Whether it offers breathtaking natural features, a historic landmark, or simply a place for viewing other phenomena, a park can serve as an amazing magnet and catalyst for economic development. A destination park—usually state or national, and one that typically requires admission fees to enter—can yield such spinoff economic benefits that it invigorates the neighboring
“Calm on the surface, paddling furiously underneath.” Back in 2009, when I wrote my first article on wildlife tunnels in an outer suburb of Boston, I figured this might be the first of many features about animal accommodations—slight modifications to the infrastructure that better integrate the human-built environment with the natural world so that animals
Several months ago, I did something I rarely do and took a hard line on a polarizing topic: allowing dogs (or other pets) into private businesses. I believed, and continue to believe, that dogs should not be permitted in coffee shops, gyms, hardware stores, grocery stores, or (God forbid) restaurants, unless they are a licensed
Biking along the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) in the final days of summer yielded some unexpected opportunities for leaf-peeping. The GAP, a massive rail-trail conversion linking downtown Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, allows uninterrupted bike/pedestrian access from the Steel City to Washington DC, by means of a transfer onto the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal Towpath
Cute little dog! A French bulldog, it seems? It’s got those bat ears. Are they still both the most popular and most expensive dog breed in the country? Doesn’t matter. I wrote a feature about regulating animals in privately owned businesses barely a month ago; I don’t usually return to a topic that quickly. And
The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is, by far, the most commonplace and widely distributed bear species on the planet. Its range includes nearly half of the US land area. Much of the country coexists peacefully with the beast. Despite the fact that they are smaller than all the other North American bear species, the
It’s been a long time coming. But only within the last few weeks, after encountering a big sign at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), did I achieve full awareness of a condition that has crept across the American social domain: indoor dogs everywhere. Here was my indicator: If it’s not immediately obvious, the overhead
I’m not an entomologist—not even of the armchair variety. Nor am I a conservationist, or a meteorologist. My schooling in ecology does not extend beyond a single graduate-level course that dealt with how urban development disrupts various animals’ habitat and migration patterns. And it is that course content that I can apply against a backdrop
I know this isn’t the first time I’ve created an entire blog post out of little more than the bumper stickers on the rear of someone else’s car. Heck, one of those glib posts ended up becoming one of my most commented-upon articles. Typically, though, my goal is for bumper stickers merely to supplement or
The fencing that line both sides of Interstate 70 in western Colorado may lack the iconic character of those creosote-lined barriers that flank the highways surrounding Lexington, Kentucky’s horse country. The green of those rolling Appalachian hillsides offers a critical backdrop to the black-as-pitch (literally!) wood that lends structure to the fences in the Bluegrass
Whether it offers breathtaking natural features, a historic landmark, or simply a place for viewing other phenomena, a park can serve as an amazing magnet and catalyst for economic development. A destination park—usually
“Calm on the surface, paddling furiously underneath.” Back in 2009, when I wrote my first article on wildlife tunnels in an outer suburb of Boston, I figured this might be the first of
Several months ago, I did something I rarely do and took a hard line on a polarizing topic: allowing dogs (or other pets) into private businesses. I believed, and continue to believe, that
Biking along the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) in the final days of summer yielded some unexpected opportunities for leaf-peeping. The GAP, a massive rail-trail conversion linking downtown Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, allows uninterrupted
Cute little dog! A French bulldog, it seems? It’s got those bat ears. Are they still both the most popular and most expensive dog breed in the country? Doesn’t matter. I wrote a
The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is, by far, the most commonplace and widely distributed bear species on the planet. Its range includes nearly half of the US land area. Much of the
It’s been a long time coming. But only within the last few weeks, after encountering a big sign at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), did I achieve full awareness of a condition
I’m not an entomologist—not even of the armchair variety. Nor am I a conservationist, or a meteorologist. My schooling in ecology does not extend beyond a single graduate-level course that dealt with how
I know this isn’t the first time I’ve created an entire blog post out of little more than the bumper stickers on the rear of someone else’s car. Heck, one of those glib
The fencing that line both sides of Interstate 70 in western Colorado may lack the iconic character of those creosote-lined barriers that flank the highways surrounding Lexington, Kentucky’s horse country. The green of