Alaska News Nightly: Thursday, March 26, 2026

Summary

Alaska News Nightly: March 26, 2026

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Episode Overview

This edition of Alaska News Nightly, hosted by Casey Grove, delivers a broad array of statewide news. Major topics include the push for a new tax regime to facilitate the Alaska LNG project, federal scrutiny over Trump administration mining investments, community resilience during natural disasters, local efforts to address wildlife challenges, and the growth of rural ski programs. The episode spotlights voices from policymakers, local officials, scientists, community members, and reporters across Alaska.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

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1. Alaska LNG Project Tax Proposal

[01:28 – 03:25]

• Background: Developers of the Alaska LNG project are urging lawmakers to adopt a tax bill proposed by Governor Mike Dunleavy. The bill would shift from a property tax to a pipeline throughput-based tax.
• The Alaska Gas Line Development Corporation and Glenn Farns argue that the current property tax (2% annual tax on project value) is a "major barrier" and much higher than in other markets.
• Intended Impact: Lower gas costs for Alaskans and improved feasibility for LNG exports. Chief economist Dan Stickel (Department of Revenue) estimated a 9% reduction in gas costs but warned of decreased state and local revenues.
• Lawmakers' Stance: While developers say property tax relief is critical, a Glenn Farn spokesperson did not make it an absolute demand.
• Governor's View: Emphasized the necessity of approval for any benefit.
  • Quote: "0 times 20 mils is what? 0. You don't get anything if there's no project, there's nothing." – Governor Mike Dunleavy [03:17]

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2. Federal Investment Scrutiny: Ambler Mining & Critical Minerals

[03:25 – 07:58]

• Focus: Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) questions the Trump administration’s $35 million investment in Trilogy Metals, the company aiming to develop the Ambler Mining District.
• Share price tripled post-announcement, benefiting insider investors.
• Key Concern: Hedge fund manager John Paulson, a Trump fundraiser, saw share value rise by $70 million, with suspicions of conflicts of interest.
  • Quote: "The corruption, it's the same, same template, cut and paste, you know, add in your favorite Trump family member or friend… you get the same pattern." – Jared Huffman [04:21]
• Transparency Calls:
  • Quote: "We need transparency, and that's what's really lacking in many of these deals." – Faith Williams, Project on Government Oversight [05:51]
• Broader Issue: Congressional hearings focused on whether these investments serve the public good — mainly to secure critical minerals for U.S. industries.
• Committee Tension:
  • Democrats attempted to subpoena Donald Trump Jr.; Republicans led by Paul Gosar blocked the motion, sparking heated debate.
    • Quote: "What are you afraid of? Taking this extraordinary move to shut down debate and prevent a vote on this motion…?" – Jared Huffman [07:28]

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3. Juneau's Record Snowfall and Glacial Outburst Floods

[08:44 – 11:44]

• Question: Will Juneau’s record 200-inch snowfall impact the expected glacial outburst flood from Suicide Basin?
• Expert Consensus: No significant effect. Hydrologists Erin Jacobs and Aaron Hood said the snowpack is near average due to mid-winter melt; summer rainfall and basin volume are much bigger factors.
  • Quote: "The amount of water that's in the snowpack is about near normal. Nothing very extraordinary, not very high." – Erin Jacobs [09:38]
  • Quote: [On flood timing] "Maybe instead of early August, we could fill it by, say, the third week of July. Would that influence how big the flood was? No." – Aaron Hood [10:54]
  • Key uncertainties remain around basin volume, to be checked by drone surveys in spring.

