Life

Flowered spikes that look like erect pine cones are why this parasitic plant that grows in northern latitudes is called the Northern Groundcone. (Photo by Leslie Morton)

Refuge Notebook: Northern Groundcones – the cure for cancer?

In the 1992 movie “Medicine Man,” Sean Connery plays a scientist who discovers the cure for cancer in a rare ant species in the Amazon… Continue reading

Flowered spikes that look like erect pine cones are why this parasitic plant that grows in northern latitudes is called the Northern Groundcone. (Photo by Leslie Morton)

An Outdoor View: Shrews

Author’s note: The Clarion first published this column on Sept. 18, 1987. I’ve edited it for brevity. — LP Unless you live in Australia or… Continue reading

Out of the Office: Hands on

Out of the Office: Hands on

A palm reader once told me I’d marry a dark-haired man, but wouldn’t lead a long life. Since then, I’ve decided I don’t believe in… Continue reading

Out of the Office: Hands on

Trapping season approaches

Regulations for trapping throughout the state vary, but trapping season on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is almost here. Anyone looking for a unique way… Continue reading

Remains of an aluminum soda can that was chewed on by wolf pups at a wolf natal den on the Kenai Peninsula. (Photo by Ted Bailey)

Refuge Notebook: Secure natal dens are vital for many carnivorous mammals

A hidden, secure place to give birth to and rear young is vital to many carnivorous mammals. This is especially true for solitary carnivores in… Continue reading

Remains of an aluminum soda can that was chewed on by wolf pups at a wolf natal den on the Kenai Peninsula. (Photo by Ted Bailey)
Lily Craig shows off the silver salmon she caught on the Kenai River during the Kenai Chamber of Commerce’s first annual silver salmon derby in September 2017. (Photo courtesy Nathaniel Craig)

Silver derby wraps up with 200+ entries

With the first Kenai River Silver Salmon Derby officially closed, the Kenai Chamber of Commerce is calling it a success. The derby organizers weighed their… Continue reading

Lily Craig shows off the silver salmon she caught on the Kenai River during the Kenai Chamber of Commerce’s first annual silver salmon derby in September 2017. (Photo courtesy Nathaniel Craig)

An Outdoor View: On risks, disasters and deprivation

With so many people having to leave their homes due to natural disasters in recent weeks, I got to thinking about disasters. During the hurricanes,… Continue reading

At the close of the first day of Kenai’s Silver Salmon Derby, Kenai mayor Brian Gabriel spins one of the two wheels that generate the “magic weight,” allowing the catcher of the fish closest to that weight to win a percentage of the day’s derby earning, on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at Three Bears grocery store in Kenai, Alaska. The wheels settled on a magic weight of 7.85 pounds. Of the 43 silver salmon brought to Three Bears to be weighed and entered on Wednesday, the winner was 8.13 pounds. The Kenai silver derby is a new promotional event in its first year, put on by the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Kenai’s city government. Complete rules can be found on the Kenai Chamber of Commerce website or at Three Bears grocery. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Wheel of Silvers

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to show the magic weight on Wednesday was determined to be 7.85 pounds. At the close of the… Continue reading

At the close of the first day of Kenai’s Silver Salmon Derby, Kenai mayor Brian Gabriel spins one of the two wheels that generate the “magic weight,” allowing the catcher of the fish closest to that weight to win a percentage of the day’s derby earning, on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at Three Bears grocery store in Kenai, Alaska. The wheels settled on a magic weight of 7.85 pounds. Of the 43 silver salmon brought to Three Bears to be weighed and entered on Wednesday, the winner was 8.13 pounds. The Kenai silver derby is a new promotional event in its first year, put on by the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Kenai’s city government. Complete rules can be found on the Kenai Chamber of Commerce website or at Three Bears grocery. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)
Genetic relationships among selected big-ear radix snails collected in several geographic regions. Longer branch lengths correspond to more differences among barcode sequences, measured in expected changes per amino acid site. (Graphic courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: One thing leads to another: Big-ear radix snails on the Kenai Peninsula

“Sometimes one thing leads to another.” This is a quote from a Refuge Notebook article I had written about the Kenai Peninsula’s first exotic freshwater… Continue reading

