Alaska News Nightly: Friday, September 12, 2025

Summary

Alaska News Nightly: Friday, September 12, 2025 — Episode Summary

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Overview

This episode of Alaska News Nightly covers critical developments and community stories from across the state. Key issues include concerns over federal tribal support, record-setting rainfall trends, a landmark agriculture sale, Juneau’s growing cat population problem, the opening of a new interpretive center in Nome, and efforts to support traditional berry propagation in Southeast Alaska. Reporters bring timely updates and firsthand insights from local voices, reflecting Alaska’s diversity, resilience, and changing environment.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Possible USDA Tribal Support Cuts and Native Food Security ([00:19]–[04:32])

• USDA Reorganization Concerns

  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed consolidations could diminish tribal voices and harm Native food security programs in Alaska.
  • The First Alaskans Institute argues changes, such as shifting the Office of Tribal Relations to a lower level and relocating the Natural Resource Conservation Service, threaten essential services.

• Quotes & Notable Moments

  • “We’re calling on the USDA to honor its trust responsibility by engaging in formal government to government consultation with Alaska’s 229 federally recognized tribes. Food security for Native communities — it’s not just a policy issue. It’s really a matter of survival, cultural continuity and self-determination.”
    — Apache Roy Aglowin, First Alaskans Institute President [02:15]
  • “The change in the migratory patterns and the decline for many of the species has raised the question for a lot of our communities of how do we continue to provide protein security for our tribal members.”
    — Tsikan Galbraith, COO, First Alaskans Institute [03:44]

• USDA Response

  • The agency claims the plan is an initial step to “right size” its footprint and says critical functions will not be affected. Public comment was extended through September.

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2. Climate Trends: Persistent Wet Weather in Alaska ([04:32]–[09:42])

• Statewide Precipitation Increase

  • Alaska has seen a consistent trend toward wetter conditions, with 11 of the last 12 summers being above average.
  • Some areas (north and west of Anchorage-Fairbanks line) were much wetter, affecting river levels and flooding.

• Perceptions vs. Data

  • Although some areas like Anchorage felt rainier, data showed fewer rainy “weekend hours” than any summer in 25+ years.

• Quotes & Notable Moments

  • “If you look at the last 12 months of precipitation… we’re kind of running at a value that would have been a record in any other year. And we’ve been stuck there for a couple years now at a record value.”
    — Brian Brettschneider, NWS Climate Researcher [06:18]

• Local Impact

  • Analysis reveals weather impacts daily life, but perceptions are shaped by when rain occurs, not just totals.

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3. Major Farm Sale in Delta Junction ([11:35]–[15:22])

• Biggest Farm Sale in Alaska History

  • Farmer Mike Schultz sold 5,600 acres for $6 million to Nevada-based Alan Boyce, while retaining some land and their homes.
  • The sale indicates a possible “new era” for Alaska agriculture, with plans to expand and modernize operations.

• Local Voices

  • “It was a huge deal… They’ve had it for sale for quite a while and waiting for that right buyer to come along, and they finally found him.”
    — Scott Muggridge, Alaska Farm Bureau President [13:23]
  • “We absolutely got work to do, but I will say that the type of people that bought this farm at Schultz’s to me signal that we’re getting ready to see maybe a new era of agriculture in Alaska.”
    — Scott Muggridge [15:07]

• Factors Behind the Sale

  • The sellers’ children pursued other careers. The new owner values the unique climate and soils of the area for agriculture.

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4. Juneau’s Stray & Feral Cat Complications ([15:31]–[19:40])

• Shelter Crisis & Rapid Multiplication

  • Juneau Animal Rescue hits capacity as unaltered cats rapidly multiply due to limited access to affordable spay/neuter services.
  • Many kittens now show health issues stemming from inbreeding.

• Quotes & Notable Moments

  • “Cats can become reproductively mature as early as four to six months, and their reproductive cycle is every 90 days… things can multiply very, very quickly and get out of control very fast.”
    — Dr. Alicia Harris, Veterinarian [16:14]
  • “When people get cats for free, they don’t really… The cost comes later. And the cost is actually more than the adoption fee.”
    — Rick Driscoll, JAR Director [18:09]

• Community Solutions

  • JAR offers lower-cost surgeries and solicits donations to cover those in need.
  • Foster volunteers like Shonda Belknap help rescue, raise, and rehome cats, often paying medical costs themselves.

