Captain Zero Gets Smackdown from Locals on Coastal Zone Management
Remember when Governor Sean “Who Needs the Feds” Parnell, and a bunch of Republican “Who Needs the Feds” legislators decided to push to abolish Alaska’s Coastal Zone Management program? When the bill to extend the program failed in the State House, Alaskans effectively gave away their local voices, and turned control of our coastal issues over to… the Feds. Now, Alaskans are free to offer their opinion, and the federal government (who understandably doesn’t understand Alaskan issues to the extent we do) is free to pat us on the head, pinch our cute little cheek, and ignore us. It’s a…
Mudflix – Bristol Bay and the Threat of Pebble Mine
Seven minutes and 23 seconds. This is one of the best short videos I have seen on the proposed Pebble Mine. It’s a fantastic tool for those who are not familiar with the issue, and even though I am, I found it riveting. Interviews with local residents at the end are wonderful, and moving. The images of the region are breathtaking. I sincerely hope that all of you take that seven minutes and 23 seconds to get informed, or stay current on this issue that is so very important to Alaskans, and to anyone who cares about the preservation of…
Chuitna Coal – Dollars and Sense
It’s time for a little Mudflats Theatre. But this time, you get to participate in the drama! It’s kind of like an improvisation. Let’s pretend we’re doing a business deal. We sit down in a conference room overlooking majestic Cook Inlet, which borders the city of Anchorage. You arrive, we shake hands, and close the door. You’re on one side of the table, and I’m on the other. We lock eyes for a moment, and then mine dart down to a yellow legal pad in front of me, upon which numbers have been scrawled. I look back up at you…
Oyster Roundup – Rats, Scented Candles, Pebble Mine and more…
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more… A half-dozen slurpable stories for your consumption. All titles are links. Eat up! Westboro Baptist Church to Picket Jobs Funeral Yes, apparently the most hateful, vicious, mean-spirited group of “religious” wingnuts, who made famous the “God Hates Fags” slogan, will be picketing the funeral of Steve Jobs. Why? Because he “served self, not God” and “encouraged his neighbors to sin.” How do we know they will be doing this? (Wait for it) Because they tweeted it from an iPhone. Yes, really. No worries about Westboro appreciating this…
Arrrrgh. Begich says, “Sink the Pirate Ship!”
Saving Alaska from pirates – it’s the sort of thing I’ll bet those adventuresome souls who join the Coast Guard dream about when they sign on the dotted line. If I’m right, then it was a good day for the crew of the Coast Guard vessel Munro, based out of Kodiak. They seized a pirate fishing vessel on the high seas about 2600 miles southwest of Kodiak, that was full of 30 tons of illegal squid, sharks, and 10 miles of drift net. High seas driftnetting has been illegal since the 1990s because of the indiscriminate netting and deaths of…
Pebble Mine and the Foreign Fox in Alaska’s Legal Hen House
By Shannyn Moore We take the 49th star on our nation’s flag for granted. That was a hard fight, and statehood wasn’t won on the first pass or even the second. The tipping point and fuel came in large part from the “We-don’t-like-being-bossed-around-by-outsiders” attitude of Alaskans. It’s a bit ironic when we look at ourselves 50-plus years later. This week at the Alaska Energy Council luncheon, oil lobbyists and Republican lawmakers sat side by side at the head table. I guess I should be grateful they’re fraternizing in public instead of in a room at the Baranof. I long for…
Voices from the Flats – Gus the Stud Muffin
By Wickersham’s Conscience WC’s house is the home to two owls, a Boreal Owl and a Great Grey Owl. They aren’t a huge inconvenience, once you get used to the frozen mice thawing in the refrigerator. But last night for Alaska Bird Observatory’s Owlapalooza, WC and Mrs. WC hosted two visiting owls from Anchorage, Gus the Great Horned Owl and Ghost, a Snowy Owl. Gus went into the deck owl mew. Ghost stayed in a kennel in the house. At about full darkness, Gus started calling. And called all night. About 1:00 AM, Gus started getting a response. In fact,…
Actor’s Disappointing Role: Pebble Shill
By Shannyn Moore As much time as we spend watching movies, it’s easy to believe that actors take jobs because they identify with some part of a film. The wool was ripped from my eyes this week. I’ve watched actor Wes Studi in films for years — “Geronimo,” “Dances with Wolves” and “Avatar,” to name a few. He’s beautiful — a classic, stoic American Indian; a noble face absent of fear and seemingly full of ancient knowledge. He’s only acting, and I shouldn’t be disappointed. I got my movie ticket’s worth. But that’s why we buy tickets in the first…
The Koch Brothers Invade Alaska: Nation, Guard Your Salmon
I was checking out the #nopebble hashtag on Twitter the other day, to see what links or comments had come in addressing what would be the continent’s largest open pit copper and gold mine situated at the headwaters of the world’s largest red salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska. It doesn’t take a fisheries expert or a biochemist to know that a project that would require 700 foot tall earthen dams in one of the world’s most active seismic zones to completely hold back lakes of deadly toxins forever, is a recipe for disaster. Our Hero Alaskan fishermen and thinking…
A Lawsuit in Gov. Sean Parnell’s Future? Stonewalling Angers Anti-Coal Groups.
~The mouth of the Chuit River, between Tyonek and Beluga, Alaska Remember, way back last year when I rode a bus in a snowstorm to go hear testimony in Kenai? It was all about whether to designate the land around the Chuit River “unsuitable” for coal mining. The way it stands now, PacRim Coal plans to (for the first time ever) actually dig up eleven miles of productive salmon stream for a giant open pit coal mine. “Don’t worry,” they say. “We’ll just put it back the way it was when we’re done.” Well, it doesn’t take a biologist to…