Genetic relationships among selected big-ear radix snails collected in several geographic regions. Longer branch lengths correspond to more differences among barcode sequences, measured in expected changes per amino acid site. (Graphic courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Rain putting a damper on summer, fall activities

If it seems like the fall season in Alaska is upon us, you’d be wrong. Technically. Technically, autumn does not begin for another week, Sept.… Continue reading

Austin Strattman wrestles a steer to the ground in a chute dogging display June 25, 2016, at the Soldotna rodeo grounds. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)

Weekend 9-11 rodeo to pay tribute to veterans, police, servicemen

With the 16th anniversary of the tragic events of Sept. 11 approaching, the men and women who commit their lives to protect their community and… Continue reading

Austin Strattman wrestles a steer to the ground in a chute dogging display June 25, 2016, at the Soldotna rodeo grounds. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)

An Outdoor View: How to catch silvers

Early this week, I was fishing for Kenai River silvers from a neighbor’s dock in Sterling. It felt good to be on the river, but… Continue reading

Large gulls congregate in a field off of Ciechanski Road in search of food.

Refuge Notebook: Mystery solved!

Earlier this spring, while passing a recently fallowed hay field, I noticed some large white birds wandering through the grass. At first glance, I thought… Continue reading

Large gulls congregate in a field off of Ciechanski Road in search of food.

The loon

You’ve probably seen it already: a solitary yellow leaf on the sidewalk or the surface of a pond, or stuck to your car’s damp windshield… Continue reading

A pair of mountain goats on Cecil Rhode Mountain graze above Kenai Lake on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Mountain goats and milkshakes: the summer to-do list

I crossed a few things off my summer bucket list this week, including mountain goats and milkshakes. The to-do list I put together in April… Continue reading

A pair of mountain goats on Cecil Rhode Mountain graze above Kenai Lake on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
Creeping Thistle, with its purplish flowers, has invaded the North Slope, 50 miles north of Atigun Pass in the Brooks Range. (Photo by John Morton, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: How invasive plants invade the landscape

I just returned from the Dalton Highway, a thousand-mile road trip from Soldotna that can take as long as you want. Sometimes I do this… Continue reading

Creeping Thistle, with its purplish flowers, has invaded the North Slope, 50 miles north of Atigun Pass in the Brooks Range. (Photo by John Morton, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

An Outdoor View: Harbor talk

Author’s note: This column first appeared in the Clarion in 1993. It’s as true today as ever. — LP I don’t know how the guys… Continue reading

Wildlife biologist Dom Watts (Kenai National Wildlife Refuge) and wildlife veterinarian Dr. Kimberlee Beckmen (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) fit a chemically immobilized female mountain goat with radio-collars and ear tags that will allow biologists to identify her and other individuals during surveys and collect a variety of biological information. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: The trick to counting mountain goats

The dart was in and the helicopter veered off to give some time for the capture drugs to take effect. The 6-year-old male mountain goat,… Continue reading

Wildlife biologist Dom Watts (Kenai National Wildlife Refuge) and wildlife veterinarian Dr. Kimberlee Beckmen (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) fit a chemically immobilized female mountain goat with radio-collars and ear tags that will allow biologists to identify her and other individuals during surveys and collect a variety of biological information. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)
Stand-up paddle boarders explore the waterways of the Kenai Peninsula with Courtney Larsen’s Adventure Guru. (Photo courtesy of Courtney Larsen)

SUP on the Kenai

Don’t be afraid of the cold water. With proper balance, getting wet is not necessary while stand-up paddleboarding. “Many people are intimidated, they feel like… Continue reading

Stand-up paddle boarders explore the waterways of the Kenai Peninsula with Courtney Larsen’s Adventure Guru. (Photo courtesy of Courtney Larsen)
John Riggins of Kenai holds up the silver salmon he caught on the Kenai River in Cunningham Park on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Fishing report: Silvers abound, trout fishing heats up

Cars packed the parking lot at Cunningham Park in Kenai on Tuesday just after noon. Down on the muddy bank below the stairs, fishermen in… Continue reading

John Riggins of Kenai holds up the silver salmon he caught on the Kenai River in Cunningham Park on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)