Life
Refuge Notebook: Smarter management of invasive plants with weed-free gravel
Last autumn, as I strolled through downtown Anchorage to meet a friend at Snow City Cafe, I gazed…
Life
An Outdoor View: On running
At the First Annual Running of the Goats, recently held in Coventry, Kentucky, six of the devious critters…
Life
Refuge Notebook: A new helper for Smokey Bear on the refuge
It was a warm, windy day in southern New Mexico in the 1940s when a small bear cub…
Life
An Outdoor View: Paying the dues
Author’s note: This column first appeared in the Clarion 23 years ago. I’ve edited it for brevity. Sunday,…
Life
Refuge Notebook: Marge Mullen – cherished friend of the refuge for 69 years
Marge Mullen, a delightful 95-year-old homesteader still going strong in Soldotna, has a very unique relationship with the…
Life
An Outdoor View: Salmon skin
On “Chopped,” the Food Network TV show where four chefs battle to see who is best, salmon often…
Life
Refuge Notebook: Vernal pools filled with life
As a child I could often be found poking around in water bodies of any size fascinated by…
Life
An Outdoor View: Wilder yet
Editor’s note: The last of a series of three columns about wild lands in Alaska. A few years…
Life
On trek to Everest, a chance to push boundaries, find peace
EVEREST BASE CAMP, Nepal — We reach Everest Base Camp on a sunny but chilly afternoon, after an…
Life
Tropical houseplants need a little coddling
A winter trip to the “Isle of Enchantment,” Puerto Rico, left me feeling sorry for many of my…
Life
Refuge Notebook: The story behind Earth Day
Today is Earth Day! It’s celebrated every April 22, the first time in 1970 by 20 million Americans.…
Life
An Outdoor View: More on wildness
As I mentioned in this column last week, I like the fact most of Alaska’s lands are owned…
Life
Birch tapping for the beginners
With three weeks gone in the season, Kenai birch sap is still streaming on the central Kenai Peninsula,…
Life
Tight Lines: Early spring means fishing options abound
The early spring weather, likely a symptom of climate change, has me, on the one hand, worried. As…
Life
Skyline Trail offers early season challenge
A view from the well-traveled Skyline trail on a clear day can be a rewarding sight of the…
Life
Refuge Notebook: Warm winters and other signs of the Anthropocene
Most Alaskans would likely agree that this has been a winter of very strange weather with very strange…
Life
An Outdoor View: Wildness
Every so often, I hear the claim that the government owns too much land in Alaska. I disagree.…
Life
Untimely spring frosts threaten plants; how to prepare
Spring’s last frost — when the mercury takes its final plunge to freezing temperatures until autumn — is…
Life
Refuge Notebook: Kenai Refuge cabins provide solitude with a bit of comfort
Before I landed my dream job here with the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Cabin Program, my wife and…
Life
An Outdoor View: Looking back
Excerpts from “An Outdoor View” columns that are at least as true today as they were when I…