Trillium: An ice cream cone for deer

That’s why this wildflower is hard to find in Pennsylvania; that and human development, of course. This trillium was found at Point au Roche State Park near the shore of Lake Champlain north of Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Misssoula, Mont.: A case study in the value of outdoor amenities and public land

I visited Missoula in the early 70s while a student at Idaho State University, and today I don’t really remember much about the city and its environs. But it is deeply encouraging from a conservation standpoint to read articles like this one, which show the value of natural areas and amenities like hiking trails. Municipalities in Pennsylvania especially could learn a lot from the Missoula model.

Va. municipalities eye legal action over EPA’s Bay cleanup plan

This is a monumental waste of time and money and energy, in my estimation. Why not just get with the program the EPA has put together and help restore the Chesapeake Bay to at least a bit of its past glory? As seems more often the case nowadays, though, Hampton Roads-area municipalities look only at the price of things environmental, not the benefits. Read news coverage here.

Is Lake Powell slowly dying?

It’s actually a “fake lake” and the answer would seem to be yes. Read more. Oh, and Lake Mead is also a “fake lake.”

GOP wants drilling off Virginia coast

Same old drill-now philosophy. We can always – at great financial cost – truck in fresh sand to cover up the old sand polluted by tar balls, etc. What a huge mistake this would be.

Going less green on lawns to help the Chesapeake Bay

This article makes all the usual – and then some – arguments, and I understand and support them all. But the typical suburbanite living in a starter palace or McMansion surrounded by five or more acres of turf just doesn’t give a damn for teh Chesapeake. They’ve gotta have the best damn lawn on the cul-de-sac block! What a waste. The aquatic life of the Chesapeake Bay could care less whether a suburban lawn in Luzerne County, Pa., is free of dandelions and crab grass.

Op-ed: Will Congress undo 40 years of environmental progress?

If votes and campaign contributions are to be gained by doing so, it wouldn’t surprise this conservationist. After all, contributors of campaign war-chest dollars aren’t just being nice by forking over big money, they expect results, and they often get those results — all for the purpose of making more money, period. Read this great op-ed by two former EPA administrators.

Land acquision in Vermont protects more of Appalachian Trail

I have been around this corner of Vermont many times and it is beautiful. As is the case through much of the Green Mountain State, blight is at a minimum. Another conservation success story for Vermont.

White spruce growth stunted as forests warm

Here’s more evidence of climate change. More unnatural impact to the natural world from the burning of fossil fuels. Just how much more evidence does it take to prompt politicians – and world leaders – to take action?

Okla. celebrating a century of roads

Such a milestone date is hardly something to cheer over, as thinking conservationists know. Why? Because the building of roads – more than anything else I can think of at the moment – is singularly responsible for wiping out and fragmenting untold millions upon millions of acres of wildlife habitat. And for aquatic life, as observers of the Chesapeake Bay know, roads exact a terrible toll (storm runoff tainted with petroleum wastes, etc.).