As the Iditarod route winds up the wooded hillsides of the Happy River Steps, toward the jagged mountains ringing frozen Pontilla Lake, they head through a narrow canyon toward the zig-zagging Dalzell Gorge. Even years later, the infamous 2014 conditions along the stretch have left a lasting impression on mushers – one that they bring specialty gear for.

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Jim Lanier did become a 77-year-old musher by fooling around.

“Well, the thing is, it’s a contact sport,” Lanier said.

Standing in the sunshine with his team of ghostly white huskies at the Finger Lake checkpoint, Lanier is wearing what looks like a black, high-tech exoskeleton.

“It’s sort of full body armor,” Lanier said. “Neck to crotch I’m covered. And elbows and knees. I got it there, too.”

The gear is technically for mountain-bike racing, an upgrade from the hockey pads Lanier has worn in past years. The protective equipment is specifically for the hundred miles of trail through the Alaska Range, on past Rohn and into Nikolai. Lanier has broken enough bones in the course of his mushing career to dress with precaution in mind.

“It’s like the old bold pilot thing,” Lanier said. “There’s old pilots, and there’s bold pilots. But there’s no old, bold pilots. Same for mushers.”

Lanier’s hardly alone in treating this section of trail with extra reverence. One checkpoint ahead at Rainy Pass, Scott Jansen reaches into a drop-bag shipped up just for this particular part of the race, and pulls out a chest-protector meant for high-speed snowmachining.

“It’s all hard-sided, keep me from breaking some ribs. And then, I got my boy’s snowmachining helmet,” Jansen said. “I mean, better safe than sorry. I don’t want to hit my head and get knocked out of the race.”

In the 2014 race, when the downhill gorge was so icy there was no way to control dog teams as they charged over rocks and tree stumps, Jansen made it down relatively unscathed. But his luck ran out going through the Buffalo Tunnels on the way to Rohn.

“I crashed and got a concussion,” Jansen said. “About four hours later I broke through some ice, ran back to my sled, slipped on the ice, broke my foot.”

Jansen scratched that year. And the experience seriously affected him. He had bad anxiety in the two weeks before this year’s race, stuck in thoughts about the most brutal parts of the trail. That’s similar for Kelly Maixner, who in 2014 lead the pack down the gorge and was the first to make it to Rohn.

“It is a little bit of PTSD from that,” Maixner said. “Ya know, I think anytime you’re fearing for your life or anything – which at that point in time I was, because that was pretty nerve-wracking that year.”

Maixner did not pack extra protective gear this time around, largely because the snow conditions are vastly better. And because mushers were assured they wouldn’t face that degree of hazard again. An outcry after the 2014 race prompted the Iditarod to take extra precautions determining if areas of the trail were suitably safe.

From overhead, the thin ribbon of trail snaking through the gorge had plenty of snow, but also plenty of open water. Which could make for a soggy run out of the mountains.

The Aleutians East Borough plans to join the legal battle over a land exchange that would allow construction of a controversial road between King Cove and Cold Bay.

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In January, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signed a land exchange agreement with the King Cove Corporation that would allow for a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

Assembly members voted unanimously last week to intervene on the side of the federal government in the lawsuit environmental groups brought against the Interior Department to stop the road.

The Borough approved spending $61,875 to hire a law firm to help them join the case.

That money will also help four other local entities trying to intervene on behalf of the federal government, the King Cove Corporation, The City of King Cove, the Agdaagux Tribe and the Native Village of Belkofski.

In the past year, two ice seals have turned up in Unalaska — way outside their natural range. The first was spotted in late February 2017 and less than a year later another was photographed near town.

Melissa Good, with SeaGrant, says ringed seals don’t belong in Unalaska.

“Ringed seals are ice-associated seals so they live and kind of work around the ice,” Good said. “They want to haul out on the ice for pupping, molting and resting.”

Good has lived in Unalaska for seven years, and has only seen two ringed seals — both in the last year. She was able to send last year’s seal to the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward where the animal made a full recovery.

But the most recent seal was not as healthy.

“If you see a seal out of the water laying on a rock, it looks kind of like a sausage. It’s fat and it’s round,” Good said. “When you start being able to see it’s hip bones and you start seeing a hump on its back, that usually means it doesn’t have a lot of fat on it.”

