Alaska Outdoors

Homing pigeons use magnetic sense to locate their home roost.

It’s magnetic: How animals use their senses to find home

A real-life function of magnetic sense is known in many animals.

Homing pigeons use magnetic sense to locate their home roost.
Juneau guides help film crew capture something never seen before on film: wolves catching salmon at night

Juneau guides help film crew capture something never seen before on film: wolves catching salmon at night

They found themselves sitting in the dark, surrounded by wolves.

Juneau guides help film crew capture something never seen before on film: wolves catching salmon at night
Sundogs, light pillars enliven the dog days

Sundogs, light pillars enliven the dog days

There are some rewards that come with cold, clear skies.

Sundogs, light pillars enliven the dog days
Who eats ferns?

Who eats ferns?

Bracken fern is notorious for its toxins.

Who eats ferns?
Of words and warmth

Of words and warmth

They say the next best thing to fly fishing is reading about fly fishing.

Of words and warmth
Courtesy photo | Deborah Rudis                                 Mountain sentinels: Snow-laden trees at Eaglecrest Ski Area on Sunday.

Strange winter: Warm December yields to deep cold January

December was so warm that beavers stayed active, collecting branches for their winter caches and dam repairs, leaving trails in a thin snow cover. The… Continue reading

Courtesy photo | Deborah Rudis                                 Mountain sentinels: Snow-laden trees at Eaglecrest Ski Area on Sunday.
Alaska Science Forum: Keeping the carbon in Alaska forests

Alaska Science Forum: Keeping the carbon in Alaska forests

Time is running short to reduce carbon emissions.

Alaska Science Forum: Keeping the carbon in Alaska forests
Courtesy photo                                Author Jeff Lund on a hike in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho.

Confessions from an angler and hunter: I have a gear-collecting problem

Companies should put the serve in service.

Courtesy photo                                Author Jeff Lund on a hike in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho.
Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska

Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska

Reader-submitted photos.

Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska
Courtesy Photo | Joan Travers                                 Inspiring Girls Expeditions is holding two tuition-free expeditions for 16- and 17-year-old girls in Alaska this summer.

Program introduces girls to science expeditions in wilderness

Expeditions in Alaska will explore a glacier and the intertidal zone.

Courtesy Photo | Joan Travers                                 Inspiring Girls Expeditions is holding two tuition-free expeditions for 16- and 17-year-old girls in Alaska this summer.
A winter walk in Gustavus

A winter walk in Gustavus

The day began in quiet leisure.

A winter walk in Gustavus
Glacier in retreat: What the Taku is teaching us about climate change

Glacier in retreat: What the Taku is teaching us about climate change

A changing climate has caught up with the glacier.

Glacier in retreat: What the Taku is teaching us about climate change
Michael S. Lockett | Juneau Empire                                Stephen Lewis, a researcher with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, gives a presentation on golden eagles in Alaska at University of Alaska Southeast on Thursday.
Michael S. Lockett | Juneau Empire                                Stephen Lewis, a researcher with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, gives a presentation on golden eagles in Alaska at University of Alaska Southeast on Thursday.
Eric Prestegard, outgoing executive director of Douglas Island Pink & Chum, Inc., leads a tour of the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery in this January 2016 file photo. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

DIPAC’s longtime executive director retires

He had been executive director since 2002.

Eric Prestegard, outgoing executive director of Douglas Island Pink & Chum, Inc., leads a tour of the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery in this January 2016 file photo. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
Adeline Hiemstra, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Randy Smith Middle School in Fairbanks, presented at the massive American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December 2019 in San Francisco. (Ned Rozell | For the Juneau Empire)

Northern news from a massive conference

Alaska Science Forum.

Adeline Hiemstra, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Randy Smith Middle School in Fairbanks, presented at the massive American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December 2019 in San Francisco. (Ned Rozell | For the Juneau Empire)
Like the first time

Like the first time

Hearing ourselves out.

Like the first time
Fungi — more friends than foe

Fungi — more friends than foe

It would be a dull life without them.

Fungi — more friends than foe
At the tipping point: How do we stop cruise ship tourism from going overboard?

At the tipping point: How do we stop cruise ship tourism from going overboard?

How did we get here and are we doing enough to protect our town from tourism’s effects?

At the tipping point: How do we stop cruise ship tourism from going overboard?
Ice fog forms at about minus 35 Fahrenheit. (Ned Rozell | For the Juneau Empire)

The physics of 40 below

Life rolls on.

Ice fog forms at about minus 35 Fahrenheit. (Ned Rozell | For the Juneau Empire)
Beaver Builders at the Mendenhall Minis series Jan. 11

Beaver Builders at the Mendenhall Minis series Jan. 11

Open and free to the public.

Beaver Builders at the Mendenhall Minis series Jan. 11