A high-quality tract of land has been added to Lake James State Park, east of Asheville, NC with the help of The Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina and grants from two conservation trust funds. The property, in two parcels totaling 129 acres, features 8,900 linear feet of shoreline and a stunning view of the Linville Gorge. The Foothills Conservancy aided in...
Learn MoreSecretary Sally Jewell announced today that the Interior Department will launch a comprehensive review to identify and evaluate potential reforms to the federal coal program in order to ensure that it is properly structured to provide a fair return to taxpayers and reflect its impacts on the environment, while continuing to help meet our energy needs. This is another...
Learn MoreOver the last decade, the exotic forest pest, Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) has ravaged our southern Appalachian forests. Since the “arrival” of HWA in our area, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy (CMLC) has been working to protect our native Eastern and Carolina hemlocks from this attack. Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is a destructive pest that gravely threatens the eastern...
Learn MoreOn December 23, 2015 the Conservation Trust for North Carolina purchased two forested properties on the slopes of Saddle Mountain in Alleghany and Surry counties. To expand public recreation opportunities, CTNC intends to convey the properties to the state for inclusion in the Saddle Mountain portion of the Mitchell River Game Lands managed by the NC Wildlife Resources...
Learn MoreA new study from the Yale School of Public Health links the chemicals used in fracking with potential reproductive and developmental problems. This isn’t exactly new — we’ve known for some time that fracking is connected with lowered sperm counts, as well as premature births and a host of other health issues. This particular study, however, raises concerns about...
Learn MoreThe armed terrorists that are entering their second week occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon might be in favor of states taking over ownership of public lands, but Westerners as a whole aren’t, according to a new poll. The poll, released January 11, 2016 by Colorado College, surveyed voters in seven western states (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Utah,...
Learn MoreTravelers — especially drone enthusiasts — should know that public park policies vary widely when it comes to unmanned aircraft. Before you send anything aloft — or holler in protest about somebody else’s aircraft — it’s wise to do some homework. Besides the Federal Aviation Administration’s restrictions on small unmanned aircraft, many parks have their...
Learn MoreAlthough bald eagles live throughout the continental United States, Alaska, with about 50,000 eagles, has the most. Ideal bald eagle habitat consists of mature shoreline forests with scattered openings and little human use, near water with abundant fish and waterfowl. The phrase “eagle eye” describes the highly developed visual ability of bald eagles, which...
Learn MoreThe National Park Service handled a record number of visitors in 2015 and park crowding has achieved epic proportions at some of Utah’s marquee destinations. But crowding can be reduced through smart planning and outreach that spreads use into less busy times and less visited places, according to director Jonathan Jarvis. Not so easily fixed, he said, is young...
Learn MoreAmmon Bundy and his band of terrorists have pissed off a lot of people since they took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, last week. Liberals, conservationists, and Black Lives Matter activists are all avowed foes. Now add another powerful group to the list: birders. “Just a friendly warning from the birding and wildlife photography community...
Learn MoreMissoulians often mistake Douglas fir trees for elk — a fact that would amuse David Douglas to no end. Had he made it to the Missoula Valley in Montana during his botanical explorations in the 1820s, the elk on Mount Jumbo would have no Douglas fir saplings to mingle with. Salish Indians regularly burned the mountainsides to deny ambush cover to Blackfeet Indians...
Learn MoreFuture generations will look back on our tepid response to global climate disruption and wonder why we did not act sooner and more aggressively. Climate change will adversely impact present and future generations, as well as all species on Earth. Our moral obligation to protect life requires us to act. Yet even after the recently completed United Nations climate...
Learn MoreLovers of Canada’s national parks are celebrating the country’s 150th birthday a little earlier than most after purchasing park passes and realizing they don’t expire until 2018. It’s part of an initiative brought in by the Liberal government that will make park access free for all users in 2017 and for youth and new Canadians starting in 2018....
Learn MoreJust like public parks in major cities get crowded as soon as temperatures hit high 60s, national parks get busy during the summer. But consider the possibility of enjoying nature when it’s a lot less packed and just as beautiful in the winter. You may even find trading your hiking boots for new skis or snowshoes refreshing. The colder weather and the snow make going to...
