Reducing the Incidence of Suicide in Indigenous Groups-Strengths United Through Networks. RISING SUN is an initiative under the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council, coordinated by the Sustainable Development Working Group, and designed as a follow-on activity to the mental wellness project of 2013-2015, led by Canada and collaborating countries. Whereas the project under the Canadian chairmanship of the Arctic Council focused on best practices from the literature and community-based interventions, RISING SUN is designed to take the next logical step: identifying a toolkit of common outcomes to be used in evaluating suicide prevention efforts to assess the key correlates associated with suicide prevention interventions across Arctic states. National Institute of Mental Health

 

Nunavut Government: No Blanket Protection for Caribou Calving Grounds. Hunter and trapper organizations from across the Kivalliq say they're angry at the Government of Nunavut's sudden decision to support potential mining activities on caribou calving grounds.  In a March 7 letter to the GN, the Kivalliq Wildlife Board said local organizations were surprised to hear Nunavut's cabinet ministers had changed the government's policy on caribou habitat. Nunatsiaq Online

Cue Cards for Trudeau: Bringing Arctic Cooperation to DC. Ahead of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's first official visit to the United States on March 10, 2016, The Arctic Institute is publishing a two-part series on opportunities for collaboration between the Prime Minister and President Barack Obama on Arctic Climate Change. The first focuses on the cross-border exchange of renewable energy technology and expertise.  Part two, to be published on Wednesday, will analyze opportunities for a North American Arctic adaptation program to safeguard communities against the most immediate effects of a changing climate. Together, they offer a foundation to jumpstart US-Canadian cooperation in the age of the anthropocene. Part One, below, will argue for President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau to: establish an Arctic cross-border program for renewable energy and microgrid technology and expertise exchange; foster expertise as an export from the Alaskan Arctic, not just energy; augment local capacity to implement projects and affirm local ownership to ensure the program's success; create a shared, long-term vision for climate change action in the North American Arctic. The Arctic Institute

 

[Commentary] Job Losses Predicted in New Study Would Rival Alaska's Worst Ever. A new study shows that Alaska's economy will crash on the scale of the 1980s recession, regardless of how the Legislature handles the state's deficit. What is being decided in Juneau is whether the calamity will be much worse. Gunnar Knapp, director of the University of Alaska Anchorage's Institute of Social and Economic Research, downplays the severity of the coming crash if the Legislature picks the best options outlined in the report he presented last month. But the numbers speak for themselves. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Early Seal Hunt Highlights Unseasonable Weather, Future Uncertainty in Northwest Alaska. One of the warmest winters on record in Alaska means the spring season for bearded seals, or ugruk , has come nearly two months early for some hunters in Western Alaska. Warm weather makes the hunt a little easier, but locals are concerned about precarious sea ice and unpredictable weather. The village of Wales sits out on a point, along the Bering Strait coast, midway between Kotzebue Sound and Norton Sound. Alaska Public Radio