Today I found the cutest little mushrooms EVER! They only grow on spruce cones and are like something straight out of a fairy tale. Strobilurus occidentalis, aka spruce cone mushroom or spruce conesprout.

Do you pick bog cranberries and lingonberries before or after the first frost? Haven’t had a frost here yet, but I found a great berry spot while enjoying the morning sunshine and they were too delicious to pass up!

Sunday botany walk highlight #1: Bog cranberries! 🌱They shine like ruby jewels in the muskeg. 🌱Crisp texture and wonderful flavor. 🌱A delightful ratio of plant to fruit. If our blueberry bush adopted the same ratio, it would make berries the size of beach balls.

Went out first thing this morning to try fishing from shore. Didn’t catch any fish, but a whale came by! Tossed the rod in the car and ran/watched along the highway for 20 minutes. What a great way to start the day 🥰 #AlaskaSky

Today’s Sunday morning botany hike was magical. #AlaskaSky #Tongass

Public comment on the reorganization is open through Sep. 30. www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

Get the facts. There’s no benefit to logging the Tongass. None. At a certain point it appears MAGA just wants to destroy stuff because they can. #SaveRoadless #ProtectTheTongass #akleg #akgov

To those who say SE Alaska doesn’t have fall colors, I present tomorrow’s weather forecast. #AlaskaSky #Autumn

Fully 80% of the CDC's budget goes out to state and local health departments. Slashing the CDC's budget is going to be felt by "every person in every community across this country, whether they realize it or not.” my latest: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Mark is right, Trump is pushing costs up, and driving us toward a shut down.

Hey, folks, there's still time to submit comments on the Roadless Rule. We have until Sept 19 Here's a great page I found that breaks it all down and provides the link at the end nationalparkhistory.substack.com/p/let-me-tea...

1901, photograph by Dr. Allan Warner of two 13 year old boys both infected with smallpox on the same day, one vaccinated as an infant and one not.

Salal and red huckleberry turned out to be a fabulous combo in tonight’s muffin experiment. #AlaskaSky

Found solace and sore feet on a 13 mile hike in the #Tongass last weekend. So grateful to be able to spend a full day exploring the alpine.

USFS recently opened a public comment period around a reckless proposal to eliminate the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, commonly known as the “Roadless Rule,” which could impact over 45M acres of national forestland. Learn more — and take action. www.npca.org/articles/104...

Seeing a humpback bubble feed = a great day on the water 🥰 If you’re in Ketchikan this summer, join us for a tour at www.outtoseaexpeditions.com #AlaskaSky #Ketchikan

Important.

Watch how this bubblenet drifts with the current, and then Phoenix comes right up thru the middle. He is so skilled at single bubblenet feeding! #AlaskaSky #Ketchikan #OurTownsFavoriteWhale

Q: What should we be doing now? A: Prof. Heather Cox Richardson with the answer. @heathercoxrichardson.substack.com.web.brid.gy

The state Department of Health is projecting that Alaska could see a reduction of up to $500 million annually in Medicaid spending because of the federal tax-and-spending law that includes massive cuts to social safety net programs. www.adn.com/politics/202...

I found a patch of scrambled egg slime mold today! Fuligo septica. Slime molds are a great reminder that nature doesn’t always fit in the neat categories humans create while studying it. #AlaskaSky

Research also shows why these categories are so important: because when people learn they’re not true, attitudes and perspectives shift, as does – most importantly – support for climate action! bsky.app/profile/kath...

A thermometer doesn't give a different number if you're red, blue--or green. Nor does a hurricane knock on your door and ask who you voted for in the last election before it destroys your home. Experts agree: it's real, it's us, it's serious and there are solutions. We just need to implement them!

Reports that a Canadian citizen who has resided in the US since age 10 was abducted at a green card interview. Her husband is begging ICE to let him fly her back to Canada and they refuse to release her.

This was my favorite float in Ketchikan’s 4th of July parade.

Every time I posted about how much my insurance was through the Exchange, people would say, “what are you talking about? I’m only paying $33 a month.” Those people are about to find out they were on Medicaid.

