Alaska Outdoors

Alaska Science Forum: The worst fire year we can remember

Here’s how it happened.

The author’s appreciation for steelhead has turned into something like reverence considering what’s happening to populations in the Lower 48 and Canada. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: Silent steel

“You forget most of what ends up in the freezer, but those steelhead, they stick with you.”

The author’s appreciation for steelhead has turned into something like reverence considering what’s happening to populations in the Lower 48 and Canada. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
A male red-winged blackbird displays his showy red patches and calls to a rival male (Gina Vose photo)

On the Trails: Birds and beetles at Kingfisher Pond

Something is almost always happening at Kingfisher Pond.

A male red-winged blackbird displays his showy red patches and calls to a rival male (Gina Vose photo)
Heather Best (in water), a USGS hydrologist, prepares to toss a road-grader blade with a river-measuring device attached into the Yukon River near Eagle, Alaska. USGS hydrologic technician Liz Richards watches for icebergs. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Wading into the icy Yukon River for science

EAGLE, ALASKA — Snow geese flew in a ragged V overhead, rasping as they looked down upon Alaska’s bumpy face for the first time in… Continue reading

Heather Best (in water), a USGS hydrologist, prepares to toss a road-grader blade with a river-measuring device attached into the Yukon River near Eagle, Alaska. USGS hydrologic technician Liz Richards watches for icebergs. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
view of Angoon in February of 2015. (Courtesy Photo / Mary Catharine Martin)

The SalmonState: Listen, then support — a new approach in Southeast Alaska is a long time in the works

A look at a few of the projects and priorities in the works.

view of Angoon in February of 2015. (Courtesy Photo / Mary Catharine Martin)
A golden-crowned sparrow nibbled on elderberry flower buds. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

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

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

A golden-crowned sparrow nibbled on elderberry flower buds. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
This photo shows a Wilson’s warbler, which breeds in shrub habitat on the Tongass National Forest. (Courtesy Photo / Gwenn Baluss, U.S. Forest Service)

Saturday is for the birds

Global Bid Day and World Migratory Bird Day.

This photo shows a Wilson’s warbler, which breeds in shrub habitat on the Tongass National Forest. (Courtesy Photo / Gwenn Baluss, U.S. Forest Service)
Ryan John makes his way to a glassing spot on a grass flat to look for black bears. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: Inside the Numbers

Numbers are important, but they never tell the entire story.

Ryan John makes his way to a glassing spot on a grass flat to look for black bears. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
A white-winged scoter handles a prickly sea urchin. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: An April scrapbook of little observations

Spring wings and other things.

A white-winged scoter handles a prickly sea urchin. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
The frozen Yukon River at Eagle, Alaska, in February 2020. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Awaiting river breakup on the Yukon

By Ned Rozell Andy Bassich lives on the south bank of the Yukon River, about 12 miles downstream from Eagle, Alaska, the first community in… Continue reading

The frozen Yukon River at Eagle, Alaska, in February 2020. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
This photo shows black garden ants tending citrus mealybug. When injured, colonial animals such as ants and bees, may emit a type of alarm signal that also calls in reinforcements, to help repel possible danger.(Courtesy Photo / Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C)

On the Trails: The smell of fear

It’s not fiction.

This photo shows black garden ants tending citrus mealybug. When injured, colonial animals such as ants and bees, may emit a type of alarm signal that also calls in reinforcements, to help repel possible danger.(Courtesy Photo / Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C)
Orcas swim near the the shore of Kupreanof Island on April 26. (Courtesy Photo / Joe Sebastian)

Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska

Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska

Orcas swim near the the shore of Kupreanof Island on April 26. (Courtesy Photo / Joe Sebastian)
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)

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

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

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)
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)

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.

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)
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)

On the Trails: Reproductive delays in mammals

By Mary F. Willson For the Juneau Empire Human animals have a simple, direct system: copulation and sperm delivery may lead to fertilization of an… Continue reading

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)
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)

Alaska Science Forum: Endless northern winter about to end

The end is in sight.

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)
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)

I Went to the Woods: All about style

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

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)
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)

On the Trails: Same name, very different birds

A tale of two (or more) robins.

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

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

By Ned Rozell NORTH OF COLDFOOT — The lynx looks out from inside a chicken-wire cage. Despite its loss of freedom and the nearby squeaking… Continue reading

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

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