Fractured GOP field, candidate's improbable rise could clear path for a Democrat in Alaska governor's mansion
It's been more than two decades since Alaska elected a Democratic governor.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 2, 2026
REPORTER & CONTRIBUTOR
Nathaniel Herz
Nathaniel Herz is the Executive Editor of the Anchorage Press and founder of Northern Journal.
STORIES BY NATHANIEL HERZ (228)
In shakeup, disqualified governor candidate's running mate — and his wife — step up to run
"I'm stepping up to governor," Candi English told employees at the Alaska Division of Elections.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 31, 2026
This podiatrist spent $325 per vote in his bid to be Alaska governor. Here's how the other candidates did.
Independent Bill Walker, meanwhile, spent a mere $10 to win each of his 7,333 votes.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 30, 2026
Ch’atanaltsegh: A weird and wonderful parade marks return of a Dena’ina place name in Anchorage
Larger-than-life salmon and sandhill cranes joined Indigenous dancers near Fish Creek, just west of downtown.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 29, 2026
Results suggest left-leaning voters buoyed Petersburg Sullivan in Alaska's U.S. Senate primary
In urban areas where the leading Democrat performed well, the retired teacher from Petersburg also saw strong results.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 28, 2026
This Democratic Socialist could cost Mary Peltola votes in November. But he says he’d actually boost her.
David Leslie, a longtime Fairbanks activist, scored a surprise fourth-place finish in preliminary results in Alaska’s U.S. Senate primary.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 21, 2026
An Alaska candidate for governor sparked a backlash by taking AI employees’ money. But he says he’s the opposite of an AI candidate.
“I absolutely should have seen this coming,” said Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 3, 2026
ExxonMobil won big at an Alaska oil lease sale. Months later, its bids are still in legal limbo.
Other companies also have their leases tied up in litigation from local and environmental groups.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 3, 2026
As Alaska’s U.S. Senate campaign heats up, super PACs boost out-of-state candidates
The groups appear to be trying to “dilute the vote” for the leading GOP and Democratic hopefuls, one strategist says.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 2, 2026
Alaska's economic development agency plans a Mat-Su industrial park, with data centers
The AIDEA proposal is generating some enthusiasm, and some concerns about its inclusion of data centers.
BY Amy BushatzJul 15, 2026
At $20, Anchorage’s parking tickets are a bargain. That could be about to change.
A $15 increase has been proposed by the city agency that oversees parking.
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 14, 2026
Data center critics flood Alaska land managers with opposition to North Slope project
Hundreds of comments have been filed, with subject lines like "HELL NO! To ANY DATA CENTERS" and "NO AI".
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 3, 2026
Alaska governor's race survey: AI policy and news sources
Candidates weigh in on how they'd use AI in their administration, as well as safeguards they'd adopt.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 25, 2026
Northern Journal 🤝 Anchorage Press
We're (re-)launching a newspaper.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 16, 2026
Alaska’s 18-ticket gubernatorial race: The pundits weigh in
Need help making sense of the crowded field? Northern Journal has your back.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 12, 2026
Alaska governor's race survey: how much should companies pay in oil taxes?
We also ask what album candidates would bring if they were stranded on the remote Bering Sea island of St. Matthew.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 5, 2026
“You'd be crying at the pump”: This Alaska village's gas was $8.44 — before the Iran war
Gas and heating fuel prices in rural Alaska were already high. An impending spike from the Iran war could "wipe out" communities.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 2, 2026
New independent group, 'Build the Damn Roads!', will support Alaska GOP governor candidate Wilson
The super PAC-type group hasn’t reported any fundraising yet, but it’s working with professional political operatives.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 20, 2026
For Alaska’s gubernatorial candidates, a sprint to find running mates
The clock is ticking before a June 1 filing deadline.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 18, 2026
A huge data center could rise on Alaska’s North Slope
The $500 million project could consume twice as much natural gas as urban Alaska’s grid.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 13, 2026
After 10-year truce, a major tax dispute looms over the trans-Alaska pipeline system
Hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes for the state, the North Slope and Fairbanks boroughs and the city of Valdez could be at stake.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 12, 2026
More Alaska crude flows to Asia as Strait of Hormuz stays shut
Two tankers have departed Valdez for Asia in recent weeks — the same number that shipped oil to Asia in all of 2025.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 11, 2026
Alaska governor's race survey: climate change and dinner guests
Candidates tell us how they'd respond to threats like typhoons and thawing permafrost, and with whom they'd want to dine — living or dead.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 8, 2026
A lawmaker thought regulators were “on board” with a plan to speed review of utility price hikes. They weren’t.
In a letter to lawmakers, two regulators said they "strongly oppose" the plan.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 6, 2026
With one of two wells drilled, Hilcorp to pull out of Yukon Flats
The wells was drilled on Indigenous-owned land, in a program that prompted sharp opposition from area tribes.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 1, 2026
Advocates decry lawmakers’ push to tighten regulators' deadline to review utility price hikes
Under a last-minute proposal from Anchorage Democratic Rep. Carolyn Hall, regulators would have nine months instead of 15 months to vet utility proposals.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 30, 2026
Alaska’s energy cliff isn’t coming. It’s already here.
The state’s gas shortage is hitting electricity consumers in Fairbanks and the Mat-Su, and will likely affect home heating prices, as well.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 27, 2026
A Q&A with Alaska congressional candidate Bill Hill
The independent says he's best situated to unseat incumbent Republican Nick Begich III.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 26, 2026
A Northern Journal spring update, and a Q&A with Matt Schultz
Catching up on the Northern Journal trail.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 25, 2026
A Democrat and an independent are vying for the anti-incumbent mantle in Alaska's U.S. House race.
The race between Bill Hill and Matt Schultz is heating up.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 23, 2026
An Alaska GOP governor candidate is getting a boost from organized labor
A newly formed group will spend “six figures” to support former state senator Click Bishop.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 22, 2026
Alaska governor's race survey: health care costs, and candidates' own premium payments
Candidates tell us how they'd respond to threats like typhoons and thawing permafrost, and with whom they'd want to dine — living or dead.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 20, 2026
Alaska’s embattled economic development agency approves $700,000 PR budget
Amid continuing opposition to its oil drilling and road projects, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority says the public should know about its less controversial small business loan programs.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 20, 2026
Alaska villages can already pay $10 or more for a gallon of fuel. A war-driven spike could produce a ‘survival scenario.’
