environment

Larry Zarella, left, and Danielle Aslanian of Denali Cooks performs at the 2022 Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park on Friday, June 10, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

River Fest returns

The festival, which runs through Sunday, features live music, food booths, a wine and beer garden, a “Kids Zone” and the “Run for the River” race event

Larry Zarella, left, and Danielle Aslanian of Denali Cooks performs at the 2022 Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park on Friday, June 10, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A sign describing bluff erosion is seen on Kenai North Beach in Kenai, Alaska, on Aug. 6, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai, borough look to extract rock for bluff stabilization

In moving hard rock out of Seldovia, the borough could kill a few birds with one stone

A sign describing bluff erosion is seen on Kenai North Beach in Kenai, Alaska, on Aug. 6, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
A spruce bark beetle rests on the photographer’s thumb on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Cantwell, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A spruce bark beetle rests on the photographer’s thumb on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Cantwell, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Landslide debris surrounds part of Lowell Point Road on Friday, June 3, 2022, in Seward, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Work on Lowell Point landslide to end Friday

The announcement comes more than a month after a slide wiped out Lowell Point Road

Landslide debris surrounds part of Lowell Point Road on Friday, June 3, 2022, in Seward, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Emergency harvest of beetle-killed spruce trees approved

The move comes amid an infestation that has spread across Southcentral Alaska

A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A landslide blocks Lowell Point Road in Seward, Alaska, on Sunday, May 8, 2022. (Photo courtesy City of Seward)

Lowell Point Road to reopen Friday

Intermittent blasting work will continue next week

A landslide blocks Lowell Point Road in Seward, Alaska, on Sunday, May 8, 2022. (Photo courtesy City of Seward)
Vehicles are unleaded at the Seward Harbor after being moved from Lowell Point on Sunday, May 22, 2022 in Seward, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management)

Lowell Point barge services move 110-plus cars to Seward

The services were covered by the Kenai Peninsula Borough and ended Monday

Vehicles are unleaded at the Seward Harbor after being moved from Lowell Point on Sunday, May 22, 2022 in Seward, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management)
A sign along a trail to Exit Glacier marks the spot to where the toe of the glacier reached in 2010, photographed on June 22, 2018. The glacier has receded so much the National Park Service is reconceiving its plan management. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

As Exit Glacier recedes, park seeks new management plan

The glacier has retreated by about 2,300 feet in the last 13 years

A sign along a trail to Exit Glacier marks the spot to where the toe of the glacier reached in 2010, photographed on June 22, 2018. The glacier has receded so much the National Park Service is reconceiving its plan management. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Volunteers at the Alaska SeaLife Center feed a milk and electrolyte mix to a beluga calf, rescued on Sept. 30, 2017, after being stranded in Trading Bay, on Friday, Oct. 6 in Seward, Alaska. The calf, dubbed Tyonek, and a second stranded beluga sent to the Alaska SeaLife Center were featured in a study published last month in the scientific journal Polar Research. (Courtesy photo)

A tale of 2 cetaceans

Study analyzes outcomes for stranded beluga calves rehabilitated at SeaLife Center.

Volunteers at the Alaska SeaLife Center feed a milk and electrolyte mix to a beluga calf, rescued on Sept. 30, 2017, after being stranded in Trading Bay, on Friday, Oct. 6 in Seward, Alaska. The calf, dubbed Tyonek, and a second stranded beluga sent to the Alaska SeaLife Center were featured in a study published last month in the scientific journal Polar Research. (Courtesy photo)
Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion 
Homer Electric Association Director of Strategic Services David Thomas testifies during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Oct. 12 in Soldotna.

Changing tides

Peninsula turns attention to renewable energy sources

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion 
Homer Electric Association Director of Strategic Services David Thomas testifies during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Oct. 12 in Soldotna.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, seen here at a Aug. 16, news conference, announced Thursday he was filing suit against the Biden administration for an Environmental Protection Agency decision to potentially protect Bristol Bay waters under the Clean Water Act. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Gov criticizes Biden admin over Bristol Bay review

The EPA is seeking to reinitiate the process of making a Clean Water Act determination to protect certain waters in Bristol Bay.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, seen here at a Aug. 16, news conference, announced Thursday he was filing suit against the Biden administration for an Environmental Protection Agency decision to potentially protect Bristol Bay waters under the Clean Water Act. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File
Coeur Alaska will likely be able to expand their facilities at the Kensington Gold Mine including the tailing treatment facility, seen in this October 2019 photo, after the U.S. Forest Service announced it intends to approve the company’s proposal to extend the mine’s life by 10 years. Operations were expected to end in 2023 under a plan approved in 2005.
Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File
Coeur Alaska will likely be able to expand their facilities at the Kensington Gold Mine including the tailing treatment facility, seen in this October 2019 photo, after the U.S. Forest Service announced it intends to approve the company’s proposal to extend the mine’s life by 10 years. Operations were expected to end in 2023 under a plan approved in 2005.
In this July 13, 2007, file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)
In this July 13, 2007, file photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)
Rule recommendation met with both praise and distrust
Rule recommendation met with both praise and distrust
Courtesy Photo | Environmental Protection Agency                                This Toxic Release Inventory map included in the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual TRI analysis shows facilities throughout the state that reported the release of toxic chemicals to the EPA. Releases include permitted releases and movement of waste rock.
Courtesy Photo | Environmental Protection Agency                                This Toxic Release Inventory map included in the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual TRI analysis shows facilities throughout the state that reported the release of toxic chemicals to the EPA. Releases include permitted releases and movement of waste rock.
Dead yellow cedar could be a viable timber product, study says
Dead yellow cedar could be a viable timber product, study says
Even snowmen need umbrellas to survive on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
Even snowmen need umbrellas to survive on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
This map shows the varying levels of drought in Southeast Alaska, as of the week of June 6, 2019.The red portion of the map indicates extreme drought, dark orange indicates severe drought, light orange indicates moderate drought and yellow indicates abnormally dry conditions. (Courtesy Photo | U.S. Drought Monitor)

Southeast experiencing rare drought

The entirety of Southeast Alaska is in some state of drought.

This map shows the varying levels of drought in Southeast Alaska, as of the week of June 6, 2019.The red portion of the map indicates extreme drought, dark orange indicates severe drought, light orange indicates moderate drought and yellow indicates abnormally dry conditions. (Courtesy Photo | U.S. Drought Monitor)
In this Nov. 29, 2018 photo, clouds swirl over Douglas Island. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
In this Nov. 29, 2018 photo, clouds swirl over Douglas Island. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
Moss covers old growth trees along Auke Lake on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
Moss covers old growth trees along Auke Lake on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)