The late meltdown of winter snow and ice was undoubtedly a big contributor to the lowest numbers of bird species ever seen by participants in the local birdathon’s twenty-year history. The group of nineteen participants who gathered at river’s edge Saturday night found a total of only 47 different species of birds. Read More »

Photos by Robin Song

Host and producer Robin Song relates the experiences of photographing the flocks of thousands of snow geese and Canada geese, along with cranes, swans, and ducks, feeding Palmer area fields in late April. Text follows audio.

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Spring, this year, is unfolding slowly. Cold nights have kept the snow from melting quickly and the hayfields at the ranch are still sleeping under an unbroken white blanket. Read More »

Herbicide spraying will take place along the Alaska Rail Road Train Tracks in the Talkeetna Area for the first time since 1983. Since the Alaska Department of Conservation changed the regulations governing herbicide and pesticide application in March, the Railroad no longer needs to apply for a permit or wait out a public comment period. Instead, they notify the DEC of which pesticides they intend to use, and when the application will take place. In the case of the Alaska Rail Road, the period which they will apply pesticide is between May and August.

listen to full audio [2:31]

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The potential for flooding due to break-up on the Susitna river is still rated as low to moderate by the National Weather Service, but with recent rains and a forecast warm-up in temperatures predicted for next week, that could all change in a moment’s notice.

The consistently cool temperatures of April have allowed the snowpack to gradually thaw. The addition of nearly an inch of rain and snow in the last 24 hours has increased the water volume of the above-average snowpack. If temperatures get in to the 50s during the week ahead, rapidly melting snow could pour in to the Susitna. The river ice is still fairly strong, and additional water could create conditions that make ice jams and flooding possible. However, if the warmup is short-lived, a return to cooler weather could give the rivers more time to gradually thaw. Read More »

KTNA is celebrating 20 years broadcasting to the Upper Susitna Valley by bringing you audio broadcast during the past two decades. We share the past with you on 88.9 FM every Friday at 12:35.

This week, one of a series of stories about women on Denali that KTNA news producer Johanna Eurich recorded in 1997. In this segment, Johanna talks to former Trapper Creek resident Betty Menard, who, at 21, became the first Alaska Native woman to climb Denali, earning her a page in mountaineering history.

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Betty Menard now spends most of her time in sunnier climes.

With spring weather slow to arrive in the Northern Susitna Valley, it should come as no surprise that the National Weather Service has announced April, 2013 as the 4th coldest on record for Talkeetna and surrounding areas.

For much of the state, April 2013 was among the coldest in the past 74 years. Looking back even further, in the eastern Interior this was the coldest April since 1924, while in South Central for many places this was the coolest April since 1985.

May arrived and most of Alaska’s rivers are still locked in ice. National Weather Service staff and river observers collect ice thickness data around the 1st day of each month during the winter. However, except on the North Slope and northwest Alaska, by the start of May ice is typically gone or unsafe for measurements. Not so this remarkably backwards spring. Ice thickness and snow on the ice at nearly all measured locations in the central Interior was THICKER than at the start of April.

Planners for the Denali State Park Visitor’s center have initiated phase one of the master plan by opening an invitation to bid on construction of a road, hiking trail, and campground at the South-Denali site near mile 135 of the Parks Highway. Read More »

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Even witches can be victims of bullying at school, as we find out in this new Katie story. The second half of The Secret Garden, Chapter 15, also played this week, but if you need to hear it just listen to the full chapter at the link from last week. Also posted are items from the special fundraising program – Tevi’s voicemail message from the Story Troll cave and her follow-up story about what happened to set her free.

Katie and the Witch’s Trial

Voice Mail from the Story Troll Cave

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Goats to the Rescue!

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