One electric utility executive says diesel prices could double this year.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 14, 2026
‘The salmon people’: How Alaska’s only Native reservation saved its fishing culture
A half-century ago, the Indigenous Tsimshian village of Metlakatla, in Southeast Alaska, preserved its reservation when others in Alaska were terminated. Today, the reserve sustains a thriving fishing industry — and the tribe is fighting in court to expand its territory.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 8, 2026
Trawl allies fire back as Alaska candidates' anti-industry rhetoric heats up
Gubernatorial hopefuls are blasting Alaska's trawlers for catching salmon. Now industry allies have launched a radio ad campaign.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 7, 2026
How Alaska’s governor found himself on an Emirati falcon hunt
Mike Dunleavy, in a required gift disclosure, said he accepted a helicopter ride and overnight stay at a preserve. But his hosts won’t be getting any special treatment, he said after returning home.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 2, 2026
Governor's race survey: the PFD question. (And ferries.)
Candidates propose their PFD amounts — and tell us the last time they rode an Alaska state ferry.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 23, 2026
A remembrance: Rich Mauer shaped Alaska journalism — and me.
I wish I kept a journal of all the lessons I learned from the longtime Anchorage Daily News reporter and editor. Here are a few.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 1, 2026
‘Hard things are what’s cool about sport’: Gus Schumacher on a tough Olympics start
Anchorage's Gus Schumacher describes his experience of tough results while, meanwhile, his roommate was winning an Olympic medal.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 14, 2026
Governor's race survey: How much money would you propose for schools? And: cars.
Candidates share what they'd propose for a per-student schools budget, and dish about their whips.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 13, 2026
Outside Olympic glamour, cross-country skiing’s Alaska-based broadcasters face late nights and solo calls
Kikkan Randall is one of the commentators who pulls graveyard shifts over the weekend to call races happening in Europe.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 7, 2026
Olympics face new blowback from skiers, activists over oil sponsorship
The Olympic torch relay stopped at the headquarters of Italian oil giant ENI. Some winter sports athletes aren't pleased.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 6, 2026
A break — sort of — from Northern Journal’s regularly scheduled programming
An update from Italy.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 3, 2026
Governor's race survey: Should Alaska spend millions more on its huge LNG project? Plus, Alaska books.
Many candidates say they'll make the $40 billion-plus LNG project a priority.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 27, 2026
Alaska's candidates for governor weigh in on oil taxes, and how to cook fish
New from Northern Journal: a recurring survey of candidates for governor.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 12, 2026
Hilcorp chairman: We’re going to Venezuela
Two big players in Alaska’s oil industry say they’re keen on investing in post-Maduro Venezuela.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 10, 2026
Need a place to sleep at Anchorage’s international airport? An on-site hotel could be in the works.
A proposal from a Utah real estate firm and an Anchorage developer.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 9, 2026
Lisa Murkowski weighs in on public broadcasting, transboundary mining and Peltola's options
Alaska's senior senator speaks to some of the major congressional debates from the past year.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 2, 2026
When will the deep freeze end? Alaska holds its breath.
A long-running weather pattern shows no sign of relenting. “Cranky’s a good way to describe it,” says one mayor whose village hit minus 50.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 24, 2025
Alaska’s governor said he texts Trump. I asked for copies.
"Give them all MY LOVE. Wow!" Trump said in one of his messages to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who says he tries not to abuse his access to one of the most powerful men in the world.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 18, 2025
Utilities say Alaska needs an LNG import terminal. Here’s how consumers could end up paying not for one, but two.
Planning for two separate projects is currently moving ahead.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 21, 2025
Alaska troopers seize Kodiak trawl group’s electronics in bycatch probe
An investigation appears to center on whether seafood companies violated federal rules by processing accidentally caught salmon and halibut into low-value fish meal.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 10, 2025
Typhoons and other climate threats could cost Alaska billions. After last month’s storm, advocates say it’s time to act.
A study published before the storm said there's an $80 million-a-year gap in money needed to protect or move coastal communities.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 7, 2025
On rivers and in courtrooms, Alaska battles for land inside national parks and preserves
For decades, Alaska land managers have been working to confirm the state's ownership of land beneath navigable rivers and lakes inside national parks and refuges.
BY Nathaniel HerzOct 29, 2025
'We’re in God’s hands now': A dispatch from Western Alaska
Hundreds have left their homes. Many may never go back.
BY Nathaniel HerzOct 17, 2025
With twin threats from Russia and China, U.S. military puts new focus on Alaska
In the past, large-scale exercises “occurred in Alaska,” one general says. “Now, this is high-end training that is occurring — that is about Alaska, from Alaska.”
BY Nathaniel HerzOct 7, 2025
Alaska’s top conservative writer explains why she left the website she founded
In a Q&A, Suzanne Downing says she left Must Read Alaska in a dispute with one of the investors who bought the site in 2023 and kept her on as a writer. “I write for a cause, the conservative cause. But there are aspects that are journalistic about it.”
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 10, 2025
A run through the tundra in Kotzebue
A weekend well-spent in rural Alaska.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 9, 2025
Anchorage spent more than $200,000 to support the Trump-Putin summit. Will it get the money back?
Other cities’ efforts to recoup spending to protect Trump have failed. “We have sent demand letters, phone calls and made public statements. We have received no response.”
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 3, 2025
A cabbage named Clyde was set to vie for Alaska State Fair glory. Then, he went missing.
PALMER — K Michael Ward arrived at the Alaska State Fair last week and headed for the animal barn, ready for some detective work. Her destination: a sawdust-covered pen, where a herd of aspiring prize-winning cabbages had been assembled atop tarps just before the fair’s annual weigh-off. The semi-retired human resources consultant was on the hunt for her own resplendent vegetable. Just 24 hours before, Ward’s cabbage, which she’d spent months raising, had gone missing — and she was on guard ag
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 2, 2025
With gas crunch looming, Alaska's utilities won’t get big wind before tax credits expire. Here’s why.
One utility leader points to private developers and the Trump tax bill. But advocates say utilities share some of the blame.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 29, 2025
On small planes, gold mines and Alaska summers
A dispatch from the most happily chaotic time of year in the 49th state.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 1, 2025
Sunday listening: Lisa Murkowski on her 'One Big Beautiful Bill' vote
"The problem with standing on principle is when your constituents get hurt, and that was what was going to happen," Murkowski said.
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 20, 2025
Anchorage electricity prices could go up again. Blame the warm winter.
Anchorage utility executives say that a mild winter translated into lower electricity sales — and a hole in their budget.
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 18, 2025
National Democrats are “salivating” over a Mary Peltola bid for U.S. Senate. But Alaska’s governor’s race could be “wide open” too.
The filing deadline for the 2026 elections is still nearly a year away. But Democrats in Alaska and Outside are anxiously awaiting a decision about which office Peltola will run for.
