We have had some marvelous #ForestFriday guests so far, but Art is our very first Feathered Forest Friday Friend! We took a trip to the WNC Nature Center to visit this fine fellow.
On World Wetlands Day, a diverse group of stakeholders have joined together to announce a major multi-state effort to conserve one of America’s most precious natural resources, wetland forests of the South. The Wetland Forest Initiative is a new, collaborative effort dedicated to conserving, restoring, and improving the condition of Southern wetland forests.
Last week, we saw a rash of disturbing actions and communications coming out of the new administration. Among them: efforts to advance the Keystone XL and Dakota access pipelines, new goals for massively scaling up fossil fuel extraction on public lands, huge funding cuts to the EPA, and climate change programs and more.
The air felt cold and sharp, and the sky was turning a milky white that blended into the fog, making the mountains vibrant with their red and brown leaves. This was my first time on this trail and my first time meeting Erin, a profound nature appreciator who embodies the practice of that appreciation at every level of her life. Erin also worked at Dogwood Alliance in its early days and created our first newsletter originally called, Understories.
As the Obama Administration prepares to hand over the reins of the executive branch to President-elect Donald Trump, the DC-based Endangered Species Coalition joined by Dogwood Alliance released a “Top Ten” list of imperiled species in need of strong conservation measures. The report, “Removing the Walls to Recovery: Top 10 Species Priorities for a New Administration,” highlights some of the most significant threats to vanishing wildlife such as jaguars and elephants, and identifies important actions the next administration could take to slow their rates of extinction.
