Ecotourism is often presented as the savior for wildlife and wild places — providing local communities with financial incentives to preserve nature while also reducing poaching and development pressure.
But, lately, others question whether rich Westerners jetting around the world really help much at all: They disturb animals, create demands for new development and only employ [...]

Hate mail, angry community meetings, hyperbolic letters to the editor.

No, not health care reform: Wolf hunting.
Here in Idaho, it seems, the wolf hunting season — which opened earlier this month — has pushed all other news aside.
Many environmentalists are mad as hell that wolf management has been turned over to the states in Idaho [...]

When faced with invasive, non-native weeds on the range, the first response for many conservationists is to load up a backpack sprayer full of pesticides.
Spraying chemicals toxic to wildlife and people — under the auspices of protecting wildlife and people — is often portrayed as a necessary evil if we want to stop the spread [...]

500,000 sandhill cranes roosting along the Platte River.
One million wildebeests migrating across the Serengeti plains.
Ten million bats emerging from a Texas cave.
Literally uncountable masses of mayflies hatching along a beautiful spring creek.
Perhaps nothing captures a naturalist’s imagination quite like the world’s great herds, flocks and swarms.
There’s something beyond words when you see a [...]

Can hunters and anglers make a difference for climate change?
After all, sportsmen and sportswomen have a long history of solving conservation challenges.
Hunters — and I am one — take justifiable pride in their role in purchasing national wildlife refuges, restoring wildlife populations and conserving wetlands and other habitat.
And they have a history of getting things done.
For instance, [...]

Are conservationists studying some wildlife to death?
Writer Cat Urbigkit ponders the question in an interesting post on the Querencia blog about impacts of radio collars on bison and other animals. She includes pictures of collars rubbing animals’ necks raw, and wonders: Is all this really necessary?
Noting the intrusive nature of collars, Urbigkit writes:
“I long for the [...]

It’s true: A green lawn is not often a green lawn.
Many of you already  know this, but neighborhood peer pressure keeps you reaching for weed spray, fertilizer and a lawnmower.
When you step through your front door, do you feel like you’ve landed on the set of American Beauty?
Do you worry that your attempts at eco-friendly landscaping [...]

In John Crowley’s science fiction novel Beasts, humans decide they’ve inflicted enough damage on the Earth, and utilize their technology to construct a giant tower removed from the rest of the world.
They achieve self sufficiency in food and energy production, and thus no longer interact or inflict damage on the rest of the world. Of [...]

Looking for a proper beverage to enjoy (responsibly, of course) on Earth Day? How about an organic beer?
I’ve recently been doing some “research” around town in Boise, and have found organic brews to be surprisingly easy to find. Not to mention tasty.
There are organic lagers and ambers and India Pale Ales and porters, from local [...]

Visit an Andean village, and you have a decent chance of seeing a few cuy — also known as guinea pigs — running around homes.
These aren’t pets. If you stick around that village, you may very well be served one for dinner.
Cuy is a dish served in many parts of the Andes on special occasions [...]