Residents of the Kenai Peninsula are all too familiar with wildfire after the summer of 2019. Not only did the Swan Lake Fire burn for… Continue reading
Last fall the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge was forced to close eight trails due to Swan Lake Fire activity. Through the fall, all eight trails… Continue reading
A HECM, or helicopter crewmember, performs an essential role in ensuring the safety and success of aviation operations during a wildland fire. To manage wildland… Continue reading
Around this time of year I start to include a pair of binoculars in my checklist of essentials for heading out the door on a… Continue reading
A friend told me recently that March is her favorite month. What? Not May, when our birds of summer come home to nest? Nor June… Continue reading
We’ve probably already met, but you didn’t realize it. We’re the other national wildlife refuge headquartered on the Kenai Peninsula. If you’ve taken a Kenai… Continue reading
Recently a friend asked me for information about spruce grouse. I am sure he saw the slight look of panic as I thought about what… Continue reading
I like low key, low tech, cheap science. That is part of why I became an entomologist. I love that I can walk out the… Continue reading
Let us start with a riddle. There are 11 frogs sitting on a log. Five of the frogs decide to jump off the log. How… Continue reading
Winter is my favorite season here on the Kenai Peninsula. Everything is slower, quieter. You can just sense that the energy is calmer than the… Continue reading
As anyone visiting the Skilak Lake Wildlife Recreation Area or traveling between the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage knows, construction has been underway on the Sterling… Continue reading
Who has ever poured over a list of possible baby names, highlighting favorites and writing them down for deliberation? Who has done the same for… Continue reading
Late last summer, as I waited in a line of traffic on the Sterling Highway to get through the Swan Lake Fire, smoke rose from… Continue reading
A recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change highlighted some work by Dr. Kyle Horton and his colleagues, who figured out how to… Continue reading
On June 8, 1897, Dr. Walter H. Evans of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Benton Killin, a retired lawyer and regent of the Oregon… Continue reading
In 1975, as a freshman in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin, I was required to take a weekly no-credit orientation seminar during my… Continue reading
It is the time of year for reflection, where we look back at the year and express gratitude for the many good things that happened,… Continue reading
“Welcome to Refuge Notebook. This is day one, page one of a new weekly column devoted to life and happenings on the Kenai National Wildlife… Continue reading
I recently took a family vacation to my home state of Minnesota to visit family and friends. We arrived in time to help rake up… Continue reading
I find this a little depressing. A 2018 study published by the National Academy of Sciences estimates that by weight, 70% of all birds on… Continue reading
