Subsistence

Brant fly over the water on Sept. 28, 2016, at Izembek Lagoon in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge supports the entire Pacific population of black brant, a species of goose.

Tribes and environmental groups sue to stop road planned for Alaska wildlife refuge

Three lawsuits take aim at a Trump administration-approved land trade that would allow for a road through designated wilderness in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

Shea Siegert, senior manager of external affairs at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and Kelsey Wallace, president of the Alaska Native Heritage Center, examine a bag of frozen salmon heads on Oct. 30, 2025. The bag is part of the collection of wild foods donated to Yukon-Kuskokwim residents displaced by the remants of Typhoon Halong. The fish heads are among the masses of food donated from around the state. Food has been collected in and distributed from a huge freezer trailer parked at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, in which Seigert and Wallace are standing.

Public Safety

Alaska typhoon victims’ losses of traditional foods go beyond dollar values

Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon

A statewide effort to replace lost subsistence harvests is part of the system of aid that organizations are trying to tailor to the needs of Indigenous rural Alaskans.

Ida Nelson and Kristen Amik hug after Nelson shares her harvest with her on Oct. 22, 2025.

Public Safety

After devastating storm, Alaskans are comforting evacuees with traditional foods

Alena Naiden, KNBA - Anchorage

Many of the Western Alaskan residents displaced by Typhoon Halong also lost their subsistence harvests.

Salmon dries in Quinhagak, Alaska, in July 2023.

Hunting & Fishing

Federal appeals court preserves Alaska’s 2-tier system for subsistence fishing management

James Brooks | Alaska Beacon

State attorneys had argued for a new interpretation after recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

A Sofar wave buoy deployed as part of the Backyard Buoys program is seen floating in waters near the Diomede Islands in the Bering Strait in July 2024.

Public Safety

Technology supports tradition in Quinhagak ocean buoy project

Evan Erickson

Backyard Buoys, a project that has put real-time ocean data in the hands of Arctic whalers, will soon be making its way to the mouth of the Kuskokwim River.

Hunting & Fishing

Emperor and Black Brant geese harvests restricted due to low population

Samantha Watson

Both harvesting and egging for Emperor geese are closed this season. Black Brant geese can be harvested, but egging is not permitted.

A brown bear wades through river water in Katmai National Park and Preserve on Aug. 12, 2023. The Alaska Wildlife Alliance is seeking a restraining order and injunction to prevent the state from carrying out a third bear-killing season in its program to reduce predators in the area of the state used by the Mulchatna Caribou Herd.

Politics

Environmental group asks Alaska court to halt this year’s bear-killing program

Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon

If the state Department of Fish and Game predator control takes place, it would be the third year of a program that has so far killed 180 bears and 19 wolves.

A subadult brown bear stands on June 8, 2018, on the shore of Naknek Lake in Katmai National Park and Preserve.

Politics

Alaska officials seek emergency rule to continue bear-killing program, despite court ruling

Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon

A predator-control program in Western Alaska, recently ruled unconstitutional, is needed to boost the ailing Mulchatna caribou herd, state game managers say.

Salmon dries on a traditional rack on the beach in the Seward Peninsula village of Teller on Sept. 2, 2021. Salmon is a dietary staple for Indigenous residents of Western Alaska, and poor runs have created hardship.

Politics

Bill would change the makeup of the Alaska Board of Fisheries

Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon

The bill would require designated seats on the seven-member board to represent commercial, sport, and subsistence sectors, along with one representing scientists.

Caribou from the Mulchatna herd cross a frozen pond near Eek Lake on November 11, 2021.

Science and Environment

Biologists focus on disease and nutrition to understand ailing Mulchatna caribou herd

Margaret Sutherland, KDLG

Once one of the states largest caribou herds, southwestern Alaska's Mulchatna caribou herds' low population has failed to recover. Researchers are examining disease and nutrition to understand why.