Alaska Outdoors

Southeast Alaskans deliver transboundary mining letter, MOU comments to State

It’s a matter of sequence.Southeast Alaskans involved on the issue of transboundary mines Wednesday delivered a letter to Governor Bill Walker and Lt. Governor Byron… Continue reading

Denali wolf numbers and viewing remain at historic low level

The National Park Service this week released its fall 2015 update on the status of Denali National Park’s troubled wolf population, showing the population and… Continue reading

Ski scholarship period extended

Eaglecrest Ski Area is extending the application process for the Hilary Lindh Scholarship, in which the selection committee will award season ski passes to four… Continue reading

Mountain conditions

New snow (24 hours):• Base: 0 inches• Top: 11 inchesNew Snow (48 hours):• Base: 0 inches• Top: 11 inchesTotal snow:• Base: 5 inches• Top: 82… Continue reading

The candy-stripe shrimp often associates with anemones, protected by the tentacles; sometimes it is found with other protectors too. The photographer commonly finds them associated with white anemones in our waters.

On the Trails: Animals that help each other

As I was reading a research paper about the foraging behaviors of killer whales (orcas), I found a small paragraph about some observations in Prince… Continue reading

The candy-stripe shrimp often associates with anemones, protected by the tentacles; sometimes it is found with other protectors too. The photographer commonly finds them associated with white anemones in our waters.

Troopers investigate deer wasting

Alaska Wildlife Troopers on Dec. 1 found a pile of discarded deer bones and meat in a dirt pllout near False Outer Point on Douglas… Continue reading

Surrounded by hundreds of common murres, an adult humpback whale shows its pectoral fin as it rolls in the water just outside the Don Statter Memorial Boat Harbor in Auke Bay on Monday. An increase in feed fish, herring, pollock and capelin, have been keeping a variety of birds and marine mammals feeding in the area for the last two weeks.

Auke Bay’s Wild Kingdom

If you’ve visited Auke Bay’s Statter Harbor in the last few weeks, you’ve seen a world gone wild.For the past two weeks, hundreds of common… Continue reading

Surrounded by hundreds of common murres, an adult humpback whale shows its pectoral fin as it rolls in the water just outside the Don Statter Memorial Boat Harbor in Auke Bay on Monday. An increase in feed fish, herring, pollock and capelin, have been keeping a variety of birds and marine mammals feeding in the area for the last two weeks.
Snow experts Mike Janes and Ed Shanley assess conditions on Mount Roberts.

Avalanche workshop aims to give people tools to survive

On a Friday night about a dozen years ago, Tom Mattice, then the owner of a snow cat skiing business, told a group of skiers:… Continue reading

Snow experts Mike Janes and Ed Shanley assess conditions on Mount Roberts.
An illustration of wires affected by air movement, drawn by Patricia Ann Davis, from the book Alaska Science Nuggets by Neil Davis.

Alaska Science Forum: Mystery of the dancing wires revealed

In this quiet, peaceful time of year, with all the noisy birds flown south and all the scary bears in hillside dens, little things catch… Continue reading

An illustration of wires affected by air movement, drawn by Patricia Ann Davis, from the book Alaska Science Nuggets by Neil Davis.

Mountain conditions

New snow (24 hours):• Base: 0 inches• Top: 0 inchesNew Snow (48 hours):• Base: 0 inches• Top: 0 inchesTotal snow:• Base: 10 inches• Top: 78… Continue reading

Christmas in Space at the Marie Drake Planetarium

The Marie Drake Planetarium will feature a free presentation on “Christmas in Space” Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 6:30 p.m.University of Alaska Southeast astronomy professor Rosemary… Continue reading

Trappings season opens on ABCs

The trapping season for marten, river otter, mink and weasel opened Dec. 1 on Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof Islands (Unit 4). Unit 4 beaver season… Continue reading

November rain (and trap shooting)

On a cold, dark, rainy day in late November, the shooters at a Juneau Gun Club registered match shot a 300 bird Pacific International Trapshooting… Continue reading

On the events page at skijuneau.com, this art appears next to the notice the Eaglecrest Rail Jam event is postponed due to weather.

Eaglecrest’s Rail Jam postponed

Eaglecrest Ski Area’s Downtown Rail Jam, which was scheduled to happen Saturday, Nov. 28, has been postponed. In an email sent Friday, Eaglecrest's Marketing and… Continue reading

On the events page at skijuneau.com, this art appears next to the notice the Eaglecrest Rail Jam event is postponed due to weather.
The new village site of Mertarvik, about 12 miles from Newtok.

Alaska Science Forum: A migratory house for villages on the move

As a river eats its way into Newtok, residents are planning their moves to a new village site 12 miles away. One family will move… Continue reading

The new village site of Mertarvik, about 12 miles from Newtok.
Trees, laden with fresh snow, reflect on the calm surface of Auke Lake in mid-November.

Wild Shots

The Empire Outdoors page is looking for superb images of Alaska’s wildlife, scenery or plant life. Send your photos via email to: Outdoors editor, outdoors@juneauempire.com.… Continue reading

Trees, laden with fresh snow, reflect on the calm surface of Auke Lake in mid-November.

On the Trails: Snow!

The first halfway decent snowfall in mid November drew me out to look for animal tracks and anything else of interest. I went with a… Continue reading

More otters washing up; cause remains unknown

The cause of an unusual number of dead and dying otters winding up on Homer beaches remains unexplained, but preliminary results suggest toxins from harmful… Continue reading

This photo of a chickadee with a deformed beak was taken on Nov. 16 at the residence of Pamela Manley in Kasilof.

Bird experts investigate chickadee beak deformity

Researchers in Anchorage are working to crack a tough nut in the form of a beak deformity affecting a large portion of black-capped chickadees and… Continue reading

This photo of a chickadee with a deformed beak was taken on Nov. 16 at the residence of Pamela Manley in Kasilof.
Illuminated by the beam of a flashlight, a quartz vein sits in stark contrast to the dark surrounding rock in an abandoned mine adit in 2009.

A bittersweet goodbye

Of course, it’s not truly the end. But, for me, a chapter is closing and a new one is about to begin.The work I’ve done… Continue reading

Illuminated by the beam of a flashlight, a quartz vein sits in stark contrast to the dark surrounding rock in an abandoned mine adit in 2009.