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 14, 2025
Offshore in Cook Inlet, a 'silent economy' hunts for gas to keep Alaska running
Northern Journal helicoptered out to the offshore rig drilling for the increasingly scarce natural gas that powers urban Alaska.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 12, 2025
Amid gas crunch, Alaska could revoke leases from a company whose drilling has stalled
The Dunleavy administration is threatening to strip Texas-based BlueCrest Energy of oil and gas leases near Anchorage, saying it’s failed to advance development that could delay urban Alaska's impending gas shortage.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 6, 2025
Fact-checking Tom Cruise: Inside ‘Mission: Impossible’s’ trip to ‘Alaska’
Sure, there could be a secret CIA installation on a Bering Sea island. But taking a dog team across the surrounding sea ice? Only in Hollywood.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 3, 2025
New Alaska Bitcoin mine would use as much power as the state’s largest coal plant produces
The startup planning the operation near the North Slope oil fields would power its computers not with coal but with another fossil fuel: natural gas that’s currently going unused.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 1, 2025
Coastal Alaskans see commercial fishing limits as a ‘crisis.’ Lawmakers don’t.
Alaska’s Legislature adjourned last week without addressing an issue that many residents of coastal, Native villages see as urgent: expanding access to commercial fishing careers.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 28, 2025
Alaska utility execs to lawmakers: Let’s revive Susitna hydroelectric megaproject
The request by leaders of the state’s urban utilities faces opposition from some advocates, who say wind power is a more politically and economically realistic bet than the multi-billion-dollar Susitna development.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 15, 2025
Conservation group's lawsuit seeks to speed listing of Alaska king salmon under Endangered Species Act
The lawsuit asks a judge to order the service to "promptly issue" its decision on the petition by a specific date.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 9, 2025
Northern Journal news and a side of Interesting Stuff
The podcast is back! And other news.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 7, 2025
Alaska's attorney general flew to South Africa and France. A corporate-funded group paid.
The itinerary for Treg Taylor's trip to Normandy included a stay at a five-star hotel favored by Hollywood stars and polo players.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 5, 2025
Public media is in the crosshairs. How will Alaska’s congressional delegation vote?
Two of Alaska’s members of Congress have not directly said how they’d vote on an expected Trump proposal to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 30, 2025
A diesel spill along the Yukon raises fears about Hilcorp’s drilling program
No one is saying whether the truck that spilled 1,000 gallons of fuel had been on a Hilcorp job. But it belongs to a company that’s worked for Hilcorp on its Yukon Flats exploration program.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 25, 2025
As Trump eyes Greenland and Arctic resources, America's ambassadorship for the region goes unfilled
Alaskans and others tracking America’s stance toward the Arctic are waiting for details of President Trump's new policy.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 21, 2025
Alaska’s governor flew to Taiwan to sell LNG. China's not happy.
China says Dunleavy's trip "sends a very wrong signal to the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces."
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 18, 2025
Above the Yukon River, on Native land, Hilcorp is set to drill for oil this summer
Hilcorp has signed oil leases with Doyon, the Indigenous-owned corporation for Interior Alaska, which hopes the drilling effort will yield the state’s next big oil field. But there’s fierce opposition from local tribes.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 7, 2025
Will it? Won't it? And when? Anchorage contends with a restive volcano in its backyard.
The uncertainty around the eruption's timing has provoked a wide range of emotions from the Alaskans living in Mt. Spurr’s shadow, who have turned to social media and therapists to help them get through it.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 26, 2025
In Norway, a fossil fuel feud at a celebration of the national sport
A standoff between World Championships organizers and Norwegian climate advocates is threatening to mar an otherwise impeccably executed event.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 4, 2025
An update from the Northern Journal trail
Some news and notes, including a leg wrestling video, about my work and travels over the past couple of months.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 24, 2025
How a risky state investment in seafood cost Alaskans millions and left a fishing town in crisis
There were warning signs ahead of the bet on Peter Pan Seafood, which is expected to cost Alaskans more $29 million.
BY Hal BerntonFeb 13, 2025
Think sled dog racing is fading? In Alaska's mushing-crazy Kuskokwim Delta, it’s booming.
High school boys in one Kuskokwim River village can “forget the muscle cars,” said Barron Sample, principal of the school there. “You get the muscle dogs,” he said.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 12, 2025
The last skipper in Ouzinkie: How Gulf of Alaska villages lost their Native fishing fleets
A permitting system designed in the 1970s was supposed to make Alaska’s commercial fishing industry more sustainable and more profitable. But over the last 50 years, it has hollowed out many Indigenous coastal villages where residents no longer can earn a living by harvesting salmon.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 5, 2025
Rolling blackouts could loom for urban Alaska as natural gas crunch intensifies
Homer Electric Association, which serves much of the Kenai Peninsula, recently announced that it secured an “interruptible” gas agreement for the next year — meaning that it could experience a shortfall of the fuel during a cold snap.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 21, 2025
A national championship ski race was set for Kincaid Park. Then the moose showed up.
The real drama during Thursday's race was a quintessential Anchorage wildlife standoff — one that may have even altered the women’s podium.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 3, 2025
'We're not heading in the right direction': A Q&A with Murkowski on health care
"I'm worried about the current situation, because we've got some demographics that are working against us," U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in an interview. "Alaskans are getting older, and our chronic conditions are just getting chronically worse."
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 1, 2025
Regulators, advocates warn of utility inaction as Alaska gas shortfall looms
“The window for making decisions is closing,” said one top regulator. “If things just sort of slide and there’s no leadership, and we’re in the same position 12 months from now, we are looking at a dire, dire, situation. And people should get angry.”
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 24, 2024
Scores of Alaskans face another eye-watering spike in their health care costs next year. Does anyone care?
Premiums for Alaska health insurance plans on the federal marketplace have spiked more than 50% over the past three years.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 23, 2024
Loch Ness ducks or “vampire grebes”? Alaska governor’s wish list for Trump comes with AI hallucinations.
A ChatGPT-generated image of Alaska included some strange-looking waterfowl. Northern Journal investigates.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 18, 2024
Big fight looms at Board of Fish meeting over Prince William Sound trawl bycatch
Conservation and tribal advocates have lobbied for a crackdown for years on the unintentional harvests of salmon and other species by Bering Sea pollock trawlers. Now, they’re turning their attention to a smaller pollock trawl fishery in Prince William Sound.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 10, 2024
Feds approve key step toward expansion at major Northwest Alaska zinc mine
Red Dog mine, a regional economic linchpin, is running low on ore. With a new permit in hand, the multinational company that operates the project is now moving quickly to try to extend its life.
BY Max GrahamDec 6, 2024
Take a trip to the Asian island that could play a role in Alaska's future
If Taiwan faces a military conflict with China, Alaska forces could be drawn into the fight. Northern Journal recently took a trip to the island to learn more.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 2, 2024
News from, and about, Northern Journal
Two years in, an update on this media business, and hot tips on how to claim your Northern Journal hoodie and stickers.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 26, 2024
America’s first Arctic ambassador was just confirmed weeks ago. Now he could be out of a job.
