Alaska Outdoors

Public lands are a unique privilege that Americans should relish and protect. (Photo courtesy Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: The comment section: Where discourse goes to die

Someone always takes it upon themselves to filter a post, headline, story or ideas through their political view and come up with a divisive hot take.

 

The dainty little flowers of sheep sorrel are either male or female, but not both. (Photo courtesy Mary F. Willson)

On the Trails: Butterworts, leaf rollers, and invasive flowers

On a bright, sunny day in mid-June, a friend and I strolled on the Lower Loop trail at Eaglecrest. Out in the meadows, we found… Continue reading

 

The author with a king salmon caught on a fly rod. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: No time like the present

The end of my line thrashed back and forth at the surface, throwing water in every direction. But the fish didn’t turn and run, so… Continue reading

 

Male wood ducks have colorful plumage and do not share parental duties. (Photo courtesy of Kerry Howard)

On the Trails: Wood ducks

Wood ducks nest seasonally in forested areas across North America from coast to coast in southern Canada and the northern tier of states. From southern… Continue reading

Male wood ducks have colorful plumage and do not share parental duties. (Photo courtesy of Kerry Howard)
Natural hydrogen gas may be trapped under the surface of Alaska in many areas, such as here in the Brooks Range. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Geologic hydrogen may be an answer

The internal combustion engine is less than 100 years old. Same for the technologies we have developed to pull oil and gas from the ground.… Continue reading

Natural hydrogen gas may be trapped under the surface of Alaska in many areas, such as here in the Brooks Range. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
The Dalton Highway, built in 1974 to construct the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, allows the public to access the Brooks Range and North Slope like the author did in 2022. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: The theater is over, let the work begin

The election is over. It’s time to catch our collective breath and re-enter reality. The far right and the far left are mirrors of each… Continue reading

The Dalton Highway, built in 1974 to construct the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, allows the public to access the Brooks Range and North Slope like the author did in 2022. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
A piece of obsidian rock sits on display in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. William Healey Dall collected the rock in 1868 near the Nowitna River in Interior Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Rasic)

Alaska Science Forum: The recent history of a black rock

In June of 1867 — a few months before Alaska would become part of the United States with the transfer of $7.2 million to Russia… Continue reading

A piece of obsidian rock sits on display in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. William Healey Dall collected the rock in 1868 near the Nowitna River in Interior Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Rasic)
For the author the suspense of checking shrimp pots begins with finding the buoy, not pulling the pot. (Screenshot from video by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Moment of truth

“Is that our buoy?” Terror. What is it doing there? It’s supposed to be around the rocky corner in a little nook protected from the… Continue reading

For the author the suspense of checking shrimp pots begins with finding the buoy, not pulling the pot. (Screenshot from video by Jeff Lund)
Leanne Bulger stands holding her daughter Violet, 2, next to Rose, 6, within a sunken thawed-permafrost feature called a thermokarst in the boreal forest on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus on May 22, 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: A backyard science expedition, in diapers

By Ned Rozell

Leanne Bulger stands holding her daughter Violet, 2, next to Rose, 6, within a sunken thawed-permafrost feature called a thermokarst in the boreal forest on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus on May 22, 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
Kayak paddles and a spear tipped with a sharpened rock lie in a volcanic cave on the Seward Peninsula in 2010. (Photo by Ben Jones)

Alaska Science Forum: Treasures found within a volcanic cave

Ben Jones suspected he had found something special when he squeezed into a volcanic cave and saw pale wooden poles, some with ends shaped like… Continue reading

Kayak paddles and a spear tipped with a sharpened rock lie in a volcanic cave on the Seward Peninsula in 2010. (Photo by Ben Jones)
A beach marmot carries nest material to its den. (Photo by Jos Bakker)

On the Trails: Spring is really happening

A spate of fine, sunny weather in mid-April was most welcome. Those clear skies, however, meant that the nights were still about crispy, and at… Continue reading

