Articles

Pat Dixon wrote his first fishing poem in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. For 12 years, Dixon had gillnetted salmon in Cook Inlet, the finger of water that points from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage. But after the Valdez dumped its noxious cargo into nearby Prince William Sound, fishing in Cook […]

The young man who looked like he was from the Middle East was sitting against the wall of the Grand Canyon, a Go-Pro camera strapped to his chest. My aching quads begged for a break, so I stopped, said hello, and pulled out my own camera lest he think I was intruding.  He had chosen a […]

On a recent trip to California, I visited the North Coast, where spring usually means green hills with deep grass strewn with lupine and bright orange poppies bobbing in sea breezes. This year, we found stunted grass, browning hills and the local news obsessing on the worst drought in California’s recorded history. Suddenly, the most […]

On a walk through the coastal hills north of the Golden Gate this April, you could be forgiven for doubting all the talk of a record-breaking California drought.  Grassy slopes glowed an emerald green, wildflowers erupted from among the wild oats, and the blossoms of madrone, manzanita and mountain lilac drew marble-sized bumblebees to their […]

Getting teenagers to embrace environmental stewardship can be a challenge, especially when those teenagers are cold and wet. One way to grab their attention is to present a drama of sex and death. For 21 years, that’s been the strategy of Salmon Watch, a field program that allows middle- and high school students to observe […]