Learn MoreThe Helena and Lewis & Clark national forests in Montana have officially consolidated. The announcement comes after several years of combining positions and sharing resources across both forests, most notably in leadership with a shared supervisor and deputy supervisor. The public should notice little difference following the announcement and no offices will be...
Learn MoreArmed protesters have taken over a building in a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, accusing officials of unfairly punishing ranchers who refused to sell their land. One of them is Ammon Bundy, the 40-year-old son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who is well-known for anti-government action. The group is inside part of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, OR...
Learn MoreMinnesota winters are infamous, but ice and snow affected more than just the local culture. They also shaped the very ground on which the Twin Cities are built. The glacial history of the Twin Cities metro, 10,000 years old, can disappear beneath the carpet of roads and buildings covering the region. But a relief map showing the region’s topography leaves the...
Learn MoreUnder President Dwight D. Eisehower, the nation prepared for the 50th birthday of the National Park Service with a spending splurge that refurbished Independence Hall in Philadelphia and helped complete the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway. This year, the world-famous system turns 100 and the celebration will be far more modest. The Obama...
Learn MoreTrees are often referred to as the lungs of the earth, providing not only the oxygen we need to breathe but a filter to clean our air and water. Trees from forested lands provide timber for our homes, food for people and wildlife, protection from weather extremes and, in urban and rural settings, beautify cities and landscapes alike. As the largest steward of forested...
Learn MoreThe National Forest System includes 193 million acres of National Forests and grasslands and within those lands has identified 325,000 cultural resource sites. According to forest managers, those cultural resource sites are threatened by insufficient funding, too few staff, vandalism, fire, theft and timber harvesting. More than 6,000 archaeological and historic sites...
Learn MorePresident Obama signed into law a bill phasing out the manufacture of facewash, toothpaste and shampoo containing plastic microbeads by July 1, 2017 and the sale of such beauty products by July 1, 2018. Following in the footsteps of California’s historic microbead ban enacted earlier this year, the Microbead-Free Waters Act (H.R. 1321) bans all plastic microbeads from...
Learn MoreWild bison will be allowed to migrate out of Yellowstone National Park and stay in parts of Montana year-round under a move by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock that breaks a longstanding impasse in a wildlife conflict that’s dragged on for decades. The Democratic governor’s decision likely won’t end the periodic slaughters of some bison that roam outside...
Learn MoreTwo environmental advocacy groups have released an aerial video of the ongoing natural gas leak that’s plaguing Porter Ranch, CA and it’s startling. This is known as the Aliso Canyon methane leak, the worst environmental disaster since the BP gulf oil spill. The video, shot using a specialized infrared camera aboard a helicopter, released this week by the...
Learn MoreThe Owyhee Canyonlands of southeast Oregon spans about 9 million acres along the Owyhee River, which carved the landscape’s dramatic contours over the course of millions of years. It is considered one of America’s most intact stretches of high desert, a type of dry landscape far above sea level that is characterized by stunning geology and diverse wildlife, and contains...
Learn MoreWith all that’s going on in the world — from record-breaking warm spells to rapidly melting ice sheets — it’s easy to ignore something so seemingly mundane as dirt. But scientists at the University of Sheffield’s Grantham Center for Sustainable Futures suggest that we ignore dirt at our own peril. Nearly a third of the world’s arable land has been lost over the past four...
Learn MoreKayah Gaydish, a champion of the outdoors and expert rock climber from Asheville, North Carolina, died Sunday, December 20, 2015, after a 50-foot fall from a cliff in the Hidden Valley Lake area of Washington County, Virginia. According to a statement released by the Washington County sheriff’s office, the accident occurred around 4 p.m. In addition to her love for rock...
Learn MoreRegional Forester Tony Tooke is pleased to announce the hiring of Allen Nicholas as Forest Supervisor for the National Forests in North Carolina, headquartered in Asheville. Nicholas will oversee more than 1.25 million acres of public land stretched across four national forests. From the rugged and remote peaks of the Appalachians, to the tidal rivers and wetlands of the...
Learn MoreIn the hills above suburban Los Angeles, a man-made natural disaster of sorts has been unfolding for nearly two months. One can’t see it or hear it, and it’s not leaving a trail of dead animals and plants in its wake. It’s potentially catastrophic, nonetheless. On October 23, 2015 workers at the massive Aliso Canyon subterranean natural gas storage...
Learn More