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5. Nome: Renewed Bering Land Bridge Heritage Center ([20:03]–[22:53])

• Community-Driven Exhibit

  • The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve opens a new, more culturally relevant and community-inclusive heritage center inside the Sitnasuak Native Corporation building.

• Cultural Preservation

  • Exhibits and labels are in both Iñupiaq and English, featuring megafauna, traditional life, and interactive language stations with local elders’ and youth voices.

• Quotes & Notable Moments

  • “It’s been 30 years that some type of exhibit or more community friendly space has been wanted for the Park Service here in Nome…”
    — Superintendent Jeanette Kolsch [20:52]
  • “Really gave us an opportunity to kind of share a much more complete story and celebrate culture and have a much more culturally relevant space.”
    — Kathleen Cullen, Education Program Manager [22:20]

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6. Berry Propagation and Indigenous Knowledge in Petersburg ([22:53]–[26:21])

• Traditional Food Security

  • Vivien Morg, a Lingít traditional food and medicine educator, leads a berry propagation class at Petersburg’s Rainforest Festival, teaching participants how and why to grow local berries.

• Societal & Ecological Value

  • Propagating berries supports elders, community food security, and nutrition.
  • “You will die without vitamin C. Scurvy exists. You need those things and you will find them in plants.”
    — Vivien Morg [24:55]

• Practical Demonstration

  • Morg’s berry propagation method ensures best germination chances.
  • “Another good reason to propagate berries is near elders’ facilities… Having them right near their facility is a really great thing to do.”
    — Vivien Morg [25:17]

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Notable Quotes (By Section)

• USDA Tribal Program Concerns

  • [02:15] Apache Roy Aglowin: “Food security for Native communities… it’s really a matter of survival, cultural continuity and self-determination.”
  • [03:44] Tsikan Galbraith: “The change in the migratory patterns and the decline for many of the species has raised the question… how do we continue to provide protein security…”

• Climate Trends

  • [06:18] Brian Brettschneider: “We’re kind of running at a value that would have been a record in any other year. And we’ve been stuck there for a couple years now…”

• Agriculture/Delta Junction

  • [13:23/15:07] Scott Muggridge: “We’re getting ready to see maybe a new era of agriculture in Alaska.”

• Juneau Cats

  • [16:14] Dr. Alicia Harris: “Cats can become reproductively mature as early as four to six months, and their reproductive cycle is every 90 days…”
  • [18:09] Rick Driscoll: “When people get cats for free, they don’t really… The cost comes later. And the cost is actually more than… the adoption fee.”

• Nome Bering Land Bridge Center

  • [20:52] Jeanette Kolsch: “It’s been 30 years that some type of exhibit or more community friendly space has been wanted for the Park Service here in Nome…”
  • [22:20] Kathleen Cullen: “Really gave us an opportunity to… celebrate culture and have a much more culturally relevant space.”

• Berry Propagation

  • [24:55] Vivien Morg: “You will die without vitamin C. Scurvy exists. You need those things and you will find them in plants.”

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Episode Structure & Timestamps

• [00:19]–[04:32] — Tribal food security & USDA controversy
• [04:32]–[09:42] — Climate trends: wet summer, shifting norms
• [11:35]–[15:22] — Delta Junction’s landmark farm sale
• [15:31]–[19:40] — Juneau’s cat overpopulation crisis
• [20:03]–[22:53] — New Bering Land Bridge Heritage Center in Nome
• [22:53]–[26:21] — Traditional berry propagation education in Petersburg

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Takeaways

This episode highlights Alaska communities’ navigation of national policy shifts, climate change, generational transitions, and cultural preservation, all while celebrating the “everyday news” that shapes life across the state. There’s a consistent thread of local expertise, adaptation, and the power of community response — illustrated especially in stories of food, land, and tradition.

Transcript

[A]

Support for Alaska Public Media on demand comes from Siri, an Alaska Native corporation with operations and investments spanning five continents, 45 states and two U.S. territories.