By the time Good was able to recover this seal, it was too late. The yearling had died. Results from a necropsy may shed some light on why there seem to be more ringed seals popping up in Unalaska.

The pathologist will look for unusual bacteria, parasites or viruses. Good thinks parasites might be the key.

“A lot of the marine mammals that they are getting in to the [Alaska Sealife] center have heavier parasite loads then they have normally seen in the past,” Good said. “They are contributing a lot of these parasite loads to warmer water conditions.”

It’s too soon to know exactly what’s happening, but Good says it could be a combination of things. At this point though, she isn’t too concerned. Good’s optimistic that with more community interest and awareness of marine visitors, she’ll be able to respond faster to stranded animals and better note changes in the environment.

Harry Ross started moving trains when he was 21. Fifty years later, he’s still transporting passengers and freight by rail across the state.

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“I do not believe there has ever been nobody as foolish as I,” Ross said.

It wasn’t a job Ross expected to get, and it wasn’t the job he originally hoped for. After graduating from East High School in 1964, Ross worked as a mess attendant at Elmendorf Air Force Base. His mom wanted more for him and sent him to college in San Francisco. After dropping out of school, Ross applied for two jobs, one with Western Airlines, now Delta, and one with the Alaska Railroad.

“I didn’t have the education to be a brakeman or a trainman period. I never thought about the railroad my whole life,” Ross said. “Growing up through high school I never thought about working at the railroad in no way, shape or form.”

Ross has been the number one conductor at the Alaska Railroad for over half of his career.

“I’ve been number one so long, like I said, I’ve even forgotten how long I’ve been number one,” Ross said.

Having the highest seniority among conductors comes with some perks. Ross says he gets the first pick of routes and vacation time.

“Everybody salutes you, like, ‘hey number one.’ They don’t call you Harry Ross they say ‘hey number one,’ and you know, that’s pretty interesting and fun,” Ross said.

The workplace wasn’t always so friendly towards Ross. As the first minority trainman hired by the company, Ross says he was met with opposition almost immediately.

“I had a lot of people that I worked with, that did not want to work with me only because of the color of my skin,” Ross said. “And, of course, that didn’t bother me because I’ve always been a people person and I figured one way or another I was gonna win them over. One by one I did, and there were some, of course, I didn’t. And it’s not gonna change those people that’s just the way they are.”

In his time at the railroad, Ross has seen the company go from federally owned to state owned. He says safety is a higher priority and the trains are more heavily regulated. Ross says the best change the railroad implemented in his 50 years is the Alaska Railroad Tour Guide program. The program began in 1980 and is open to high school juniors and seniors enrolled in the Anchorage School District.

“Well, basically it gives the kids a chance to get into the job market,” Ross said. “I enjoy working with these kids because everybody’s energetic and they really love what they’re doing.”

Jon Mobley was a tour guide in 2009 and worked at the railroad in multiple positions, including conductor, until 2017. Mobley says after years of mentoring under Ross, they’re like family now.

“He taught me a lot when I was in the tour guide program, just as a tour guide, and he taught me even more when I climbed the ladder and finally became a conductor. He’s been very crucial to my time at the railroad,” Mobley said.

Ross says he plans to retire at the end of the summer.

“I don’t know how it’s going to feel when I have to say goodbye. I know eventually it’s going to come,” Ross said. “I don’t want to die on the job. I want to enjoy some of my life that I have left, but I can say that I will truly miss what I have been doing the last 50 years.”

Ross says he plans on writing a memoir about his life growing up in Alaska and his time working on the railroad.

The nominee to be the next head of the U.S. Geological Survey says he’s inclined to share sensitive data with his higher-ups at the Interior Department if they ask to see it.

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“Based on my experience in my other occupations up to this point, I always felt like I had a responsibility to deliver information to my leadership,” James Reilly said at his confirmation hearing Tuesday. “Particularly if it had an impact on how the leadership is supposed to respond to it, particularly in something that might indeed be sensitive.”

Reilly is a geologist and a former astronaut.

