We are less than two weeks away from Alaska’s midterm election. Here is a nonpartisan rundown of who is on the ballot, how our primary and ranked choice system shapes who gets there and where things currently stand. This year Alaskans vote on  a U.S. Senate seat, Alaska’s single House seat, the first open governor’s race in a couple of decades, much of our state legislature and a ballot measure that could reshape future elections.  

The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) represents hundreds of Alaska Native Tribes, village and regional corporations, and nonprofit and tribal consortiums statewide. Rural Alaska pays the nation’s highest energy costs, and AFN members have passed resolutions focused on clean energy and self-determination. Alaska Venture Fund helped fund the investment to act on these resolutions, supporting a new role within AFN to create rural energy plans, assist in community advocacy on the issue and help form a task force to bring recommendations to state and federal agencies. 

In Alaska and Canada, megafires that occur in remote areas are allowed to burn so long as they don’t threaten populated areas and communities. As these wildfires continue to increase in intensity and size, they threaten to release massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. This piece by MIT Technology explores this issue and why we’re partnering with the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance and Woodwell Climate Research Center to launch North Fire: an initiative to test the effectiveness and scalability of wildfire stewardship for climate and ecological benefit.

• Climate Change Is Raising the Risk of Deadly Landslides: Alaskans Are Living on the Edge: Communities along Southeast Alaska’s rugged coastlines find themselves especially vulnerable to landslides, which have only been increasing in recent years. In this story from NPR, researchers and residents share insights and experiences on the ground in the Chilkat Valley. As AVF’s Shawna Hotch shares, the work is rooted in strengthening communities’ climate resilience.
   

• A Vision for Western Solidarity in the Mid-Transition: As fossil fuels and clean energy systems coexist, how do states like Alaska navigate this energy shift? In this piece, AVF’s Erin Harrington and partners at Federation of American Scientists explore how Western states like Alaska can position themselves as policy and entrepreneurial leaders in this moment.

This summer, Yuuyararta Science Camp brought young people together to Camp Gibraltar, home to Yup’ik and Dena’ina peoples. Participants shared how they care for their homes and advocate for their communities to be present in decision-making. This camp was made possible through partnerships with Bristol Bay Native Corporation and Alaska Conservation Foundation, funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Igiugig Village Council, the Nature Conservancy and NOAA, with in-kind support from instructors from UAA, UAF and Alaska Sea Grant.