[B]

It's not just a policy issue. It's really a matter of survival, cultural continuity and self determination.

[A]

Advocates criticize a possible reduction in tribal support at the usda. From Alaska Public Media, this is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Friday, September 12th. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, a recent Delta Junction farm sale might be the biggest of its kind in state history.

[B]

We're getting ready to see maybe a new era of agriculture in Alaska.

[A]

Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly.

[C]

Foreign.

[A]

Hey, I'm Rick Steves. I've traveled all over the world and connected with so many fascinating people and I'm looking forward to my visit to Alaska to share the lessons from my experience. Come see me at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium on October 16th for travel as a political act. [e-mail] Events the U.S. department of Agriculture announced this summer that it plans to reorganize the agency. But one of the state's largest native advocacy organizations says the change could harm tribal food security programs. The Alaska Desk's Eliona Nydin reports.

[D]

The U.S. secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rawlins, announced in July a plan to reorganize the department, citing the need to decrease spending and bureaucracy. The that plan is not final, but the current proposal includes consolidation of tribal relations programs and personnel, according to the memorandum of the decision. But leaders of the First Alaskans Institute say that could diminish tribal voices and harm regional agriculture and food security. Last month, the statewide nonprofit submitted a comment to USDA about the plan, asking the agency to consult with tribes. Apache Roy Aglowin is the president of the First Alaskans Institute.

[B]

We're calling on the USDA to honor its trust responsibility by engaging in formal government to government consultation with the Alaska's 229 federally recognized tribes. Food security for Native communities. It's not just a policy issue. It's really a matter of survival, cultural continuity and self determination.

[D]

The USDA Office of Tribal Relations was created in 2010 after tribal farmers argued in court that the department discriminated against them. Tsikan Galbraith is the chief operating officer of First Alaskan's Institute. He says that the USDA's reorganization plan might move the Office of Tribal Relations from the higher up secretarial level of the department. He says the change could diminish tribal access to USDA programs.

[B]

It needs to be at that secretarial level to really have the influence that is required to really provide the services to the tribes.

[D]

Another USDA change that the First Alaskan Institute is concerned about is the consolidation of the Natural Resource Conservation Service program and relocating its offices from Alaska. Galbraith says the program has been helping Alaska tribes manage land and water resources and access traditional foods. Galbraith says that access to USDA programs, whether to advance tribal agriculture or reindeer herding, is especially important in light of the changing environment.

[B]

The change in the migratory patterns and the decline for many of the species has raised the question for a lot of our communities of how do we continue to provide protein security for our tribal members.

[D]

Usda did not respond to the comment the First Alaskans Institute submitted last month. However, the department did respond to a request for comment from knba, calling the proposal plan a first step to right size USDA's footprint. It added that the agency's critical functions would not be affected. Meanwhile, USDA extended the public comment period on reorganization to the end of September. The agency encouraged feedback through that process in its statement. In Anchorage, I am Alena Nyden.

[A]

If Alaskans feel wetter than usual, it's not just in their heads and it's not just the recent fall rain. As temperatures in Alaska continue to creep upward over the years, faster in the north. In this era of human caused global warming, data also show a trend of statewide precipitation increasing too. National Weather Service climate researcher Brian Brettschneider, back for another installment of Ask a Climatologist, says that's despite places like Anchorage and if you can believe it, southeast Alaska being slightly drier than normal this summer.

[C]

Well, once again, it was a pretty wet summer statewide. A majority of the state, about three quarters of the state, you know, finished wetter than normal for the summer months. And that's continuing a trend that's been going on for for quite a long time now. In fact, 11 of the last 12 summers have been wetter than normal. And you know, only 2019 was drier. But there really has been a shift in the last decade a little bit longer toward wetter over the course of the year. Not just the summer, but certainly the summers have been noticeably wetter than they were in prior decades.

[A]

And I mean, you're a climatologist. Are you ready to say that that's the new normal, that we're just going to see more precipitation in Alaska in the summer?

