Tales of a Federal Wildlife Officer: Brown bears at Russian River

Tales of a Federal Wildlife Officer: Brown bears at Russian River

The opening of this year’s sockeye fishery at the Kenai/Russian River confluence brought reports of two yearling brown bear cubs making regular appearances along the… Continue reading

Tales of a Federal Wildlife Officer: Brown bears at Russian River
Spring Chinook Salmon. Photo courtesy Michael Humling, US Fish & Wildlife Service
Spring Chinook Salmon. Photo courtesy Michael Humling, US Fish & Wildlife Service
Spokesman: Great summer for Alaskans to visit national parks

Spokesman: Great summer for Alaskans to visit national parks

“It’s a great summer in Alaska to see the great, big, beautiful national parks in your backyard.”

Spokesman: Great summer for Alaskans to visit national parks
Dunlins, western sandpipers and a dowitcher feed on Saturday, May 2, 2020, on the Homer Spit near Green Timbers in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Out of the Office: In the midst of a pandemic, birds are constant

Scattered on my desk I have three journals: my bullet journal, the daily planner that sort of keeps my life in order; my bird journal… Continue reading

Dunlins, western sandpipers and a dowitcher feed on Saturday, May 2, 2020, on the Homer Spit near Green Timbers in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Refuge Notebook: Kenai fuel break will extend protection of communities

Refuge Notebook: Kenai fuel break will extend protection of communities

It’s no secret that wildfires play a significant ecological role in Alaska’s boreal forests, including those here on the western Kenai Peninsula. Everyone who drives… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: Kenai fuel break will extend protection of communities
Student Julia Merculief in St. Paul, Alaska, explores refuge islands using virtual reality headsets. (Photo by Kendra Bush/USFWS)

Refuge notebook: Visiting remote refuge wilderness from a classroom desk

As the education specialist for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, it is my job to bring the wonders of the refuge’s wildlife and awe-inspiring… Continue reading

Student Julia Merculief in St. Paul, Alaska, explores refuge islands using virtual reality headsets. (Photo by Kendra Bush/USFWS)
Views from the Bird to Gird bike path on a long-awaited trip taken Friday, June 5, 2020, near Bird, Alaska. (Photo by Kat Sorensen)

Tangled Up in Blue: Hope all is well

I was just on my way to the Seward Trail Running Club meetup at Bear Mountain when I got a text from the Clarion’s esteemed… Continue reading

Views from the Bird to Gird bike path on a long-awaited trip taken Friday, June 5, 2020, near Bird, Alaska. (Photo by Kat Sorensen)
Refuge Notebook: Aleutian Islands oddities can win bets

Refuge Notebook: Aleutian Islands oddities can win bets

Want to win a beer bet? Ask someone the location of the most southerly point in Alaska. The answer isn’t in Southeast, near Ketchikan. Rather,… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: Aleutian Islands oddities can win bets
A wheelchair accessible path leads to the Russian River Falls on Sunday, May 24, 2020 in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Out of the Office: Trails that wind, hearts that find

As with a lot of things, Alaska has been lucky to be far removed and largely untouched by the disastrous health effects of the novel… Continue reading

A wheelchair accessible path leads to the Russian River Falls on Sunday, May 24, 2020 in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
(Photo provided)

Tangled Up in Blue: Blunt cuts

I cut my own hair last night. After months of new coronavirus isolation and then a few too many, “Oh wow, Kat! Your hair is… Continue reading

(Photo provided)
Refuge Notebook: The roles of morels

Refuge Notebook: The roles of morels

While people have been taking advantage of the abundance of morels following last year’s Swan Lake Fire, I have been asked many questions about them.… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: The roles of morels
A morel mushroom grows in disturbed gravel on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo credit: USFWS)

Out of the Office: Morels surge confidence

I’m writing this in the car on the drive to Anchorage. My boyfriend, Nate, and I are in the process of moving back to the… Continue reading

A morel mushroom grows in disturbed gravel on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo credit: USFWS)
Refuge Notebook: Spruce beetles 2020

Refuge Notebook: Spruce beetles 2020

Spruce beetles are at it again. I am sad to see large trees in Soldotna with patches of missing bark that indicate woodpeckers are finding… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: Spruce beetles 2020
Tangled Up in Blue: In the long run

Tangled Up in Blue: In the long run

Someone asked me if time has been going by quickly or slowly these days. During the coronavirus pandemic, are my mornings flying by? And in… Continue reading

Tangled Up in Blue: In the long run
Out of the office: Summer arrives

Out of the office: Summer arrives

What was I doing? I asked myself that as a struggled frantically to wiggle my telemark boots into the bindings and continue down the miners… Continue reading

Out of the office: Summer arrives
Refuge Notebook: Learning to love the ‘sweat and shiver’ diet

Refuge Notebook: Learning to love the ‘sweat and shiver’ diet

Have you ever spent a weekend camping, maybe a long weekend, when the rain never seemed to quit? Where on the last day, all you… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: Learning to love the ‘sweat and shiver’ diet
Tangled Up in Blue: AM/FM

Tangled Up in Blue: AM/FM

I woke up to the sound of a stranger crying and decided to go directly back to bed. It was a pang of depressing abnormality… Continue reading

Tangled Up in Blue: AM/FM
Refuge Notebook: Forest morels: Year after fire brings rewards

Refuge Notebook: Forest morels: Year after fire brings rewards

2019 will be synonymous with wildland fire for most of the residents of the Kenai Peninsula, and as the details of date and time fade… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: Forest morels: Year after fire brings rewards
Refuge Notebook: Recreational safety after the Swan Lake Fire

Refuge Notebook: Recreational safety after the Swan Lake Fire

Residents of the Kenai Peninsula are all too familiar with wildfire after the summer of 2019. Not only did the Swan Lake Fire burn for… Continue reading

Refuge Notebook: Recreational safety after the Swan Lake Fire
Out of the office: Painted blue

Out of the office: Painted blue

I went to Homer a few weeks ago to find blue. For weeks I had wanted to paint nothing but blues and purples, but I… Continue reading

Out of the office: Painted blue