A few years ago, residents of Oregon walking out to their cars after a trip to the mall found thousands and thousands of dead bumblebees covering the pavement. 50,000 bees to be exact, in what “turned out to be the largest bumblebee die-off ever recorded,” writes Matt Miller for his Nature Conservancy blog. This die-off […]
I live in Carrboro, and our drinking water comes from streams and rivers, like Cane Creek, and Bolin Creek, right near our house flows into Lake Jordan, a regional water supply. And this is true for many of us – the majority of Americans get their drinking water from surface water, including streams and rivers, […]
In an interview with Roger Cohn, executive editor of Yale Environment 360, Wendell Berry, a long time author, teacher, and activist, talks about the importance of local, sustainable farming. His views on the future of land in the United States are both pessimistic and optimistic. On the negative side, industrial agriculture has spread, drowning small, […]
In just a few weeks, our local farmers markets will change from their winter to summer schedule! In Durham, April 5 will mark the new season with Saturday hours from 8am – noon and Wednesdays from 3:30 – 6:30pm starting April 16. It's a wonderful time to check out the local produce and pick up […]
9 a.m. Arrive at the Glennstone Nature Preserve, found on Glennstone Drive between Lady Slipper Lane and Amber Stone Way, Durham. Don’t be fooled by its proximity to a residential neighborhood, this 83 acre nature preserve is beautiful and includes trails that wind through a “new growth forest, past an old cabin site, and across […]
One hundred years ago, forests looked very different than they do today. Before 1900, “one in every four hardwood trees in the North America’s eastern forests was an American chestnut,” writes Ferris Jabr in an article published by Scientific American. Their flowers were so numerous in the spring that “from a distance, the hills appeared […]
10 a.m. Arrive at the Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, 625 Virginia Cates Road, Durham. At 867 feet, it is one of the highest points in the Triangle, and features “oak forest, pond, field, heath bluff, and river habitats.” With three miles of trails found in the park’s 190 acres, there is certainly a lot […]
10 a.m. Arrive at Sandy Creek Park, 3510 Sandy Creek Drive, Durham, NC. Its 102 acre boundaries include vestiges of an old sewer treatment plant, but also a lovely, small lake, beautiful forest, and of course, the gurgling Sandy Creek itself. 10: 15 a.m. Follow the edge of the field and embark on the wooded […]
Insects smaller than your pointer finger are taking down the giant hemlocks, the “redwoods of the east” that can grow as high as 150 feet, says Randy Edwards in a Nature Conservancy blog. Only the most recent of a long line of devastating invasive species, the hemlock woolly adelgids are killing hemlocks from Georgia to […]
Photos courtesy of www.wattsgrocery.com 10 a.m. Arrive at the downtown Durham entrance to the American Tobacco Trail, 705 Willard Street, Durham. After a long awaited construction project, the 22+ rails-to-trails project has been completed and is open to the public. This historic trail connects with the East Coast Greenway, which stretches along the east coast […]
