Last week, I had the great opportunity to attend the 18th annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ), hosted by Virginia Tech in lovely Roanoke, Virginia (talk about fall foliage). It was truly a privilege being in the company of some of the country's finest environmental reporters, and I thought I'd take some time out to recognize a few who won awards from SEJ for outstanding journalism--and whose names have also graced the pages of Audubon.
Of the 289 whooping cranes brought to central Florida since 1993 under the guidance of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only 31 have survived and just nine chicks have hatched in the wild. After meetings last month in which models were presented that pegged the birds’ chances of surviving at less than 50/50, the recovery team made the decision to halt the reintroduction.
The case highlights the dramatic effort to save whoopers, as scientists call whooping cranes, perhaps America’s most famous endangered bird. The entire North American continent is home to just 536 whoopers, 131 of which are in captivity.
Of the 289 whooping cranes brought to central Florida since 1993 under the guidance of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only 31 have survived and just nine chicks have hatched in the wild. After meetings last month in which models were presented that pegged the birds’ chances of surviving at less than 50/50, the recovery team made the decision to halt the reintroduction.
Despite the credit crunch and housing market collapse, a few individuals got a spacious new $1 million home after losing their former abode to wildfire last year. Five condors, two Andean and three Californian, have been in temporary housing since their breeding facility was destroyed by the Witch fire exactly one year ago to the day, according to the LA Times.
Condors at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park get a new breeding facility one year to the day after their last home burned in a wildfire.
What do Hayden Panettiere and Sarah Palin have in common? Their celebrity status puts whales in the headlines. While the “Heros” actress uses her star power to bolster the fight against commercial whaling, the Republican VP candidate/Alaska governor/SNL guest has made a splash with her vigorous opposition to increased protection for the beluga whale of Alaska’s Cook Inlet.
My friend Ian Nisbet has a couple of photos that tell a revealing biological story. One shows him, a vigorous young fellow with a shock of curly black hair, holding a sleek looking common tern. The other shows him more than 20 years later, a grizzled veteran with a white beard and snowy locks, holding a sleek looking common tern. The kicker is that it's the same man and the same bird-the latter appearing not a whit the worse for wear.
I tasted my first wild 'simmon on a dripping late-October morning. A hard all-night rain had slowed to an on-again, off-again drizzle as my friend John Madson and I climbed a hill on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. At the edge of the hilltop woods stood two or three runty persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) trees with brownish-black bark that was deeply etched into small square plates. A few wrinkled, reddish-orange berries the size of Ping-Pong balls hung from the higher branches, just out of reach.
More and more people are going into the wild. But unlike the book by Jon Krakauer, or Sean Penn’s movie, where Christopher McCandless torches his money in the desert, these wilderness seekers are spending big bucks. Wildlife watchers generated $122.6 billion in 2006, according to a recently released U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report, equivalent to the amount of money spent on spectator sports, amusement parks, arcades, bowling alleys and ski slopes combined.
More and more people are going into the wild. But unlike the book by Jon Krakauer, or Sean Penn’s movie, where Christopher McCandless torches his money in the desert, these wilderness seekers are spending big bucks. Wildlife watchers generated $122.6 billion in 2006, according to a recently released U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report, equivalent to the amount of money spent on spectator sports, amusement parks, arcades, bowling alleys and ski slopes combined.
Last Friday, when I scouted roadsides and old fields over in the next valley, a hard frost had killed the last goldenrods but fat milkweed pods were still tightly closed. On Saturday, however, they exploded seemingly in unison as if taking their cue from a brilliant hunter's moon the previous night. Freed from confinement when the greenish pods suddenly split along a seam, millions of milkweed seeds--each attached to an unfolding silken parachute--waited for a breeze that could carry them on a journey of several miles. Or no farther than a sticky weed stem in the adjacent pasture.
When you enter the new climate change exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City, the writing is literally on the wall. A glowing red line tracks the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the year 1600 (274 ppm) to 2000 (369 ppm). Don’t know what ppm stands for? No worries, they quickly and simply explain what that key measurement refers to.
A new climate change exhibit opens at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City before embarking on a worldwide tour. Nothing gets left out in the cold with this comprehensive, and engaging, look at the world's biggest problem.
The bailout bill may not be as bad as it seems. Granted, I’m given to optimism when things look especially bleak, but when a friend recently expressed outrage at the millions of dollars in earmarks attached to the bailout bill, I exulted in pointing out that over $100 billion was slated for renewable energy projects. Can this be the Bush administration of yore?
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