The Sound of a Western Grebe Tapping…a story of rescue and gratitude
Note– I wrote this on October 16th –an unexpected drama amid a solo writing retreat at Cape…
-
-
camping | climate change | conservation | forests | Nature | oregon | trees | Wilderness
Saving the Big Trees of Badger Creek as Wilderness — A Lucky Break
Puckery sweet huckleberries lined the upper Badger Creek trail within easy reach. Ancient western red cedars flared branches like bird wings. Noble firs, Douglas-firs, and silver firs rose columnar and elegant among Engelmann spruce, western white pine, and mountain and western hemlocks. A Pacific wren dueted with a silvery stream. Badger Creek Wilderness, at 29,000 acres, protects many centuries-old trees and ecosystems of breathtaking diversity.
-
Ponderosa Speaks to Woodpecker
Peel off a chip of my puzzle bark. Go ahead. Peck and chisel. Find every crevice in my amber trunk. I have known you, Downy Woodpecker, a hundred times over. My age cannot be measured by the 500 rings alone. I am river song. Whitecap on lake. Trickling headwaters. Lightning strike on high ridge bursting into flame.
-
activism | birds | conservation | forests | trees | Wilderness
Hardesty Mountain Roadless Area: Vigilance, Close Calls, & Heroes
Even a lover of ancient forests likes being on top of the world. Lingering on Mount June, I watch turkey vultures tipping wings at eye-level. The month of June is prime time for wildflowers, warblers, and verdant beauty in every shade of green. Oregon Wild’s Chandra LeGue and I bask in the Hardesty Mountain Roadless Area, the largest wild place within an hour of Eugene and Springfield at about 8,000 acres.
-
Heart Beats of Ancient Bald Cypress
A North Carolina kayaking journey leads to an inner sanctum of bald cypress trees living for more…
-
birds | forests | Nature | trees | Wilderness
Wisdom of Ancient Western Junipers
“What would the Juniper hairstreak butterfly do without the tree that bears its name? How about the…
-
-
Lewis’s Woodpeckers –What Makes a Forest Whole
Lewis’s Woodpeckers are radiant and confounding members of the family Picidae. I’m spellbound by their enigmatic presence…
-
Protect our Wise Forests: the “Immanent Groves”
“What is learned in the Immanent Grove is not much talked about elsewhere. It is said that…
-
Pacific Wren: Virtuoso of Spring in the Ancient Forest
My ears are chiming with Pacific wren song long after I’ve left the “Old-Growth Trail” in McDonald…
End of content
End of content