[C]

Well, you know, we there is a long term trend. So over many decades of increasing precipitation, it can be tempting to say, hey, this is a new normal based on Just the last couple of years. But we really want to see a longer period before we say there really has been a regime shift because, you know, we've been, we've been kind of tricked before. When something happens for a couple years in a row, we think that's, that's the new situation and then it flips back. So it's hard to say where that's going to go. But if you look at say, the last 12 months of precipitation, a 12 month running average for several years in a row, we're, we're kind of running at a value that would, would have been a record in any other year. And, and we've been stuck there for a couple years now at a record value, essentially. So, so it's very unusual. Not ready to call it the new normal yet, though.

[A]

Gotcha. Now, I mean, you mentioned different parts of the state. Things were different. Juneau was actually a little bit drier than average. But there are parts of the state that saw a lot of precipitation this summer. Tell me about that.

[C]

I mean, if you draw a line, say from Anchorage to Fairbanks, most places south and east of that line were at or slightly drier than normal, but pretty much every place north and west of that line.

[B]

So.

[C]

Bethel, McGrath, Bettles, Nome, Kotzebue, most every location was between wetter to much wetter than normal and in some cases by large amounts. Now, of course, we're in the fall now, but we're seeing a lot of rivers that have flooded and a large contribution of that is the rainfall that fell over many weeks during the summer. So even modest amounts of rain now falling on a basin that already has a lot of water in it keeps that flooding going.

[A]

So, you know, sometimes we have these conversations, you know, people's perceptions of the weather come up versus what the actual data says. And I think we had talked about people complaining, I think here in Anchorage thinking that it was a rainier than usual summer and the data didn't really bear that out. Then you did an analysis of the weekends and whether or not it was rainier on the weekends. And remind me, what did you find last year and then what, what happened this year?

[C]

Well, it was two summers in a row there was approximately the same amount of rain in Anchorage. But one summer everyone was constantly complaining about how wet it was, and the next they weren't. And I theorized that the summer that everyone was complaining about how rainy it was, that rain fell mostly on the weekends or over or predominantly on the weekends, whereas last year, not so much. And I finally did crunch some numbers this year now that we're through the end of the summer for here in Anchorage. And if you say, well, how often was it raining, not how many days, but during the day when people are out doing stuff. So say from 8am to 8pm on just the weekends. And we actually had the fewest number of rainy hours, rainy weekend hours of any summer in at least 25 years where we have good hourly data by a large margin, actually. So even though in Anchorage the highest temperature, the Entire summer was 72, so certainly not a a summer filled with really warm days. There was very little rainfall when people were out and about. So my interpretation, what I've been hearing from people was yeah, it was a pretty good summer, even though again, by temperature standards it was pretty underwhelming.

[A]

That was National Weather Service climate researcher Brian Brettschneider, the climatologist in our Ask a Climatologist segments. Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, Juneau has a growing problem with abandoned and stray cats.

[B]

When people get cats for free, they don't really the cost comes later.

[A]

That's ahead. Stay with us.

[E]

Consider a gift of stock to Alaska Public Media.

[D]

You may avoid paying capital gains tax and receive a deduction. Learn [e-mail] stock or contact your financial advisor.

[A]

A man shot by Sandpoint police last week was arrested in Anchorage on Wednesday before an initial court appearance Thursday. According to court documents, 42 year old Sandpoint resident Duke Ogata faces felony drug and assault charges. Prosecutors say Ogata was captain of the Lady Joanne, a fishing vessel Alaska state troopers seized as part of a broader drug investigation. Police say they found heroin and meth on board the 58 foot fishing vessel with a street value of nearly $1 million. Ogata allegedly boarded the vessel on September 1st and threatened Sandpoint's police chief with a hatchet. According to the charging documents, the chief fired once, wounding Ogata. The shooting happened at the city's small boat harbor, where roughly 80 people, including many children, were participating in the community's Silver Salmon Derby over Labor Day weekend. Ogata was medevaced to Anchorage, where he is now. Jail A Delta Junction area farmer has sold nearly 5,600 acres to a Nevada based entrepreneur for about $6 million. The State Farm Bureau president says he believes it's the biggest farm sale in Alaska history. KUAC's Tim Ellis reports.

[F]

Some might think a guy who just made 6 million bucks on a land sale would be celebrating his windfall on a cruise ship somewhere off the Bahamas. But last week Mike Schultz was doing what he usually does this time of year.

