Nature
ArchiveYoung lion, via Shutterstock Photographer: Louie Schoeman Last year, the presidents of five African nations made official the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), the largest conservation area to ever be approved. And last month the park was officially…
Let go of the need to do it all and just do some of it
Watch live streaming video from cornellherons at livestream.com As I write this, I can hear geese and a Belted Kingfisher in the distance and I'm watching a Great Blue Heron sitting over her day-old egg. I'm thousands of miles away from…
Grand Canyon Photo: Grand Canyon NPS The East Rim of the Grand Canyon, where the Little Colorado River meets the Colorado River, is a remote, quiet area, especially compared to the crowded Southern Rim. But it might not remain that way. The 27,000 square-mile Navajo reservation…
> [Video: Groudswell (Trailer) from the Patagonia Video Gallery] Keystone XL isn't the only pipeline in the works that will send oil from Alberta oil sands to far-off lands. Canadian pipeline builder Enbridge wants to build a new pipe to connect Edmonton with the port of…
The B.C. Coast Photo: Flickr/Dogwood Initiative If the U.S. doesn't allow the northern half of the Keystone XL pipeline to be built, Canada is just going to sell its oil to power-hungry China. That's one of the common rebuttals to opposition of the proposed Keystone XL…
Photo: Flickr/Harlequeen I can't kick the print habit; I love diving into the fat stack of New York Times on Sunday mornings. But I've just been reminded of the joys and sometimes superiority of electronic media. I read with interest Kim Tingley's “Whisper…
Just months after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, British Petroleum declared the recovery a success, and the Gulf of Mexico’s fisheries were opened for business. To celebrate, seafood freak ROWAN JACOBSEN packed his bib and went south to cook up a locally sourced gumbo. But when he got there, something didn’t taste right.
Photo: Flickr/gailf548 A study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows how ecotourists, researchers, and others who are lucky enough to step foot on Antarctica might be leaving more than footprints. Seeds and other plant material hitch-hikes there by way of…
Wildlife photography’s best new tool rolls. Check out these breathtaking close-ups of lions from Will and Matt Burrad-Lucas.
Black bear scavenges at a dump. Photo: Flickr/Mr Emprey As the debate rages over the environmental costs and benefits of oil derived from the tar sands in northern Alberta, wildlife near a major extraction area is already coming out on the losing end.
Researchers wield the collection trawl Photo: Stiv Wilson Despite what you might have heard, there are no huge, visually striking debris fields of plastic shopping bags and PET bottles swirling around the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But if that's the good news, the bad news is much worse:…
Photo: Christinamari/Flickr The Bureau of Land Management is in a pickle. And wild horse advocates are fuming. At issue is what the BLM considers unsustainably large herds of wild horses on 26 million acres…
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YGGUfYFdFrc%C2%A0 The Telluride MountainFilm Festival came through Santa Fe recently, and I had the opportunity to catch up with half a dozen terrific adventure flicks that I'd missed over Memorial Day weekend in Colorado. Going to see Mountainfilm always takes ten years off my life—in a good…
Left: Horsetail Falls, 2011. Photo: Joe Azure Right: The Firefall. Photo: National Park Service The window is closing on a yearly glimpse of a natural phenomena at Yosemite National Park, during which the angle of the sun and the flow of water off…
Go here to watch the full film and chat with the filmmaker, Peter McBride, on Thursday night between 6–9 MST.
A rainless winter means little water at the new wetlands park. Photo: Seth Strongin/TheCity Project In South Los Angeles, a former bus and rail transit station has been replaced by a nine-acre park that includes native trees and plant gardens, walking trails and…
By late February, you reach a point where you need the promise of warmth just to get outside. The hot springs at Avalanche Ranch and Nordic trails at nearby Spring Gulch, outside of Carbondale, Colorado, will give you the kick you crave, and then some. Kids and…
A team of biologists and filmmakers is 32 days into a 100-day, 1000-mile trek, via kayak, bike and foot, from the southern tip of Florida up to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia. And should you think that sounds like a bit of a pleasure cruise, check out this…
Badenoch, training. Photo: Joe Bell This spring, Andrew Badenoch plans to launch a 7,000-mile trip from Bellingham, Wash., up to the southern coast of the Arctic Ocean, before looping back. His locomotion will…
You consider yourself a gentleman, and so it's important, when you wake up with a stranger in your underpants one remorseful summer morning, that you manage the matter with due delicacy and grace.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Photo: Flickr/advencap It's the kind of story that makes conservationists hopeful. After years of staving off development and raising funds, the Peninsula Open Space Trust purchased 4,000 acres south of San Francisco, called…
Nancy Black, a 49-year-old marine biologist and the co-owner of a whale watching operation in Monterey, California, has pleaded not guilty to charges that she was feeding killer whales during two filming expeditions. According to the Monterey County Herald, the government has also been investigating the Jean-Michel…
The Bureau of Land Management is getting an earful over its tentative approval of a lease to Alton Coal Development LLC, a group of Florida investors that want to expand an existing coal mining operation into public lands close to Bryce Canyon…
Scouring the country’s premier film festival for the best environmental and adventure documentaries
Photo: Copyright Christo There's nothing like a mountain community scorned. As Colorado's Fremont County weighs its decision on whether to grant a land use permit to public artist Christo so he can hang a series of translucent fabric panels above the Arkansas River, hundreds…
ext_script = "//player.ooyala.com/player.js?height=317&video_pcode=1jZG06vQqWlGOe2jr1WK6VaYFHtK&embedCode=lxc2FiMzr4cF-9bxVBtjy9gNFDjjLSWR&deepLinkEmbedCode=lxc2FiMzr4cF-9bxVBtjy9gNFDjjLSWR&width=563" The release of The Grey, an action-packed thriller set in the Alaskan wilderness that pits man against wolf, could not have arrived in theaters at a worse time for OR-7 (a.k.a. Journey) the…
National Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis spouts off on the infamous bottle ban in Grand Canyon National Park, adapting to climate change, and a new rule that would give Homeland Security power over public land decisions on U.S. borders
In July, 2012, California will close 70 of their State Parks. Heath Hen Films goes from park to park to see what the closures mean for the state. Read more in Joe Spring’s article here.
