After years of wearing ranger-style shirts and U.S. Forest Service badges, the naturalists at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center are donning a more "visitor-friendly" uniform.

A large rock slide carrying monster boulders and a few spruce trees and alder bushes has blocked a well-trodden path leading to Nugget Falls, just south of Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier.

Due to some close encounters between bears and people, the U.S. Forest Service has temporarily closed a substantial section of the Steep Creek Trail at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.

A lone wolf frequenting the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area is at risk from a small group of irresponsible dog owners. "We've had people out here trying to breed their dogs with the wolf, playing ball with it, trying to feed it - it's gotten really bad in recent weeks," said Michelle Warrenchuk, a U.S. Forest Service naturalist and interpreter at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. "It's becoming habituated."

Poster contest focuses on ski safety

Someone once said the only dumb question is the one that never gets asked. That being said, the U.S. Forest Service's seasonal interpreters at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center sure get some strange questions.

More than 1,400 girl and adult Girl Scouts in 17 Southeast Alaska communities are selling the cookies, which will arrive around the first of March. Funds go to support scout activities. Program focuses on trees A program on "Community Landmark Trees" will be presented from 2 to 4 p.m.