Sam Norton

Billy Bartko, along with his wife, Jessica, have owned the local outfitter, Far Flung Outdoor Center, for over two years. But he’s been mesmerized for decades by the seemingly untouched desert landscape. So he was appalled when, in February, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced her department would construct a border wall through the park.

Changing my plan and choosing shorter days on the trail were no longer failures. They were simply choices made after learning some tough lessons. The Adirondack High Peaks, through their rugged trails and natural tranquility, had been exactly what I needed. Sitting atop Mount Marcy, mangoes in hand once again, I beamed at my rekindled joy for the outdoors. All it took was a few summits and a serene lake.

From atop a cluster of windswept boulders, the mountains undulate toward the horizon. A carpet of stunted coniferous trees, checkered by vast boggy meadows of low grass, fills the space between rocky outcrops and feels similar to what you’d find in the alpine tundras of Northern Canada.

Ten wetland restoration projects will receive $4.6 million from the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program, including funding for a project in Acadia National Park to improve the park’s largest freshwater wetland, which has seen extensive flooding in recent years, and money to remove dams on the Royal and Nezinscot rivers in Yarmouth.

“The diversity of projects is what’s most exciting for me as we look forward to seeing these implemented,” said Bryan Emerson, a mitigation program manager wi...

Over and over, the men reiterate that the contamination is “fine” and that very little uranium is actually escaping from the Fernald plant. In her hand, she carries a gallon of her own well water. Lisa steps right up to the folding table and slams the jug onto its surface.

“Your letter tells me that this water is safe to drink,” she says. “I want to see every one of you drink it.”

The paper presented several new ideas to guide conservation in the modern world, the first being this: “‘Pristine nature,’ untouched by human influences, does not exist.”

Hearing this for the first time at Miami University, I was shocked. Angry, even. Haven’t I trekked through pristine wilderness before? Atop rugged peaks in the central Rockies

A small, fluffy tan creature jumps onto a fallen log, surveys the immediate area, lets out a snarl, and stalks out of frame. The sharp ears, short tail, small stature and quick appearance on my computer screen caused my train of thought to come to a grinding halt. I immediately sit up in my bed as I’m not quite sure exactly what I’ve just seen

I replayed the first two seconds of the video. I replayed it again. I was amazed. Right in front of me was crystal-clear footage of a bobcat, captured on a camera that I not only had been at that very morning, but that was also no more than a few hundred yards from a pedestrian trail and just next to state route 27.

A flash of red among the leaves and the drum of a beak
against a tree are iconic signs of a woodpecker. This
unique bird family is a favorite among birders, and there are many ways to entice woodpeckers to your yard.

I considered my mental state as I moved on from the stream. My tired feet sidestepped rocks and roots as I hiked away from the pass. My hiking poles stayed by my side while my mind drifted, mulling over the past few days rather than the rugged section of trail.

Suddenly, I heard a pop that jerked me back to reality.

My ankle collapsed beneath me.

A helicopter touches down in the small town of Sicuani, Peru, at an elevation of 11,644 feet. Earlier that day, a boxcar brought fuel, drills, food, and other equipment for a glacial expedition. The year is 1979, and glaciologist Lonnie Thompson is preparing to lead a team to the Quelccaya ice cap in hopes of becoming the first scientists to drill an ice core sample from this glacier.