Alaska Outdoors

Composting art contest

The US Composting Council is inviting artists from three age categories — grades 3-7, grades 8-12, and college-adult — to compete in a poster contest… Continue reading

Kantner, Heacox in Juneau for book signing

Two authors whose works frequently focus on Alaska’s outdoors will be in Juneau signing new works within the next few days. First is Seth Kantner,… Continue reading

Natural asbestos mapped

The Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys has released maps depicting the likelihood of naturally occurring asbestos in bedrock in Alaska. Areas of potential and… Continue reading

Farm-raised food

October is National Farm to School Month, and the Division of Agriculture is encouraging organizations to sign on as partners. Outreach partners help spread the… Continue reading

Shaggy mane mushrooms push through wood chips out the road.

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

Shaggy mane mushrooms push through wood chips out the road.
This yellow-throated warbler showed up in Glacier Bay National Park where Steve Schaller and Emma Johnson spotted the bird on Sept. 22.

Yellow-throated Warbler spotted in Glacier Bay

Just three days after a mother-son team spotted a hooded oriole in Juneau, two National Park Service interpreters spotted a yellow-throated warbler outside their offices… Continue reading

This yellow-throated warbler showed up in Glacier Bay National Park where Steve Schaller and Emma Johnson spotted the bird on Sept. 22.
A dowitcher rests at the edge of the tide, not sleeping but watchful.

On the Trails: Early September observations

By the end of summer the numbers of sockeye in Steep Creek had declined markedly, but there were still enough that a female bear with… Continue reading

A dowitcher rests at the edge of the tide, not sleeping but watchful.
Owen Squires, 14, gets ready to bird. Squires and his mother, Marsha Squires, were the first to sight and ID a male hooded oriole in Juneau that has inspired birders to visit from as far as Fairbanks.

14-year-old IDs hooded oriole in Juneau

When 14-year-old Owen Squires first looked through a pair of binoculars and told his mother the bird she’d seen flitting around the Juneau Community Garden’s… Continue reading

Owen Squires, 14, gets ready to bird. Squires and his mother, Marsha Squires, were the first to sight and ID a male hooded oriole in Juneau that has inspired birders to visit from as far as Fairbanks.
Wood bison near the Innoko River in western Alaska.

Wood bison finding home in Alaska

These nights, Tom Seaton is dreaming less about red-brown, steaming, humpbacked hulks. He’s also getting more sleep, knowing dozens of wood bison that galloped to… Continue reading

Wood bison near the Innoko River in western Alaska.
A brown bear fishes for salmon on Chichagof Island.

The legend of Hosea Sarber

I learned of Hosea Sarber as a teenager when I picked up the gem of a book “No Room For Bears” by Frank Dufresne. Sarber… Continue reading

A brown bear fishes for salmon on Chichagof Island.

Keeping it basic

Acidifying oceans are a big concern for Southeast Alaska’s tribes. At the 2015 Southeast Environmental Conference, hosted by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida… Continue reading

Parks: Welcome, Fourth Graders

If you have a fourth grader and like visiting national parks, this might be the year to plan a road trip. A national program that… Continue reading