Peninsula Clarion Contributor

A beaver coasts by in search of the perfect stick for a dam repair. (Photo by C. Canterbury, USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: More research needed to determine beavers’ impact on landscape

Do you ever stare at a map and wonder what that seemingly amazing place looks like in real life? Staring at the contours and colors… Continue reading

A beaver coasts by in search of the perfect stick for a dam repair. (Photo by C. Canterbury, USFWS)
Nature-based solutions like conserving peatlands and encouraging beaver in the right places and times are promising tools for ensuring abundant cool waters for fish and people. (Photo by C. Canterbury/USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: Water is life

When you think of Alaska and wildlife, the image of waters teeming with the bright red colors of salmon and brown bears fishing for them… Continue reading

Nature-based solutions like conserving peatlands and encouraging beaver in the right places and times are promising tools for ensuring abundant cool waters for fish and people. (Photo by C. Canterbury/USFWS)
Snowshoers talk with Ranger Leah Eskelin during a December snowshoe walk at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.  (Photo by Catie Shelden)

Refuge Notebook: Take it from the hare, snowshoes are the way to go!

The holidays are behind us, but there is still a whole lot of winter ahead. I love the rush and excitement of the early winter… Continue reading

Snowshoers talk with Ranger Leah Eskelin during a December snowshoe walk at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.  (Photo by Catie Shelden)
Sunset views of snow-covered Kenai Mountains and the far eastern section of Skilak Lake. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: Changing winters bring new conservation challenges

Like most everyone here in Southcentral Alaska, much of my leisure time and a good bit of my otherwise normally encumbered time during the last… Continue reading

Sunset views of snow-covered Kenai Mountains and the far eastern section of Skilak Lake. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS)
The snowshoelike feet of the lynx makes it well suited for traveling over snow. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: Snow — good or bad for wildlife? It depends

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas and has been since the big storm that arrived a few weeks ago, dumping between 2 and… Continue reading

The snowshoelike feet of the lynx makes it well suited for traveling over snow. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS)
Riding out to explore a barrier reef. (Photo by Mark Laker/USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: The benefits of being a naturalist

Looking at the 2-plus feet of snow on my deck, I can’t help thinking about my opportunity to visit Fiji this past summer. Since I… Continue reading

Riding out to explore a barrier reef. (Photo by Mark Laker/USFWS)
My daughter with our catch of one char (the largest fish) and two trout at Drake Lake, June 17, 2012. (Photo by Matt Bowser)

Refuge Notebook: Revisiting Arctic char

One Father’s Day several years ago, my daughter and I drove out to the Drake/Skookum Lake Trail off Swanson River Road. Our goal was to… Continue reading

My daughter with our catch of one char (the largest fish) and two trout at Drake Lake, June 17, 2012. (Photo by Matt Bowser)
Forests surrounding the Kenai River. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: Expect the unexpected

Climate change is changing conservation. We used to set goals and objectives around returning to historical conditions, a time when people’s impact on land, water… Continue reading

Forests surrounding the Kenai River. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS)
Freshwater invertebrates after processing in a kitchen blender. (Photo by Matt Bowser/USFWS)

Invertebrates recover at Miller Creek

Just over a year ago, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game applied the pesticide rotenone to two lakes and a stream in the remote… Continue reading

Freshwater invertebrates after processing in a kitchen blender. (Photo by Matt Bowser/USFWS)
Invasive green crab. (Photo by Ryan Munes, USFWS)

Crabby about invasive green crabs

They’re described as one of the biggest threats to Alaska’s marine environment, and you’ve probably never heard of them. This year, they were found in… Continue reading

Invasive green crab. (Photo by Ryan Munes, USFWS)
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Refuge Notebook: Day two, the day my life changed forever

Picture this; you have just flown over 3,000 miles from Anchorage to Washington, D.C. It’s two o’clock in the morning, and you wait an hour… Continue reading

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Time on the canoe system is both beautiful and relaxing. (Photo by Matt Bowser)

