Life

Refuge notebook: Alaska’s state bird is one of a kind

Refuge notebook: Alaska’s state bird is one of a kind

I saw a small flock of willow ptarmigan along the Seward Highway near Summit Pass last week. I had to take a hard look as… Continue reading

Refuge notebook: Alaska’s state bird is one of a kind
A metal figurine stands atop a peak in the Mystery Hills on the Kenai Peninsula on April 28, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Column: What will 30 bring for me?

I’ve turned 30 years old recently, and as this occasion arrived, I wondered how different it would feel as I enter this particular stage of… Continue reading

A metal figurine stands atop a peak in the Mystery Hills on the Kenai Peninsula on April 28, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
A male Golden-crowned Kinglet displays its “mohawk” on Fuller Lakes Trail on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Colin Canterbury)

Refuge notebook: Little rock star of the woods

Earlier this month, I took a hike up Fuller Lakes Trail with my dog, Scout. The sun was just peaking over the tips of the… Continue reading

A male Golden-crowned Kinglet displays its “mohawk” on Fuller Lakes Trail on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Colin Canterbury)
Tangled up in Blue: Alley Cats

Tangled up in Blue: Alley Cats

Wednesday night, all the cats of Seward took over the alleys. The second annual Alley Cats Run brought all of the felines in town away… Continue reading

Tangled up in Blue: Alley Cats
Underpasses to help wildlife move across the Sterling Highway is one way to resist changing conditions. (Photo provided by Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge notebook: A new way of thinking about climate adaptation

Last week I was in Madison, Wisconsin, at the National Adaptation Forum. This is an invigorating conference, powered by almost 1,000 passionate people who seek… Continue reading

Underpasses to help wildlife move across the Sterling Highway is one way to resist changing conditions. (Photo provided by Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)
A photo submitted to iNaturalist showing a female Lycia rachelae on April 7, 2016. This is one of only a few species of moths where the female is flightless. (Photo by Matt Bowser/USFWS).

Refuge notebook: Connecting the dots on your next hike

As experts continue to learn more about our environment and flood the world with facts, figures, predictions and management directions, it can be a little… Continue reading

A photo submitted to iNaturalist showing a female Lycia rachelae on April 7, 2016. This is one of only a few species of moths where the female is flightless. (Photo by Matt Bowser/USFWS).
Refuge to provide campfire cooking lessons at Sport Show

Refuge to provide campfire cooking lessons at Sport Show

The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge will provide hook to table, hands-on campfire cooking lessons at the Kenai Peninsula Sport Rec and Trade Show, which is… Continue reading

Refuge to provide campfire cooking lessons at Sport Show
Skis and poles, ready for crust skiing, sit at the Dale Clemens Cabin above Resurrection Bay and Seward on April 12, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Out of the office: Winter to summer

In January, it took allusions to neuroscience, the Green Bay Packers and Metallica for me to explain in this space how the Culture of the… Continue reading

Skis and poles, ready for crust skiing, sit at the Dale Clemens Cabin above Resurrection Bay and Seward on April 12, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Tutka Backdoor Trail project gaining momentum

Tutka Backdoor Trail project gaining momentum

The rugged backcountry on the south side of Kachemak Bay is getting a fresh look from hikers with an eye on connecting two coasts. As… Continue reading

Tutka Backdoor Trail project gaining momentum
Nikki Aufiero practices a handstand at Fourth of July Beach near Seward, Alaska, in April 2019. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Tangled up in Blue: The other ocean

I got confused looking out at Resurrection Bay recently. The horizon was clouded, none of the mountains that typically line the coast were visible from… Continue reading

Nikki Aufiero practices a handstand at Fourth of July Beach near Seward, Alaska, in April 2019. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
Pilot-biologist Dom Watts flying out of Fairbanks in a Super Cub. (Photo provided by Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

The road to becoming a U.S. Fish & Wildlife pilot-biologist

I remember the first time my Uncle Larry flew down in his Cessna and picked me up at the little airport a few miles from… Continue reading

Pilot-biologist Dom Watts flying out of Fairbanks in a Super Cub. (Photo provided by Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)
An ulu the author made as part of the Alaska Humanities Forum Sister School Exchange. (Photo provided by author)

Out of the Office: A sister school experience

As I write this column, I’m drowning in stories of Legislature budgets, potential school closures and some guy stealing a mammoth tusk in Anchorage. There’s… Continue reading

An ulu the author made as part of the Alaska Humanities Forum Sister School Exchange. (Photo provided by author)
A Columbian snowfly recently emerged from the Kenai River at Soldotna Creek Park on March 29, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Matt Bowser/USFWS)

Refuge notebook: Winter stonefly season on the Kenai

If you spend any time near the Kenai River in Soldotna from March to May you may have noticed elongate, roughly one-third-inch long, dark stoneflies… Continue reading

A Columbian snowfly recently emerged from the Kenai River at Soldotna Creek Park on March 29, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Matt Bowser/USFWS)
The red-breasted nuthatch is one of our common resident bird species. (Photo provided by Kyla Canterbury)

Refuge notebook: Resident bird songs welcome spring

I am always pleasantly surprised by the influx of daylight hours and sunshine that comes to the Kenai Peninsula in the last weeks of March.… Continue reading

The red-breasted nuthatch is one of our common resident bird species. (Photo provided by Kyla Canterbury)
The crust skiing in the hills above Seward has been epic lately. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Tangled up in Blue: Tunnels

I heard there are tunnels just below the streets of Seward, vacant remnants of an Army looking to protect the coast. There are small signs… Continue reading

The crust skiing in the hills above Seward has been epic lately. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Gayla Hoseth, 2nd Chief of Curyung Tribal Council and Director of Natural Resources at Bristol Bay Native Association, left, Norman Van Vactor, CEO of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, center, and former Alaska legislator Rick Halford, present at a press conference against thePebble Mine project on Monday, April 1, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Scientists: Pebble Mine study doesn’t account for all risks

Group says Army Corps study does not pass as credible science.

Gayla Hoseth, 2nd Chief of Curyung Tribal Council and Director of Natural Resources at Bristol Bay Native Association, left, Norman Van Vactor, CEO of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, center, and former Alaska legislator Rick Halford, present at a press conference against thePebble Mine project on Monday, April 1, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Painting Lines

Painting Lines

I have been drawing those lines my whole life.

Painting Lines
In this scene from Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1962 film ‘Ivan’s Childhood,’ two characters kiss over a ravine in a birch forest.

Tangled up in Blue: In the birch grove

I’m ready for the snow to melt. I don’t want my fellow winter recreation enthusiasts to hate me for saying this, but as Seward is… Continue reading

In this scene from Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1962 film ‘Ivan’s Childhood,’ two characters kiss over a ravine in a birch forest.
Refuge notebook: 2 refuges on the Pacific Flyway share similarities, differences

Refuge notebook: 2 refuges on the Pacific Flyway share similarities, differences

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt established Pelican Island, off the coast of Florida, as the first federal refuge. This put migratory bird conservation as a… Continue reading

Refuge notebook: 2 refuges on the Pacific Flyway share similarities, differences
Two birders scan Bishop’s Beach on Saturday afternoon, May 12, 2018, during the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. (Photo by Michael Armstrong / Homer News).

Birding: the universal outdoors activity

Like many imported Alaskans, I have a long list of outdoor activities I acquired after moving here in 1979: skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, dog mushing,… Continue reading

Two birders scan Bishop’s Beach on Saturday afternoon, May 12, 2018, during the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. (Photo by Michael Armstrong / Homer News).