Site Logo
Young samplings are better than a muffin to this moose on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Colin Canterbury/USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: We stand on the shoulders of giant moose

This story starts 2,500 miles southeast as the raven flies from Kenai National Wildlife Refuge to the heart…

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Technician Steve Hoekwater collects an eDNA water sample from Berg Lake on Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on June 7, 2023, as part of an effort to detect invasive northern pike (Esox lucius). Photo by Nathan Davis/USFWS

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Deja vu and something new — Probing Kenai Peninsula lakes for invasive species

We had been here before.

Photo by T. Eskelin, USFWS
The banded Anna’s hummingbird is being released and flew away seconds after the photo was taken.

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Tales of the traveling hummingbird

In the book “A Sand County Almanac,” Aldo Leopold wrote, “To band a bird is to hold a…

Spruce trees on the Kenai Peninsula show the magnitude of spruce tip rust this year. (Photo by Todd Esklin/USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Another big year for spruce tip rust

By Matt Bowser and Kris Inman

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

Naming nature as an innovative way to identify and remember their official and complex scientific names. (Photo by USFWS)

Sports

Refuge Notebook: Nature’s nametags

By Matt Connor

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…