[G]

We're harvesting barley today. We've got about 15 or 1600 acres of barley planted this year on this farm, and we're about a third of the way through that harvest.

[F]

Schultz was hustling to get it done because recent rains had delayed this year's harvest on the farm, located about 25 miles south of Delta Junction.

[G]

Whenever the weather's good, you better be running. Better have your equipment ready and be going.

[F]

He should know. He's been working the farm for more than 40 years and still is. For now. The deal closed in July, but Schultz and his brother Scott, who's also his business partner, offered to help the new owner, Nevada based farmer Alan Boyce, harvest the crop.

[G]

We told them we'd be around to help them this fall if they want us to. We aren't going very far. We aren't going anywhere. Alaska will still continue to be our residence.

[F]

The Schultz Brothers sold 5,600 acres along with the barley growing on it and some assets that include farm equipment and buildings. But they kept their houses and a few thousand acres because Mike says they're not yet ready to fully retire.

[G]

Well, I'm 75 years old and my brother's 68, so probably won't retire from working and being busy. But yes, it's time to maybe do some other things.

[F]

The deal marks an important milestone in the history of Alaska agriculture, says Scott Muggridge. He's a Delta Junction area farmer and president of the Alaska Farm Bureau. And he says the deal between Shultz and Boyce is the biggest farm sale in the state's history.

[B]

It was a huge deal and I congratulate Schultz's. They've had it for sale for quite a while and waiting for that right buyer to come along, and they finally found him.

[F]

Boyce said in an interview Thursday that he decided to buy the Schulz property after visiting in April. He studied the area's climate, soils, location, even its geology, all of which convinced him that its 145 day growing season would enable him to farm profitably.

[B]

Pretty dry 50 page reports, but you get a good idea how the geology forms on the north slope of the Alaska Range, and you've got this kind of perfect spot for agriculture.

[F]

Back at the farm, Clayton Griffith was hard at work last week in that perfect spot. He's the new farm manager and he took a break from the harvest to marvel at the crop and the scenery.

[B]

We have a passion for building, agriculture and unique places. Nice fields, fertile soil, I mean, what a beautiful place and one of the best farm settings in the world, really.

[F]

The sale didn't come as a complete surprise. Schultz said he and his wife, Sandy, and brother for years been talking about selling a big chunk of the farm. He said they decided to go ahead with the sale after their adult children declined to take over the operation and instead pursued careers in Fairbanks and the Seattle area.

[G]

Some of the young people, they have other ideas, other careers they want to pursue, which is just fine, you know, if they're going to be successful doing something else, why more power to them?

[F]

Muggeridge, the Farm Bureau president, says he's optimistic that Boyce will boost the farm's production, expand the operation and improve Alaska's ability to feed the people who live here.

[B]

We absolutely got work to do, but I will say that the type of people that bought this farm at Schultz's to me signal that we're getting ready to see maybe a new era of agriculture in Alaska.

[F]

Boyce and his crew will begin work on that new era when they begin planting next spring. In Delta Junction. I'm Tim Ellis.

[A]

Juneau has a problem, a cat problem. Indoor, outdoor stray and feral. And the ones who aren't spayed or neutered are multiplying at an alarming rate. KTOO's Yvonne Crumry spoke with the folks who are trying to help.

[H]

At Juneau Animal Rescue. Cats cry out from kennels at the sound of kibble in a bowl. There are currently about 100 cats within JAR's system in foster care and at the shelter itself. They hit capacity yearly, and they're fundraising for a new building. But the number of unaltered cats in Juneau is growing faster and faster, and the shelter is struggling to keep up. Veterinarian Alicia Harris says it's hard to know how many cats there are exactly in Juneau, but she says they multiply fast.

[I]

Cats can become reproductively mature as early as four to six months, and their reproductive cycle is every 90 days. And average litter sizes are five to six kittens. So if you do the math there, things can multiply very, very quickly and get out of control very fast.

[H]

Two unaltered cats can turn into hundreds in just a handful of years. Harris has worked at Juneau Animal Rescue for close to a decade, and it.

[I]

Has absolutely evolved and changed since I started hearing, gotten worse, especially with birth defects and things like that because of the inbreeding, because cats don't understand, she said.

