TURNAGAIN NEWS

‘Mushrooms of Alaska’ To Be Published This Month

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

The humble mushroom crouches on a tuft of neon green lichen, its purple cap resplendent in a shard of light cutting through the forest. 

Along comes a stampede of teenagers, rushing, pushing and jostling. Then, one sees it. 

"Look!" says a girl with a top hat over black bangs. She squats to meet the humble mushroom eye level.

"Don't touch it," her friend warns. "It might be poisonous."

A quick text and photo to an amateur mycologist reveals its title: Russula emitica, "The Sickener". And another fact: "No mushrooms are poisonous to the touch."

The girl opens a journal to sketch the Russula. 

"Is it edible?" a friend asks.

"Well. It is called 'The Sickener'."

A few days later, she's on the trail with a mushroom book. 

The young naturalist's fascination reflects what conservationist Rachel Carson wrote 70 years ago—a "sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years."

When a sense of wonder took hold of local fungi expert and author Kate Mohatt 30 years ago, as she collected mushrooms near her home in rural Wyoming, it didn't let up.

Mohatt began collecting mushrooms when she was 15. She didn't care to eat them. In fact, she thought they tasted "disgusting".

Mushrooms were mysterious because she couldn't identify them. Then again, she would soon learn no one else could identify them. Her field guide didn't cover her Wyoming countryside. A sense of wonder was activated.

"It was just, what are all these things and why doesn't anybody know anything about them? I just kind of got obsessed," Mohatt said. "I think that's a common story. I mean, when mushrooms are fruiting, when you see a bunch of them out, it's really eye-catching and you want to know what the hell they are." 

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwood-mushroom-expert-co-authors-alaska-guide-book

By Deb Essex

Girdwood Trails Marathon Race Director

The Girdwood Nordic Ski Club held the 10th annual Girdwood Trails Marathon on Sat, Oct. 4, from the Alyeska Resort Daylodge.  This event has grown considerably as we added Half Marathon and 5K Race options for participants. The sold out event showcased the varied trails throughout the Girdwood Valley including the popular Winner Creek and Iditarod Trails. This year, 331 runners from all around Alaska, seven U.S. states, and Canada, braved the 39 degree temps and rain to run the connected trails in Girdwood. This event was created by Girdwood trail enthusiast, Brian Burnett, who is constantly cruising along trails for a fun day outside and who currently serves as the Chief of Stoke for all things trail related in Girdwood.  

The marathon and half marathon race switch direction every year, and this year ran in a counter-clockwise loop. The participants start at the Alyeska Resort Daylodge and follow pink flags along the trail route set by one the 60 volunteers of this event. The trails were in excellent condition, and Glacier Creek had a low flowrate so the marathon runners could cross without incident. This trail race would simply not be possible without the funding dedication of the Anchorage Parks and Recreation - Girdwood Staff, Kyle Kelley and Margaret Tyler, who annually apply for grant funding and hire trail crews to repair and maintain the valley’s trails.  They also coordinate with the Friends of Girdwood Trails to host trail work parties for smaller maintenance tasks.  Moreover, the USFS perennially sends a crew up Winner Creek Trail with the enormous task of hardening the trail surface.  The combination of these trail maintenance efforts mean that Girdwood trails can handle year-round visitors and participants of this race.

Read the story, pictures and results at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwood-trails-marathon-continues-to-grow

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

Reporters and editors at the Homer News and Peninsula Clarion announced their resignations on Monday, citing a decision by the papers’ corporate owners to bow to political pressure to amend an article about a vigil for the slain far-right activist Charlie Kirk.

The resignations, which include two editors and two reporters based in Homer and Kenai, were scheduled to take effect in two weeks, but managers at Carpenter Media Group fired all four immediately. 

Carpenter Media Group, an international chain, owns the News, Clarion and the Juneau Empire, as well as the Yukon News and hundreds of other newspapers in the Lower 48 and Canada.

The resignations follow a similar mass resignation at the Juneau Empire earlier this summer. 

When combined, both actions leave Carpenter Media Group with a single in-state Alaska reporter among its three newspapers.

Mary Kemmis, senior vice president of Carpenter’s publications in Alaska and Canada, did not return phone calls seeking comment on Tuesday, nor did Chloe Pleznac, the reporter who authored the original article.

Jake Dye, a former reporter for the Peninsula Clarion and one of the people who resigned this week, said by phone that Carpenter’s handling of the story was “problematic in a lot of ways.”

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/mass-resignations-at-two-alaska-newspapers-after-out-of-state-owners-bow-to-political-pressure