On the afternoon of December 26, 2011, surf forecasting guru and media mogul Sean Collins died of a heart attack. What will the loss of the sport’s oracle mean for the surfing industry and for the sport?
By July 1, 2012, California plans to close 70 state parks. Gray Whale Cove State Park, Portola Redwoods State Park, Castle Rock State Park, and 67 other of the state's 278 parks will close. Twenty…
Don’t scoff. The fuzzy notion of socially responsible investing is being replaced by a truly green—and profitable—model.
15-year old Jordan Romero on his quest to bag the 7 Summits [Jordan Romero] Now that the holiday madness is almost over, I finally have some time to reflect on the happenings of the past year. I’ve been lucky to have so many great adventures, and…
Here are some filmmakers you can help, if you so desire. Hal Clifford and Jason Houston have begun a documentary project, called Picture the Leviathan, about artist James Prosek's mission to draw the 40 most important fish in the Atlantic Ocean at their actual…
Trip Jennings’ latest film takes on transporting coal across the country to be shipped over seas. For more information on fossil fuel transport, read Abe Streep’s profile of Tim DeChristopher.
Tom Chapman's cunning real estate deals have made him a lightning rod in the battle over property rights in the wildlands of the West. Is he gaming the system or just playing smarter than everyone else?
Tomorrow, November 30, is the last day of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season. To mark the occasion, NOAA released a video that condenses the entire six-month, seven-hurricane season into a 4 minute and 42 second video. A few notes on the…
Is working closely with killer whales in a marine park dangerous for trainers? Our reporter travels to a courtroom in Florida to cover the controversial OSHA-SeaWorld hearing, the outcome of which could redefine SeaWorld’s Shamu shows.
Classic boots, a backcountry-ready axe, and other awesome gifts for hikers.
Carl Pope, Courtesy of Sierra Club Carl Pope, the current chairman of the Sierra Club, announced he is stepping down to pursue other projects. Pope led the environmental non-profit for much of the…
The best environmental blogs, from one-sided political commentators to prolific aggregators and reporters breaking news.
In late September, a surveyor found a small dead bat lying on the ground at a 6,500-acre wind farm in Pennsylvania, prompting an indefinite shutdown of night operations. With demand for green energy on the rise, is pulling the plug on a wind farm over one dead bat the right call?
Is working closely with killer whales in a marine park dangerous for trainers?
These innovators, charities, non-profits, and scientists are helping to make the world a better place.
Climber Jake Norton began tackling mountains at the age of 12 with an ascent of Mount Rainer. Since then, he has bagged that peak 98 times, climbed on six continents, and traveled to Everest six times. He has summited Everest three times. He helped discover Mallory's remains on Everest…
No GPS or weather reports—just a sailboat, the wild open ocean, and the constellations. Think you could find your way across the South Pacific? James Campbell rides along with a master navigator in the Caroline Islands, where they’ve been sailing this way for thousands of years.
How does a visionary marine biologist convince brain researchers to help him revolutionize ocean conservation? With lots of hugs, a million blue marbles, and one very unorthodox conference.
