Environment

Bear 747 was named the winner of Katmai National Park's Fat Bear Week competition, defeating 32 Chunk in the finals.

It’s a huge election year … for bears. Katmai National Park’s Fat Bear Week is underway, and the competition is bigger than ever. That’s in part to large sockeye salmon runs in Bristol Bay. 

A muskox was recently spotted in Manokotak. This is highly unusual — these animals normally range further north and west, across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. But in recent years, state biologists and Bristol Bay residents have noticed these stocky, furry fellas stepping out of their home turf.

The Trump administration last month proposed to narrow the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. That could have profound impacts on how industry players approach development in Alaska.

Lichens are a critical food source for the caribou herd that lives on the Nushagak Peninsula. But as the caribou thrive, they are depleting the photosynthetic composites they depend on.  

Nushagak Cooperative's contentious hydroelectric project could lower high energy costs and tap into clean, renewable energy. But it would be built next to one of the region’s main salmon rivers in the nation’s largest state park. 

The Federal Subsistence Board voted Tuesday to pass a temporary special action reducing the bag limit for a herd that is vital to subsistence hunting in Southwest Alaska. 

The Bristol Bay Regional Advisory Council  led a heated discussion about management of the Mulchatna herd at its meeting in Dillingham last week. It also voted to support four of five regional subsistence proposals and oppose one statewide proposal. 

The Mulchatna herd was only half of the minimum population objective this year. Now a proposal to reduce federal subsistence harvest limits is on the table.