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4. Community Response to Ketchikan's 2025 Rockslide

[12:26 – 16:19]

• Incident: A major rockslide cut off Ketchikan’s only highway for nearly a week—no injuries, but significant disruption.
• Community Response:
  • Local boat operators, including Jeff Carlson of Lighthouse Excursions, organized commuter transport.
  • Emergency responders readied for overnighting children and patient medical evacuations.
• Community Resilience:
  • Quote: "It did not stop Ketchikan from the daily activities… it didn’t slow down the beats of what makes Ketchikan." – Emma Bullock, Alaska Marine [15:33]
  • Carlson said the crisis provided a rare opportunity to serve locals: "It was seeing a familiar face on every run, if not the whole boat being familiar… and that was quite fun." [16:02]
• Mitigation: Ongoing site monitoring and new rockfall prevention measures are in place.

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5. Ketchikan’s Bid for Musk’s Boring Company Tunnel

[16:36 – 18:11]

• Proposal: Ketchikan reached the top-16 in the Boring Company's Tunnel Vision Challenge, aiming to build a tunnel to Gravina Island (airport location).
• Rationale: Address aging ferry fleet, economic development, and housing concerns.
  • Quote: "We just need to start thinking big, looking for ways that we can address known problems while at the same time growing the economy." – Rodney Dial, Borough Assembly [17:15]
• Result: Not selected for the final round, but Dial remains optimistic about future collaboration.

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6. Moose-Human Encounters in Bethel Amid Deep Snow

[18:47 – 22:31]

• Situation: Prolonged cold and deep snow in Western Alaska force nutritionally stressed moose into communities, resulting in public safety concerns and killings of three moose in Bethel.
• Causes: Roadways and yards offer easier travel and browsing. Bethel’s moose population grew from <100 to ~5,000 since a 2004 hunting moratorium.
  • Quote: "The moose was obviously nutritionally stressed... it was using our roads and our pathways… for easy access to browse in people's yards." – Patrick Jones, AK Dept. of Fish & Game [19:32]
• Advice: Residents should cut back willows and build fences to reduce attractants; patience and non-confrontation are key when encountering moose.
  • Quote: "Following behind a moose only elevates the situation… step to the side and give moose time to move off at their own pace." – Patrick Jones [22:31]

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7. Rural Alaska Ski Program Trains Local Coaches

[22:51 – 26:41]

• Program Spotlight: Skiku, a nonprofit, is training rural residents as ski coaches for sustained impact.
• Feature Story: Justin River Lecton, once a youth in Antioch, is now a local coach in Holy Cross after shadowing Skiku teams.
  • Quote: "It brought me outdoors, it took me… outside to the nature and I was just enjoying it so much." – Justin Lecton [23:23]
• Sustainability Goal: Instead of ski equipment lying unused, local coaches can keep kids engaged all season.
  • Quote: "We can kind of have that person mentor those folks out there and… hope to make something a little more sustainable too. That's really more community driven." – Tyler Hannigan, Skiku [24:44]
• Family Reaction:
  • Quote: "Get the kids excited about being out and about going down hills. I can never see myself going down." – Sonta Hamilton Roach [25:29]
• Broader Reach: Over 20 villages were visited this year, and the program aims to train more local coaches.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “0 times 20 mils is what? 0. You don't get anything if there's no project, there's nothing.”
  — Governor Mike Dunleavy on LNG project tax incentives [03:17]

• “The corruption, it's the same, same template, cut and paste... and you get the same pattern.”
  — Rep. Jared Huffman (CA) on Trump-era mining investments [04:21]

• “We need transparency, and that's what's really lacking in many of these deals.”
  — Faith Williams, Project on Government Oversight [05:51]

• "It did not stop Ketchikan from the daily activities... it didn’t slow down the beats of what makes Ketchikan."
  — Emma Bullock, Alaska Marine [15:33]

• "Following behind a moose only elevates the situation… step to the side and give moose time to move off at their own pace."
  — Patrick Jones, AK Dept. of Fish & Game [22:31]

• “We can kind of have that person mentor those folks out there and… hope to make something a little more sustainable too. That's really more community driven.”
  — Tyler Hannigan, Skiku [24:44]