Thousands of protesters, including environmentalist Bill McKibben and actor Mark Ruffalo, encircled the White House to voice their opposition to TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline
Here's a video we've already posted on our tumblr (visit it for more videos) and facebook page, but it deserves another call out. Yes, it's 11-minutes long, but it involves a high altitude collision, a life-threatening struggle,…
Last May, while most normal high school students were out breaking curfew or killing time until summer, 17-year-old Alec Loorz from Oak View, California, had other plans: He was suing the federal government for global warming. His lawsuit is part of a nationwide surge of youth-led litigation, filed in every…
Gage & Gage Productions‘ latest film tracks Tim DeChristopher’s rise to notoriety. Check out this profile by Abe Streep. …
After the story "The Trials of Bidder 70" went to press, ϳԹ obtained several e-mails, sent between current and former officials with the BLM and the U.S. Attorney’s office, that had been requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
You're ready to act on those good intentions, but how do you know the organizations you're backing deserve your trust? Here are the 30 best—smartly managed groups with transparent financials, efficient spending, and track records of on-the-ground success.
On the ground with an anti-poaching unit working to save the last of Africa’s black rhinos. To see the whole six-part series, narrated by Robert Redford, click to this TV schedule.
Before the Tar Sands protests and before Occupy Wall Street, a young activist named Tim DeChristopher disrupted a federal oil- and gas-lease auction. The act made him a martyr for a newly radicalized environmental movement—and landed him in prison. This is his story.
It’s environmental action month at Raising Rippers! Last week I talked with surf activist Kyle Thiermann about no-brainer ways to lessen your impact on the planet. Now I’m wowed by 17-year old Victor Davila’s plan to use skateboarding to promote environmental justice and reduce inner-city obesity in…
We've covered the dangers captive orcas pose when in close proximity to people—read Blood in the Water and Killer in the Pool. This morning, news broke that PETA and some former…
The 76-year-old artist Christo has sunk two decades of work and $11 million into hanging 6 miles of translucent canopies over the Arkansas River. Yet he’s still fighting local opposition and waiting on a decision from the Bureau of Land Management. Will his Over the River project ever go up?
More than a decade ago, Mike Fay’s epic Megatransect walk across Africa spurred the creation of a string of national parks and made him a conservation superstar. So why, after a lifetime of fighting to protect wild places, is he questioning the very foundations of his work? And why is he looking for answers in a cabin in Alaska?
The story of one surfer’s journey to save dolphins and whales from slaughter. Minds in the Water is touring the West Coast in October 2011.
Ok, maybe I'm reporting about the mountain lion that was tranquilized on the University of Colorado campus because I'm an alumni. But come on, a mountain lion on a college campus is kind of amazing, right? (Yes, they come down into Boulder often, but…
Hidden waterfalls? Kayaker Heather Herbeck on what the removal of Washington’s Condit Dam may bring to whitewater paddlers. A film by Andy Maser.
With a new Hollywood movie taking aim at birders, Michael Roberts steps up to defend his kind
Recently, the argument for the Keystone XL pipeline has been framed as the economy versus the environment. BILL McKIBBEN takes a hard look at the job creation numbers and calculates a different reality—stopping the pipeline could lead to a brighter economic future.
What to do with nearly 42,000 captive mustangs that could be forced off the government dole
They control the lands you play on, the athletes you worship, the gear you buy, even the food you eat. Meet the 25* most influential people in the world outside. *Ranked in order of influence
The Peregrine, J. A. Baker’s 1963 classic of ecology come unhinged, receives a stunning homage from an unlikely source.
Located in California's Sequoia National Park, The General Sherman is the largest living single stem tree on Earth. Or at least the largest living single stem tree that we know about. No, it's not the tallest. (That award goes to the Hyperion…
Barking tree frogs, exploding dragonflies, crackling Arctic fjords—these are the top 10 wildest field recordings.
Torres Strait (Courtesy of Google Earth) Who knew that diplomatic relations over an international shipping law could play out like a Mexican wrestling match? Turns out the latest set of confidential government documents released by WikiLeaks shows that the…
The removal of Glines Canyon Dam has begun on Washington’s Elwha River. Andy Maser Films and American Whitewater give us a look behind the curtain of the world’s biggest dam removal project.
J.W. Hulme, the Minnesota-based bag company that's been making those handsome green and leather duffels in these United States of America since the turn of the 20th century, has made six exclusive items for the official charity of…
The only thing more varied than photographer Michael Muller’s portfolio—portraits of superstars from Kelly Slater to Lebron James, movie posters for blockbusters like Captain America and Spiderman 3,…
The 5 Gyres Institute sails the world’s oceans to study how plastic impacts ecosystems. Watch their adventures in Plasticized, which will be released by year’s end.
After 34 books, endless Hemingway comparisons, and too many battles with gout, legendary author Jim Harrison is unsurpassed at chronicling man's relationship with wilderness. His secret? Ample wine, cigarettes, fly-fishing—and an inability to give a damn about what anyone else thinks. Our author takes a literary pilgrimage to Montana.
Few events excite Manhattan’s top chefs more than the arrival of a care package from Evan Strusinski, a foraging savant who stalks the remote woods and coastlines of the Northeast for nature’s most exotic ingredients. Forgive him his trespasses.