Tuesday, March 18, 2025

A project bringing solar energy to the Wind River Reservation has hit some road bumps due to pauses in federal funding. But as Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann reports, the team is searching for other ways to move forward. Energize Wind River is poised to set up standalone solar systems and bring electricity to roughly forty Eastern Shoshone homes. But?  “ The ‘but’ would be that our construction funding is currently on hold pending review.” That’s project director Levi Purdum. He says about $2 million of funding is paused. Even though the project has funding for training, employees and outreach, it’s unable to buy or install the solar equipment. Purdum is optimistic that the funding will eventually come through, but for now, the group secured a $20,000 grant from the Nature Conservancy. “They wanted to support our non-governmental fundraising efforts, and so the intent is to hire and fund a fundraising specialist.” Energize Wind River still plans to start construction this spring, if they’re able to raise enough money. Other tribal nations across the Mountain West are facing similar issues amid budget cuts by the Trump administration. (Photo: Lisa West / Flickr)   Marine species — like salmon and humpback whales – might be becoming more frequent fixtures in the Arctic, especially as sea ice becomes less reliable from climate change. For residents in Alaska’s most northern communities, it can mean changes to subsistence. The shifts in migration are also fascinating scientists. Alaska Desk reporter Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Catching salmon in the North Slope village of Kaktovik was unheard of not too long ago, but as resident Robert Thompson says, some fishermen now see salmon more regularly. About five years ago, Thompson caught a dozen salmon – a small but noticeable number, he says. “Before it was unusual, and people would talk about it, that somebody got a salmon, but now it’s fairly common.” Fishermen, hunters, and researchers gathered at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage back in January to discuss changing migration patterns of several fish species and marine animals. One of the conference presenters was Elizabeth Mik’aq Lindley, a graduate student from Bethel who grew up fishing for salmon. For a year, Lindley and other researchers tracked temperatures in the Anaktuvuk River, which runs through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. “The temperature conditions, it seems like they are survivable.” Less ice might also mean new territory for humpback whales. Oceanographer Kate Stafford says data from local whalers and aerial surveys points to more humpbacks visiting the Chukchi sea in recent years. In Utqiagvik, humpbacks were sighted only twice before 2021 and two to three times in years after that. Then, last fall, researchers saw more than 25 whales feeding close together for two days in a row. “We came across what I would call Humpback Palooza.” Utqiagvik whaler Michael Donovan says he did not witness the “Humpback Palooza”, but he has seen a few humpbacks during his fall hunts. He says that he and other whalers are worried that humpbacks might be competing for krill and copepods with bowheads, the staple subsistence resource in his community. “They’re an invasive species, you know, they come in and eat the same food that our bowheads eat.” Donovan and other hunters say they’re supportive of scientists collecting data on whales other than bowheads, which are growing their presence in warming waters in the Arctic.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.