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Timestamps & Segment Guide

• LNG Project Tax Proposal: [01:28 – 03:25]
• Ambler Mining Investment Hearings: [03:25 – 07:58]
• Juneau Snowfall & Glacial Floods: [08:44 – 11:44]
• Ketchikan Rockslide Community Response: [12:26 – 16:19]
• Tunnel Vision Challenge: [16:36 – 18:11]
• Moose in Bethel: [18:47 – 22:31]
• Skiku Ski Program: [22:51 – 26:41]

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Summary

This episode of Alaska News Nightly provides a sweeping look at major economic, environmental, and community stories across the state. From legislative debates in Juneau to community innovations in rural villages, listeners hear the challenges and resilience that define Alaska’s news landscape. The episode balances state government, local concerns, scientific perspectives, and human stories, echoing the state’s diversity and complexity.

Transcript

[Casey Grove]

Support for Alaska Public Media on Demand comes from PeopleMover Help update the public transit service plan. Visit transitonthemove.com to take the latest public survey by April 26th. This alternative tax proposal is a key element in doing that. Developers of the Alaska LNG project push for a tax bill favored by Governor Dunleavy from Alaska Public Media. This is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Thursday, March 26th. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, the Trump administration's Ambler Mining District investment draws scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

[Shelby Herbert]

The appearance of conflicts of interest, possible corruption. We need transparency and that's what's really lacking in many of these deals.

[Casey Grove]

Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly.

[Shelby Herbert]

I'm Shelby Herbert, a reporter with the Alaska Desk. That's a joint reporting effort from Alaska Public Media and kuac, where I work in Fairbanks and other public radio stations in Anchorage Haines and the Allusions. It allows us to connect to the issues happening in communities all across the state. You can hear our stories during the Morning News Alaska News Nightly or [e-mail] the Alaska Desk is only possible with the support of grants and listeners like you. Thank you.

[Casey Grove]

Developers of the Alaska LNG project are pressing lawmakers to pass a tax bill proposed by Governor Mike Dunleavy last week. The Alaska Gas Line Development Corporation and its private sector partner Glenn Farn told lawmakers Wednesday Dunleavy's proposal to replace property taxes with a tax based on pipeline throughput is an essential step to moving the pipeline forward. Glenn Farns Alaska head Adam Prestage told lawmakers the tax proposal would drive down the cost of gas both for in state consumers and the liquefied natural gas export market. This alternative tax proposal is a key element in doing that. Anytime you have a major cost associated with a project, that cost is ultimately borne by those who pay for the gas. The state's current property tax on oil and gas infrastructure is equivalent to an annual tax of 2% on the project's value. But Prestage and other advocates for the gas line say that's an order of magnitude higher than the tax similar projects pay in other markets. The state Department of Revenue's chief economist, Dan Stickle, projects the tax change would reduce the cost of gas by 9%. Stickell says it would also cut state and local revenue from the gas pipeline. But Stickel offered a key caveat. The developer and the Alaska Gas Line Development Corporation have stated that the project will not go forward without property tax relief. Glenn Farden, however, does not appear ready for quite that hard a sell. A spokesperson for the company would not confirm that property tax relief is make or break for the project as a whole, but the spokesperson pointed to numerous analyses presented to the legislature that had identified the 20mil property tax as a major barrier to a gas pipeline. Governor Mike Dunleavy, in an interview with KDLL in Kenai on Friday, put it

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

more 0 times 20 mils is what? 0. You don't get anything if there's no project, there's nothing.

[Casey Grove]

The bill needs a majority vote in the House and Senate, and the consent of the governor to become. A US House Democrat is calling out the Trump administration's deal to buy a stake in Trilogy Medals, the company trying to develop Alaska's Ambler Mining District. Congressman Jared Huffman of California says it's part of a suspicious pattern. Alaska Public Media Washington correspondent Liz Ruskin reports.