Refuge Notebook: From the Boundary Waters to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge — No longer a race across the continent

Editor’s note: This is the fourth of a four-part series. “Those who have never seen Superior get an inadequate, even inaccurate, idea by hearing it… Continue reading

Time on the canoe system is both beautiful and relaxing. (Photo by Matt Bowser)
The 17-foot, 45-pound beauty Nate Grinnell built for the expedition. (Photo by Julie Grinnell)

Refuge Notebook: The Boundary Waters to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge — A coyote among humans

May 1, Lachine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I finally found myself standing on a dock on the Saint Lawrence Seaway, above the Lachine Rapids, the traditional… Continue reading

The 17-foot, 45-pound beauty Nate Grinnell built for the expedition. (Photo by Julie Grinnell)
The cedar-built kayak Nate Grinnell built to follow the voyageur's journey. (Photo by Julie Grinnell)

Refuge Notebook: From the Boundary Waters to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge — To build a boat

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a four-part series. Now I have done a fair amount of whitewater kayaking and canoeing, but trying to… Continue reading

The cedar-built kayak Nate Grinnell built to follow the voyageur's journey. (Photo by Julie Grinnell)
This is the artwork, of the voyageurs "Shooting the Rapids," that hung in the author's family cabin that inspired his trip. (Credit: Frances Anne Hopkins / Library and Archives Canada)

Refuge Notebook: From the Boundary Waters to the Kenai refuge: The beginning

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a four-part series. Starting at the western tip of Lake Superior, the Quetico-Superior Country runs along 150 miles… Continue reading

This is the artwork, of the voyageurs "Shooting the Rapids," that hung in the author's family cabin that inspired his trip. (Credit: Frances Anne Hopkins / Library and Archives Canada)
Soldotna's Wyatt Faircloth rushes against Wasilla on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Wasilla, Alaska. (Photo by Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman)

Soldotna football rolls past Wasilla, stays perfect

Another trip to the Mat-Su, and another big win for the Soldotna Stars. Soldotna ran to a 48-14 win over the Wasilla Warriors on Friday… Continue reading

Soldotna's Wyatt Faircloth rushes against Wasilla on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Wasilla, Alaska. (Photo by Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman)
The daddy longlegs Nelima paessleri is abundant in Kenai Peninsula forests. It commonly enters crawl spaces in the fall. (Photo by Matt Bowser/UWFWS)

Refuge Notebook: Daddy longlegs of home, garden and mountains

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2005. It is republished with some updates. Fall is the time of year when, like them or… Continue reading

The daddy longlegs Nelima paessleri is abundant in Kenai Peninsula forests. It commonly enters crawl spaces in the fall. (Photo by Matt Bowser/UWFWS)
Homer’s Morgan Techie slips by Barrow’s Jason Akpik on a successful run to score Homer’s first touchdown at homecoming on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Football roundup: Kenai, SoHi, Homer get big conference wins

By JEREMIAH BARTZ Frontiersman.com The Soldotna Stars rode their running attack to another big win over a longtime rival. The Stars stormed to a 49-7… Continue reading

Homer’s Morgan Techie slips by Barrow’s Jason Akpik on a successful run to score Homer’s first touchdown at homecoming on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Wetlands in the Selawik Refuge that were mapped in the USFWS National Wetlands Inventory. (Photo by USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: Aerial photography exploration, innovation expands into remote sensing

Editor’s Note: This is the third part of a series the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is doing on the history of remote sensing and aerial… Continue reading

Wetlands in the Selawik Refuge that were mapped in the USFWS National Wetlands Inventory. (Photo by USFWS)
Denali today, whose height was first calculated by Bradford Washburn at 20,320 feet. (Photo by David Merz)

Refuge Notebook: Bradford Washburn — an early explorer’s use of aerial photography over a century of exploration, science

Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a series the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is doing on the history of remote sensing and aerial… Continue reading

Denali today, whose height was first calculated by Bradford Washburn at 20,320 feet. (Photo by David Merz)