Interior Alaska

Father Thinh Van Tran knows about ice. A Catholic priest who serves the Diocese of Fairbanks, he’s spent time in the remote rural Alaska communities of Nulato, Koyukuk, Galena and Kaltag, deep in Interior Alaska. During that time he’s come to appreciate how river ice serves as a major transportation corridor for these communities.

The Western Arctic Caribou Herd, once the biggest in Alaska, is faltering, having fallen from a high of 490,000 animals in 2003 to only 152,000 as of 2023. But to the east, the Porcupine Caribou Herd appears to be thriving, with an all-time high of 218,00 animals recorded at the last census.