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Neighbors

Slack Tide: Good day, sunshine

Good morning, good morning, here comes the sun king.

A golden-crowned sparrow nibbled on elderberry flower buds. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

News

On the Trails: Enjoying birds, blooms and more near the Mendenhall Glacier

The trail to Nugget Falls was a lively place in early May.

Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)

Neighbors

Coming Out: My second skin

I’m sloughing off those old pernicious ideas and wearing a second skin.

A white-winged scoter handles a prickly sea urchin. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

News

On the Trails: An April scrapbook of little observations

Spring wings and other things.

Michelle Bonnet Hale (Courtesy Photo)

Neighbors

Coming Out: Dodged that bullet

“You deserve your own process.”

The author’s dog Cora rides a canoe on the Yukon River. Two-thirds of all the flowing water in Alaska makes its way into the Yukon. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

News

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska’s water crop is a natural resource

Alaska’s freshwater supply is so abundant the numbers are hard to comprehend.

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News

I Went to the Woods: Here they come

Tourism isn’t all good and it isn’t all bad.

George Divoky and his friend Matt Thomas pose in front of Divoky’s cabin on Cooper Island after repairing polar-bear damage in April, 2022. (Courtesy Photo / Craig George)

News

Alaska Science Forum: His 48th summer on top of the world

In the ’80s, 225 pairs of black guillemots nested on Cooper Island. Last year: 25 pairs counted.

Nikki is an old favorite that we see near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center; here she is with a couple of new cubs. Black bears mate in early summer, but the fertilized egg is not implanted until fall; then gestation takes about seven months, resulting in a tiny cub that won’t emerge from the den until early summer. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)

News

On the Trails: Reproductive delays in mammals

By Mary F. Willson

Two dogs greet each other Jan. 7, 2022, when the temperature was minus 22F and the sun set before 5 p.m. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

News

Alaska Science Forum: Endless northern winter about to end

The end is in sight.

Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)

Neighbors

Coming Out: Swimming to Hell

The self as examined by punk rockers and Sartre.

Janalee Minnich Gage, activist and artist at home in Ketchikan. (Courtesy Photo / Janalee Minnich Gage)

News

Planet Alaska: ‘A day that changed everything’

“Whoosh! I was floating,”

It's not that Southeast Alaskans don't have style, it's just that the style happens to contain a lot of waterproof materials such as the jacket his wife wore to check shrimp pots. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

News

I Went to the Woods: All about style

Style isn’t about clothing, it’s everything.

This photo, available under a Creative Commons license, shows a European robin. While its name is similar to that of the American robin, they are not closely related. (Courtesy Photo / Charles J. Sharp)

News

On the Trails: Same name, very different birds

A tale of two (or more) robins.

The paw of an anesthetized female lynx trapped north of the Arctic Circle that weighed 22 pounds. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

News

Alaska Science Forum: Live-trapping lynx in the far north

By Ned Rozell

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News

Sustainable Alaska: Cosmic consciousness, Earth Day, and the magic of time and space

Earlier this spring I had the great privilege of skiing from Knik Lake to McGrath…

Keishísh enjoys the beach in Juneau (Yeilk’ Vivian Mork / For the Capital City Weekly)

News

Planet Alaska: This old dog

This old dog is a good dog.

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News

On the Trails: Whelks learning and hemlocks fluting

Whelk-learned individuals.

The author thought this reel was about five years old, but this photo from a trip to the Truckee River in California seven years ago made him realize just how long his favorite reel has been around. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

News

I Went to the Woods: What makes a favorite

By Jeff Lund

An injured coyote with only three usable legs has survived over a year, hunting small mammals. (Courtesy Photo / Cheryl Cook)

News

On the Trails: Wild animals surviving serious injuries

To be adaptive, the benefits have to outweigh such costs.