[Liz Ruskin]

Trilogy Metals share price shot up in early October when the White House announced the federal government would spend $35 million to own a 10% share of the company. Huffman, the top democr on the House Natural Resources Committee, sees a repeating theme. When the Trump administration invests government money in a private firm, someone benefits well.

[Casey Grove]

The corruption, it's the same, same template, cut and paste, you know, add in your favorite Trump family member or friend of the inner circle of the Trump family and you get the same pattern.

[Liz Ruskin]

At a Natural Resources oversight hearing Wednesday, Huffman said the Trilogy deal was a windfall for one particular invest, and records

[Casey Grove]

indicate that a senior White House economic adviser who held a significant equity position in the company saw the value of his shares increase by about $70 million before he ultimately divested.

[Liz Ruskin]

Huffman was referring to hedge fund manager John Paulson, a big fundraiser for President Trump after Trump won reelection. Paulson said he planned to work informally with Trump's economic team. Federal documents show Paulson's firm owned shares of trilogy metals worth $30 million in late September. Paulson sold them sometime between October and December. The exact date isn't listed, but the Trump administration announced its investment decision October 6th. The stock price tripled the next day. Neither Paulson's company nor Trilogy responded to reporter inquiries. Huffman says it's a bad look when an administration insider appears to profit big from a government investment hearing. Witness Faith Williams of the Project on Government Oversight said so, too, in order

[Shelby Herbert]

to make determinations about conflicts of interest, the appearance of conflicts of interest, possible corruption, we need transparency, and that's what's really lacking in many of these deals.

[Liz Ruskin]

The Trilogy investment was a minor point at the hearing Committee Democrats spent far more time on Vulcan Elements, a startup magnet company that the government bought an ownership stake in after it won the backing of Donald Trump Jr. S venture capital firm. Hearing witnesses called by committee Republicans described the public benefits of the government's equity purchases. They say it's vital that the US Build domestic supply chains for critical minerals and remove China's leverage over American production of cars, planes and weapons. Gracelyn Baskerin, a mining expert at the center for Strategic and International Studies, testified that historically the US has taken action to get minerals it needs. We financed nickel mines in Latin America when private markets didn't function.

[Shelby Herbert]

We established price floors for uranium in the 1940s that actually became the bedrock to America becoming a nuclear energy power. We traded surplus dairy products to Jamaica

[Liz Ruskin]

to get bauxite back in the 1960s. We have done bold and creative things when the political will existed.

[Casey Grove]

And Mr. Chairman, my parliamentary inquiry is what are you afraid of?

[Liz Ruskin]

Sparks flew at the hearing after Democrats moved to force Trump Jr. To testify. Republicans, led by Chairman Paul Gosar of Arizona tabled the motion over Huffman's objection.

[Casey Grove]

What are you afraid of? Taking this extraordinary move to shut down debate and prevent a vote on this motion that is so squarely within the purpose of this committee.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

All those in favor of tabling Alaska

[Liz Ruskin]

Congressman Nick Begich declined an interview request to discuss the trilogy deal. He attended the end of the hearing in time to vote to table the subpoena motion and to adjourn. Reporting from the Capitol, I'm Liz Ruskin.

[Casey Grove]

Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, a statewide ski nonprofit trains up local coaches to keep kids gliding.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

We can kind of have that person mentor these folks out there and really kind of hope to make something a little more sustainable, too. That's really more community driven.

[Casey Grove]

That's ahead. Stay with us.

[Shelby Herbert]

I'm Shelby Herbert, a reporter with the Alaska Desk. That's a joint reporting effort from Alaska Public Media and kuac, where I work in Fairbanks, and other public radio stations in Anchorage, Haines and the illusions it allows us to connect to the issues happening in communities all across the state. You can hear our stories during the Morning News Alaska News Nightly or [e-mail] the Alaska Desk is only possible with the support of grants and listeners like you. Thank you.

