Life

Refuge Notebook: Fire in the winter

As the new Assistant Fire Management Officer at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, many people ask what exactly my job entails. At least nine months… Continue reading

This winter, give cross-country skiing a try

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — The first time I ever went cross-country skiing, I wondered if I would ever get the hang of it. Then… Continue reading

Fairbanks falconer puts in time, effort for love of flight

FAIRBANKS — Dave Lorring spoke to his peregrine falcon named “80” as he unfastened the leash and sent her out on a duck hunt.“You behave… Continue reading

This April 26, 2013 photo shows a blooming shrub of rosemary, bordering a yard near Langley, Wash., which is a multi-purpose plant like many other herbs. Rosemary has an array of uses - as an ornamental alongside other flowering perennials, for crafting, flavoring, attracting pollinators and as an aromatic. (Dean Fosdick via AP)

From flavors to fragrances to cures, herbs deliver

Herbs are among the most useful plants in nature. They deliver flowers, flavors, fragrances and cures. They’re also good for repelling deer, attracting pollinators, clearing… Continue reading

This April 26, 2013 photo shows a blooming shrub of rosemary, bordering a yard near Langley, Wash., which is a multi-purpose plant like many other herbs. Rosemary has an array of uses - as an ornamental alongside other flowering perennials, for crafting, flavoring, attracting pollinators and as an aromatic. (Dean Fosdick via AP)

An Outdoor View: On having fun with fish

We humans have changed a bit since the 17th century, when for entertainment we suspended cats in a sling over a fire and shrieked with… Continue reading

ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, NOV. 21-22 - FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2012, file photo, a long line snakes back onto the mountain as of skiers and snowboarders wait to step onto the Brooks chairlift at Stevens Pass, Wash., ski area for the first run of the season. Many major ski resorts plan to open around the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. There's still time to get yourself in shape to enjoy the good snow when it piles up by mid-December. I've compiled a few good reasons to get off your duff and tune up your body. (Mark Mulligan/The Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

With ski season approaching, tune up your body

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — When the snow starts falling, people think of tuning up their skis or snowboard. You might check out your boots… Continue reading

ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, NOV. 21-22 - FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2012, file photo, a long line snakes back onto the mountain as of skiers and snowboarders wait to step onto the Brooks chairlift at Stevens Pass, Wash., ski area for the first run of the season. Many major ski resorts plan to open around the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. There's still time to get yourself in shape to enjoy the good snow when it piles up by mid-December. I've compiled a few good reasons to get off your duff and tune up your body. (Mark Mulligan/The Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
A male cluster fly suns on the siding of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge headquarters building, March 23. (Photo by Matt Bowser)

Refuge Notebook: The mysterious life of the vagabond cluster fly

Last February through March as our snow melted away, some of early spring’s most precocious invertebrates pranced in the sunshine, warming themselves on south-facing wood… Continue reading

A male cluster fly suns on the siding of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge headquarters building, March 23. (Photo by Matt Bowser)
This Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 photo shows sneakers, headphones, house keys and a cellphone displaying the Couch to 5K app - all the gear a jogger needs to head out for a run. The Couch to 5K app offers gentle guidance for novice runners looking to go from being a couch potato to being able to run 5 kilometers. (AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz)

Learning to run in middle age with app’s help

NEW YORK — It’s the last five minutes of my 45-minute run. I’m panting. Sweating. Tuning out the occasional twinge of pain from a knee,… Continue reading

This Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 photo shows sneakers, headphones, house keys and a cellphone displaying the Couch to 5K app - all the gear a jogger needs to head out for a run. The Couch to 5K app offers gentle guidance for novice runners looking to go from being a couch potato to being able to run 5 kilometers. (AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz)
Photo courtesy Wikipedia Simplified anatomy of the structural components used in bird flight. If you prefer eating white meat at Thanksgiving, you're eating the turkey's pectoralis and supracoracoideus muscles

An outdoor view: On being thankful

Something I’m very thankful for is that I wasn’t present for what’s now called the “first Thanksgiving.” In September of 1620, the Mayflower left Plymouth,… Continue reading

Photo courtesy Wikipedia Simplified anatomy of the structural components used in bird flight. If you prefer eating white meat at Thanksgiving, you're eating the turkey's pectoralis and supracoracoideus muscles

Refuge Notebook: In honor of turkeys

Did you know that you were not alone yesterday in eating turkey? According to the National Turkey Federation, 95 percent of Americans eat turkey on… Continue reading

In this Nov. 23, 2015, photo, Bob Zimmerman from Greensburg, Pa. walks up one of the restricted roads at Pennsylvania state game lands 74 as he hunts bear in Fisher, Pa. This area of the state game land is one of the more than 30 "Deer Hunter Focus Areas" the Pennsylvania Game Commission created throughout the state in hopes they will draw more hunters to spots where they're likely to see more deer when rifle season opens Monday (Nov. 29). Meanwhile, game commission foresters are hoping hunters will kill enough deer to safeguard the rebounding forest vegetation meant to attract deer to the focus areas in the first place. Zimmerman, who was out hunting bear, but was also scouting for deer hunting sites, said he was glad the commission is spending some of the money from hunting license fees to help the hunters. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Deer here: Pennsylvania game commission to steer hunters to prime spots

FISHER, Pa. — Yo, hunters! Deer here.The Pennsylvania Game Commission is giving hunters an assist this year, using bright yellow-and-green signs to steer them to… Continue reading

