Tony Soltys holds a silver salmon caught in September at an undisclosed location. Soltys said fly fishing for silvers is quite an exciting pastime.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

A circle of second graders holding sticks count time as they do African dance to an Australian aboriginal beat. As the music quiets, they squat down, waiting.

Amanita muscaria is characterized by its brightly colored cap with white spots or patches. It also has a white stem and grows in woodland areas.

Mike Pool, a former BLM California State Director has accepted the position of Deputy of Director for Operations with the the Bureau of Land Management. Pool will formally begin work on January 1, 2010. His duties will include supervising the BLM’s senior executive team and providing management continuity between State Offices for all BLM programs.

Today, Oct. 2

There are perhaps 18,000 species (or 23,000, some reports differ!) of orchids in the world, occurring almost everywhere except the High Arctic, the most extreme deserts, the crests of the coldest mountains, and the sea. Their economic value lies in a vast and lucrative floriculture industry and in the production of natural vanilla flavoring. They are cultivated for the spectacular array of complex, often gaudy, sometimes bizarre, and sometimes elegant flowers and are often hybridized by aficionados to create yet more diverse floral exhibits.

Hunting deer in Juneau means climbing over, under and around trees, over mossy covered hills, and soggy bogs of muskeg. In contrast, the tundra areas north of Kotzebue, climbing is minimal and there are little or no trees to navigate. Hills, although small, are just deep enough to hide caribou, the game we’re hunting this trip, and the willows that line the creeks provide a travel path with all the necessary elements of habitat: food, water, space, shelter and arrangement.

October is the cruelest month.