Craig Medred: Economic consequences
More shipping brings more chances for shipping disasters, including possible oil spills with which neither Russia, Alaska nor the U.S. are prepared to deal with in the region.
And with the Russians and their fleet of icebreakers wanting to make the Northern Sea Route a year-round shipping corridor in one of the most environmentally hostile regions on the globe – ice and 50-degree-below-zero temperatures be damned – a major shipping accident seems almost inevitable.
Hey there,
The timing couldn’t have been better. As we arrived in Anchorage from Cordova and McCarthy to provision for our summer issue road trip, the magazines arrived on schedule and got packed into our truck (after a celebratory chocolate avocado pudding and some kombucha at Hearth). We left the big town a bit thirsty and hungry, and ready for our first stop at Birch & Alder. We got our treats coffee at the drive-up window, but then we were invited inside for a peek at what will become the dining room later this summer. Keep your ears peeled for more on that. We’re excited.
Read more ->
Rocks into Food
Humans and wolves sharing knowledge with their descendants
Last winter, Dave Kanosh, a Tlingit cultural bearer from Sitka, told me how his ancestors had built rock cairns in the subalpine and high in the mountains. He says many of these rock formations may date back to an ancient flood in which many died. Some survivors sought refuge atop mountains. The cairns were used as a calendar indicating when and where to harvest different foods. They were also used as memory devices to pass on stories. The two were equally vital for the survival of future generations.
“Rocks in those rock formations,” Kanosh said, “were used to help tell part of a story and each rock cairn had different stories.”
—Bjorn Dihle in his Summer column. Read the rest in the magazine or on our website.