The question of whether political leaders at the Interior Department are allowed to have an advance peek at USGS data erupted this winter. USGS is an independent research arm within Interior, but USGS scientists guard their work from even the appearance of political influence. Their practice has been to let the bosses at Interior see their data only when it’s available to the public. A USGS scientist resigned late last year, and another retired early, to protest the deputy Interior secretary’s demands they turn over data about the oil potential in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska before it was published.

Reilly says he doesn’t have all the details of the case. He says he’d resist any attempt to alter reports.

“If somebody were to come to me and say ‘I want you to change this because it’s the politically right thing to do,’ I would politely decline,” Reilly told the U.S. Senate Energy Committee.

Reilly said he would expect his leaders to keep a close hold on confidential information. He also allowed there might be exceptions to his willingness to deliver data to his higher-ups.

“Somebody could come to me and tell me that they were in a position where they were uncomfortable with that,” Reilly said. “Then we would, of course, deal with that specific example at the time, and hopefully we wouldn’t get in the situation that occurred here.”

Committee chair Lisa Murkowski said she hopes the Senate quickly confirms him. Reilly also has Democratic support.

A spokeswoman for the Interior Department said in an email last month the Interior secretary and his deputy have legal authority to see any scientific data or draft reports produced at Interior.

A change in policy by Juneau police means licensed marijuana producers should now be able to fly their product out of Juneau on commercial airlines. Until recently commercial cannabis was allowed to fly in but not out of Juneau International Airport.

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In an industrial area of Mendenhall Valley, a red nondescript metal building houses THC Alaska. Marijuana and its concentrates are produced here for Juneau’s retailers. But they also have customers in other parts of Alaska. Juneau’s geography means flying or crossing water to get it there, which involves federal legal jurisdiction.

Juneau’s pot producers have been turned away from boarding commercial flights. It’s not clear exactly what the hangup was. There were different explanations, most coming back to the tension between state and federal marijuana laws.

But that’s all supposed to change. All four of Juneau’s licensed cultivators got a letter in the mail on Valentine’s Day on Juneau Police Department letterhead.

“To whom it may concern,” the letter signed by Juneau Police Chief Ed Mercer begins, “this letter is to advise a procedural change that Juneau Police Department will be making when dealing with legally licensed marijuana being transported via the Juneau International Airport.”

The letter cc’s the U.S. Attorneys Office and TSA.

Juneau authorities say it’s an evolving industry.

“We’re trying to do the best that we can from a due diligence point of view to make sure that we comply with what we’re supposed to comply with and make sure that people have the proper documentation,” Juneau Police Deputy Chief David Campbell said Tuesday. “But at the same time not hinder businesses, either. So, we’re just trying to find that balance.”

Co-owner Ben Wilcox is taking the police at their word. He’s packed a carry-on – plus a personal item – for a Wednesday morning flight.

“These two bags I can easily get 15 pounds of trim or about 900 units of concentrates,” Wilcox explained.

Since commercial pot was legalized in 2015 product has flown in to Juneau’s airport. Those in the industry report product routinely flown out of other airports in Alaska.

THC Alaska’s Facilities Manager is Lacy Wilcox. She also sits on the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association and said the “Juneau exception” was puzzling for everyone in the industry.

“It was hard for us to understand why Juneau was so different and all airports were freely coming and going and Juneau wasn’t,” she said. “We knew that it was a city-run airport vs. a state-run airport. But beyond that we really couldn’t understand why the requirements would be different from one to the other when we’re talking about in-state commerce.”

There has been a lot going on behind the scenes. Meetings between the marijuana industry and Juneau police and city officials have been ongoing and sometimes, according to Lacy Wilcox, a little awkward.

“It’s always uncomfortable to go into the police department and say, ‘I’m a legal drug-seller and you’ve always looked at me one way and I’m hoping that you’ll look at me a different way starting today and how can we help you do that?'” she recalled. “So it took a lot of people some guts to go and have that conversation.”

Ben Wilcox has his round-trip ticket in hand and alarm set for an early wake-up.

“We’re going to give it a shot and turn hopefully three or four day trips into one-day trips,” he said with a laugh.

That’s assuming the weather cooperates.

Stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn

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USGS nominee inclined to show data to Interior bosses

Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.

