Alaska News Network — 7-day rolling summary (emphasis on last 12 hours)

In the most urgent Alaska-related development, a judge ruled against two conservation groups seeking to halt Alaska’s bear cull plan, allowing Alaska wildlife agents to resume killing black and brown bears—including from helicopters—framed as necessary to save the Mulchatna caribou herd in southwest Alaska. The decision underscores how contentious wildlife-management policy remains, with the court finding the groups did not show the state lacked a reasonable basis for the plan.

Another major thread in the last 12 hours is federal land and resource policy. Multiple reports focus on the Department of the Interior transferring about 1.4 million acres along the Dalton Utility Corridor to the State of Alaska, described by Interior as advancing Alaska’s energy and infrastructure projects (including Ambler Road and Alaska LNG). Advocacy groups and critics characterize the move as a “giveaway” that reduces protections for lands, waters, wildlife, and subsistence users—continuing a broader pattern of shifting federal protections in Alaska.

Public safety and community impacts also feature prominently. Alaska leaders are pushing for more action on the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people, including coordination and stronger investigations as federal officials work to restart Operation Lady Justice. Separately, a Senate hearing in Bethel highlighted ongoing bureaucratic challenges for villages affected by the October typhoon, with advocates describing the system as “patchwork” and pointing to the uncertainty around relocation for communities such as Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, where residents say their land is no longer safe.

Beyond policy and public safety, the last 12 hours include a mix of local and national coverage: Anchorage-area community and business stories (including Mother’s Day preparations and travel/event coverage), sports and education updates (UAA athletes winning GNAC titles and MEHS principal finalists announced), and health coverage tied to Alaska’s broader news ecosystem (a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship and related treatment discussions). The evidence provided is strongest for the wildlife-cull ruling, the Dalton Corridor land transfer, and the missing/murdered Indigenous people and relocation-related hearings; other items appear more routine or single-story in nature.

Note: This summary is based only on the provided article titles and the included article text excerpts; many additional headlines in the 7-day set are not supported by full text in the prompt.