Alaska is off to the slowest start of a wildfire season in three decades — an immense relief one year after fires scorched nearly enough land to cover Connecticut and even threatened remote Alaska Native communities on the tundra.

A moose in western Alaska has tested positive for rabies in the first apparent case of a rabid moose in North America, state game officials said.

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for four people missing after the fishing charter boat they were on was found partially submerged near the southeast Alaska community of Sitka. A fifth person was found dead Sunday.

Alaska’s push to become a bigger player in the clean energy market is in the spotlight this week at a conference convened by its Republican governor, even as the state continues to embrace new fossil fuel production, including the controversial Willow oil project on the petroleum-rich North Slope.

National Park Service rangers rescued a climber who fell from a 16,000-foot-high (4,800-meter-high) ridge at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska, officials said Saturday.

Alaska lawmakers have passed a state spending package, which includes a dividend of about $1,300 each to residents this year, and ended their special session after one day.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers began a special session Thursday after failing to reach agreement on a state spending package during their four-month regular session.

Alaska lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation that seeks to block state and local officials from closing gun stores during disasters declared by the governor, unless such closures apply to all other businesses.

Ice jams that blocked two Alaska rivers broke loose over the weekend, unleashing a surge of ice and water that caused major floods, damaged homes and left behind huge chunks of ice as tall as 12 feet (3.7 meters)