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Albino Steller sea lion at Faust Rock on June 30. (Photo by Richard Fagnant)

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Wild Shots

To showcase our readers’ work to the widest possible audience, Wild Shots have been moved in front of…

Photos by Mary F. Willson
Female goatsbeard flowers, left, are less conspicuous, so the inflorescence is less decorative. Male goatsbeard flowers, right, have visible stamens and slightly larger petals than females, making the inflorescence showy.

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On the Trails: Cowee Meadows

On a cool, gray day just after the sunny summer solstice, a group of friends set out to…

Common Merganser with five chics on Salt Chuck on June 17 in Juneau. (Courtesy Photo / Kenneth Gill, gillfoto)

Neighbors

Wild Shots

To showcase our readers’ work to the widest possible audience, Wild Shots have been moved in front of…

The inflorescences of cow parsnip are sheathed protectively, often with an attendant leaf that may emerge before the inflorescence, as shown here. (Photo by Mary F. Willson)

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On the Trails: Lupine and cow parsnip puzzles

From time to time, I venture out on the wetlands. I have to prepare myself to endure the…

Washboard roads form on dry, unpaved road surfaces, of which there are many in Alaska. (Illustration by Liza McElroy)

Neighbors

Alaska Science Forum: The ups and downs of washboard roads

While driving Alaska’s graveled highways, people sometimes wonder how an unpaved road can turn into a bed of…

The author’s backyard overlooking a forested ridge. (Photo by Peggy Barnhill)

Neighbors

Gimme a Smile: Welcome to my backyard

KINY is running a photo contest of pictures of your backyard to win a backyard BBQ set. Here’s…

Brendan West, 17, left, and Jack Adams, 15, guide one sailboat while Wesley Torgerson, 16, helps guide another to the dock during a Juneau Youth Sailing course this week. (Therese Pokorney / Juneau Empire)

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Juneau Youth Sailing makes waves, inspires young mariners

Participants navigate the waters of growth, confidence and adventure on Gastineau Channel.

The author and his wife stand on a ridge near Denali National Park earlier in June. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

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I Went to the Woods: Timing doesn’t always matter

The bobber bobbed and I set.

Hazel Sutton, 13, pauses at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge at the end of her shift monitoring tree swallow nest-boxes. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

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Alaska Science Forum: A new teenager and her unusual bird

Hazel Sutton was eating lunch on an island at Tanana Lakes Recreation Area in Fairbanks with her family…

The author’s wife hikes down the ridge of a still snow-covered mountain. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

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I Went to the Woods: The summer bod

It’s summer bod time.

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On the Trails: A mallard family, juncos, and tadpoles

One evening in late May, long after most female mallards had gone off to incubate their eggs, a…

A white butterfly rests upon a fern Saturday at Prince of Wales Island. (Courtesy Photo / Marti Crutcher)

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Wild Shots

Reader-submitted photos of Mother Nature in Southeast Alaska.

A polar bear feeds near a pile of whale bones north of Utqiaġvik. (Courtesy Photo /Ned Rozell)

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Alaska Science Forum: Polar bears of the past survived warmth

In a recent paper, scientists wrote that a small population of polar bears living off Greenland and Arctic…

A newly hatched bald eagle chick is attended to by an adult. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

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On the Trails: Springtime fun and signs of new life

When spring finally came, it came in a rush. Cottonwood and alder leaves fairly leaped from the buds…

Feltleaf willow leaves emerge beneath where a moose nipped off buds during winter of 2022-2023 in Fairbanks. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

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Alaska Science Forum: Feltleaf willows — Alaska’s most abundant tree

Imagine being a moose in late May…

Nature often provides an escape from the brutality of modern life, but it can’t always provide the answers we seek. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

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I Went to the Woods: Into the maze

“Into the Wild” and “The Grizzly Maze” are complex reads.

A family of orcas swam along the shore (Courtesy Photo / DJ Kyser)

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On the Trails: Orcas, sand lance, and a junco

The highlight of our Berners Bay cruise…

Ryan Becker, a teacher at the Eagle school, takes a photo of his students as part of a continuing Yukon River ice study on May 12, 2023. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

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Alaska Science Forum: When river breakup came to Eagle

the Yukon River’s solid sheets were breaking into smaller pieces.

A skunk cabbage inflorescence shows the pointed stigmas of the female phase and the beginning of pollen presentation for the male phase. (Mary F. Willson / For the Juneau Empire)

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On the Trails: Spring has sprung

Early avian harbingers have been joined by lots of other species…

Artist Liza McElroy of Seward, Alaska, recently sketched two moose in their summertime aquatic environment to illustrate this story. (Courtesy Image / Liza McElroy)

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Alaska Science Forum: Why is a moose’s nose so big?

The more you nose.