[Casey Grove]

Since Juneau broke its official winter snowfall record at the airport on Monday, many people have asked, will the melting snowpack influence the next glacial outburst flood expected in the Mendenhall valley this summer? KTOO's Alex Solomon talked to the scientists with the Answer?

[Alex Solomon]

The short answer is no. Local scientists say this winter's snowfall won't really have much, if any, influence on Juneau's next glacial outburst flood. Let's explain. First, there's an important distinction between snowfall, which is added up on a daily basis, and snowpack, the layers that stack up and compress over the whole winter. The capital city broke its snowfall fall record at the Juneau International Airport with a little more than 200 inches on March 23rd. But Erin Jacobs, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Juneau, says the snowpack and the water that it'll melt down to is pretty close to average.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

The amount of water that's in the

[Hunter Morrison]

snowpack is about near normal. Nothing very extraordinary, not very high.

[Alex Solomon]

That's according to snowpack data tracked by the U.S. natural Resources Conservation Service at two stations near Juneau. Aaron Hood is a glacial outburst flood expert at the University of Alaska Southeast. He says the snowpack isn't deeper because there was a long warmup in the middle of winter when a lot of it melted.

[Casey Grove]

There's the first sort of snowpocalypse and then this melt out period and then the second snowpocalypse.

[Alex Solomon]

But more importantly, Hood says Juneau's snowpack is completely unrelated to the conditions that control the size of glacial outburst floods. Unlike spring floods in parts of the western US Suicide Basin is the lake beside Mendenhall Glacier that produces Juneau's annual glacial outburst flood when it fills up and then bursts through the ice, releasing around 16 billion gallons of water all at once into the suburban Menenhall Valley below. Hood says heavy summer rainfall contributes the most to how quickly Suicide Basin fills up, since it both adds water directly and and rapidly melts ice. But he says in a year where there is a particularly large snowpack to melt, the basin might fill a bit sooner.

[Casey Grove]

Maybe instead of early August, we could fill it by, say, the third week of July. Would that influence how big the flood was? No. What influences how big the flood is is the volume of the basin when it's full and how fast the water is released.

[Alex Solomon]

And he says those two variables have nothing to do with how quickly the basin fills. So where are we at with the basin volume and how fast the flood waters burst out, which actually control the size of the flood? Scientists don't know yet. Hood says that in the winter, glacial ice flow rates are slow and massive icebergs aren't calving into Suicide Basin.

[Casey Grove]

I don't think there's a lot of

[Hunter Morrison]

activity over winter in terms of the basin volume changing substantially, I wouldn't expect, he says.

[Alex Solomon]

His team plans to do drone surveys of Suicide Basin in May and June. That will allow them to update the estimated volume of water it can hold. And as for how fast the water bursts from the basin and rushes through the Mendenhall river, scientists can't measure that until the flood is underway. The size of the flood has consistently grown over the last three years. But even if the next flood is the biggest one yet, this winter's snow wouldn't be why in Juneau? I'm Alex Salman.

[Casey Grove]

This month marks one year since a rockslide bisected Ketchikan's only highway. While the natural disaster did not result in injury or death, it did prove to be a nearly week long inconvenience for the island. As KRBD's Hunter Morrison reports, locals came out of the woodwork to help their neighbors get to where they needed to go.

[Hunter Morrison]

Ketchikan's Jeff Carlson remembers that early spring day all too well. He's the owner of Lighthouse Excursions, a Ketchikan based boat tour company. When he first heard about the rock slide near the airport ferry terminal, he thought it'd be cleared pretty quickly.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

I remember originally thinking like, oh gosh, another landslide. And then, well, this one's not too big of a deal, so that's good news. And then of course, it became evident pretty quickly that it wasn't going to be cleared for quite some time.

[Hunter Morrison]

It would be four days before debris on the Tongass highway near Wolf Point would be partially cleared. So Carlson stepped up. He was gearing for the summer season when the slide happened. His company took shifts assisting a few other boat tour operators with transporting commuters blocked by the rubble.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

You know, this was, I think, the most unique kind of a service that we were able to provide, especially when it comes to like an emergency.

