Site Logo
A beaver coasts by in search of the perfect stick for a dam repair. (Photo by C. Canterbury, USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: More research needed to determine beavers’ impact on landscape

Do you ever stare at a map and wonder what that seemingly amazing place looks like in real…

Nature-based solutions like conserving peatlands and encouraging beaver in the right places and times are promising tools for ensuring abundant cool waters for fish and people. (Photo by C. Canterbury/USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Water is life

When you think of Alaska and wildlife, the image of waters teeming with the bright red colors of…

A bog lemming travels through a tube that mimics natural tunnels and captures remote videos and genetic samples to identify this species from its small mammal cousins. (Photo provided)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Our little-known glacial relict

When I think about the Pleistocene, my mind naturally wanders to the large charismatic megafauna that dominated this…

Snowshoers talk with Ranger Leah Eskelin during a December snowshoe walk at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.  (Photo by Catie Shelden)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Take it from the hare, snowshoes are the way to go!

The holidays are behind us, but there is still a whole lot of winter ahead. I love the…

Sunset views of snow-covered Kenai Mountains and the far eastern section of Skilak Lake. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Changing winters bring new conservation challenges

Like most everyone here in Southcentral Alaska, much of my leisure time and a good bit of my…

The snowshoelike feet of the lynx makes it well suited for traveling over snow. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Snow — good or bad for wildlife? It depends

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas and has been since the big storm that arrived a…

Riding out to explore a barrier reef. (Photo by Mark Laker/USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: The benefits of being a naturalist

Looking at the 2-plus feet of snow on my deck, I can’t help thinking about my opportunity to…

My daughter with our catch of one char (the largest fish) and two trout at Drake Lake, June 17, 2012. (Photo by Matt Bowser)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Revisiting Arctic char

One Father’s Day several years ago, my daughter and I drove out to the Drake/Skookum Lake Trail off…

Forests surrounding the Kenai River. (Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Expect the unexpected

Climate change is changing conservation. We used to set goals and objectives around returning to historical conditions, a…

Freshwater invertebrates after processing in a kitchen blender. (Photo by Matt Bowser/USFWS)

Sports

Invertebrates recover at Miller Creek

Just over a year ago, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game applied the pesticide rotenone to two…

Invasive green crab. (Photo by Ryan Munes, USFWS)

Sports

Crabby about invasive green crabs

They’re described as one of the biggest threats to Alaska’s marine environment, and you’ve probably never heard of…

tease

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Day two, the day my life changed forever

Picture this; you have just flown over 3,000 miles from Anchorage to Washington, D.C. It’s two o’clock in…

Time on the canoe system is both beautiful and relaxing. (Photo by Matt Bowser)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: From the Boundary Waters to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge — No longer a race across the continent

Editor’s note: This is the fourth of a four-part series.

The 17-foot, 45-pound beauty Nate Grinnell built for the expedition. (Photo by Julie Grinnell)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: The Boundary Waters to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge — A coyote among humans

May 1, Lachine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I finally found myself standing on a dock on the Saint Lawrence…

The cedar-built kayak Nate Grinnell built to follow the voyageur's journey. (Photo by Julie Grinnell)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: From the Boundary Waters to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge — To build a boat

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a four-part series.

This is the artwork, of the voyageurs "Shooting the Rapids," that hung in the author's family cabin that inspired his trip. (Credit: Frances Anne Hopkins / Library and Archives Canada)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: From the Boundary Waters to the Kenai refuge: The beginning

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a four-part series.

Soldotna's Wyatt Faircloth rushes against Wasilla on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Wasilla, Alaska. (Photo by Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman)

Sports

Soldotna football rolls past Wasilla, stays perfect

Another trip to the Mat-Su, and another big win for the Soldotna Stars.

The daddy longlegs Nelima paessleri is abundant in Kenai Peninsula forests. It commonly enters crawl spaces in the fall. (Photo by Matt Bowser/UWFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Daddy longlegs of home, garden and mountains

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2005. It is republished with some updates.

Homer’s Morgan Techie slips by Barrow’s Jason Akpik on a successful run to score Homer’s first touchdown at homecoming on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Sports

Football roundup: Kenai, SoHi, Homer get big conference wins

By JEREMIAH BARTZ

Wetlands in the Selawik Refuge that were mapped in the USFWS National Wetlands Inventory. (Photo by USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Aerial photography exploration, innovation expands into remote sensing

Editor’s Note: This is the third part of a series the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is doing on…