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Latest Outdoors and Recreation

A female brown bear and her cub are pictured near Pack Creek on Admiralty Island on July 19, 2024. (Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire)

News

Pack Creek permits for bear viewing area available now

Visitors are welcome from April 1 to Sept. 30.

Photo by Jeff Lund Cold and damp are defining characteristics of this time of year so the warm couch is always tempting.

Neighbors

I Went to the Woods: The fear of fear

What’s the margin of error for being prepared?

Photo by Ned Rozell Golds and greens of aspens and birches adorn a hillside above the Angel Creek drainage east of Fairbanks.

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: The season of senescence is upon us

Trees and other plants are simply shedding what no longer suits them

Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire A bald eagle is pictured near Eagle Beach on Sept. 16.

Neighbors

Weekly Wonder: Eagles, a symbol of hope and patriotism

Every time I see an eagle down south, I think of Rachel Carson

Things you won’t find camping in Southeast Alaska. (Jeff Lund/Juneau Empire)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: Sodium and serenity

The terrain of interior Alaska is captivating in a way that Southeast isn’t

An albacore tuna is hooked on a bait pole on Oct. 9, 2012, in waters off Oregon. Tuna are normally found along the U.S. West Coast but occasionally stray into Alaska waters if temperatures are high enough. Sport anglers catch them with gear similar to that used to hook salmon. (Photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/West Coast Fisheries Management and Marine Life Protection)

Sports

Brief tuna bounty in Southeast Alaska spurs excitement about new fishing opportunity

Waters off Sitka were warm enough to lure fish from the south, and local anglers took advantage of…

A whale breaches near Point Retreat on July 19. (Chloe Anderson/Juneau Empire)

Sports

Weekly Wonder: The whys of whale breaching

Why whales do the things they do remain largely a mystery to us land-bound mammals

The northern lights are pictured near the Mendenhall Glacier on Sept. 3, 2025. (Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire)

Neighbors

Weekly Wonder: Chasing the aurora

She’s hard to find, and even trickier to photograph

Photo by Martin Truffer The 18,008-foot Mount St. Elias rises above Malaspina Glacier and Sitkagi Lagoon (water body center left) in 2021.

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: The long fade of Alaska’s largest glacier

SITKAGI BLUFFS — While paddling a glacial lake complete with icebergs and milky blue water, I dipped my…

Photo by Jeff Lund/Juneau Empire The point of fishing is to catch fish, but there are other things to see and do while out on a trip.

Sports

I Went to the Woods: Fish of the summer

I was amped to be out on the polished ocean and was game for the necessary work of…

A female brown bear and her cub are pictured near Pack Creek on Admiralty Island on July 19, 2024. (Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire)

Sports

Bears: Beloved fuzzy Juneau residents — Part 2

Humor me for a moment and picture yourself next to a brown bear

A gray-headed chickadee feeds along the Canning River in northern Alaska in 2015. Photo by Aaron Lang.

Neighbors

Alaska Science Forum: Calling lost chickadees in far north poplars

If and when beavers do arrive, they could completely change habitats along North Slope river corridors

Old growth habitat is as impressive as it is spectacular. (Photo by Jeff Lund/Juneau Empire)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: The right investments

Engaged participation in restoration and meaningful investment in recreation can make the future of Southeast special

Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire A black bear eats dandelions in a field on June 20 in Juneau.

Sports

Weekly Wonder: Bears: Beloved fuzzy Juneau residents — Part 1

My favorite sight, often visible from Egan drive, is the black bear

Broad-petaled gentian flowers were almost hidden in the other vegetation. (M.F. Wilson)

Sports

On the Trails: Late summer flowers

A stroll on the dike trail yielded floral signs that it was now late summer

A young bear scampers up from the slough. (Photo by Dawn Halls/courtesy)

Sports

On the Trails: Fun in the sun

Sometimes there is good fun right outside one’s doorstep

Chloe Anderson / Juneau Empire A pod of killer whales is pictured in the Lynn Canal on June 3.

Sports

Weekly Wonder: The gray area around black and white

Orcinus orca loosely translates to “barrel-chested creature from hell”

Photo courtesy Jeff Lund The author’s wife with a Dolly Varden.

Sports

I Went to the Woods: The fly fishing ecosystem

Anyone who didn’t drop rent on a single rod on their first trip into a fly shop remembers…

Humpback whales bubblenet feed in Saginaw Channel on July 18, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Chloe Anderson/Juneau Empire)

Sports

Weekly Wonder: Bubblenet feeding shows the humanity in humpback whales

Bubblenet feeding is a complex cooperative behavior handed down from one generation of whales to the next

A flying bat shows its extended hand and fingers of its “hand-wing.” (Photo by Bob Armstrong/courtesy)

Sports

On the Trails: Bats in the belfry

There are now six species of bat known to be resident in Southeast