emergency protective measures, costs that the state says reached $20 million in the first weeks after ex-typhoon Halong.