Alaska Outdoors

Forest Wagner

Climate change and place identity

I am a winter person. Growing up in Fairbanks, much of my calendar year was dictated by snow, cold, and any number of mundane and… Continue reading

Forest Wagner
The location of the largest earthquake of 2018, a magnitude 7.9 about 180 miles from Kodiak early on January 23. By Vicki Daniels, Geophysical Institute for the Alaska Earthquake Center.

Largest earthquake on the planet, until proven otherwise

What’s this? Another aftershock? That’s hundreds now, each more faint than the last. Sorry, I guess I’ve moved on. I should pay more attention, given… Continue reading

The location of the largest earthquake of 2018, a magnitude 7.9 about 180 miles from Kodiak early on January 23. By Vicki Daniels, Geophysical Institute for the Alaska Earthquake Center.

Fireside Lecture: for spruce trees, little bugs are a big deal

The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center’s Feb. 2 Fireside Lecture will uncover the mystery behind what’s affecting Juneau’s spruce trees and forests. Elizabeth Graham, an entomologist… Continue reading

Deer hunt reports due to ADF&G

With the end of January comes the closing of all Sitka black-tailed deer hunting in Southeast. Now, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is… Continue reading

Learn to fly tying, casting and more with Raincountry Flyfishers

Raincountry Flyfishers, Juneau’s collective of fly fishing enthusiasts, meets twice a month to tie flys and work on technique. The group meets on the second… Continue reading

Vessel drill instructor workshop

The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) will offer a Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor workshop in Juneau on Saturday, Feb. 10, from 8 a.m. to… Continue reading

Loud noises quietly polluting environment, wildlife

We hear a lot about the many ways that we humans pollute our environment — ocean acidification, plastic trash accumulating in ocean gyres and on… Continue reading

This is not the bird mentioned in this story. (123rf.com Stock Photo)

Impossibly large bird spotted in Mendenhall Valley

According to several eyewitness reports, a bird with a wingspan nearly the width of Mendenhall Loop Road has been spotted in the Mendenhall Valley. The… Continue reading

This is not the bird mentioned in this story. (123rf.com Stock Photo)
Sawmill Creek waterfall in all of its glory. (Gabe Donohoe | For the Juneau Empire)

Photo blog: Sawmill Creek Falls in the winter

In the past I’d only ever been to Sawmill Creek, north of Juneau, by kayak in the summer. I thought it was inaccessible by land… Continue reading

Sawmill Creek waterfall in all of its glory. (Gabe Donohoe | For the Juneau Empire)
A Sitka blacktail fork-horn. (Bjorn Dihle | For the Juneau Empire)

Meditations on deer hunting

A few mornings ago, I saw the fresh tracks of a big buck in a creek bed at the base of a mountain. I was… Continue reading

A Sitka blacktail fork-horn. (Bjorn Dihle | For the Juneau Empire)

Anan visitor permits go on sale Feb. 1

Permits to visit Anan Wildlife Observatory near Wrangell will go on sale at 8 a.m. Feb. 1 for the summer 2018 season, the U.S. Forest… Continue reading

In this Dec. 2016 photo, a partially-frozen Nugget Falls at Mendenhall Lake. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Lakeside findings

Sometime in mid-January, after a nice cold snap, the temperatures soared into the fifties; even near the glacier it was in the balmy forties. Near… Continue reading

In this Dec. 2016 photo, a partially-frozen Nugget Falls at Mendenhall Lake. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
Michelle Chartrand performs isotopic analyses on human hair to find out more about a person’s whereabouts and diet. Photo by Ned Rozell.

Your hair knows where you’ve been

Sprouting from your head at the rate of more than three inches a year, hair is a recorder of the things you eat and drink… Continue reading

Michelle Chartrand performs isotopic analyses on human hair to find out more about a person’s whereabouts and diet. Photo by Ned Rozell.

Master gardener training registration open

Master gardener training that begins Feb. 7 in Juneau will teach participants how to design, plant, and maintain a successful garden in Southeast Alaska. Classes… Continue reading

A beaver came out of its winter rest in the lodge to have lunch on the ice. (Photo by Kerry Howard)

Winter trailside observations

Here’s an assortment of winter observations that gave pleasure to some trail-walkers. • Late November, Eaglecrest. Parks and Rec hikers on snowshoes went up the… Continue reading

A beaver came out of its winter rest in the lodge to have lunch on the ice. (Photo by Kerry Howard)

Curious by Nature: Do hatchery fish hamper wild king and coho?

“I have heard that the huge releases of hatchery pink and chum salmon are seriously reducing food for king and coho salmon. It would seem… Continue reading

Once captured, biologists fit each wolf with a GPS collar to track habitat range. (Photo by Jeanette Mills / National Park Service)

Salmon is on the menu for Lake Clark’s wolves

Deep within Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, staff at a remote ranger station on the north shore of Telaquana Lake noted something amiss. Wolves,… Continue reading

Once captured, biologists fit each wolf with a GPS collar to track habitat range. (Photo by Jeanette Mills / National Park Service)

Fireside Lecture series schedule change

The U.S. Forest Service announced a change of schedule for the first Fireside Lecture at Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. Photographer Mark Kelley is not able… Continue reading

This moose, seen on the Nisutlin River, wanted to get in the boat. Photo by Mary Catharine Martin.

Breath of Wilderness

In September of 2014, my girlfriend MC and I met a First Nations man at a gas station in the Yukon village of Teslin. We… Continue reading

This moose, seen on the Nisutlin River, wanted to get in the boat. Photo by Mary Catharine Martin.

Board of Game calls for proposals

Want to influence Alaska’s hunting regulations? The Alaska Board of Game has called for proposed changes to hunting and trapping rules for Southeast and Southcentral… Continue reading