Maintaining Healthy Forests Takes More than Planting Trees

Conservationists should plant more trees, but that’s not the whole story. America’s forests must be resilient to survive wildfires and invading forest pests in a changing climate.

Lisa Feldkamp

Recovery: Saving Grayling With a Carrot and Stick

The stunning native fish known as grayling has struggled in Montana. But a juggernaut of agencies, conservation organizations and ranchers is making a difference.

Ted Williams

Restoring Guadalupe Bass After the Smallmouth Invasion

Guadalupe bass, the Texas state fish, suffered greatly when non-native smallmouth bass were stocked in their river. A new conservation effort is bringing them back.

Matthew L. Miller

Nature Doesn’t Hurt Farmers, It Helps

If removing habitat from farms doesn’t improve food safety, are other practices equally as ineffective, or worse, potentially damaging to farmers? A new study says yes.

Cara Cannon Byington

Restoring an Ancient Nursery for Atlantic Sturgeon

Atlantic sturgeon were once so plentiful that during their spring spawning runs they would upset boats on the Delaware River. Today, scientists are working to bring this ancient fish back from the brink.

Randy Edwards

Recovery: Saving American Burying Beetles, Nature’s Undertakers

American burying beetles once took care of carrion over broad regions of North America. But their numbers have dwindled. What’s going on? And can we save them?

Ted Williams

The Effectiveness, Costs and Coastal Protection Benefits of Natural and Nature-Based Defenses

A global synthesis of field measurements shows that coastal habitats – particularly coral reefs and mangroves, can be physically and economically effective at protecting coastlines.

Siddharth Narayan

Recovery: Saving Timber Rattlesnakes, Why Wildlife Recovery Isn’t a Popularity Contest

You know you’ve arrived as a naturalist when you support saving timber rattlesnakes. Ted Williams reports.

Ted Williams

The Four Biggest Hazards Facing Monarch Butterflies, and How You Can Help

A recent scientific paper argues that monarch butterflies are at risk of “quasi-extinction.” But what does this mean? Our blogger breaks down the issues facing butterflies.

Christine Peterson

Recovery: Mending Point Reyes, a Park Impaired by Invasive Mammals

Point Reyes National Seashore is recovering from an unusual invasive threat: non-native deer. Ted Williams reports.

Ted Williams

Unraveling the Mystery of the Western Sycamores that Weren’t

The problem? As trees in some of their restoration sites grew to maturity, they didn’t look like the native western sycamores the scientists were sure they had planted.

Cara Cannon Byington

Harvesting Whitebark Pine Cones to Save a Forest

Near the top of the Rockies, crews climb trees and risk danger to collect pine cones. But this isn’t an extreme sport: their work is key to saving one of the West’s iconic trees.

Hal Herring