Alaska geographer Mike Sfraga hasn’t announced his resignation. But it’s standard for politically appointed ambassadors to leave their posts during a presidential transition.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 25, 2024
Arctic Bitcoin? Hilcorp, tech firm aim to test North Slope data center
A Hilcorp oil field in Alaska’s Arctic is set to host a tech firm that wants to use natural gas-fired power to mine digital currency.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 18, 2024
Interesting stuff: Dunleavy attends Trump fundraiser, solar for Alaska airports, and a company wants $50 million in state loans for natural gas drilling
Also: A renewable energy advocacy group says a recent ruling by state regulators is an "abdication" of their responsibility, and a contested election for leadership of Alaska's largest statewide Native organization.
BY Nathaniel HerzOct 19, 2024
Data centers face growing opposition Outside. Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants them in Alaska.
The Republican governor says Alaska has in excess what the data industry is finding increasingly scarce Outside: land and water, if not cheap electricity. He also says new data centers would boost the case for Alaska’s proposed natural gas pipeline.
BY Nathaniel HerzOct 16, 2024
Interesting Stuff: How Alaska regulators ignored a gas conservation scheme. And: What happened to those Kodiak king salmon?
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska rejected a proposal to increase electricity rates for heavier users. And: updates on the Kodiak king salmon bycatch incident and the future of Peter Pan Seafood.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 30, 2024
Two Kodiak trawlers caught 2,000 king salmon. Now, a whole fishery is closed.
The incident is sure to draw more scrutiny on the issue of bycatch — the industry term for the unintended harvest, typically of salmon or halibut, by boats targeting other species.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 25, 2024
A new film highlights the traumas inflicted on Indigenous children by residential schools. Alaskans say that history needs more attention.
“Sugarcane” is set in British Columbia. But after recent screenings in Sitka and Anchorage, advocates say the documentary’s themes are as relevant and urgent just across the Canadian border in Alaska.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 23, 2024
Original Peter Pan Seafood investor wins auction for troubled company's assets
Rodger May, an entrepreneur and fish trader, narrowly beat out another industry player, Silver Bay Seafoods, with his $37.3 million bid. The sale must still be approved by a Seattle court.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 19, 2024
Interesting stuff: Anchorage water wars, a Doyon pipeline deal and a law firm’s look at the Permanent Fund
Interesting Stuff is back from hibernation. Items include a feud between bottled water companies and Anchorage's water utility, a Doyon subsidiary's acquisition of a share of a major pipeline on the North Slope and continuing turnover at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 18, 2024
In latest sign of North Slope’s evolution, privately owned Texas company targets Chevron’s Alaska assets
A little known Texas company is buying a share of a key North Slope pipeline and asked to buy all of Chevron's oil interests in the region — reviving questions about the Alaska oil industry’s capacity to decommission aging infrastructure and pay damages in the event of a spill.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 16, 2024
In internet-less Sitka, it's both "mayhem" and a "golden moment"
Some surgeries are on hold. Businesses have gone cash-only. Starlink units are a precious commodity. But more people are talking, sharing stories and "doing what they used to do without the internet."
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 6, 2024
In Anchorage, a coal-inspired startup could help pave the path to wind and solar
Cache Energy has backing from energy company Halliburton and plans to test its technology in Kotzebue next year. It uses pellets derived from limestone to save wind and solar energy for periods when it’s dark or calm.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 2, 2024
A public serv-fish announcement: You should be eating more black cod.
Alaska caught black cod is oily and delicious, and it's selling at rock bottom prices right now in part because of the devaluation of the Japanese yen.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 30, 2024
Small Cook Inlet producers say they need state government help before drilling for new natural gas
One company, Bluecrest, said it will need more support even after a state agency agreed to forgive some $7 million in loans. Another company, HEX, says it needs the state to agree to a royalty reduction before it will drill a well.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 26, 2024
Alaska's embattled economic development agency signs contracts with seven law firms
AIDEA has long used outside attorneys. What’s new is selecting firms in advance, which the agency's leader says allows work to happen more quickly than going through the state’s procurement process each time an issue comes up.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 20, 2024
The mining industry is booming. Help us cover it in Alaska.
I want to hire a talented, young reporter to do more of what Northern Journal is already doing — independent journalism on Alaska’s lands and natural resources.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 15, 2024
Inside the “titanic” legal case that will help determine Alaska’s energy future: an analysis of what’s at stake
Northern Journal waded through hundreds of pages of written testimony and hours of recorded public hearings to explain how an Anchorage electric utility’s proposal to raise its rates could affect consumers — and the region’s scarce supply of natural gas.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 8, 2024
Biden administration rejects Inslee’s top choice for Alaska fish commission, reappoints trawl official
Washington’s Democratic governor had advanced an ally of tribes and conservation groups for appointment to the federal commission that manages lucrative fisheries off the Alaska coast. But the U.S. commerce secretary instead reappointed an official from a Seattle-based trawl company.
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 30, 2024
Inside the U.S. Coast Guard’s Aleutian encounter with China’s military — and what it means
This edition of Northern Journal is sponsored by The Boardroom, a shared workspace in Anchorage. Exciting news: The Boardroom is expanding from its HQ downtown and opening a second space in Midtown this month. More information here. The Chinese warships weren’t showing up on civilian radar. But the American commercial fishing fleet could still tell that something strange was happening in the Aleutian Islands last weekend. Crew on the fishing vessels picked out a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, the
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 12, 2024
News from, and about, Northern Journal
Greetings from Northern Journal headquarters — also known as my couch, here at home in Airport Heights. I'm just back from an amazing reporting trip to Kodiak. I'd been there twice before, each time briefly to cover the biennial Fish Debate, but this trip was longer. In addition to my time in Kodiak city, I spent a few days in the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq villages of Ouzinkie and Old Harbor, talking to residents about their access to the island's commercial fisheries. Fourth of July in Old Harbor is not
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 7, 2024
As salmon season kicks off, some Alaska fishermen fear for their futures
A year into the the crisis in Alaska's $6 billion commercial fishing industry, there are some signs of recovery. But major threats persist, many of which fishermen feel powerless to affect.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 23, 2024
Alaska lawmakers rejected Dunleavy's first pick, a talk show host, for a lucrative fish job. His new pick? An ex-talk show host.