A beach marmot carries nest material to its den. (Photo by Jos Bakker)
La Perouse Glacier in Southeast Alaska retreats from a campsite in summer 2021. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Number of Alaska glaciers is everchanging

A glaciologist once wrote that the number of glaciers in Alaska “is estimated at (greater than) 100,000.” That fuzzy number, perhaps written in passive voice… Continue reading

La Perouse Glacier in Southeast Alaska retreats from a campsite in summer 2021. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
Aren Gunderson of the UA Museum of the North inspects the back paw of a Siberian tiger donated recently by officials of the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage after the tiger died at age 19. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Siberian tiger takes final rest at museum

It’s a safe bet that Aren Gunderson’s Toyota Tundra is the only one in Fairbanks that has had its bed filled with a Siberian tiger.… Continue reading

Aren Gunderson of the UA Museum of the North inspects the back paw of a Siberian tiger donated recently by officials of the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage after the tiger died at age 19. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
Peter Delamere poses in front of a sign in Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range during the 2024 Iditarod Trail Invitational race. On his face is a “nose-hat” invented by Fairbanks athlete Shalane Frost. (Photo by Peter Delamere)

Alaska Science Forum: Long winter bike ride aided by naps

If you could have read that frost-covered fat-biker’s mind as he rolled toward McGrath, Alaska, “as if Velcroed to the snow,” you might have suspected… Continue reading

Peter Delamere poses in front of a sign in Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range during the 2024 Iditarod Trail Invitational race. On his face is a “nose-hat” invented by Fairbanks athlete Shalane Frost. (Photo by Peter Delamere)
Compromise isn’t always possible, but when it is Alaskans benefit greatly when posturing is replaced with good-faith negotiations that yield results that help Alaskans. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: The future of fish

The Forest Service cabin was a sauna so I went outside, stood at the edge of the lake and listened. We had hauled in some… Continue reading

Compromise isn’t always possible, but when it is Alaskans benefit greatly when posturing is replaced with good-faith negotiations that yield results that help Alaskans. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
A boreal owl perches in a spruce tree not far from a nest box from which he has been singing each night in March 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Boreal owls perform by daylight

On these March nights, a male boreal owl has been singing from a wooden owl box near our home. The late biologist Dave Klein attached… Continue reading

A boreal owl perches in a spruce tree not far from a nest box from which he has been singing each night in March 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
A pine grosbeak munches on some old berries. (Photo by Kerry Howard)

On the Trails: Animal tracks and pine grosbeaks

February had an extra day this year, a cold and gusty one. Those gusts were enough to knock me off balance and make it temporarily… Continue reading

A pine grosbeak munches on some old berries. (Photo by Kerry Howard)
A man walks a Fairbanks street during an ice-fog episode in January 2012. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Ice fog not often a part of northern life

An old friend — a character not seen in these parts for a few years — showed up last week in Fairbanks. Ice fog. Ice… Continue reading

A man walks a Fairbanks street during an ice-fog episode in January 2012. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
While the weather forecast plays a big role in ocean adventures, the gut often has final say. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Math meets guts

I found myself emotionally involved Sunday and felt the pending demise of the Detroit Lions with every dropped pass. I liked the story of the… Continue reading

While the weather forecast plays a big role in ocean adventures, the gut often has final say. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
From left, Cole Richards, Lynn Kaluzienski and Carl Tape prepare to stick seismometers in frozen ground during a February 2019 mission to deploy instruments along the Denali seismic fault. The instruments helped scientists recently find the presence of a body of molten rock seven miles deep. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Magma found beneath volcano-less country

For years, scientists have wondered why North America’s highest mountain is not a volcano. All the ingredients for volcanic activity lurk deep beneath Denali, which… Continue reading

From left, Cole Richards, Lynn Kaluzienski and Carl Tape prepare to stick seismometers in frozen ground during a February 2019 mission to deploy instruments along the Denali seismic fault. The instruments helped scientists recently find the presence of a body of molten rock seven miles deep. (Photo by Ned Rozell)