Rules to Protect Alaskan Birds

The Associated Press: Alaska considers hunt rules to protect rare bird

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A diminutive sea duck with a white head and a blue wing could bring restrictions to one of the last virtually unregulated hunting grounds in America.

Inupiat Eskimos on Alaska's northern coast for centuries have welcomed the spring return of waterfowl as a source of fresh meat after eight months of winter. They have been free to take almost whatever they want, whenever they want, without bag limits.

That could change this year. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services has proposed rules for subsistence hunting to protect Steller's eiders, a threatened species whose breeding numbers in the United States have dropped to an estimated 500 birds.

Steller's eiders are not sought by Inupiat hunters for meat, but they flock with the white-fronted geese, black brant and king and common eiders prized by hunters. Despite years of trying to educate hunters, federal officials found 27 dead Steller's eiders last year, including 20 that biologists confirmed had been shot. In one particularly disturbing discovery, a dead female Steller's eider was piled with carcasses of six juveniles outside a hunting blind.

Proposed rules would shorten hunting hours, ban shooting near roads, increase law enforcement presence, and set up a potential draconian measure: The agency's Alaska regional director could close all subsistence hunting to protect Steller's eiders.

Technorati Tags: alaska, rare birds, hunting, regulations

Mt. Redoubt Erupts Twice

The Associated Press: Alaska volcano erupts twice, ash soars 65,000 feet

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's Mount Redoubt has erupted twice, with the larger burst sending an ash cloud 65,000 feet into the air.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory says the eruptions were about an hour apart on Thursday, with the first and smaller one about 8:30 a.m. The ash cloud in that eruption reached about 30,000 feet.

The National Weather Service says prevailing winds are expected to carry ash from the larger eruption east across Cook Inlet.

An ash fall advisory has been issued for the western Kenai Peninsula, and covers the towns of Kenai, Soldotna and Cooper Lander.

The smaller ash cloud was expected to reach Homer later Thursday with only trace amounts expected to fall.

Mount Redoubt started erupting late Sunday.

Technorati Tags: mt. redoubt, alaska, volcana, ash cloud,

U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships

newsminer.com • Southam, Rorabaugh pace Alaska skiers on first day of U.S. National Championships

FAIRBANKS — Becca Rorabaugh used a little home-course advantage to land on the podium for the 5-kilometer classic race that opened the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships Tuesday night at Birch Hill Recreation Area.

“Striding at Birch Hill I think will always be something that I enjoy,” said Rorabaugh, a 2007 graduate of West Valley High School who now trains and races year-round with the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center in Anchorage.

The Jim Whisenhant Trails are practically ingrained for Rorabaugh, now 19.

“I believe I was probably (age) 3, or 2 perhaps,” she said when asked when she first strode at Birch Hill.

So when faced with the grinding Tower Direct uphill at the 2-kilometer mark, Rorabaugh was hardly intimidated. She ate it up.

Technorati Tags: cross country ski championships, birch hill recreation area, alaska, becca rorabaugh

Pictures of Redoubt from National Geographic

ALASKA VOLCANO PHOTOS: Redoubt Spurs Huge Mudflow, Ash

March 24, 2009--Volcanic ash clouds a Webcam's lens as smoke and ash from a relatively subdued Redoubt Volcano lightly smudge the sky about a hundred miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage, Alaska, at sunset on Monday, March 23.

Technorati Tags: alaska, volcano, redoubt, national geographic

Alaska Volcano Erupts

Alaska's Mt. Redoubt volcano erupts with five major explosions; ash cloud ascends 50,000 feet | Outposts | Los Angeles Times

Alaska's Mt. Redoubt Volcano, which had been in a tempestuous mood for two months, erupted Sunday night at 10:38 p.m., sending an ash cloud 50,000 feet above sea level.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory recorded four more large explosions during the night. Tina Neal, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said that "so far the major population centers in south-central Alaska have been spared any kind of dusting of ash."

The enormous plume was drifting to the north over an expansive wilderness parcel and so far only the small town of Skwentna, 100 miles north of Redoubt, had reported experiencing ash fall, mixed with snow.

Neal said the duration eruptions varied from 10 to 20 minutes. The weather is cloudy and snowy at the volcano, which is located 110 miles southwest of Anchorage, due west of the Kenai Peninsula across the Cook Inlet.

Scientists will perform a fly-over today and attempt to take photographs.

The volcano last erupted in 1989-90, periodically over a period of six months, and scientists anticipate another lengthy episode.

Updates and fresh photos will be posted here as more information becomes available. Good luck to those living nearby. You might wish to take a look at the AVO's ashfall preparedness link.

--Pete Thomas and Kelly Burgess

feet
6:53 AM, March 23, 2009

Mt. Redoubt's north flank, as photographed from the south.

Alaska's Mt. Redoubt Volcano, which had been in a tempestuous mood for two months, erupted Sunday night at 10:38 p.m., sending an ash cloud 50,000 feet above sea level.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory recorded four more large explosions during the night. Tina Neal, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said that "so far the major population centers in south-central Alaska have been spared any kind of dusting of ash."

The enormous plume was drifting to the north over an expansive wilderness parcel and so far only the small town of Skwentna, 100 miles north of Redoubt, had reported experiencing ash fall, mixed with snow.

Neal said the duration eruptions varied from 10 to 20 minutes. The weather is cloudy and snowy at the volcano, which is located 110 miles southwest of Anchorage, due west of the Kenai Peninsula across the Cook Inlet.

Scientists will perform a fly-over today and attempt to take photographs.

The volcano last erupted in 1989-90, periodically over a period of six months, and scientists anticipate another lengthy episode.

Updates and fresh photos will be posted here as more information becomes available. Good luck to those living nearby. You might wish to take a look at the AVO's ashfall preparedness link.

--Pete Thomas and Kelly Burgess

Technorati Tags: alaska, volcano, mt. redoubt, ash cloud, mountains

Pipeline Workshop in Valdez

The Cordova Times - Old pipeline’s threat calls for action

Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Alaska residents continue to work together on proactive measures to ensure that never again will a disaster of this magnitude take place. Organizations like the Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet Regional Citizens’ Advisory Councils have greatly contributed to improvements in oil transportation from Valdez marine terminal through Prince William Sound, but residents currently lack input and guidance in issues regarding the trans-Alaska pipeline system.

Technorati Tags: aldez, alaska, oil, pipeline

Alaska Population Estimates Released

SitNews: State, Borough and Place 2008 Populations Released

Alaska's statewide population is 679,720 as of July 1, 2008, based on new population estimates released Monday by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. This is a 52,187 or 8.3 percent increase in population since July 1, 2000.

Technorati Tags: alaska, census, population