In May, lawmakers narrowly rejected a talk radio host’s appointment to a highly paid position regulating Alaska's commercial fisheries. Now, after the failure of that pick, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has chosen a new appointee with a similar — though not identical — background for the job.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 12, 2024
Biden administration advances conservation group's bid to list Gulf of Alaska king salmon as endangered or threatened
Experts say that the request, if granted, could force restrictions not just on salmon fishermen but also on activity that affects river habitat, like road and residential construction.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 23, 2024
Shell abandons North Slope oil leases, raising questions about the industry’s future in Alaska
As the world pivots toward lower-carbon energy sources in response to global warming, experts say some of the state’s hard-to-tap oil prospects are becoming less attractive.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 22, 2024
Something woolly is afoot in Alaska 🦣🦣
A mammoth investigation.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 11, 2024
Could Alaska be the final destination for Japan’s carbon pollution? The Biden administration wants to find out.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s new study is a reflection of the growing interest in injecting and storing climate-warming carbon pollution in underground reservoirs in Alaska.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 7, 2024
This oil platform stopped pumping 30 years ago. Alaska still won’t make the owner tear it down.
Removing all the offshore oil infrastructure from Cook Inlet could cost $1 billion. But some platforms have sat idle for decades, as inspectors say they're in an "advanced state of disrepair."
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 6, 2024
Northern Journal goes multi-platform
Introducing the Northern Journal podcast.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 29, 2024
City spending standoff threatens Cook Inlet access for Anchorage boat launch users
The director of Anchorage's city-owned cargo port says maintaining the boat launch is a money-losing operation that his agency won't continue. No one else has stepped up to take over.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 25, 2024
In Donlin lawsuit, Murkowski, Sullivan and Peltola come to mining project's defense
Alaska's congressional delegation, in documents filed in federal court late Tuesday, called the proposed Donlin mine one of the state's “most important and necessary economic development projects.”
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 23, 2024
Alaska Senate proposes $7.5 million aid package for struggling fish processors
The program, if approved, would target smaller companies than those that won a share of more than $100 million in salmon and pollock purchases by the federal government earlier this year.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 17, 2024
Western Alaska tribes, outraged by bycatch, turn up the heat on fishery managers and trawlers
The years-long debate is taking on increasing urgency, as subsistence harvesting bans continue and the policy responses under consideration threaten to impose steep costs on industry.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 5, 2024
Troubled state-backed seafood company says it will lease out two plants, and could sell its assets
Peter Pan Seafoods said Thursday that another processing company would lease and operate two of its Alaska plants for the summer salmon season. But another facility, in King Cove, is still in limbo.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 5, 2024
Alaska fishermen and processing plants are in limbo as a state-backed seafood company teeters
“We are all sort of on pins and needles,” said a local official in King Cove, where fishermen and elected leaders are waiting to learn the fate of Peter Pan Seafoods' shuttered plant.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 30, 2024
Federal judge sides with Biden administration, rejects Alaska bids to expand Kuskokwim River salmon fishing
A federal judge has settled a dispute that began in 2021, when the Dunleavy administration tried to expand salmon fishing opportunities beyond those offered by the federal government.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 29, 2024
A new nominee to the Bering Sea fisheries management council would tip its balance toward tribes and away from trawlers.
Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee has advanced Becca Robbins Gisclair, an attorney and conservation advocate, for a seat currently held by Anne Vanderhoeven, who works in the trawling industry.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 25, 2024
An Alaska Olympian went to D.C. to testify on climate change. Then a senator dredged up four-year-old tweets.
Louisiana Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy subjected Anchorage cross-country skier Gus Schumacher to a pop quiz about climate science in an exchange that went viral in conservative circles.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 25, 2024
Alaska utility regulators work shorthanded as policymakers consider tighter qualifications
Alaska’s five-member public utility commission has a vacancy with no announced timeline for filling it. Meanwhile, some policymakers and advocates want to tighten commissioner qualifications.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 20, 2024
AIDEA signs new consulting contracts, two with ex-Dunleavy aides, paying up to $295/hour
Rex Rock and John Moller, both of whom used to advise Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy on rural affairs, were hired through a competitive procurement process along with two others.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 18, 2024
Amid salmon crash, Alaska's Yukon River residents say a new pact with Canada leaves them behind
The plan could close fishing for 7 more years and open the door for hatcheries. In villages along the river, Tribal leaders say the state has cut them out of the process, and want federal oversight.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 18, 2024
Interesting stuff: Utility data request gets rejected, a heat pump in every village home, and a "zero-sum game" for pink and sockeye salmon?
Big energy news for the Northwest Arctic Borough, while a new study adds to the pile of evidence suggesting that booming, hatchery-boosted pink salmon populations could be harming wild sockeye.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 1, 2024
Can jet-setting ski racers be climate activists? Anchorage athlete leans into “imperfect advocacy.”
Climate change poses an existential threat to cross-country skiing. But it's hard to talk about for some top athletes, who fear being accused of hypocrisy because of their travel-intensive lifestyles.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 26, 2024
Alaska lawmaker’s bid to revive stalled green energy policy defines coal as “clean”
Sutton Republican Rep. George Rauscher says he wants to encourage innovation without leaving fossil fuels behind. But one critic is blasting his new bill as a “jumbled mess.”
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 23, 2024
Schumacher's win, after two tough years, shows world-class talent is "still in there"
Anchorage cross-country talent Gus Schumacher won an international cross-country ski race Sunday, something no other American man has accomplished in more than 40 years.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 19, 2024
Green energy advocates say Anchorage electric utility is "freezing out" efforts to draft a gas-saving price structure
Renewable Energy Alaska Project wants state regulators to step in and force Chugach Electric Association to hand over detailed data on customers' energy consumption.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 8, 2024
Mountains to ocean: A dispatch from Canadian coal country
Here's how piles of coal in Vancouver harbor connect back to a multinational mining company with operations in Alaska.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 7, 2024
Amid cold snap, equipment failure stresses Alaska's natural gas delivery system
I interviewed the president of Enstar, which runs urban Alaska's gas utility, about problems with a storage facility and how they connect to long-term energy challenges facing the region.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 27, 2024
Political pressure builds as state-led Alaska LNG project goes another year without a deal
GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy is asking legislators to spend another $4.5 million on marketing and development of the huge LNG project. But lawmakers sound increasingly skeptical.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 24, 2024
Alaska senator vows to kill renewables bill as energy debate heats up in Juneau
Republican state Sen. Jesse Bjorkman says a bill in his committee that sets green power targets for electric utilities is "going nowhere." But lobbyists are lining up to push it forward.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 17, 2024
Peter Pan's King Cove plant will stay closed this winter as fishing industry turmoil spreads
“It's one of the most difficult days of my life,” said Rodger May, one of the company’s owners and a longtime player in Alaska’s seafood industry.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 11, 2024
Washington conservation group proposes listing Alaska king salmon under Endangered Species Act
The chinook are threatened by climate change and competition from hatchery-raised fish, and existing state and federal management are failing to stem their decline, says the Wild Fish Conservancy.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 11, 2024
As ConocoPhillips' Willow project advances, two local governments have withdrawn their criticism
The tribal and city councils in Nuiqsut withdrew their support for a joint letter they sent last year blasting the “endless expansion of oil development and the complete encirclement of our village."
