Chad Pregracke is on a serious mission to get things out of the Mississippi River that don’t belong there. Since 1998 his non-profit, Living Lands and Water, has organized clubs, groups and ordinary citizens to haul trash and other debris off the shoreline of the Quad Cities near his home… Read the rest
Adventure activist Richard Mooney is making plans to row across the Atlantic Ocean. On this World AIDS Day (yesterday), the 45-year-old man from Queens christened his 17-foot boat called “Never Give Up” at the Brooklyn Marina and hopes 5,000 supporters will Tweet their names in recognition of his next attempt… Read the rest
You often hear them before you see them. The American Pika is related to rabbits and hares. But they have round ears and no visible tail. Small enough to fit in your hand, they blend in with their rocky surroundings and might dart unnoticed if not for their territorial high-pitched… Read the rest
Fall-out from the housing market bubble isn’t just affecting the suburbs of major metropolitan areas. Rural communities throughout the Rocky Mountain west are suffering too. Teton County, Idaho, with a population of fewer than 10,000, now has an astonishing 7,000 vacant lots, rural farms now converted into cul-de-sacs to nowhere.… Read the rest
National monuments, conservation areas, scenic and historic trails and wilderness areas are just a few of the types of conservation lands that exist throughout the western United States. Their value is scientific, recreational and even spiritual with the peaceful solitude they provide. The stated mission is to conserve restore and… Read the rest
John Doremus has been keeping an eye on raptors for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) since 1972. After decades of field work, this retired wildlife biologist doesn’t need a map to find his way around the Morely Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation area–a unit managed… Read the rest
After decades of encouraging catch and release, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is now offering cash lures to anglers to get them to keep their catch of rainbow trout.
With help from Trout Unlimited, Idaho now offers a bounty on rainbows in the hopes of putting a dent… Read the rest
A southern Idaho highway punches through what was molten lava just 10,000 years ago, a blink of an eye in geologic time. “I’d seen it from the road. I’d seen the lava flow across the road and I read about it in the literature at the wilderness study areas,” said… Read the rest
The Colorado River and its tributaries sustain nearly 30 million people across seven states and Mexico. It is the most controlled river in the world and has created fertile land and large cities where there was once desert. Agriculture, wildlife, local tourism, recreational businesses, and big cities all count on… Read the rest
With world medal trout fishing, and located beneath shear granite cliffs with whitewater, wildlife, and spectacular vistas, Gunnison Gorge exists as it has for millennia. Unlike like its neighbor to the east, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Gunnison Gorge is remote and undeveloped. Getting here is not easy,… Read the rest
