Chattermarks

The days are getting longer, but slowly, and there are still plenty of dark, rainy evenings this winter for reading.

If, as a member of the Institute community, you wish to broaden and deepen your knowledge of conservation history – We are into “conserving and restoring northwest environments through education” are we not? – then I have the perfect read for you. As a bonus, this one book will take you through to spring. It is Douglas Brinkley’s The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America (Harper, 2009, 940 pages).

While there are multitudes of books about Theodore Roosevelt, no one has explained and dissected how natural history and conservation were central to his life and work with the thoroughness and insight Brinkley brings to the task. He describes the young Roosevelt’s fascination with the natural world, the influences on his interests of his eccentric Uncle Rob, the centrality of Darwin’s theorizing upon his thinking, and how his fascination with the American West formed many of his ideas about land in general and public land in particular.

» Continue reading The Wilderness Warrior

Springtime is slowly and reluctantly arriving in the North Cascades. I’ve been delighted to hear some familiar bird songs returning; brightening up the forest and telling me that while there is snow on the ground, spring is coming!

While the birds are announcing spring, the Cornell Ornithology Lab, in partnership with many conservation organizations and government agencies, is announcing the State of the Birds Report. The State of the Birds Report is a comprehensive evaluation of the health of United States bird populations (The full report, can be read here). The diagnosis is not good: bird populations have been declining severely in the past 40 years. However, the report includes some successes and a plan for how we all can help protect our valuable natural resources and our bird populations.

» Continue reading The State of the Birds

Wolf pups, from one of Conservation Northwest’s remote cameras.

Daylight Saving Time has sent the sun to bed early. I step out of my cabin to walk to dinner and the world has already slipped into pure night. It’s cold, my breath immediately plumes in the light of my headlamp. Small glowing circles form out of the lights from the other buildings down the hill, seemingly miles away. Through the trees I can barely see the glimmer of lights from the lake and the dam.

Out of the silent dark forest a strange eerie noise reaches my ears. Howls, a chorus of howls. Long and echoing in the new early darkness. Wolves? Yes, but just cubs of the human variety: our traditional “Meal Time!” call for Mountain School. Thirty 5th graders and a handful of adults calling out. Some are eager to howl, some take some coaxing. It’s all I can do not to join in. I love the howl.

» Continue reading Wolves