Kudos and thanks are due to ADN’s Iris Samuels. She has again written really great articles that keep us informed and focus on what matters!! Here’s one: Rep. Begich celebrates passage of tax-cut bill that could cause thousands of Alaskans to lose health coverage www.adn.com/politics/202...

Enjoy this marbled murrelet with a “fish mustache.” We watched it for several minutes, floating along and then diving and resurfacing with the same fish. Figured it was waiting for us to leave so it could fly back to its nest. So we did, and it flew off with the fish.

This is Nick Begich (R-Alaska). If he votes for the bill, 37,000 of his constituents lose access to their healthcare. 27,000 of his constituents lose access to their food assistance. 578 energy jobs in his district will disappear.

ALL HANDS ON DECK!! Call, Email, Stand UP! #KillTheBill

The salmonberries seem to be enjoying our cool wet weather in Ketchikan. They’re way bigger this year than they were last year. I’m happy to be restocking my freezer with berries! #AlaskaSky

Prince of Wales Island resident Elsa Sebastian said the lack of public engagement from lawmakers felt like a betrayal of trust, and privatizing parts of the Tongass would significantly affect rural communities like hers.

This is a travesty & a nightmare. The US was a founder of @gavi.org. It lowers global vaccine costs, has vaccinated 1B children, & averted 19M deaths. This pull out will cost 100s of thousands of children's lives a year - and RFK Jr will be personally responsible. www.politico.com/news/2025/06...

Every country is warming. Every country is experiencing more extreme weather events because of climate change, mainly caused by burning fossil fuels. www.ShowYourStripes.info Time to #ShowYourStripes and start climate conversations to prompt actions to reduce emissions, personally & collectively.

My now-annual repost for summer solstice - just a look at Alaska’s “midnight sun.” It looks different here in Juneau, and even lighter the more north you get than where this was filmed in Anchorage. Happy Solstice! #summersolstice #alaska

A while back when I discussed plastic pollution in my newsletter Talking Climate, I said the most important way we can cut it is not by recycling (only 8% is actually recycled) but rather by advocating for plastic bans where we live. And now, guess what - there’s peer-reviewed evidence this works!

We saw Harbor porpoises today! These are one of the smallest cetaceans, only 4 to 6 ft long. I love how gracefully and gently they move when surfacing. #AlaskaSky

Thank you to @hcrichardson.bsky.social for pointing out that we make money on our public lands every single year. Why would we sell them when they are a reliable form of income? www.blm.gov/sites/defaul...

This is horrible on multiple levels. Call your reps and tell them not to support the selling of public lands.

How can we sing “land of the free” when masked agents behave like this? 😢

“I was born here,” Jason Brian Gavidia shouted as a federal agent twisted his arm & pressed him against a fence outside his auto body shop in a working-class L.A. suburb. “I’m an American, bro!” Vivid @nytimes.com reporting on the targeting of U.S. citizens of Hispanic descent.

Ketchikan, Alaska #NoKings 305 turned out, population 8,079, that’s 3.7% of the population! #Rally #Protest #June14 @50501movement.bsky.social @youranoncentral.bsky.social @indivisible.org @altnps.bsky.social @maddow.msnbc.com

Just finished up at the Evanston No Kings rally. It was safe, peaceful, and a show of solidarity by *at least* 1,000 people. Go to your local protest. Don’t let this administration scare you. Stand with your community when our leaders won’t.

Today they have crossed a deep red line. We, the people, must hold the president and his appointees accountable for this outrageous abuse against American liberty.

This Saturday, June 14th, join one of the 1,800+ No Kings protests across the country. While Trump celebrates his birthday with a military parade in D.C. like a wannabe king, we'll be joining together to uphold our democracy and protect our rights! @indivisible.org #NoKingsDay

Important reporting here from @yjrosen.bsky.social and @alaskabeacon.com on some impacts that the decimation of NOAA will have on Alaska fisheries. #Alaska #AlaskaSky #NOAA alaskabeacon.com/2025/06/10/n...

Both of our carnivorous plants growing side by side! Long-leaved and round-leaved sundews. 😍

Flood them with comments! alaskabeacon.com/2025/06/04/a...