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 10, 2024
Alaska lost a lawsuit that challenged a COVID-era emergency moose hunt. Now, it's appealing for a second time.
It's one of multiple cases in which the Dunleavy administration is clashing with the federal government over fish and game management, and over who has the ultimate regulatory power in that realm.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 5, 2024
Interesting stuff: Anchorage solar project advances, parking rates could rise and state explores tunnel under Knik Arm
Plus: Tribal governments near a major proposed graphite mine on the Seward Peninsula criticize the Biden administration for failing to consult them before granting $37.5 million to the project.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 3, 2024
Could a new Alaska coal power plant be climate friendly? An $11 million study aims to find out.
With state and federal money, University of Alaska researchers plan to explore the viability of a new coal plant in the Susitna River valley that would inject its carbon emissions underground.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 27, 2023
One year and $250,000 later, Alaska's new spending database is missing in action
Lawmakers unanimously approved adding heavily scrutinized state corporations, like AIDEA, to a database of public spending. But two months after a legal deadline, the new system hasn't launched.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 20, 2023
Millions for a carbon capture study, Alaska's gas pipeline and a Copper River trail project: A tour of Gov. Dunleavy's capital budget.
Other highlights: money for tree planting and thinning, a new state vessel and plane, and a major budget boost for the state grant program funded by oil production in the National Petroleum Reserve.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 17, 2023
I just reviewed 1,000 pages of Alaska budget documents — so you don't have to.
Buried in GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy's new budget plan are items to escalate the state's subsistence fight with the feds, enhance drone use for law enforcement and pay for a growing number of autopsies.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 14, 2023
Interesting stuff: A major Anchorage trailhead upgrade, a legislative trip to North Dakota and Begich-hosted mayoral forums
Plus, Alaska's state-owned economic development agency could invest in a new North Slope infrastructure project.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 11, 2023
Biden administration could wade into lawsuit over Southeast Alaska tribal fishing rights
The federal government says it's considering submitting a friend-of-the-court brief in a lawsuit over fishing rights between the state and the Southeast Alaska tribal government of Metlakatla.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 6, 2023
Want to ski, shoot, and hang out with Anchorage Olympians? Try biathlon.
A tale of how I skied faster than Kikkan Randall for exactly five minutes and 39 seconds until I got tired and she hit more rifle targets than I did.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 3, 2023
There's lots of gas in Cook Inlet. Here's why some companies aren't drilling.
Leaders of Alaska's biggest gas and electric utilities say they don't want to risk customer money to invest in uncertain drilling efforts, when imported LNG appears reliable and competitively priced.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 29, 2023
Mining exec: Alaska’s pricy, fossil fuel-based power could thwart investment
Kinross Gold, whose Fairbanks-area mine employs 700 people, says its Alaska investments have "extremely high" energy costs and carbon emissions compared to other projects in its portfolio.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 18, 2023
U.S. military quietly revokes planned contract for small nuclear plant at Alaska Air Force base
The military had planned to give a contract for a "micro-reactor" to Silicon Valley firm Oklo — whose chairman, Sam Altman, also led the company behind the ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 17, 2023
Monthly premiums for health insurance on the federal marketplace will rise 16% in Alaska next year
The spike comes after an 18% increase the previous year, which means prices have risen more than one-third in two years. Experts say inflation and booming post-pandemic demand for care are the cause.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 16, 2023
Dissident shareholders ousted the pro-logging board of Yakutat's Indigenous village corporation. Here's what comes next.
An interview with Meda DeWitt, a former chair of the Recall Dunleavy campaign who now leads the board of directors of Yak-Tat Kwaan, the village corporation in the Southeast Alaska community.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 11, 2023
Sealaska's chief executive to depart, but company says its strategy will stay the same
Anthony Mallott, who's led the Southeast Alaska regional Native corporation for nearly a decade, is leaving his job, along with another executive, Jaeleen Kookesh.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 10, 2023
Interesting Stuff: More legislators press AG on Cook Inlet gas, a $750,000 settlement and an Aleutian murder mystery
Also: A state utility regulator wanted to block the Permanent Fund's board chair and a renewable energy advocacy group from weighing in on an Anchorage utility's proposed rate hike.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 9, 2023
Why I won't be sending you a Nat Herz bobblehead
A thank-you for Northern Journal's first year in business, and a request as it heads into year two.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 8, 2023
Interesting Stuff: Apache's return to the North Slope, AIDEA's pro-Pebble legal contract and the death of snow days
Also: The pilot in the Halibut Cove float plane-boat faceoff makes her case to a federal judge, and a high-profile hire in the Alaska Senate.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 4, 2023
If Alaska wants more Cook Inlet gas, taxpayers should get ready to pony up
The state will likely have to spend real money to get companies to drill more wells in Cook Inlet. But how much should Alaska invest in petroleum when cheap wind and solar are on the horizon?
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 3, 2023
With little movement on salmon bycatch, Alaska advocates look to Biden administration for executive action
A federal agency says it's considering a rewrite to guidelines that shape management plans for Bering Sea and other fisheries. But it has not yet committed to taking action.
BY Nathaniel HerzOct 31, 2023
Interesting stuff: a guilty plea in Kachemak Bay seaplane case, a state contract for McKinsey and Dunleavy's revived pro-family efforts
Plus: an array of stakeholders weigh in on Anchorage's electric utility's proposal to raise rates, AIDEA pays $500,000 for road data and Dunleavy gets a new press aide.
BY Nathaniel HerzOct 16, 2023
A new rush arrives on the Seward Peninsula: for graphite, not gold
Graphite is crucial for electrical vehicles, but China controls the global supply. A mine on the Seward Peninsula could help change that — but it's perched above an essential Iñupiaq subsistence area.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 26, 2023
Amid natural gas crunch, an Alaska utility asks to resurrect in-state gas pipeline
Enstar wants to take over the project last estimated to cost $10 billion. But its own chief executive acknowledges that the pipeline isn't viable without multi-billion-dollar subsidies from the state.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 11, 2023
Interesting stuff: natural gas incentives, a new pact on Indigenous language election materials and a possible corporate shakeup in Yakutat
Plus, read my attorneys' warning letter to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, which has refused to fully process a basic public records request for more than two months.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 8, 2023
Alaska watches, nervously, as Ukraine war pushes more Russian oil through Bering Strait
A sharp increase in oil tankers carrying Russian oil to China prompts new warnings of risks to Alaska villages and the fish, seals and whales they harvest.
BY Nathaniel HerzSep 2, 2023
Alaska Gov. Dunleavy names ad consultant, talk show host Porcaro to commercial fisheries agency
Mike Dunleavy has appointed ally Mike Porcaro, a longtime GOP advertising consultant and talk radio host, to a highly paid job as a commissioner at the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 24, 2023
LNG imports are likely coming to Anchorage. But advocates say policy changes can forestall them.
