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Nick Varney

Sports

Unhinged: Believe it or not, there’s a bright side

Don’t worry, I’m not going to jump into the COVID-19 kerfuffle.

Refuge Notebook: Recreational safety after the Swan Lake Fire

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Recreational safety after the Swan Lake Fire

Residents of the Kenai Peninsula are all too familiar with wildfire after the summer of 2019. Not only…

A soils primer for Homer: Mutnala soils are most photogenic

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A soils primer for Homer: Mutnala soils are most photogenic

This is the next installment in the series, A Soils Primer for Homer.

The Swan Lake Fire can be seen from above on Monday, Aug. 26 on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Alaska Wildland Fire Information)

News

Reminder: Burn permits are suspended starting May 1

Starting Friday, May 1, all burn permits are suspended by the Alaska Division of Forestry, and burning both…

A soils primer for Homer: Beluga soils get name from their water

News

A soils primer for Homer: Beluga soils get name from their water

This is the next installment in the series, A Soils Primer for Homer.

Skyline Trail has damaged tread as well as hazard trees from the Swan Lake Fire. (Photo by Christa Kennedy/Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Swan Lake Fire trails update

Last fall the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge was forced to close eight trails due to Swan Lake Fire…

Kachemak soils are the dominant soils on the rolling hills in the Diamond Ridge area. (Photo courtesy Doug Van Patten)

News

A soils primer for Homer: Kachemak soils have wonderful properties

This is the second installment of the series, “A Soils Primer” for the Homer area. This is meant…

A soils primer for Homer

News

A soils primer for Homer

Looking for something to do while you are a captivated audience by the menacing and deadly coronavirus? Stay…

Photo by Ronan Dugan/USFWS                                 Kittiwakes build their sturdy nests on cliff sides, and they prefer to live in crowded neighborhoods for additional safety from predators.

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Keeping an eye on birds

Around this time of year I start to include a pair of binoculars in my checklist of essentials…

Refuge Notebook: Migration is not canceled

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Migration is not canceled

A friend told me recently that March is her favorite month. What? Not May when our birds of…

AP file Photo/Mark Thiessen                                 In this March 20, 2019, file photo, Iditarod musher Nicolas Petit, of France, poses with two of his dogs in Anchorage. Nearly a third of the 57 mushers in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race have quit the race before finishing, including Petit, who activated an alert button seeking rescue last Thursday morning, March 19, because of weather conditions.

Sports

3 Iditarod mushers rescued because of poor trail conditions

Three mushers participating in Alaska’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race were rescued Friday after they activated their SOS…

Out of the Office: Nature in a time of pandemic can heal

Sports

Out of the Office: Nature in a time of pandemic can heal

As I write this I am in my third day of working at home — or, as I…

Refuge Notebook: Introducing Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Introducing Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

We’ve probably already met, but you didn’t realize it. We’re the other national wildlife refuge headquartered on the…