Conservation
Protected Areas Bring in $600 Billion, So Why Cut Funds?
Across the United States, more than 715 million acres of wild lands in thousands of holdings are protected, thanks to measures such as the Wilderness Act of 1964.
Good Nature Travel Blog
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News & More
Should Nonnative Species Be Introduced as Biocontrols?
For decades now, climate change has been altering habitats and causing a major shift of ecosystems northward. Unable to adjust quickly enough, some cold-adapted species are being forced to relocate to higher latitudes as warmer temperatures push them out of their traditional environs. For some warm-weather species, habitats are expanding.
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Conservation
Endangered Species List May Not Be Best for Animals at Risk
Gray wolves in the Great Lakes region received some good news last month. In a surprise, unusual ruling on December 19, 2014, United States District Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered that gray wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin be placed back on the federal endangered species list.
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Nature & Wildlife
Bison and Wolves: Is Culling Once-Threatened Species Justified?
As many as 900 Yellowstone National Park American bison may be exterminated in winter 2014-2015. It’s estimated that our nation’s last, pure herd of free-ranging bison that have managed to continuously live on their native grounds currently numbers at 4,900. That means that a fifth of this near-threatened species is soon to be killed.
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Conservation
Smokey Bear: Overachiever or Climate Change Clairvoyant?
Smokey Bear turned 70 years old this past Saturday, August 9, 2014.
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Nature & Wildlife
Does Our Language Regarding Wolves and Bears Shape Our Attitudes?
In Wisconsin where I live, we call three large predators “neighbors”: the black bear, the gray wolf and the occasional mountain lion. Because of this, you might think that Wisconsinites’ attitudes toward all three animals would be similar.
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Conservation
On the Loss of Passenger Pigeons and Parks
One hundred years ago this year, the last passenger pigeon on Earth died in the Cincinnati Zoo. A female named Martha, she has now become an icon for species extinction.
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Conservation
We Need More Snow Days
I think part of the reason that I love snow and ice is because I think winter is an endangered species. Have you ever chosen to travel to a particular place because you miss the colder winters of the past?
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Nature & Wildlife
If Government Wildlife Numbers Are Routinely Overestimated, Should Trophy Hunting Be Outlawed?
Today around the world, with government conservation monies dwindling and severe staffing cutbacks, it stands to reason that wildlife management entities desperately need the funds that recreational hunters provide—not only to keep population numbers of certain species at healthy levels for their sport but for wildlife-watchers, as well.
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Nature & Wildlife
Are Wolf Protection “Kid Cages” Necessary, or Just a Scaremongering Tool?
When I was growing up in Wisconsin, I would hear occasional rumors of kids in the Northwoods having to worry about wolves as they “waited for the school bus.” Why they would have to fret only Monday through Friday at a specific time of day always baffled me.
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Nature & Wildlife
One Cougar’s Epic Hike
On June 11, 2011, a mountain lion was killed on the busy Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, Connecticut. He was hit by a car. I don’t live in Connecticut—Wisconsin is my home—nor have I ever seen this particular cat.
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Travel Tales
The Natural Habitat of the Plastic Pink Flamingo
I thought of my father recently, as I was taking down our Christmas tree and wrapping up the decorations.