If confirmed as USGS director, James Reilly says he’d likely share sensitive data with his higher-ups at the Interior Department if they ask to see it. A demand to release data about the NPR-A led two USGS staffers to quit this winter.

State regulator pushes for stronger laws to deal with abandoned oil wells

Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage

A top state regulator is asking the legislature to make sure oil companies pay to clean up old oil wells, even after the wells are sold to a different company.

Juneau police end policy of flagging flying weed

Jacob Resneck, KTOO – Juneau

A change in policy by Juneau police means licensed marijuana producers should now be able to fly their product out of Juneau on commercial airlines. Until recently commercial cannabis was allowed to fly in but not out of Juneau International Airport.

Aleutians East Borough votes to join feds in battle over King Cove road

Zoe Sobel, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Unalaska

The Aleutians East Borough Assembly approved spending $61,875 to hire a law firm to help them join a lawsuit over the controversial road between King Cove and Cold Bay.

DeeDee Jonrowe second musher to scratch in 2018 Iditarod

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Willow musher DeeDee Jonrowe has scratched from the 2018 Iditarod.

Some mushers deck out in “full body armor” to tackle Dalzell Gorge

Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Even years later, the infamous 2014 conditions along the Dalzell Gorge stretch has left a lasting impression on mushers – one that they bring specialty gear for.

Snowier year makes for smoother run to Nikolai

Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

It’s one of the snowiest years in recent memory along a notoriously bare stretch of the Iditarod trail. In recent years, low-snow and a bald, icy trail conditions have made for a perilous run down the Dalzell Gorge through Rohn and across the Farwell Burn on the way to the village of Nikolai.

Alaska Railroad’s first black conductor celebrates unprecedented 50 years with company

Victoria Petersen, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Harry Ross never imagined he’d be conducting trains. But in 1968 he became the first black conductor for the Alaska Railroad. March 6th will be Ross’ 50th anniversary with the company, a milestone never reached by any other trainman.

To feed elders, traditional foods take untraditional route

Anne Hillman, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

Traditional foods are healthier, but for a long time, federal regulations prevented elders in care facilities from accessing them. A team in Kotzebue worked to change that. Here’s how.

A top state regulator is asking the legislature to make sure oil companies pay to clean up old oil wells, even after the wells are sold to a different company.

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Cathy Foerster of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission testified before the Senate Resources Committee on Monday.

Foerster said it’s becoming more common for smaller oil companies to operate in Alaska, and those companies may be more financially unstable. She gave the example of Aurora Gas, which declared bankruptcy last year. Foerster said the company is unable to pay to plug and abandon its wells, three of which are on state land, making the state financially responsible for cleaning them up.

“Aurora Gas doesn’t exist anymore, we cannot go back to Aurora gas and ask them for the money to [plug and abandon] those wells. It ain’t going to happen — just take a deep, cleansing breath and let that one go,” Foerster said.

Foerster warned that if a big oil field like Prudhoe Bay is sold to a smaller company that goes bankrupt and can’t pay for cleanup, it could cost the state billions of dollars. She said the state currently has a $200,000 bond to cover the cost of plugging and abandoning all the wells at Prudhoe Bay.

“For $200,000 we couldn’t even pay for the engineering study that would give us the estimate on what the true cost is to plug all of those wells,” Foerster said. “So we’re in a bad situation on having adequate bonding for our wells, and we’re working it.”

Foerster says her agency has the authority to increase bond amounts. But Foerster argued the legislature should also act. One idea she floated is to update the law so the state can require former operators to pay to clean up abandoned oil wells.

“Don’t we want to have the ability to go back on BP, Exxon and Conoco and say ‘you guys made a boatload of money off of this, and you drilled these wells, now get back up here and clean them up?’ We need you guys to take care of that,” Foerster said.

Foerster said two other states, California and Kansas, have passed similar laws.

Alaska Oil and Gas Association president Kara Moriarty said her group wants to see legislation before it forms a position on Foerster’s proposal, but she added that the issue of future well abandonments is “a potential problem that may not exist.”

Moriarty said her group is generally wary of additional regulations.

“I would just be cautious of anything that seems to put another hurdle on companies either coming to Alaska or being interested in investing in Alaska,” Moriarty said.