A new report says Anchorage's electric utility can put off the need for LNG imports by five years through renewable power projects and energy conservation.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 22, 2023
Interesting stuff: More from the mammal beat, Dunleavy visits a mining prospect and a tribe's quick reversal in an oil project lawsuit
An update on the fate of The Walrus, coyotes attack Alaska soldiers in Louisiana and Gov. Mike Dunleavy visits a mining prospect in the Alaska Range, which could connect to the West Su Access road.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 10, 2023
In brief: Gleason hands Alaska and AIDEA an Arctic Refuge defeat
A federal court judge rejected a lawsuit from the state of Alaska and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority that challenged a suspension of oil leases in the Arctic Refuge.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 7, 2023
The great Alaska walrus caper of 2023
How did a walrus get four miles from shore, to the middle of an Alaska oil field? I hunted for answers — and found them.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 5, 2023
Interesting stuff: Alaska tribal health groups battle over documents in court; Clarkson and Kelly return to politics
Plus: More details about the removal of a university researcher from a state electricity task force, which came after she "disappointed" the head of the Alaska Energy Authority.
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 3, 2023
Interesting stuff: Former Peltola chief of staff will lobby, consult for Alaska interests in D.C.
Alex Ortiz, a longtime staffer to the Alaska delegation, has taken a job as a lobbyist and consultant at Capitol Hill Consulting Group, whose clients include Native corporations and a mining company.
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 26, 2023
Alaska salmon fishermen fume over low prices, but processors say they're hurting too
Bristol Bay fishermen are calling for strikes, lawsuits and “the goddamn picket signs and pitchforks” in response to low salmon prices. But an industry expert says processors have been "screwed," too.
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 20, 2023
Alaska Gov. Dunleavy fires two Susitna road opponents from land management advisory board
Israel Mahay, who owns a Susitna river jet boat business, had chaired the Recreation Rivers Advisory board. Mike Overcast, who owns a heliskiing lodge in the Susitna watershed, was set to replace him.
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 18, 2023
Interesting stuff: a new wind project takes shape outside Anchorage, as AIDEA mulls options for struggling state-owned oil field
Alaska Renewables is proposing a major new wind development near the village of Tyonek, the Legislature's ethics committee loses its administrator and Murkowski gets a new communications director.
BY Nathaniel HerzJul 11, 2023
A crucial van service in Anchorage's public safety system is short-staffed, straining city fire and police
The Anchorage Health Department has withheld five months of payment from contractor Securitas, which operates a van service that picks up intoxicated people at a lower cost than emergency responders.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 23, 2023
Updated: In "major victory" for Southeast Alaska trollers, federal appeals panel reverses fishery closure
The Southeast Alaska troll chinook fishery will open as scheduled July 1, after a federal appeals panel reversed a lower court ruling that would have kept the $85 million industry off the water.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 21, 2023
"We can go fishing": appeals court says Southeast Alaska troll fishery can open this summer
A federal appeals panel issued a last-second ruling Wednesday that will allow this summer’s Southeast Alaska troll chinook salmon fishery to open as scheduled July 1.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 21, 2023
Alaska Gov. Dunleavy removes university researcher from energy task force leadership post
GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy removed Gwen Holdmann, of the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, from her vice chair position on the task force he's established to reduce the state's high electricity prices.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 20, 2023
Interesting stuff: Dunleavy’s investment whisperer, a North Slope worker death and an Ambler road critic joins the project's sponsor
This week, we show how Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration has turned to investor Ellie Rubenstein for advice, and pry loose some details about the death of an employee of a Hilcorp contractor.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 13, 2023
A conservation group's lawsuit already closed an iconic Alaska fishery. Now, it's pushing for Endangered Species Act protections for king salmon.
The Washington-based Wild Fish Conservancy plans to ask the federal government to list Southeast Alaska, Southwest Alaska and Cook Inlet king salmon under the Endangered Species Act.
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 7, 2023
From Alaska Public Media — Alaska Gov. Dunleavy policy adviser who said ‘divorce is worse than rape’ resigns
An investigation I did for Alaska Public Media, with our partners at American Public Media, found that GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy's new "pro-family" policy advisor had aired shocking views on his podcast.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 30, 2023
No relief for beleaguered Southeast Alaska trollers as judge rejects request to keep fishery open
Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said the state would appeal the denial immediately. But the clock is ticking before the scheduled July 1 start to the king salmon fishery.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 26, 2023
News Donuts: Ambler delays, a North Slope tax dispute and growing opposition to Alaska's LNG project
The mining company leading the Ambler mine project has shelved a planned summer drilling program amid delays to a related road proposal. Plus a property tax dispute over the Point Thomson oil field.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 25, 2023
Anchorage's electric utility elects two "clean energy" board candidates, re-elects incumbent chair
Friday's election of Susanne Fleek-Green and Jim Nordlund, who ran on “clean energy,” marked a significant shift. But the results weren't a wholesale rejection of Chugach Electric's incumbent board.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 20, 2023
Interesting stuff: a Girdwood lodge proposal, a Dunleavy trip to Germany and seafood news
Alaska's governor and Kim Kardashian in the same place? A new tourism lodge in housing-starved Girdwood? Read on for more.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 17, 2023
As natural gas shortage looms, Alaska electric utilities and advocates are feuding over a renewable power bill
The two sides agree on the need to wean Alaska’s power grid from its deep dependence on natural gas. But they disagree sharply about how quickly the transition should happen, and potential costs.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 11, 2023
New from Northern Journal: Interesting stuff
The inaugural edition of Interesting Stuff has items on the Southeast Alaska troll lawsuit, the timber controversy in Yakutat, a new pro-family advisor for the governor and a renewable energy project.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 10, 2023
Alaska’s university system says two science education leaders are on administrative leave
The system says Herb Schroeder, who leads the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, is on non-disciplinary administrative leave, along with one of his deputies.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 4, 2023
To protect orcas, federal judge orders closure of iconic Southeast Alaska troll fishery
A federal judge issued an order Tuesday voiding an environmental review that helped authorize the small-scale fishery, a $30 million industry that employs hundreds of people in Southeast Alaska.
BY Nathaniel HerzMay 2, 2023
Anchorage’s electric utility is having the most hotly contested election in years. We surveyed the candidates.
