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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.
A Q&A with former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed on his incredibly shrinking country
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.
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…
Heading toward the Wasatch resorts. Photo: Flickr/CountryLemonade Vail Resorts this week announced that it is acquiring Northern California's Kirkwood Resort. Some of K-Wood's loyal fansare is dismayed, fearing that admission into Vail's empire could change Kirkwood's small-resort…
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…
It’s been ten months since Jon Krakauer and 60 Minutes alleged that the star of Three Cups of Tea was a literary fraud who used the Central Asia Institute as a personal cash cow, prompting a civil suit and an investigation by Montana’s attorney general. Mortenson still isn’t talking. But the case is heating up, with important developments in t
Scouring the country’s premier film festival for the best environmental and adventure documentaries
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…
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…
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
How did a case about filming the world's most notorious recluse go all the way to New Hampshire's Supreme Court?
Harold Camping was wrong—twice—about 2011 ushering in the end of days, but the year certainly had its share of environmental catastrophes. Thankfully, there were a few glimmers of hope, as well.
From the world’s most fuel-efficient commercial plane to foreign economic collapses to a cloud-tickling hotel, the biggest adventure travel stories this year
Despite Hillary Clinton's visit amid reports of political reforms, Burma's government is still waging war against its citizens. ROWAN JACOBSEN speaks with photojournalist Ryan Libre, who has documented the Kachin people for four years.
The best sites for health advice and commentary, so you can get online and go outside
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.
The Solyndra solar debacle has some in Congress arguing that government needs to get out of the renewable-power business. Don’t tell that to the Marine Corps, the bravest new recruit in the clean-energy revolution.
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
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.
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…
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
A quick look and the outdoor cred and environmental records of the Republican candidates
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
Despite a stellar record of spending cuts, job creation, and balanced budgets—and a world-class adventure résumé that includes an Everest summit—former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson can't get anyone to take his campaign for president seriously. Is it him or us?
What does India’s lush Kaziranga National Park have that the rest of the country’s decimated reserves do not? Plenty of tigers, for starters. (The world’s highest density.) Fleets of endangered one-horned rhinos. (More than two-thirds of the remaining population.) And, since last year, a take-no-prisoners antipoaching policy that allows rangers to shoot on sig
Tim DeChristopher, the 29-year-old Utah activist who disrupted a 2008 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oil-and-gas auction, received his sentence yesterday: two years in federal prison, three years supervised release, and a $10,000 fine. That’s about what his supporters, who packed the Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse in Salt…
Our panel runs down the challenges, including the unwaveringly white face of adventure media
https://youtube.com/watch?v=NdAoLloMY9c American Rivers, the country’s foremost river focused nonprofit, released their annual list of the top ten endangered rivers yesterday. It marks the 26th year American Rivers has released the report, drawing attention to some 360…
The plan was to check out Yemen, a little-visited Arab nation that offers glowing deserts, forbidding mountains, and lonely Socotra Island—a naturalist's paradise as imagined by Dr. Suess. But instead all hell broke loose, and a tourist romp became a front-row seat to the bloody upheavals sweeping the Middle East.
This is a big month for wild salmon advocates. On Sunday, May 1 at 8 PM Eastern, PBS will air a Nature special, Salmon: Running the Gauntlet, that offers a terrific broad-strokes history of the collapse of the fish in the once-prolific Columbia…
In September 1969, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson developed the idea of Earth Day, a nationwide, grassroots demonstration that would take place in the spring of the following year. Everyone was invited to participate. “The response was electric,” he told Envirolink.com. “It…
The United States Congress has removed the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List in two states, according the The New York Times. The action sets a new precedent that could introduce political influence…
Courtesy of Flickr Track-and-field superstar Carl Lewis is competing again — this time for the New Jersey state Senate. The nine-time Olympic gold medalist is running as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Senator…
A cold day in Yosemite National Park. Courtesy of Fovea Centralis on Flickr Five months into the fiscal year, the federal government's inability to find common ground on the annual budget is…
A cold day in Yosemite National Park. Courtesy of Fovea Centralis on Flickr Five months into the fiscal year, the federal government's inability to find common ground on the annual budget is…
Courtesy of Flickr Founded in 2007, Green the Capitol was Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's initiative to make the U.S. House of Representatives a leader in sustainable business practices. Until…
The Japanese whaling vessel Kyo Maru No. 1 on a whale hunt in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. Courtesy of IFAW The Japanese whaling fleet is leaving the internationally recognized Southern Ocean Sanctuary around…
Decades after the Soviet-era meltdown drove 60,000 people from their homes in the Ukraine, a rebirth is taking place inside the exclusion zone. With Geiger counter in hand, the author explores Europe's strangest wildlife refuge, an enchanted post-apocalyptic forest from which entirely new species may soon emerge.
ExxonMobil hopes to drive huge trucks full of equipment for the Alberta Tar Sands through the twisty mountain roads of Montana and Idaho—and the plan has two literary heavyweights, David James Duncan and Rick Bass, steaming mad.
