I arrived in mid-morning to the Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, my designated Great Backyard Bird Count site. The air was chilly but the sun was shining with the promise of warmer temperatures, and I could practically hear the snow melting from the forest floor and running into New Hope Creek. Even from the parking area […]
Recycling is good. By placing glass, aluminum, plastic, and other materials in designated recycling bins or dropping them off at recycling centers, we are attempting to do our part for the environment by reducing waste. Still, according to the Container Recycling Institute 60 million water bottles are thrown away each day in the U.S., and […]
A few years ago I took an epic journey to the Southwest – boarded a plane from Tampa to Chicago and then took the Amtrak Southwest Chief through America's heartland into Albuquerque, New Mexico. For two weeks, I traveled across the mystical lands of desert, buttes, canyons, and pueblos. In search of nature. In search […]
The Farm Bill, the massive federal legislation that funds everything from nutrition assistance to crop insurance to conservation, is being signed into law by President Obama today. Like any big piece of policy, there’s plenty of debate on the merits of the bill, which authorizes $956.4 billion over 10 years (see a good overview […]
10 a.m. Arrive at the Al Buehler Trail, maintained by Duke Forest. While there may not be an exact address to plug into your GPS, head down Duke University Drive towards Wallace Wade Stadium. Take a right onto Cameron Boulevard, and a small parking lot will be on your left, .3 miles down Cameron Boulevard. […]
“Europe’s fluvial highways are becoming the test bed for conservation biologist Edward O. Wilson’s dream that the 21st century should be ‘the era of restoration ecology’” – Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360 Europe’s rivers are a mess. After centuries of dams, levees, straightening, and pollution, the 2000 European Union’s Water Framework Directive required “that all […]
Envision a world where major city mayors are competing, not over their multi-million dollar sports teams, but over which city has more biodiversity, more green space, better butterfly habitat. While we’re not there yet, Richard Conniff in an article for YaleEnvironment360 writes that a fledgling urban wildlife movement may make it possible. Urban planners and […]
10 a.m. Arrive at the Prairie Ridge Ecostation, part of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 4301 Reedy Creek Road, Raleigh. Spend a half hour exploring the 45 acres of real Piedmont prairie, including its beautiful grasses, forest, ponds, and stream. Prairie Ridge is home to a diverse number of bird species, including the […]
Last weekend I enjoyed running the Little River trail run, a great event put on by the Trailheads at Little River Regional Park. It was a cold and crisp day, the trails winding by the river and throughout the natural area. As pretty new staffer here at TLC, I was especially proud given TLC’s work […]
It's winter in North Carolina. My first winter here. I'm still trying to understand the climate — sometimes it's cold (and when it's cold, it's the damp, seep-into-your-bones kind of cold) and sometimes it's, well, mild. There can be frost on my car at 8:00 AM and by noon, the sun shines wildly across a […]
