Cos Jacket - A Ghost Town on the Tanana River By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]C[/fusion_dropcap]OS JACKET — On a canoe trip down the lower Tanana River, we've scrambled up a sandy bank to explore a place that is less populated now than it was a century ago. No one, in fact, lives at Cos Jacket anymore. [...]
Sheefish a shiny surprise on the Zitziana river By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]Z[/fusion_dropcap]ITZIANA RIVER — Fishing at the spot where this long, squiggly stream mixes with a floury channel of the Tanana River, Alison Beamer feels a thump. Line squeals from her spinning reel as a creature as long as her arm flashes beneath the surface. [...]
Moose not easy to see on big Alaska river By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]L[/fusion_dropcap]OWER TANANA RIVER — On a day like this 121 years ago, a hungry U.S. Army explorer passed here at the mouth of Fish Creek, where clear water collides with the cloudy Tanana. Henry Allen did not stop to fish. He had food, [...]
Fire breaks down and builds up Alaska boreal forest By Ned Rozell I once wrote about how fire had ravaged more than 10 percent of Interior Alaska during two smoky summers. A wildlife biologist called me out for choosing an inadequate verb. Tom Paragi chooses words that are more positive when he looks at a [...]
Yukon River breaking up smoothly this year By Ned Rozell: [fusion_dropcap]C[/fusion_dropcap]IRCLE — As the pilot of a chartered Cessna 206 curved in for a landing above the Yukon River, his passengers squinted at white river ice that clung to the south bank near town. Chocolate brown open water filled river channels both upstream and downstream [...]
Calling frogs signal the change of season By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]N[/fusion_dropcap]EAR BALLAINE LAKE — Over the blat of engines and hum of tires on nearby Farmers Loop, Mark Spangler hears the chuckles of the animal he is studying. Male wood frogs in a one-acre pond on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks are [...]
Coyotes are everywhere, even in Alaska By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]L[/fusion_dropcap]ast Friday, an email popped up in all the mailboxes of people with the Geophysical Institute: Someone saw what might have been a wolf on the trails north of the UAF campus. "Please be cautious if skiing in the area." A few people responded, saying they [...]
Many Signs of Alaska's Climate Change By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]I[/fusion_dropcap]n anticipation of an arctic science conference happening next month in Fairbanks, an editor asked me to write a column on climate change in the north. I told her climate stability would be the bigger story, since basswood trees used to grow in Fairbanks and redwoods [...]
Ice Worms: Enigmas of the North By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]R[/fusion_dropcap]ecent research on the ice worm has shone some light on the tiny creature that appears when the sun sets on warmish glaciers. Few people have seen ice worms, but they are not mythical. Wispy and less than one inch long, ice worms live on glaciers, [...]
Harmful Toxins Detected in Alaska Marine Mammals From a NOAA Press Release: [fusion_dropcap]T[/fusion_dropcap]oxins from harmful algae are present in Alaskan marine food webs in high enough concentrations to be detected in marine mammals from Southeast Alaska to the Arctic Ocean, including whales, walruses, sea lions, seals, porpoises and sea otters, according to The next link/button [...]