A high-profile guest was in attendance at the North Slope Borough Assembly meeting in Utqiaġvik Tuesday. The Interior Department’s second-in-command, Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt addressed the mayor and the assembly members at the Barrow High School Auditorium.

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“We’re here today to begin a conversation with you because we want to have you collaboratively and collectively involved with us as we go forward with our new job,” Bernhardt said.

That new job is managing the oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is within the North Slope Borough boundaries.

“We want to hear your voice, we want to understand your issues, we have an opportunity to try to accommodate those issues that are of concern to you within our authority,” Bernhardt said.

Assembly members had the chance to comment and ask questions. North Slope Borough Mayor Harry K. Brower Jr. thanked the Deputy Secretary for coming. He then went on to say that oral communication is one thing, but he wants to start seeing plans in writing.

“You know, I first thing I wrote down was, when do we start reading the information in black and white. In written materials. That’s something of importance,” Brower said.

Bernhardt responded that once the scoping process begins, more of those materials will become available. He also said he expects that process to kick off in the next few weeks.

After the meeting, Bernhardt was also asked why three critical whaling areas were included in the initial draft of the Trump Administration’s plan for offshore leasing. Local stakeholders have identified those areas for exclusion in years past.

“We started with what I would consider a zero baseline,” Bernhardt said. “Let’s presume we’re starting the dialogue fresh. The process will take the same amount of time either way, and we’ll get comments and decide whether it was right-sized nation-wide or not. So that’s where we’re at.”

The Deputy Secretary said he will also be visiting Fairbanks and Nome on this trip.

A small crowd gathered next to burning logs and a large welcome banner as Mitch Seavey arrived first to Takotna checkpoint in a light snow Tuesday night.

Seavey was in a good mood and unusually talkative as he declared his 24-hour rest. He frequently uses Takotna for his 24, and parked his team in a preferred spot tucked just behind the community center.

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Seavey is well positioned in this year’s race, though it’s still early, with mushers’ long-term strategies becoming clearer. But Seavey has had to adjust his plans in order to contend with all the fresh snow making for a slower trail. A few checkpoints earlier in Nikolai, he switched over to a runner plastic that is extra wide at the front of the sled, which helps float the weight and keep the runners from punching through. He’s also had to scrap his technique of carrying dogs inside his sled, rotating them between runs and rest — a style of mushing he’s helped refine in recent years.

“It’s too slow and soft this year. Well, it worked at first, I used it for a while,” Seavey said. “But I gave up on it because they were working too hard. I hurt two dogs’ back legs, I think, because of it.”

Even though some of Seavey’s runs between checkpoints were slower than in past years, the cumulative effect has been slight. He pulled into Takotna at 9:45pm. In 2013, the last time Seavey won the race along the southern route, he arrived in Takotna at the exact same time.

According to official race standings, Joar Leifseth Ulsom has pushed on from Takotna and leads the pack, having checked out of Ophir this morning at 4:52. Hugh Neff and Ketil Reitan have also left Takotna this morning.

A lot has happened since the last podcast: Willow musher DeeDee Jonrowe has scratched in her 36th Iditarod, which she said would be her last. Meantime, front-of-the-pack mushers are taking their 24-hour layovers, so this is a good time to talk about how times are adjusted to correct from the staggered, every-two-minute race starts. Plus: More off-trail drama related to dogs and drugs! Sheesh! We talk to a fellow Iditarod reporter about what has been described as a confrontational encounter between the race’s head toxicologist and a musher right before the official start on Sunday.

Unalaska’s mayor has survived a recall effort that accused him of misconduct and poor leadership.

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According to initial election results, 62 percent of voters supported Mayor Frank Kelty, who was waiting at City Hall when the polls closed Tuesday night.

“I was concerned that it would be pretty tight and maybe come down to the absentees,” Kelty said. “But it didn’t, and I want to thank the community for their support.”

Election officials counted the 463 ballots by hand after the voting machine jammed. Their tally showed 177 Unalaskans voted “yes” to recalling Kelty, while 286 voted “no.”

There are still 74 absentee and questioned ballots that must be canvassed Friday, but City Clerk Marjie Veeder said they won’t affect the final results.

Kelty will remain in office for the rest of his term, which expires in October of 2019. He said he’s glad the recall is finally over — for both himself and the community.

