Help Keep Yellowstone's Wolves and Grizzlies Around

Yellowstone’s wolves and grizzlies are doing well after decades of diligent and thoughtful work, according to Caroline Byrd, Executive Director of Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

Now it’s time to make your voice heard about plans Montana’s wildlife agency — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) — is making for these iconic animals. Please take a few minutes to tell the state that:

• Wildlife commissioners need to stick with their decision not to increase wolf hunting quotas along Yellowstone’s...

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Help Stop the TPP Now!

With one vote, our members of Congress could open the floodgates to threats to our air, water, and climate.

That vote is on a massive trade deal, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). President Obama and Congress know the TPP is unpopular. So they may try to sneak it through after the November election.

We’ve seen corporations use free trade deals to undermine our fundamental environmental protections time and time again. TransCanada recently announced that it intends to sue the U.S. for $15 billion in a secretive trade tribunal under...

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Have You Seen This Hummingbird Before?

I bet this bird doesn’t come to your feeder:

It’s called the Booted Racket-tail Hummingbird.

The male Booted Racket-tail is a spectacular hummingbird with metallic green plumage and an elaborate tail longer than the tiny bird itself! This streamer-like tail features two elongated feathers tipped with blunt blueish “rackets.” Females lack the long tail, but both sexes wear “boots” (puffy white leg feathers).

While reading about this bird, I happen to be outside on vacation in the Smoky Mountains waiting, actually, for the the...

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Hiking Bullers of Buchan to Boddam

Top 5 hikes in and around Aberdeen, Scotland.
#4 — Bullers of Buchan to Boddam.

This great linear coastal walk takes in some of the the finest clifftop scenery on the Aberdeenshire coastline, with stacks, arches, and bird life galore.

The Bullers of Buchan car park is just over 2 km (1 mile) out of Cruden Bay on the A975. From the car park, follow the path past the cottages to reach the clifftop, then turn to the left to begin the walk along the coastal path.

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Webcams Have Been Updated!

The Webcams page has been updated!

There are four new webcams for you to enjoy, and they’re all African Cams located in Central Kenya. Here, you’ll get to watch hippos do what hippos do best (and you too during the summer) — floating in the pool and basking on the beach. You’ll watch all sorts of African wildlife stop by the local watering hole, and you’ll see various creatures just running around either playing or chasing each other. Here are some highlights I snapped:

Save Sea Turtles from Gulf Trawl Nets by June 6

Shrimp trawling is one of the primary threats to sea turtle survival in the United States. Every year, the shrimp trawl fishery incidentally captures and drowns thousands of sea turtles, including the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley in the Gulf of Mexico.

For a very short time, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is accepting public comments on its proposal to continue for another decade the moratorium on issuing new Gulf Shrimp permits. Keeping this moratorium is important to protect sea turtles.

Please give sea turtles a voice and let officials know they need to do more to protect them from the shrimp trawl fishery!

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Is Biodegradable Food Considered Litter?

At this point, I’m sure you’ve all heard most of the information regarding Leave No Trace principles and strategies for limiting your impacts upon hiking trails and those upon your fellow trail users.

As use of hiking trails — and the back country areas through which they pass — increases, all of us must be especially mindful of even the smallest effects you may have on the land and on the experiences of those around you. One example of what some may consider a negligible impact is the biodegradable food waste people might leave behind to decompose.

One person’s food waste left to biodegrade is a significant eyesore for the next person coming up the trail, not to...

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Hiking Oxen Craig and Mither Tap

Top 5 hikes in and around Aberdeen, Scotland.
#5 — Bennachie: Oxen Craig and Mither Tap

Climb the two highest peaks of Bennachie, Oxen Craig and Mither Tap, and enjoy fabulous sweeping views!

Once you start your hike through Bennachie, you’ll find there are very many choices of hiking paths to take in the area, and they seem to all intertwine within each other. But the trail identified in this post is the recommended one that made it...

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