Background Articles

Biologists want to know why there are so many moose. It may have a lot to do with shrubs — moose feast on their leaves during the spring and summer. These short woody plants are spreading west, aided by climate change, and moose populations are expanding along with them.

Federal regulators have approved a plan to demolish four Klamath River dams, a historic act that is intended to save imperiled salmon. “The Klamath salmon are coming home,” Yurok Tribe Chairman Joseph James said in a statement. “The people have earned this victory and with it, we carry on our sacred duty to the fish that have sustained our people since the beginning of time.”

Berry pickers have long reported that the number of wild berries has been diminishing, and a 26-year study is now confirming the unexplained decline.

As grape harvest time nears across Greece, winemakers are worried about the impact on output from a succession of extreme weather events.

This strain does not seem to pose a serious risk to people but there's concern for backyard flocks and the wild birds that are a food source for many Alaskans.

Two resolutions brought before the Alaska Federation of Natives during this year’s annual convention called for efforts to reduce salmon bycatch for fish that return to the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.

Beavers, on the other hand, leave a mark on the landscape that you can sometimes see from space.Swarming ponds, building dams and expanding waterways, beavers are moving farther and farther into the Arctic, and are changing what the region looks like.

A deadly wildfire burned more than 2,000 buildings in the Hawaiian town of Lahaina on Maui in August and left behind piles of toxic debris.

The Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) Tribes and Climate Change Program is publishing a report called the Status of Tribes and Climate C...

Gov. Mike Dunleavy lauded the partnerships with Alaska businesses and “tremendous team effort to get salmon into the hands of our fellow Alaskans in need."

A new research project is building a timeline of mercury levels in the Aleutian Islands over the last few thousand years.

Several shipments of food made it into Clyde River, Nunavut, this week after delays due to weather. It's just the latest in a series of problems in the community that's been battered by weather since late January.

For years, populations of Sitka black-tail deer have slumped, leaving residents without a staple source of protein. A three-day summit held in Craig last month prompted lengthy discussions about the problem. When loggers cut down a section of old growth Sitka spruce, hemlock and cedar in the Tongass National Forest, there’s no need to replant — trees grow back on their own. It’s what scientists call an “even-aged forest.” When trees all start growing at the same time, they create a dense canopy that prevents light from reaching the ferns and berry bushes that black-tail deer love to snack on. And because the trees grow close together, they end up long and spindly — not the massive, thick, tight-grained trunks that make old growth lumber so highly valued.

The seabirds are struggling because of climate-linked ecosystem shifts — which can affect the supply and the timing of available food — as well as a harmful algal bloom and a viral outbreak in the region, she said. And their peril jeopardizes the human communities, as well: "Birds are essential to our region — they are nutritionally and economically essential," said Sheffield.

Marine hunters of eastern Chukotka often encounter "stinky" whales whose meat is unsuitable for food. The situation has become a problem for local residents. Researchers from Moscow State University and the Beringia National Park believe they have found the causes of an unpleasant odor in animals.

A 20-year-old treaty keeps Alaska and Canada working together, even through the devastating king and chum salmon collapse.

Three charters flew to distribute 10,921 pounds of donated king salmon to Bush and rural Alaska communities.

Second of three parts: As salmon stocks have crashed on the Yukon River, so has a key source of income in fish-dependent communities.

Ida Wessman, 28, bought her family's herd of reindeer after her father passed away five years ago. "It's been going pretty well. With this industry you've got high points and low points," Wessman said, alluding to severe 2019-2020 weather that killed 15,000 of the animals.

Fall moose hunts are beginning across Alaska. In western parts of the state, biologists hope that hunting pressure will help protect the health of booming populations. They also want to know why there are so many moose in the first place. It may have a lot to do with shrubs — particularly scrubby willows shooting up at the edges of open tundra. Moose feast on their leaves during the spring and summer. These short woody plants are spreading west, aided by climate change, and moose populations are expanding along with them.