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A Northern Hawk Owl clutching a red-backed vole near Watson Lake on Nov. 30, 2020. (Photo by Colin Canterbury/USFWS)

Sports

Northern Hawk Owls frequent Swan Lake Fire burn

In a gliding dive it swooped down from atop an aspen and disappeared, plunging into the fresh snow…

Wyatt, at age 4, helping dad harvest crawfish at White River NWR in Arkansas. (Photo by Matt Conner/USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Crawfish to Christmas trees

My rubber knee boots provided little traction as I slowly slid down the mucky side of the bank…

Silver salmon swim in Sucker Creek on Sept. 18, 2020. Surface streams on the Kenai Peninsula and fish in them have far less arsenic in them than in some well water in the area. (Photo by Matt Bowser/Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Arsenic in murder and nature

Arsenic, though often difficult to detect, is hard to ignore. As the 20th most common element in the…

The author is seen here trying to get in touch with her dad, who is isolating and celebrating Thanksgiving in Florida this year, and repeatedly ignoring her calls. (Photo by Kat Sorensen)

Sports

Tangled Up in Blue: Tangled up in turkey

More prevalent than pumpkin pie this holiday season is the refrain, “Are you upset you can’t travel to…

Visitors enjoy bear viewing in the saltmarsh at Chinitna Bay, Lake Clark National Park. (Photo by J. Pfeiffenberger/NPS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Visitors to Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks rely on Kenai Peninsula services

Two national park and preserve areas, Lake Clark and Katmai, located just across Cook Inlet from the Kenai…

A snowshoe hare in its white winter coat. (Photo by Colin Canterbury/Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: The verge of winter

As the daylight hours seem to slip away, the temperatures are slowly getting lower and the silky flowing…

Moose are seen eating on the shoulder of Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, outside of Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Sports

Out of the Office: Into the office

An ode to Kenai Spur Highway

The author is seen here skiing a little easier at Trail Lake near Seward. (Photo provided by Kat Sorensen)

Sports

Tangled Up in Blue: Grooming the trail

During my first winter spent cross-country skiing in Soldotna, I often found myself struggling to glide along the…

Basic Incident Command System organization chart. The ICS system has been used for many different types of incidents since its inception. (Chart from Federal Emergency Management Agency)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Incident Command System adapts to record-setting wildfires

The August Complex Fire of 2020 on the Mendocino National Forest in northern California is officially the state’s…

The view looking north toward the pass from just above Juneau Lake. (Photo by Jack Carroll/Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Finding refuge in the forest

As a park ranger for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, I get to spend a lot of time…

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Sports

Out of the Office: Two weeks

I’ve been thinking a lot about the 1986 film “The Money Pit” lately.

The author and her voting sticker. (Photo by Kat Sorensen)

Sports

Tangled Up in Blue: I voted

I feel like I’ve been talking about voting for weeks, months … maybe more like 1,451 days, but…

Eivin Kilcher with his children and their flotsam treasures on Ushagat Island in August 2020. (Photo by Eve Kilcher)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Flotsam ‘treasure’ harbors wealth of wildlife knowledge

This August, Eivin Kilcher was beachcombing on Ushagat Island when he saw something unusual.

A section of the Diamond Creek beach has built up, with plants growing where 10 years ago there had been bare mud, as seen here on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020, near Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Sports

Out of the Office: Annual CoastWalk beach trek reveals changes, transformation

Volunteers in annual Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies program clean up, monitor beaches

The author is seen here, sharing the world at Lassen Volcanic National Park in California. (Photo courtesy of Patrick Lewis)

Sports

Tangled Up in Blue: Me, me, me

When I wait until the last minute to write Tangled Up in Blue, inspiration can be hard to…

A long, white strip of soft, white feathers running down the back gives the downy woodpecker its name. (Photo by Colin Canterbury/USFWS.

Sports

Refuge Notebook: The smallest woodpecker

On a recent sortie looking for grouse in the spruce forest of the northern Kenai Peninsula, I heard…

The climb up April Bowl provides expansive views, seen here Aug. 3, 2020 in Hatcher Pass, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Sports

Out of the Office: Out of your bubble

Exploring wilderness around the state

Andrew Berg outside his ҈omesteadӠcabin, which stood originally on Tustumena Lake and now stands at the headquarters of Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo provided by Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: If these walls could talk

Big game guide Berg led remarkable life

Refuge Notebook: Greater duckweed on Kenai Peninsula refuge

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Greater duckweed on Kenai Peninsula refuge

Plant has tremendous growth rate

A photo of the author’s hands during a drier October full of blueberry picking. (Photo provided by Kat Sorensen)

Sports

Tangled Up in Blue: In between

A spectrum of Octobers