“I just hope that the animosity and anger go away and that we can work together for the betterment of Unalaska,” Kelty said.

Kelty said his first goal is to build a positive relationship with the new city manager.

The Unalaskans who sponsored the recall petition weren’t immediately available for comment. They had charged Kelty with pursuing an illegal dock agreement with the shipping company Matson, along with criticizing his leadership and respect for public process.

Record low levels of ice have changed how the Bering Sea looks throughout the year. Now, scientists want to know if that will also change how the sea sounds.

“They’re gray tubes, PVC tubes, maybe half a meter long, whatever that is in inches,” Ricardo Antunes said, describing an underwater recording device. “And they might be attached to a big round float.”

Since 2013, Antunes has been dropping them over the side of fishing boats in the Bering Strait and off St. Lawrence Island. He’s trying to do something that’s never been done here: listen in on the Bering Sea. The recorders pick up everything in the water, from whales and walrus, to passing ships.

“We wanted to monitor the current levels, what we call the baseline levels: how are things at the moment? So that we can compare 10 years, 20 years from now,” Antunes said.

That’s because the Bering Sea is changing. Fast. Rising temperatures have meant less sea ice year after year. And with more open water, shipping traffic has increased. Both trends are expected to continue.

Antunes is a conservation scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, based in New York. He says for years, Alaska Natives, particularly from St. Lawrence Island, have raised concerns that increased shipping could drive away the marine mammals they depend on for food throughout the year.

“Marine mammals are very sensitive to noise, and all this additional shipping in these waters might create an impact by the introduction of noise,” Antunes said.

Scientists have used satellite tags and aerial surveys to track mammals in the Bering Sea, but Antunes says a study like this one is something new.

One advantage of a sound-focused, or acoustic, study is that the instruments can be left in the water for months at a time.

“Our instruments monitor for long periods, times when everything’s covered in ice, in bad weather, good weather, in conditions when it’s hard to get out there and monitor,” Antunes says.

That gives scientists a record of the animals—and ships—in the water over an entire season, not just at a point in time.

The project started small. With the help of local hunters, Antunes and his team put in place a single recorder off the coast of Gambell in 2013. It recorded sound in the water for 30 days. Gradually, as they’ve gained more funding, they’ve been able to add recorders and expand the study farther north into the Bering Strait.

After Antunes retrieves the devices, he can listen to what’s been recorded and hear the movement of marine mammals. He says once you learn each animal’s distinctive calls, it’s not hard to pick them out, from the rubbery song of bowhead whales to walrus’ tell-tale knocks.

What the sounds show right now—the baseline Antunes talked about—is not surprising: ships pass through in the summer, and marine mammals are most common in the winter, when sea ice locks up the Bering Strait and St. Lawrence Island. Seals and walrus use that ice to haul out, and hunters use it to harvest them.

Or, at least, that’s how it used to go. In the past, the Bering Sea would begin to freeze around St. Lawrence Island as early as October. But this year, there’s still open water in March.

“Ice should be at the island by now, and it’s not yet,” Antunes said. “It seems to be the general opinion that this is a very odd season.”

That might be an understatement. Delbert Pungowiyi is president of the Savoonga IRA. Born in 1959, he says he grew up with nine months of winter.

“Every day, those of us that grew up with the ice, when we look out toward the ocean, when I look out towards the ocean now today, I’m in a state of shock, disbelief,” Pungowiyi said.

Antunes says it isn’t yet clear how the lack of ice will impact marine mammals. Ice-free waters for more of the year could mean more shipping traffic when the mammals are present, potentially disturbing them. But then again, without the ice, Antunes says the animals might not come down to St. Lawrence Island at all.

That is what Pungowiyi is worried about. Marine mammals mean food security. Without them, his community will have to find new ways to sustain itself.

“I’ve known this was coming, but it’s coming so fast right now,” Pungowiyi said. “I had hoped it would be some years down the road.”

Antunes plans to share his findings and recordings with the communities where he worked. If he can get the funding, he’ll continue the study. He hopes to work more with local hunters.

Until then, he’ll be back in New York, listening closely, while Pungowiyi continues to watch the sea.