[H]

The litters of kittens that people find and bring in have increasing health Problems. Andy Nelson with JAR says the majority of kittens are coming from indoor cats whose populations got out of control in someone's home.

[B]

It's the ones that are indoors that I think are maybe more confined to smaller spaces where it just. They're just there breeding and repeatedly breeding inside.

[H]

He says he knows there are more in the community reproducing, but it's impossible to know exactly how many. And spaying and neutering can be expensive. JAR has cheaper prices for low income pet owners, but Nelson says people can call the rescue to see if donations can cover their cat surgery.

[B]

I would just say that if people find themselves in this situation or try to avoid the situation, but money becomes an obstacle to reach out, we can always do our best to work with people.

[H]

Nelson says he believes a lot of these kittens are the descendants of cats people took in during the pandemic from litter sold or given away on Craigslist or Facebook. Those cats usually aren't fixed before they're given to their new home. And Juno had a vet shortage during the pandemic that may have prevented people from spaying and neutering cats before they started reproducing. Nelson says anyone who's overwhelmed by cats in their home should reach out. JAR director Rick Driscoll says if anyone wants a new cat, they should consider adopting from the shelter instead of buying off the Internet.

[B]

When you come to JAR and you adopt a cat, you're getting a cat that's been spayed or neutered, that's got its vaccinations, that's got a microchip, and there's a fee associated with that. But when people get cats for free, they don't really. It's. The cost comes later. And the cost is actually more than, than the, the adoption fee.

[H]

And Nelson said part of that cost is the animal's health.

[B]

A lot of these come in and they're, they've been suffering and so they're not in good shape.

[H]

But there are community members who are stepping in to help, like Shonda Belknap, who fosters litters of kittens and even pulls litters out from under porches. In a room in her house dedicated to foster kittens, she holds up a pale, very furry cat with crossed eyes.

[I]

His name is Finnegan B. Wattles. He came to me very, very ill. We discovered through vet appointments that he has congenital hypothyroidism, which is very rare. But he is actually almost ready for fostering. I mean, for adoption.

[H]

Finnegan is inbred. He's only a few weeks old, but he'll require daily medication for the rest of his life. Belknap says fostering brings her a lot of joy.

[I]

You cannot be stressed in a room with foster kids. They won't let you. Like, they look at you like you're the only thing that exists for them. So they need you to be present in that moment, she says.

[H]

When she sees posts on social media of Juno families whose cats are unaltered and reproducing, she offers help.

[I]

And I have reached out several times to people I've seen online, like, oh my gosh, I have 12 cats. And I'm like, let's get mom fixed. Let's focus on Mom.

[H]

Belknap takes in litters that are surrendered or found, takes care of them until they're able to get spayed or neutered and vaccinated, and often pays for those procedures herself before finding them homes in the community. She says she wants to see the population under control so existing cats can get the love and care they need and so those cats can love or care for the people who take them in. In Juneau, I'm Yvonne Cromery.

[A]

The National Park Service has shared the story of Beringia in Nome for more than 40 years. Now the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve has renovated its center to be a dedicated space to showcase the region's history exhibits. Ko M's Wali Rana was at the unveiling and has this story.

[J]

Grey skies didn't stop more than 40 people from joining the ribbon cutting ceremony in Nome last weekend. Attendees cheered before making their way inside their renovated space called the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Heritage Center. Beringia was a land bridge that connected Asia and North America during the last ice age, more than 2 million years ago, when the landmass was once a booming ecosystem. A mural at the new center shows Beringia as it was thousands of years ago, filled with horses, birds and plants. Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Superintendent Jeanette Kolsch says it tells the story of the region across time.

[I]

It's been 30 years that some type of exhibit or more community friendly space has been wanted for the Park Service here in Nome as well as, you know, welcoming to our partners in our communities of shishmaref whales Endearing.

[J]

The preserve is a local unit of the National Park Service and one of 21 national preserves in the country. Kolsh says the history of the region dwarfs the age of the preserve. She says that long history is best shared through exhibits. The Park Services at different locations to share that history over the years, including Nome's post Office. In the 90s, Nome based Sidnesauk Native Corporation joined the Park Service as a key partner in developing the new center. And the heritage center is now inside Sidnesauk's Nome headquarters. The center was also shaped by a tribal work group from the three communities around the preserve and closest to Nome. Kathleen Cullen is the preserve's interpretation and education program manager.

