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Photo by Matt Bowser
Kuviak Lake in the Swanson River Canoe System.

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Discover the allure of canoeing opportunities on the refuge

Imagine embarking on a journey through the untouched wilderness of Alaska, gliding along pristine waterways, surrounded by breathtaking…

An adult male mountain goat with GPS radio collar shortly after release. (Photo by Dom Watts/FWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Studies investigate mountain goat movements, habitats

By DOM WATTS

Photo by USFWS/Colin Canterbury
Wolf track on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

Sports

Refuge Notebook: A winter’s night among the stars, wolves of the refuge

By Kevin Painter

hoto by C. Canterbury, USFWS
A beaver coasts by in search of the perfect stick for a dam repair.

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…

Photo provided
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.

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…

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

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…

Photo by Lisa Hupp/USFWS 
The glacial blue waters of the Kenai River ice up.

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Changing winters bring new conservation challenges

The variability in our winters during the last decade here has made it difficult to discern trends

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

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…

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)

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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…

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.