Three American hikers have been summoned to trial in Tehran on February 6, reports ABC News. Sarah Shourd, her fiance Shane Bauer and their friend Josh Fattal were arrested while hiking near the Iraq border in July…
Courtesy of Flickr Runners in New York and Arkansas might soon find themselves unplugged, according to the Associated Press. Lawmakers in the two states have proposed restrictions on pedestrians operating electronic devices, such as iPods or…
Now more than ever, the world could use some bright ideas. Like these.
Little Nemo is looking at you. (Photo courtesy of Shek Graham on Flickr.) The next time you go fishing, you might want to take a moment to consider how the fish feels before you bop one on the head or hook it through its gills,…
Courtesy of dobak on Flickr. Wolves in the Rockies will remain on the Endangered Species List despite growing controversy over their protection, the Associated Press reports. Negotiations between the Obama administration and lawmakers in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming…
What did you miss last month? A lot. Pay attention next time. Or, just check back at the beginning of each month for a round-up of the top 10 blogs from the previous month, like this one. Number 10 (a tie!): Stuff You Should Click On: Week…
A wolf in stilettos was crossing Iceland on his way to Vegas, got stopped at a traffic light and injured his Achilles, while Dolly the Sheep was speedflying in France. Sounds like a job for Leslie Nielson. Or something like that. Here's the stuff you should click on this week.
Courtesy of bradley j on Flickr. Taking supplemental calcium and vitamin D, which has been widely recommended by doctors, is not necessary in most cases according to a panel of medical researchers convened by the Institute of Medicine, the…
Donny Adair dreams of getting African-American kids off the streets and into the woods. It won't be easy, but Deadeye Donny has a way of making things go.
In the aftermath of the Big Leak, the author wrangles a skipper, a conservationist, and the real Forrest Gump to hoist canvas and sail into the mess that is the Gulf of Mexico. But here's the crazy part: While stewing in America's worst environmental disaster, he has a hulluva lot of fun.
Obsessive biologist Rick McIntyre has some peculiar ideas about America's most controversial predator.
The documentary, Free Shane & Josh, is 25 minutes of explanation of how three American hikers crossed near the border of Iraq and Iran and were detained by the Iranian military last year, Wend reports. Sarah Shourd, the one of the three hikers who…
A group of Palestinian young men have turned to parkour to overcome the obstacles of life on the Gaza Strip, The New York Times reports. “Other than the siege and the difficult situation, there is a war every so often,” Mohammed Al Jakhbeer told…
Why are leading green groups like Patagonia offshoot Freedom to Roam still in bed with BP?
When minister and aid specialist James Gulley came home alive from the Haitian earthquake—barely, after an incredible survival ordeal in Port-au-Prince—he turned right around and went back. His son went, too, discovering the true power of a faith he'd never shared.
Running a DIY dog-rescue operation is never easy, but when you've got two dozen misfit animals under your care, you need a way to let off steam.
Photo courtesy of Flickr. Last night, divers from the European conservation organization The Black Fish cut the nets of six holding pens in Taiji, Japan, their Web site reports. The freed dolphins had recently been…
Boeing announced on Wednesday that it's entering the space tourism business, the New York Times reports. The aerospace company is building a seven-person capsule that it hopes will take four NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, leaving…
The good folks over at Made Possible conducted a series of interviews with ϳԹ September cover subject Sebastian Junger. In the…
Author and filmmaker Sebastian Junger on covering war, being selectively lazy, and the rewards of following the rough road.
The first dolphins caught in Japan this season were herded into the notorious Cove at Taiji today, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society reports. The Society, an International non-profit conservation organization whose mission is to end the slaughter of…
The latest films and fashions from seven of the brightest stars at this year's Mountainfilm in Telluride festival.
This Saturday will mark the one year anniversary of the imprisonment of three Americans in Iran, the New York Times reports. Iranian authorities captured Shane Bauer, 27, his girlfriend, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27,…
Navigating the politics of river conservation can be tricky. Here's what's going on now.
The Iroquois national lacrosse team was stranded in a Comfort Inn in Ozone Park, Queens Thursday night after being denied visas by the British government, the New York Times reports. The team was forced to forfeit the opening match of the world championship tournament…
Today, BP began testing another cap designed to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, according to the New York Times. Once the new cap is in place, BP officials will conduct a 48-hour test to see if the…
The “Barefoot Bandit”, Colton Harris-Moore, has been apprehended by police after a dramatic high-speed boat chase in the Bahamas, CNN reports. The teenage fugitive has been playing cat and mouse with authorities for over two years, earning his…
Courtesy of NOAA. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will coordinate the collection of 70,000 turtle eggs from 800 nests on Alabama and Florida beaches within the next two weeks, according to the Associated Press. If left in place, hatchlings from the eggs…
Photo courtesy of alobonzo on Flickr. On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee voted 25-20 to do away with the long-standing restrictions on American citizens visiting Cuba. The vote was largely partisan, the New York Times…
The Federal Trade Commission announced last Friday that lightbulb packaging will have to include a new label – though in a format familiar to anyone who's been to a grocery store – by the middle of next year. The “Lighting Facts”…
Greg Grandin's Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City, a Pulitzer-Prize finalist, is a 20th-century tale of industrial ambition, mismanagement, and failure. The head of the whole thing…
Amid mounting pressure from protesters, screenings of The Cove have been canceled across Japan, according to treehugger.com. The Oscar-winning documentary…