December, 2009

Newly Protected and Worth the Visit: Idaho’s Owyhee Canyonlands

Photo

It took eight years of negotiations, but finally Idaho’s magnificent Owyhee Canyonlands are permanently protected as Wilderness. Explore the splendor of the magical Owyhee Canyonlands in our Wilderness Magazine piece below. And to read more great articles like this one, join The Wilderness Society today and get Wilderness Magazine as a benefit of membership. more

Interpreting Copenhagen

Photo

What happened in Copenhagen? Was it unprecedented progress (Barack Obama) or a disappointing failure (Gordon Brown)? Let’s break it down. Question: What was unprecedented about Copenhagen? more

Wildlands Need You Now! Join our WildAlert Community and make the difference

Photo

Want to help protect and preserve wild lands and wild life? Sign up for free WildAlerts from The Wilderness Society and receive e-mail action alerts that make it easy for you to impact national and local conservation decisions. more

Does drilling belong here? Help protect Utah’s Red Rock country

Photo

A land filled with breathtaking vistas, Utah’s Red Rock country is world-renowned for its beauty, solitude, and ancient cliff dwellings and rock art. But this unparalleled wild place — and other such places throughout the West — could be destroyed by uncontrolled oil and gas drilling unless new policies are put in place to permanently protect it. more

Yellowstone opens to fewer — but still too many — snowmobiles

Photo

The winter season at the world’s first national park has begun, and thanks to recent snowstorms, anyone dreaming of a white Christmas should be able to find it at Yellowstone. This time of year can be especially peaceful — at least if you manage to steer clear of the snowmobiles that roar through this national park (and nearby Grand Teton National Park). more

Can Obama make dominoes fall at Copenhagen?

With the arrival of President Obama, the Copenhagen climate talks approach a  dramatic climax. On Thursday Secretary of State Clinton breathed new life into the talks by joining with other developed countries in helping to raise the funding needed to prevent destruction of the world's forests, to adapt to global warming, and to deploy clean technology. more

Learning with the Gwich’in “caribou people” in Alaska

Photo

Soon after the youngsters and I reached the top of the mountain, an elder who had been hunting caribou stopped by. The kids quickly settled down. “I just saw three caribou,” the elder said. “They were the first I’ve seen this season. In the old days there would be so many here by this time. But there are fewer and fewer each year.” more

Will climate talks yield climate action?

Today the U.S. delegation here in Copenhagen continued with a sustained and impressive charm offensive as ministers and heads of state began arriving. Tomorrow, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled make it to the Bella Center, followed on Friday by President Obama himself. more

New emphasis on protecting old forests in Copenhagen

Here at the Copenhagen Summit the building is a maze of forest of data, side events, booths and actual negotiations over...forests. Forests are part of solving the climate crisis — through both storing carbon and helping ecosystems and communities adapt in a changing world. more

Confidence in the science of global warming grows despite "climate-gate"

Photo

Today Rajendra Pachauri, leader of the Nobel-prize winning UN climate science  process, spoke in Copenhagen with confidence in the bedrock of science on which our understanding of global warming rests. Meanwhile the opposition continues to try to squeeze the last few drops of doubt out of a few email lemons stolen from East Anglia University. more