[Hunter Morrison]

Wolf Point had been an area of concern to local officials for a number of years. It experienced several rock falls, and the state Department of Transportation was in the process of alleviating the area's rockfall risk when the slide occurred. According to dot, those efforts included debris cleanup in ditches, slope stabilization and more. Nearby power lines made cleanup efforts challenging. The borough and city governments signed a joint disaster declaration and state geologists assessed the slope before cleanup efforts began that essentially pooled more state resources to address the rockslide. Rodney Dial was the borough mayor at the time of the Wolf Point rockslide. He says locals from all sectors came together to ensure disruptions on the island were limited.

[Rodney Dial]

It's surprising how many different issues that you actually wind up with. You have people that need to go to the hospital that might be in the north end, you have people that need to get medication. And so there's just all of these different issues that all of a sudden come up and it was really a team effort to address it.

[Hunter Morrison]

Ketchikan Fire Chief Rick Hines says the North Tongass Volunteer Fire Department provided emergency medical services to those cut off from the hospital by flying or boating patients to an ambulance south of the slide. The and Point Higgins Elementary School north of town was prepared to overnight students at the school who were separated from their families, although they didn't end up needing to. And despite shoulder season preparations, boaters transported thousands of passengers during the multi day closure. Emma Bullock is Alan Marine's senior sales and marketing manager. She says the company moved about 4,000 passengers in the week following the slide. Bullock says one of the biggest takeaways from the disaster was the community's resilience.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

It did not stop Ketchikan from the daily activities. We were having people coming on with their dogs to go out hiking out by Ward Lake and it didn't slow down the beats of what makes Ketchikan.

[Hunter Morrison]

Carlson, with lighthouse excursions, says he enjoyed the opportunity to help his neighbors in need. His company moved about 500 people. Carlson says that considering his company primarily serves tourists, the rockslide response was a rare chance to connect with locals.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

And this was the absolute opposite. It was seeing a familiar face on every run, if not the whole boat being familiar and so seeing some familiar faces board my boat who have never been aboard my boat and that was quite fun.

[Hunter Morrison]

In the year following the Wolf Point rock slide, State DOT says it's monitoring the site via drone to ensure future rock slides or falls won't happen there. They've also installed a rock buttress. Reporting in Ketchikan, I'm Hunter Morrison.

[Casey Grove]

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough is not the winner of a contest that could have built a free underwater commuter tunnel between the city and Gravina island, where the airport is. Nearly 500 applicants from around the world submitted proposals for the Tunnel Vision Challenge, a demonstration project led by Elon Musk's construction firm, the Boring Company. According to its website, the company will construct a tunnel up to a mile long and 12ft wide for the contest's winner. Ketchikan Borough assembly member Rodney Dial, who stumbled upon the opportunity, says there's a need for a fixed access route between the two islands because the airport's ferry fleet is nearing the end of its operational life.

[Rodney Dial]

So we have a number of issues that a fixed link could solve as well as promoting sustained economic development for our community, which is that's that's really the big picture here is we just need to start thinking big, looking for ways that we can address known problems while at the same time growing the economy.

[Casey Grove]

Dial says a ferry alternative to Gravina could also open up land to combat Ketchikan's housing crunch. Dial co sponsored a resolution last month supporting the proposal, which gained unanimous support from the assembly. Earlier this month, Katchakan's tunnel proposal was in the top 16 finalists. The Boring Company, though, announced Monday that it will move forward with three tunnel proposals in New Orleans, Baltimore and Dallas. Even though Ketchikan was not selected as the contest's winner, Dial says submitting the no cost proposal was worth a shot.

[Rodney Dial]

Who knows where this will lead, but I'm hopeful that something positive will come out of it.

