Each year, Earth Day — April 22 — marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired [..Read more]
50 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Wilderness Act, the highest level of protection ever afforded the American landscape. This historic bill established the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) and set aside an initial 9.1 million acres of wildlands for the use and benefit of the American people. Over the [..Read more]
Sunday, June 1 is the official start of the Rewild Your Life 30 Day Challenge. Developing a connection with the natural world is something we can all benefit from. The Rewild Your Life Challenge asks you to commit to spending at least 30 minutes outside every day during the 30 days in June. Why? Well, [..Read more]
Perfectly camouflaged against leaf litter, the brown-mottled Timberdoodle walks along the forest floor, probing the soil with its long bill in search of earthworms. Also known as the American Woodcock, this little bird lives in young forests and shrubby fields where its coloring and low-profile behavior make it hard to find — except in the springtime. [..Read more]
Set those alarms and get ready to see an unusually beautiful moon in tonight’s skies! The first total lunar eclipse of 2014 will occur overnight on April 14 – 15 and mark the beginning of an eclipse tetrad – four back-to-back total lunar eclipses. Over the next 18 months, eclipses will occur at roughly six-month [..Read more]
Saturday, April 12 marks the 39th Annual Midwest Crane Count. Begun in 1976 by the International Crane Foundation, the survey represents one of the largest citizen-based wildlife surveys in the world. Each year, over 2,000 volunteer counters travel to their local wetlands and favorite birding locations to participate in the count which now spans over [..Read more]
Got soil? Then it’s time to celebrate one of the world’s most neglected resources. Like water, soil is a finite natural resource. On a human time-scale, it is non-renewable. However, despite the essential role that soil plays for human livelihoods worldwide, there is increasing degradation of soil resources. Recognizing the global soil challenge, the Food [..Read more]
It’s doubtful there’s a Muse that governs paeans to invasive species … but then, you never know. When one of our volunteers penned the poem below, we were inspired to do a little research. Imagine our surprise to discover that in 2011, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program held their inaugural Invasive Species Poetry Contest. That’s [..Read more]
(As reported by Marne Kaeske, Ridges Stewardship Coordinator) One does not get many field days when working in natural resource management. As teachers and mentors have cautioned, “the better you get, the more likely you will find yourself behind a desk applying for grants and submitting reports.” And as I have learned, successes come as [..Read more]
As I was walking through the butterfly garden at the Sanctuary earlier this week, one of our volunteer naturalists pointed to a bee on a nearby flower and commented on its full “pollen baskets.” Pollen baskets? Tell me more! It turns out that in addition to their other amazing qualities, bees have what is called [..Read more]