Nine candidates are vying for three seats on Chugach Electric Association's board of directors. Here are their positions on renewable power, transparency and liquefied natural gas imports.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 28, 2023
AIDEA paid $63,500 to settle ex-spokesman's wrongful termination lawsuit
Karsten Rodvik sued Alaska's economic development agency in September for more than $1 million, claiming his termination was illegal and discriminatory. The case was quietly dismissed months later.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 18, 2023
Yakutat tribal leader fears loss of land as bank sues Southeast Alaska village corporation for $13.3 million
Leaders of Yakutat's village corporation say they didn't pledge land as collateral for loans they took out to start a logging business. But some fear tribal land could be sold to satisfy the debt.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 9, 2023
Fish hatcheries, long seen as a last resort, get a new look amid Yukon River salmon crisis
First Nations groups in the Yukon Territory and Alaska GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration are advancing discussions about whether hatcheries could help stem a steep crash in salmon populations.
BY Nathaniel HerzApr 7, 2023
Alaska lawmakers: Keep your pay raise. But it's time to fix per diem.
With Alaska legislators poised to accept a $34,000-a-year raise, there's no longer a justification for paying themselves $9,000 a month for living expenses in Juneau.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 31, 2023
Alaska Gov. Dunleavy passes over tribal advocate for fishery council post, fueling calls for change
Criticism of Dunleavy's nomination to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is a sign of the growing polarization and high stakes in Alaska fish politics amid historic crashes in salmon stocks.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 21, 2023
A lawsuit targets a Southeast Alaska salmon fishery to save 73 orcas. Critics say the Washington-based plaintiffs should look closer to home.
The lawsuit aims to defend endangered killer whales. But the science is complex, and Southeast Alaska fishermen could be put out of work.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 14, 2023
A PhD energy analyst and former state lawmaker got screened out from running for Anchorage's electric utility board — without an explanation.
Two advocates for reducing Chugach Electric Association's reliance on natural gas, Antony Scott and Harry Crawford, were rejected by a nominating committee. They say they'll run by petition instead.
BY Nathaniel HerzMar 2, 2023
Alaska odds and ends, and a quick European dispatch
Catching up on some nuggets from the state budget, news on a contentious mine and road proposal in Northwest Alaska, and links to some of my recent freelance pieces.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 23, 2023
Letter from Yakutat: Deep cuts on the Lost Coast
Logging is on the decline across Southeast Alaska. But in Yakutat, the local Indigenous-owned corporation is still cutting, over the objections of tribal and cultural leaders. Here's a firsthand look.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 12, 2023
After four years, joy in Utqiaġvik at the messenger feast's return
A dispatch from America's northernmost community, where hundreds gathered for a traditional Iñupiaq festival of dancing, gift-giving and connection.
BY Nathaniel HerzFeb 5, 2023
Inside Kodiak's crab standoff
Crews from more than 100 boats say they're staying at the docks until processors offer them a higher price. But experts say the fishermen are facing global market forces that are unlikely to budge.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 26, 2023
Alaska, long a resource exporter, now wants to profit by leaving timber uncut and pumping carbon underground
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, in an interview, said he doesn't accept that carbon emissions cause climate change. But he still wants the state to benefit from markets that have arisen to address the problem.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 12, 2023
Two companies' dispute over access to Alaska's next big oil development is now headed to court
ConocoPhillips has sued Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration to block a state-issued permit that grants a competing company access to its new Pikka project, over Conoco-built roads.
BY Nathaniel HerzJan 3, 2023
Warming waters, not bycatch, are driving Bering Sea salmon and crab crashes. But Alaska’s fishing industry is barely talking about it.
Advocates say that seafood businesses, trade groups and fishermen need to take more action to advocate for lower carbon emissions, or risk continued catastrophic declines in their harvests.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 29, 2022
Climate change and a looming gas crunch are turning the heat up on Alaska utilities. Are they up to the challenge?
Clean energy advocates are increasingly criticizing Anchorage's electric utility for doing business behind closed doors. I went to a board meeting to see for myself — and was exiled from the room.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 22, 2022
Quick take: Is global warming driving the Anchorage snowpocalypse?
I wanted to know, so I asked two climatologists. The answer: It's complicated.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 15, 2022
With leases suspended, Alaska agency wants $6 million more for Arctic Refuge drilling campaign
Alaska's economic development agency says it needs the money for next year's permitting, legal support and lease payments — though the Biden administration says the payments aren't due.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 14, 2022
Mary Peltola ran a pro-fish, anti-bycatch campaign. Here's what her agenda could look like in Congress.
Translating a pro-fish platform into policy reality won’t be easy for Peltola, who will serve in the House minority. But experts say Peltola can still find ways to advance her fish first agenda.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 12, 2022
ConocoPhillips loses bid to limit competitor’s access to Alaska’s next big oil project
Australia-based Santos got a permit from the state to access its new Pikka development by crossing Conoco's roads. After losing an appeal last week, Conoco could now take its case to court.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 6, 2022
"Stalemate:" Prepare to wait weeks, or even months, before Alaska's House forms a majority.
Key decisions, like schools spending and the size of Alaska's oil-wealth checks, hang in the balance as lawmakers delay decisions until the result of a lawsuit challenging a Republican's eligibility.
BY Nathaniel HerzDec 4, 2022
Biden administration delays release of new Arctic Refuge drilling environmental review
The release, originally planned by the end of November, won't happen until the second quarter of next year.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 30, 2022
Under attack on many fronts, AIDEA now faces a leadership void.
The state agency responsible for advancing the Ambler road and oil development in the Arctic Refuge has seen dozens of employees exit amid escalating attacks from conservation groups.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 27, 2022
Alaska Native corporations take fight over carbon credits revenue to court
A new lawsuit pits three of the state's huge regional corporations against three others, in a battle that could jeopardize a four-decade-old pact that's guided distribution of more than $2 billion.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 20, 2022
Could oil-rich Alaska be forced to import LNG? Two utilities are looking into it.
Amid warnings of diminished supplies in the medium-term future, Anchorage's major home heating and electric utilities have hired consultants to examine imports of liquefied natural gas.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 17, 2022
A second-term Dunleavy administration will look very different from the first
And, scroll down for a bit of news from Alaska's economic development arm.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 15, 2022
Ranked choice voting isn't better or worse. It's different.
Let's talk about what Alaska's new election system does, not how it works.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 13, 2022
New from Nat Herz: Northern Journal
A dispatch from Tokyo, and news on the Alaska Peninsula.
BY Nathaniel HerzNov 11, 2022
Coming soon
This is Northern Journal, a newsletter about Things I'm hearing and seeing in Alaska. Subscribe now
BY Nathaniel HerzAug 23, 2022
Cancellations and refunds
This page describes Northern Journal’s policies for refunds and cancelations. Customers can cancel their paid membership at any time with no penalty, with the membership running to the completion of the term that has already been paid. Refunds for paid memberships can be requested via email to nat[at]northernjournal[dot]com and will be promptly issued through Stripe, Northern Journal’s payment processor. Refunds take 5-10 days to appear on a customer's statement. Stripe's small fees for the o
BY Nathaniel HerzJun 1, 2022