In this Nov. 23, 2015, photo, Bob Zimmerman from Greensburg, Pa. walks up one of the restricted roads at Pennsylvania state game lands 74 as he hunts bear in Fisher, Pa. This area of the state game land is one of the more than 30 "Deer Hunter Focus Areas" the Pennsylvania Game Commission created throughout the state in hopes they will draw more hunters to spots where they're likely to see more deer when rifle season opens Monday (Nov. 29). Meanwhile, game commission foresters are hoping hunters will kill enough deer to safeguard the rebounding forest vegetation meant to attract deer to the focus areas in the first place. Zimmerman, who was out hunting bear, but was also scouting for deer hunting sites, said he was glad the commission is spending some of the money from hunting license fees to help the hunters. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
A Chinese ring-necked pheasant is pictured near Morgan's Landing on the Kenai River. Feral pheasants likely support a breeding population in the wild on the southern Kenai Peninsula. (Photo courtesy Ken Marlow)

Refuge Notebook: Feral wildlife can be a problem

A couple of weeks ago, the Peninsula Clarion carried a story about the Bunny Task Force, formed to deal with the 200 or so once-domesticated… Continue reading

A Chinese ring-necked pheasant is pictured near Morgan's Landing on the Kenai River. Feral pheasants likely support a breeding population in the wild on the southern Kenai Peninsula. (Photo courtesy Ken Marlow)
This Dec. 2014 photo shows a drone hovering by a skier as he makes his way down mountainside at resort at Revelstoke, B.C., Canada. Some US ski resorts are exploring the possibility of "drone zones" where professionally operated drones can produce customized video that show off individuals skiers in action. (Jason Soll/Cape Productions via AP)

Some US ski resorts explore possibility of ‘drone zones’

DENVER — A drone hovers about 30 feet above the skier’s head, then quickly swoops down for a tighter angle so its video camera can… Continue reading

This Dec. 2014 photo shows a drone hovering by a skier as he makes his way down mountainside at resort at Revelstoke, B.C., Canada. Some US ski resorts are exploring the possibility of "drone zones" where professionally operated drones can produce customized video that show off individuals skiers in action. (Jason Soll/Cape Productions via AP)
This July 5, 2015 photo shows a bumblebee gathering pollen from a clump of eryngo, late-summer-blooming wildflowers, that are members of the carrot family, in a yard in Langley, Wash. Bees tend to confine their attention to one flower species during a single foraging trip, but they move from plant to plant, favoring cross-pollination. (Dean Fosdick via AP)

Keeping bees helps gardeners understand plants better

Want to become a better gardener? Then learn something about beekeeping. Become a matchmaker who ensures that flowering plants and honeybees enjoy a beneficial relationship.Keeping… Continue reading

This July 5, 2015 photo shows a bumblebee gathering pollen from a clump of eryngo, late-summer-blooming wildflowers, that are members of the carrot family, in a yard in Langley, Wash. Bees tend to confine their attention to one flower species during a single foraging trip, but they move from plant to plant, favoring cross-pollination. (Dean Fosdick via AP)

An Outdoor View: Buying space

Author’s note: With tongue only partly in cheek, I wrote this column, which appeared in the Clarion on May 2, 2008. In the succeeding seven… Continue reading

Photo courtesy Dave Atcheson Good fishing etiquette includes handling fish properly.

Tight Lines: River etiquette

My reasons for fishing vary. Sure, sometimes it’s utilitarian, to fill the freezer, but more often than not it’s about the experience, and escaping the… Continue reading

Photo courtesy Dave Atcheson Good fishing etiquette includes handling fish properly.
In this undated photo, In fall, bright yellow quince fruits call out to be harvested from among the small tree's craggy stems in New York. (Lee Reich via AP)

Quince: Grow and taste the ‘forbidden fruit’

In Genesis, the Bible mentions the “forbidden fruit.” Commonly identified as an apple, many people contend it was actually a quince.The quince’s Mideast origin, as… Continue reading

In this undated photo, In fall, bright yellow quince fruits call out to be harvested from among the small tree's craggy stems in New York. (Lee Reich via AP)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Area Manager Jeff Selinger collars a caribou from the Kenai Mountain herd in 2003. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: Radio, GPS collars help manage moose, caribou on the Kenai

Opportunities to view wildlife around our neighborhoods on the Kenai Peninsula are one luxury we often take for granted. Whether it’s a moose in your… Continue reading

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Area Manager Jeff Selinger collars a caribou from the Kenai Mountain herd in 2003. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

An Outdoor View: White kings

Author’s note: Readers with little or no taste will be overjoyed to see that I’m still working on my romance novel, featuring a hunky river… Continue reading

ADVANCE FOR THE WEEKEND OF NOV. 14-15 AND THEREAFTER -FILE - In this July 24, 2014, file photo, packrafters hike up Youngs Creek Pass on a trip through Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness. Marshall, the co-founder of the Wilderness Society, was an early crusader for wilderness protections and the Wilderness is named after him. (Erin Madison/The Great Falls Tribune via AP, file) MANDATORY CREDIT NO SALES

Photographer retraces Bob Marshall’s wilderness trek

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Bob Marshall hiked 288 miles over eight days through the northwestern Montana wilderness in 1928.Marshall would average 36 miles a… Continue reading

ADVANCE FOR THE WEEKEND OF NOV. 14-15 AND THEREAFTER -FILE - In this July 24, 2014, file photo, packrafters hike up Youngs Creek Pass on a trip through Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness. Marshall, the co-founder of the Wilderness Society, was an early crusader for wilderness protections and the Wilderness is named after him. (Erin Madison/The Great Falls Tribune via AP, file) MANDATORY CREDIT NO SALES