Swimming with Salmon, Splashing with Beavers
Preparing for our beaver pond vigil, Professor Phil Brick expressed some doubt that a group of nearly two dozen lively and excited college students would be able to sit silently …
Buffalo Unites Us
The American bison or buffalo is essential to the traditions, culture, beliefs and religious practices of Native American tribes across the western United States and Canada. Many Americans are familiar …
Western Rivers at Risk
Water–or the lack of it–defines the American West. One commonly used marker that you’ve crossed into the western part of the country is the 100th Meridian, which bisects the Great …
The Best Dam Water Engineers
Beavers may be our most important partner in protecting and restoring western streams and watersheds. By building temporary dams on small streams, beavers slow down rainwater runoff and snowmelt. This …
Protecting Water for Wildlife
In the late summer, western rivers get “skinny”–depleted by longstanding diversions for irrigation and municipal demands, and exacerbated by changes in mountain snowpack and warmer temperatures due to climate change. …
Growing WILD
Five years ago, a team of community volunteers broke ground on a new native plant garden at a wildlife education center in Helena, Montana. The former Stedman Foundry site required …
An Exemplary Garden for Wildlife
When we talk about gardening for wildlife, our focus is on creating habitat for birds, butterflies, amphibians and small mammals — not large and potentially dangerous or damaging species that are …
Learning is Natural in Montana Eco-Schools
“I know this tree!” exclaims an excited first-grader, grasping a ponderosa pine seedling. She’s holding one of 150 seedlings distributed to students ranging from kindergarten through eighth grade at DeSmet …
Wildlife Conservation in the U.S. and Southeast Asia
Last month, the National Wildlife Federation’s educational and conservation-based mission traveled with me to Laos and Vietnam. Through a professional exchange sponsored by the U.S. Department of State by the Young Southeast Asian Leaders …