President Trump is expected to announce new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum Thursday. Sen. Dan Sullivan wishes he wouldn’t. Sullivan says a trade war could slow the U.S. economy.

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“And you know, I do worry about retaliation,” Sullivan said. “I also worry about retaliation with regard to Alaska products. Right? We’re a huge exporter, particularly of fish and natural resource products.”

Sullivan joins a growing list of Republicans in Congress who are speaking out against the President’s proposal. The senator was in Houston on Monday for an oil industry conference. He says industry executives told him the tax on imported steel could be bad for energy projects in Alaska, including the proposed pipeline to carry liquefied natural gas from the North Slope.

Sullivan says the Alaska LNG project is also losing a well-placed champion with the resignation of Gary Cohn as Trump’s chief economic advisor.

“Gary Cohn’s actually been one of the guys who’s been very strongly focused on helping the AKLNG project, in the White House,” Sullivan said. “So from that perspective, it’s not a positive development.”

Trade groups for the oil and pipeline industries say their businesses require specialty steel that few U.S. steelmakers produce. A natural gas trade association says the tariff could have the unintended consequence of stalling LNG export facilities – projects that would’ve improved the U.S. trade imbalance.

Sullivan says a steel tariff should be focused on China, rather than countries that are U.S. allies.

A state Department of Environmental Conservation report issued Tuesday evening says an Army tanker truck that crashed Sunday near Harding Lake leaked 800 gallons of fuel within about 50 feet of a slough that leads into the Tanana River.

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The tanker’s 2,600-gallon tank was carrying 1,150 gallons of JP-8 when the rig slid off the Richardson Highway near milepost 318 at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. DEC spill program manager Tom DeRuyter says JP-8 is a kerosene-based fuel that the Army uses for both aircraft and vehicles.

“That’s a product that’s very similar to diesel fuel,” DeRuyter said. “It’s what the Army runs in all of their vehicles.”

DeRuyter says Army contractor personnel from Fort Wainwright were working to clean up the spill through Tuesday, with help from DEC and Alaska State Troopers. The wrecked tanker was pulled back to Wainwright Monday afternoon.

A U.S. Army Alaska spokesperson says the tanker was headed back to post from a field training exercise when the accident occurred.

The DEC report raises concern that the leaked fuel could contaminate the Tanana River. A situation report issued by DEC says fuel that leaked from the tanker has contaminated snow and soil. The report says that could flow into the slough and then the Tanana, possibly harming salmon in the river.

Personnel with DEC and an Army contractor are working on a plan to remove contaminated snow and soil, the report said.

An investigation into the crash continues.

The long running lawsuit for Native people who were denied billions of dollars in trust fund money after decades of federal mismanagement is the subject of a new film.

100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice is the story of Blackfeet tribal member, the late Eloise Cobell. Cobell took on the Interior department over missing funds in trust accounts that were supposed to be paid to Native landowners for oil and gas, grazing and timber lease payments. Cobell’s 15-year fight spanned three administrations and resulted in the largest federal government settlement in history during the Obama administration. Melinda Janko is the documentarian who produced the film. She said she’d never been to a reservation before she saw a small article on Cobell’s fight.

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The free showing will be tomorrow evening at East High School in Anchorage at 6:30 with a panel discussion to follow.

Stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn

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Interior Department officials visit North Slope to talk ANWR

Ravenna Koenig, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Fairbanks

A high-profile guest from the U.S. Interior Department was in attendance at the North Slope Borough Assembly meeting in Utqiaġvik on Tuesday, March 6.

Sullivan knocks Trump tariff as bad for Alaska

Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media – Washington D.C.

Sen. Dan Sullivan says a steel import tax and a trade war could hurt Alaska’s fish exports and energy projects.

Lawmakers add funding for public defenders

Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO – Juneau

The Alaska House Finance Committee has approved funding four additional lawyers to work in the Public Defender Agency. They approved the money at a meeting on Monday.

Recall election fails to oust Unalaska’s mayor

Laura Kraegel, KUCB – Unalaska

Unalaska’s mayor has survived a recall effort that accused him of misconduct and poor leadership.

Army tanker truck wrecks, spills fuel near Harding Lake

Tim Ellis, KUAC – Fairbanks

A state Department of Environmental Conservation report issued Tuesday evening says an Army tanker truck that crashed Sunday near Harding Lake leaked 800 gallons of fuel within about 50 feet of a slough that leads into the Tanana River.