[Casey Grove]

Dial hopes the opportunity will lead to future consulting with the Boring Company that could help to develop a fixed access route between Catchikan and Gravina Island. Deeper than normal snow held in place by a months long cold snap in western Alaska presents plenty of challenges for humans, but for moose, it is an existential threat. KYUK's Evan Erickson has more on the conditions pushing moose into communities and several moose that have been killed in Bethel.

[Evan Erickson]

In mid February, the Bethel Police Department alerted residents that multiple foxes killed in the city limits had tested positive for rabies. The press release went on to say that officers had also killed a moose that had been acting erratically and attacking chained up dogs. The release didn't directly suggest that the moose may have had rabies. There has only been one case ever recorded in Alaska. But out of an abundance of caution, the moose's brain was sent to the state virology lab in Fairbanks. It tested negative. Less than a month later, officers killed another moose in Bethel that they say had also been attacking dogs. This time, wildlife managers didn't see any signs that warranted a rabies test. Patrick Jones, an area biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Games, says the moose was up against a lot.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

It was obviously nutritionally stressed with the deep snow. It was using our roads and our pathways for easy access to browse in people's yards. And then, yeah, when approached by dogs, of course it's going to be defensive.

[Evan Erickson]

It's rare for wildlife managers or law enforcement to have to kill moose that wander into Bethel.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

We have not had to dispatch them in Bethel before. Most of the moose dog interactions are one off, meaning that the moose and the dog came into contact with each other for whatever reason, whether the dog was loose or the moose was walking by and stepped into somebody's yard.

[Evan Erickson]

Jones says both of the moose killed by Bethel police were nine month old calves. He says all of the meat was properly salvaged and he doesn't see any reason to fault officers for their handling of the situation.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

They responded to a call and then they decided force was necessary for public safety. And the bottom line, people are always more important than a moose. And if people are being threatened, we call it dlp Defense of life and property. That's always an option.

[Evan Erickson]

Less than a week later, a third moose was killed in Bethel. This time, Alaska wildlife troopers shot an adult cow hobbled by a leg injury on the ice road at the edge of town.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

She wasn't able to put weight on her. She had some injury with her hind leg and she just wasn't able to move around well enough, especially in the deep snow to anything but being injured. And next to the ice road, she became a public safety problem with cars.

[Evan Erickson]

A major factor in the public safety incidents involving moose is that there is simply a lot more of them on the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta these days. Jones says a five year moratorium on moose hunting put in place in 2004 has helped the population along the lower Kuskokwim river grow from less than 100 to around 5,000 animals. This year, Jones says more of the moose are being pushed not only into Bethel, but into nearly all of the region's villages as well.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

There are quite a lot of moose in almost every single community up and down both the Yukon and the Kuskokwem. Right now, the thing that's really different about this year is just the length of time we've had this deep snow pushing them in.

[Evan Erickson]

Jones says moose must balance calories they expend trudging through deep snow with the constant need to graze on willows.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

It's especially a lot of work for the calves. They're so much shorter. When the calves start dragging their belly through the snow, that's, that's really a warning sign that they're expending more calories than they can consume in a day.

[Evan Erickson]

Deep snow also makes it more difficult for moose to defend themselves.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

Anything that would make their life easier, they're taking anything. With easy walking, they immediately start using that.

[Evan Erickson]

Places like Bethel provide the best of both worlds. Easy walking and great food.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

Moose want new growth willows. Anything that's bigger than a number two pencil really doesn't have any nutrition in it for them. New willows grow in sites that have been recently disturbed. It's our town, it's our roads, it's our trails, jones says.

[Evan Erickson]

With some simple measures, people and moose can stay good neighbors.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

The only options we have other than patience and just waiting for spring is to remove the attractant to mooses. And the moose is there for new willows. So we can cut down our willows or we can build fences around our dog yard.

