Climate-Change Relocation of Alaska Village Stops After State Audit Finds Potential Wrongdoing. An effort to move an eroding Southwest Alaska village that's a poster child for the negative effects of climate change has lurched to a dramatic halt. A state audit has uncovered potential wrongdoing and said the tribe running the multi-million dollar project should repay some $300,000 in state funds. Alaska Dispatch

State Appeal of Subsistence Ruling Attacked by Natives. The Parnell administration's decision this week to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the latest Katie John subsistence ruling as a states' rights issue was described Tuesday as an assault on rural Alaska by leaders of the Alaska Federation of Natives. The state on Monday appealed a ruling in July by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The state said the appeals court improperly approved Interior Department rules enforcing federal subsistence fishing rights for rural Alaskans on navigable rivers that would otherwise be owned and managed by the state. Anchorage Daily News

Massive Moose Die-Offs: Is Alaska Next? Recent headlines have focused national attention on massive moose die-offs in the Lower 48. The mortalities may be due largely to winter ticks and other parasites. Is that something that could happen in Alaska? It will if nothing is done about it. Like with the hottest fashions, Alaska is often the last state in the union to be hit with trends. But that doesn't mean they can't happen here. If any of the parasites decimating moose populations gain a foothold in Alaska, it could spell the end of moose populations and moose hunting as we know them. Alaska Dispatch

Polar Bear Researchers to Try Crowdsourcing. Polar bear researchers are experimenting with the idea of crowdsourcing data as they study the effects of climate change on the animals. This time of year the bears gather on the Hudson Bay's southwestern shore to wait for the water to freeze so they can trek the ice in search of food. Anchorage Daily News

The Arctic Ceases to be a "Province." The conflict around the Arctic is growing, admits the Russian government. In order to secure the country's economic and geopolitical interests in the region Moscow is planning to upgrade the structure, the military, economic and technical procurement of the armed forces. A major part of the state program of the region's development until 2020 about to be adopted is dedicated to this issue. Voice of Russia

Defense Ministry to Form Ice-Class Patrol Ship Unit. The Russian Defense Ministry will form a unit of ice-class patrol ships, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a teleconference at the ministry's Situational Center on Wednesday. "We are considering the formation of a unit of ice-class patrol ships and new Army hardware. Hopefully, we will find new ways of transportation of cargo in the Arctic, including support for vessels moving along Arctic routes," Shoigu said. Russia Beyond the Headline

Is Time the Most Important Arctic Resource? [Opinion] Oil and gas. Uranium and rare earth metals. Cod and shrimp. Reindeer and seal pelts. These things constitute the bulk of discussions about Arctic resources, yet there's one resource that's overlooked: time. At the Arctic Circle summit in Reykjavik earlier in October, economist and Sami reindeer herder Anders Johansen Eira gave a talk -- "The Challenges of Sami Reindeer Husbandry" -- to about 30 people in a small, cement-walled room floating over Faxaflói Bay in Reykjavik. The audience at the "Hunters and Fishermen" breakout session paled in comparison to the 900-odd people who listened to the plenary sessions in the main conference hall earlier that day. While many plenary speakers at Arctic Circle trotted out tired statistics about the 13 percent of global undiscovered oil in the Arctic or the 40 percent shorter shipping route between Europe and Asia, Eira had something new to say: time is of the essence for reindeer herders. Outside interests are not only encroaching on their pastures, but also on their time, a resource trickier to value than oil or gold. Alaska Dispatch

Arctic Study Targets Prudhoe Bay Effects. An examination of the effects of oil industry installations around Prudhoe Bay is one of two studies of Arctic sustainability selected for funding by a joint program of the National Science Foundation, US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and international partners. The NSF Arctic Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (ArcSEES) program has funded six projects that support interdisciplinary science important to understanding sustainability of the Arctic. Oil and Gas Journal

Polar Bears Gather in Small Canadian Town as Migration Begins. Like any small town, Churchill, Manitoba, has its share of local gossip, colorful figures and Rockwell-like traditions. It also has nearly a thousand polar bears lumber through every fall. Welcome to the "Polar Bear Capital of the World," where each year, this town of 800 gets overtaken with 1,200 pound bears making their way from the northern woodlands of Canada to the frozen Hudson Bay in search of seals. ABC News