New dog doping drama emerges on the Iditarod trail

Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

The Iditarod’s image has suffered several blows over this past year. A dog doping scandal involving Dallas Seavey, stepped up protests from animal rights group PETA, and now an alleged dust up between musher Wade Marrs and the head toxicologist for the Iditarod, Maury Craig.

Seavey reaches Takotna first, declares 24-hour layover

Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

A small crowd gathered next to burning logs and a large welcome banner as Mitch Seavey arrived first to Takotna checkpoint in a light snow Tuesday night.

New documentary highlights mismanagement of Native trust money by feds

Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage

100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice is the story of Blackfeet tribal member, the late Eloise Cobell. Cobell took on the Interior department over missing funds in trust accounts that were supposed to be paid to Native landowners.

Scientists don’t know why ice seals are appearing in ice-free Unalaska

Zoe Sobel, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Unalaska

There are plenty of seals in Unalaska, but ringed seals — who make their homes on the ice — are rare.

As Iditarod mushers decide when and where to take their mandatory 24-hour layovers, the leaders are in to the ghost town of Iditarod. And our trail reporters are breaking into their snack packs! Also, we hear from a Takotna elder about the moose he shot and fed at the village checkpoint.

The Alaska House Finance Committee has approved funding four additional lawyers to work in the Public Defender Agency. They approved the money at a meeting on Monday.

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Alaska Public Defender Quinlan Steiner said that without more lawyers, his agency would turn down cases.

“There’s a principal of ethics that requires a lawyer not to accept a case if they can’t competently handle that case, and not having enough time would be that reason,” Steiner said. “So, we would attempt to refuse cases.”

Steiner said if judges agree to those attempts, then it would cost the state more to hire private defense attorneys. Steiner said if judges say no, that would lead to substantial delays to resolve cases.

Anchorage independent Rep. Jason Grenn sponsored the amendment to provide $1 million to pay for the four lawyers and one support staff member. He noted that public defenders at the agency have too many cases according to state and national standards.

“One example is using the American Bar Association guideline for maximum ethical caseloads,” Grenn said. “It’s about 150 cases per attorney per year. In FY 2018, Public Defender Agency is projected to have 160 cases per year per attorney.”

The committee voted 7-4 along caucus lines to approve the amendment.

Anchorage Republican Rep. Lance Pruitt opposed the added money. He said the agency could better manage its budget.

“I think the problem here is not a money issue. It’s a management issue,” Pruitt said. “How do you deal with the current situation that we’re in? Do you deal with the current situation by adjusting how you deliver your services? I get it. It’s difficult. We don’t have the money right now. But you analyze how you deliver them.”

Pruitt proposed firing higher paid lawyers and replacing them with lower cost, less experienced lawyers. But the committee rejected his proposal.

A top Interior Department official today said the Trump Administration is working to speed along the process leading to oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

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Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt and Assistant Secretary Joe Balash spoke at an industry gathering in Anchorage this morning after spending several days in North Slope communities.

Bernhardt said in the next few weeks the Interior Department will kick off the regulatory process required before it can hold an oil lease sale in the refuge.

“We expect to move pretty quickly on that project,” Bernhardt said.

Congress is requiring that two lease sales be held in the refuge’s 1002 area within the next seven years. But when he was asked exactly when the first lease sale will happen, Bernhardt didn’t directly answer. The Deputy Secretary instead noted he issued a memo saying that environmental impact statements must be completed in a year.

“If you were looking for a time frame, Joe [Balash] might tell me that that’s a little ambitious. But…we’re starting this process very, very soon, and I take my memos very, very seriously,” Bernhardt said.

Environmental groups, which have long opposed oil development in the refuge, reacted with alarm.

“The Trump administration is in a headlong rush to sell off America’s public lands for development, and cannot possibly  complete important processes or fully consider the concerns of local communities in their attempt to drill at the earliest possible date,” Nicole Whittington-Evans of the Wilderness Society said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Senator Dan Sullivan reportedly said he wants the first oil lease sale in the refuge to take place next year — one year before President Donald Trump must seek re-election.