What’s New
Will Navajos Approve a Grand Canyon Megadevelopment?
A proposal for a touristic megadevelopment in the Grand Canyon, on the edge of one of the U.S.’ poorest communities: what could go wrong? An overview for the High Country News.
Cutting a Lifeline
Arizona’s San Pedro River is a green corridor in the desert, and an important pathway for migratory birds. But a huge proposed development nearby threatens the river’s flow. A report for Audubon.
Pick Your Poison
Thanks to Rachel Carson’s crusade, DDT was banned and birds are rebounding. If only it were that simple. A retrospective look on the 50th anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring.
Pecking Order
Birds’ beaks look hard and unvarying. But they’re not. An essay on the wondrous malleability of birds’ business end, from Audubon.
The World’s Best Bad Idea
Almost everybody agrees that pumping vast quantities of carbon dioxide into the oceans is a terrible way to deal with climate change. But our current inaction on climate change means that future generations may well have to make some terrible choices. A cover story from Miller-McCune that was underwritten by a 2010 Abe Journalism Fellowship.
What Has Passed and What Remains: The Book
The edited recollections of northern Arizona elders musing about environmental change. I conducted some of the interviews; others were completed by my students at Northern Arizona University. With photos by Dan Boone and Ryan Belnap.
Working the Stone
Edited by Kurt Caswell, To Everything on Earth is an anthology that grew out of a terrific little nature-writing workshop sponsored by Texas Tech University. “Working the Stone” is my contribution.
Transmutations
Everything that’s discarded feeds something else, at least that’s how it’s supposed to work. A look at the circular economy from a backyard overlooking the tracks.
Flight Plan
A report for Audubon shows how scientists are trying to understand one of nature’s most amazing spectacles: how birds flock. Don’t miss the linked slide show with spectacular photos by Richard Barnes.
“Facing the Yuck Factor” wins reporting award from the Society of Environmental Journalists
How has the West embraced water recycling? Very (gulp) cautiously.
