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This photo shows a moon snail nest at Institute Beach in Wrangell. (Vivian Faith Prescott / For the Capital City Weekly)

Planet Alaska: Searching for moon snail nests

Even the moon snail is an ancient fellow traveler on this planet.

This photo shows a moon snail nest at Institute Beach in Wrangell. (Vivian Faith Prescott / For the Capital City Weekly)
Juneau resident Bob Varness is showing how Juneau can be a leader in sustainable maritime transport. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)

Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists: Electrifying marine transportation with Bob Varness

Our maritime lifestyles and dependence on maritime transportation generate significant emissions.

Juneau resident Bob Varness is showing how Juneau can be a leader in sustainable maritime transport. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)
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It's Girl Scout Cookie time. Local scouts will sell about 24,500 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in Juneau this cookie-selling season. Cookies are available at pop-up cookie stands at Safeway, Rainbow Foods, The Grind Coffee Company and Nugget Mall. Or, text “cookies” to 59618 to find a nearby cookie sales location or order them online. (Ben Hohenstatt/Juneau Empire)
It's Girl Scout Cookie time. Local scouts will sell about 24,500 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in Juneau this cookie-selling season. Cookies are available at pop-up cookie stands at Safeway, Rainbow Foods, The Grind Coffee Company and Nugget Mall. Or, text “cookies” to 59618 to find a nearby cookie sales location or order them online. (Ben Hohenstatt/Juneau Empire)
Dandelion fluff is among the way plants have invented to distribute seeds. However, other seed plants “bribe” animals into dispersing seeds with a food reward. (Saad Chaudhry / Unsplash)

On The Trails: Bribery for dispersal agents

Seed plants have been quite inventive!

Dandelion fluff is among the way plants have invented to distribute seeds. However, other seed plants “bribe” animals into dispersing seeds with a food reward. (Saad Chaudhry / Unsplash)
Lisa Daugherty of Juneau Composts says composting is an important way for Juneau to address both climate change and a rapidly filling local landfill. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)

Juneau Climate Change Solutionists: Composting organic waste with Lisa Daugherty

Composting is on the rise locally —with good reason.

Lisa Daugherty of Juneau Composts says composting is an important way for Juneau to address both climate change and a rapidly filling local landfill. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)
(Courtesy Photo / Vivian Mork Yéilk’)

Planet Alaska: Aim for the stars

It’s fitting a Raven works at NASA.

(Courtesy Photo / Vivian Mork Yéilk’)
This photo shows female king eiders. The rare-for-the-area ducks were recently spotted at Point Louisa. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)
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On The Trails: Tracks and king eiders

Eiders and more.

This photo shows female king eiders. The rare-for-the-area ducks were recently spotted at Point Louisa. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)
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Erin Ranney with sockeye salmon at her setnet site in the Egegik District. (Courtesy Photo / Erin Ranney)

From Egegik Fish Camp to National Geographic camerawoman: A Conversation with Erin Ranney

Erin Ranney might be best described as a force of nature for nature.

Erin Ranney with sockeye salmon at her setnet site in the Egegik District. (Courtesy Photo / Erin Ranney)
Juneau-Douglas High School head basketball coach Robert Casperson gets his hair cut on stage by senior Treyson Ramos during a school assembly Wednesday, holding up his end of the bargain that he would shave his head if his team won the state championship title. Casperson said he trusted the 2016 team's senior class a lot.

Even in unprecedented times, elements of Region V basketball remain

For some, the Region V tournament is the last time they put on a jersey. For others it’s a catalyst.

Juneau-Douglas High School head basketball coach Robert Casperson gets his hair cut on stage by senior Treyson Ramos during a school assembly Wednesday, holding up his end of the bargain that he would shave his head if his team won the state championship title. Casperson said he trusted the 2016 team's senior class a lot.
A clutch of tree swallow eggs is partly ringed by long, white feathers. Naturalist Bernd Heinrich noted that the tree swallows using his nest boxes had a strong interest in white or light-colored feathers, sometimes collecting them from some distance away. (Courtesy Photo / Jessica Millsaps, Juneau Audubon tree swallow project, under permits from ADFG and USFWS.)

On The Trails: Wary ermine; tree swallow nests

Sights seen overhead and (nearly) underfoot.