[I]

I think we're always hoping to have a space that tells a more complete story of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve cultures of the region.

[J]

The exhibit highlights megafauna and plant life in the region over time and also diverse cultures of the people who call it home. Labels for the exhibits are written first in Nupiag, then in English and food ties many of the stories together. Also on display are interactive Nupiac language stations with voices from two elders and two youth.

[I]

Really gave us an opportunity to kind of share a much more complete story and celebrate culture and have a much more culturally relevant space.

[J]

The exhibit centers around a fish rack with hanging salmon replicas. The center came about with support from various partners including Native corporations, nonprofits and residents throughout the region. The Heritage center is now open inside Sidnesauk's headquarters. Park staff say they hope it will be a space where the past and present of Beringia comes together through community voices in Nome. I'm Wally Rano.

[A]

Across the state, many Alaskans are united by their love of berries. At Petersburg's recent Rainforest Festival, a traditional food and medicine educator taught attendees how to propagate local berries in their own community. KFSK's Taylor Heckert has more.

[E]

Vivien Morg is pouring red huckleberries and water into a blender. They were picked in Petersburg just a few weeks ago. Morg isn't making a smoothie, though. Actually she's trying to avoid making one now.

[I]

You don't want to turn it full on when you do it. What we're doing right now is just a gentle pulse because you're just wanting to separate the flesh from from the seeds.

[E]

Mork's teaching a class on berry propagation, which is a way of growing new berries from ones you've already picked. Mork is a traditional food and medicine educator and she's been teaching for a little over 20 years. She's Linkit from a large multicultural family. Her class is a part of the Rainforest Festival, a multi day event in Petersburg celebrating the surrounding rainforest. The festival returned this year after a few years without the annual celebration. As Morg pulses the blender, bits of berry and seeds swirl around in the water.

[I]

What happens when you do this is the pulp is predominantly going to float and bad seeds float right, and so the good seeds are going to sink to the bottom.

[E]

She pours out some of the floating berry chunks and seeds into another cup. The good seeds stay on the bottom of the blender. Then she adds more water and keeps pulsing the blender. She does that until only seeds remain. Those are the seeds she'll plant. By doing this process, Mork says, she's dramatically increasing the odds that the seeds will grow later. Mork says that berries are an important part of Lingit diets. She says people historically propagated berries around their villages. She says that due to a history of colonization in Alaska, foods like moose, deer and salmon often get a lot of attention because they were useful resources to extract. But berry picking is just as important.

[I]

And then people are like, oh, berries, you're a berry picker. You will die without vitamin C. Scurvy exists. You need those things and you will find them in plants.

[E]

There are a lot of reasons to propagate berries beyond subsistence. Maybe you want them in your yard. Maybe you want to strengthen your local berry picking spot. Mork says she often helps communities propagate berries alongside trails.

[I]

Another good reason to propagate berries is near elders facilities. There's a lot of elders that can't get out and about, especially Alaskan elders. They still want to pick berries and it is harder to get out the road or if they can't drive anymore. And having them right near their facility is a really great thing to do.

[E]

Not to mention, science says that Alaskan berries are pretty nutritious. Research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks shows that many Alaskan berries have very high amounts of antioxidants. Morg wets some dirt in a bag and adds seeds. She passes out supplies to the group to prepare their own bags.

[I]

Here's your Ziploc bags and get your dirt in there.

[E]

After this, participants will throw their completed bags in the fridge until spring when it's time to plant. Then hopefully there'll be even more berries to pick next fall. In Petersburg, I'm Taylor Heckert.

[A]

And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. If you missed any of tonight's stories, we're [e-mail] and wherever you get your podcasts. We had reports tonight from Alyona Knighton in Anchorage, Theo Greenlee in Unalaska, Tim Ellis in Delta Junction. Yvonne Crumbri in Juneau, Wally Rana in Nome and Taylor Heckert in Petersburg. Our audio engineers, Chris Hyde. Madeline Rose as our producer. And I'm Casey Grove. Have a great week. Weekend. This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.