[Evan Erickson]

Jones also says it helps to remember when dealing with moose on roads and trails that the animals are unlikely to retreat into deep snow if they feel threatened. Following behind a moose only elevates the situation, Jones says. The best practice is to be patient, step to the side and give moose time to move off at their own pace. In Bethel, I'm Evan Erickson.

[Casey Grove]

Skikoo is a non profit that brings skiing to communities across rural Alaska. This year, organizers tried something new to make the activity stick, training a Holy Cross resident to be a coach for the village. As Alyona Nydin reports for the Alaska Desk, the idea is to encourage kids to ski throughout the winter.

[Alyona Nydin]

Justin River Lecton was a fifth grade student in Antioch in southwest Alaska when he learned to ski. He loved it and started going out on the river with his dogs, breaking trail and enjoying the freedom the activity brought him.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

It brought me outdoors, it took me, you know, outside to the nature and I was just enjoying it so much.

[Alyona Nydin]

Now Lecton is 21 and becoming a ski coach. In February he joined a non profit Skiko which taught him how to ski and has been bringing the sport to kids across Alaska. Together he and the skiku team traveled to several interior villages on the banks of the Yukon River. Grayling, Anvik and Shagelik Lecton shadowed other Skiko coaches, learned teaching techniques and ways to maintain skis. The February trip culminated with a week in another community in the same region, Holy Cross, where Lekten now lives. There he ran the show. Next winter he will be the coach for Holy Cross kids.

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

We're mostly inside, you know, it'd be great to get them outside and to do something outdoors all together as a team, you know.

[Alyona Nydin]

Skiko has been around for more than a decade bringing cross country ski coaches and equipment to kids in Alaska villages who don't regularly have access to the sport. Program staff spend about a week at a time in each community and have traversed most of Alaska. Tyler Hannigan is its executive director. He says usually after the visit the skis go back to the closet for the rest of the winter, hennigan says. What's missing is an adult who will take the kids out to kind of

[Reporter/Field Correspondent (various, possibly Crystal Hyde or other reporters)]

keep those communities shredding. In my mind, I have like a Jedi Padawan situation where like we can kind of have that person mentor those folks out there and really kind of hope to make something a little more sustainable, too. That's really more community driven.

[Alyona Nydin]

That's where Lectin comes in to keep it going throughout the season. He is the first local coach Skiko has trained up. Sydney Roach is a student in middle school in Shagelik. She worked with Lecton and other coaches when they stopped in her village.

[Liz Ruskin]

We were going skiing around town and up and down hills and through creeks and stuff, and it's pretty fun. I like it.

[Alyona Nydin]

We ski it every day of the week, I think. Sydney says she's happy for the opportunity to ski, which she doesn't get to do a lot. Her mother, Sonta Hamilton Roach, also appreciated it.

[Shelby Herbert]

Get the kids excited about being out and about going down hills. I can never see myself going down.

[Alyona Nydin]

Sonta Roach says that children in her region stay active by hauling wood and working outside. But she says they don't get many chances to try themselves in competitive sports, something that she says is good for discipline development and potential educational opportunities. And Roch is happy all four villages in her area are part of this project.

[Shelby Herbert]

You know, we're all the same people trying to live good, healthy, quality lives in our communities, and the best way to do that is working together. When you really see our tribes come together, we could do cool things.

[Alyona Nydin]

Aside from the four communities along the lower Yukon River, Tsuku visited more than 20 villages across the state this year. The organizers say they hope to continue growing the number of communities they serve and to find more residents like Lecton of them to keep kids skiing throughout the season. In Anchorage, I am Alona Knighton,

[Casey Grove]

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 recorded reports tonight from Eric Stone and Alex Solomon in Juneau, Liz Ruskin in Washington, D.C. hunter Morrison in Kachikan, Evan Erickson in Bethel, and Alone and Iden in Anchorage. Our audio engineer is Crystal Hyde. Kirsten Dobroth is our producer and I'm Casey Grove. Good night.