A clutch of tree swallow eggs is partly ringed by long, white feathers. Naturalist Bernd Heinrich noted that the tree swallows using his nest boxes had a strong interest in white or light-colored feathers, sometimes collecting them from some distance away. (Courtesy Photo / Jessica Millsaps, Juneau Audubon tree swallow project, under permits from ADFG and USFWS.)
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Planet Alaska: Fishing for winter kings

Time is like an endless sea as we troll along slowly.

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Mountain goats are revered for their majestic qualities, terrain in which they live and their taste. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went To The Woods: No luck of the draw

My willingness to suffer and willingness to save are the key ingredients, not my luck in a draw.

Mountain goats are revered for their majestic qualities, terrain in which they live and their taste. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Left side: Mosses and ferns: alternation of sporophyte (2N) and gametophyte (1N) generations. Sperm swim to reach eggs on gametophytes. Right side: Seed plants: female gametophyte and its egg (1N) not independent, but enclosed in developing seed (2N, after pollination) on parent plant (2N). (Courtesy Image / Kathy Hocker)

On The Trails: From spores to seeds

No phyte-ing progress.

Left side: Mosses and ferns: alternation of sporophyte (2N) and gametophyte (1N) generations. Sperm swim to reach eggs on gametophytes. Right side: Seed plants: female gametophyte and its egg (1N) not independent, but enclosed in developing seed (2N, after pollination) on parent plant (2N). (Courtesy Image / Kathy Hocker)
A “ghost forest” exposed as La Perouse Glacier in Southeast Alaska retreated. In the past, the glacier ran over the rainforest trees. Two people are also in the photo. (Courtesy Photo / Ben Gaglioti)

Alaska Science Forum: ‘Ghost forest’ got run over by a glacier

By Ned Rozell As a few scientists hiked a path between the ice towers of a Southeast Alaska glacier and crashing ocean waves in 2016,… Continue reading

A “ghost forest” exposed as La Perouse Glacier in Southeast Alaska retreated. In the past, the glacier ran over the rainforest trees. Two people are also in the photo. (Courtesy Photo / Ben Gaglioti)
Nathea Burnet holds both a plastic ax and her grandmother, Patricia Forrest's, hand while looking at electric vehicles during Juneau Electric Vehicle Association's road rally Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. On a per capita basis, there is one electric vehicle per 76 residents in Juneau. There were 418 EVs registered in Juneau as of November 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists: Electric vehicles with Devon Kibby

The clock is ticking to fast-track Alaska’s electric vehicle ecosystem.

Nathea Burnet holds both a plastic ax and her grandmother, Patricia Forrest's, hand while looking at electric vehicles during Juneau Electric Vehicle Association's road rally Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. On a per capita basis, there is one electric vehicle per 76 residents in Juneau. There were 418 EVs registered in Juneau as of November 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
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Writers’ Weir: Outage

A poem by Richard Stokes

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Sebastian Taylor-Manning pauses to sketch at a replica of an Alaskan illustrator’s desk. His brother McClain Taylor-Manning and his father, Chris Taylor, look on during a recent visit to the State Museum to see the new exhibit, "Illustrating Alaska: Artists Making Children’s Books", on display through April 3. (Courtesy Photo/Jackie Manning)
Sebastian Taylor-Manning pauses to sketch at a replica of an Alaskan illustrator’s desk. His brother McClain Taylor-Manning and his father, Chris Taylor, look on during a recent visit to the State Museum to see the new exhibit, "Illustrating Alaska: Artists Making Children’s Books", on display through April 3. (Courtesy Photo/Jackie Manning)
Andy Romanoff says reducing carbon emissions starts at home. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists)

Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists: Boosting heat pumps with Andy Romanoff

“We all have the potential to have a greater impact that we may realize.”

Andy Romanoff says reducing carbon emissions starts at home. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists)
Jeff Lund / For Juneau Empire 
While February in Alaska isn’t “desirable” by the standards of many, it is a month in which optimism is high for the author.

I Went To The Woods: Until March does arrive, it’s just you and your attitude

Until this week, I probably would have ranked February was one of my most optimistic months.

Jeff Lund / For Juneau Empire 
While February in Alaska isn’t “desirable” by the standards of many, it is a month in which optimism is high for the author.