In an exclusive Wildlands Network interview, Paula MacKay invites animal behaviorist Dr. Marc Bekoff to explore the complicated ethics surrounding wildlife reintroductions, and to share his views on how rewilding can (and must) incorporate compassionate conservation in order to be successful.
Through the powerful words and images of his “Lord Man” parable, Tom Butler implores us that humanity must choose between continuing on its destructive path of overpopulation and overconsumption, or rejoining the community of life on Earth. Photo: Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library
E.O. Wilson cautions that we must protect at least half of the Earth’s land and water to sustain Nature’s complexity, ecological processes, and diversity of life. Wildlands Network’s Kim Crumbo takes this one step further, arguing that the resilience of life depends on a Whole-Earth approach to conservation. Photo: NASA
Wolves returned to the North Cascades 10 years ago and continue to reoccupy some of their former range. As their population grows, so do tensions with people who don’t want them back. Paula MacKay asks, are we giving wolves a fair chance? Photo: Western Transportation Institute
The U.S. Midwest has long been a hole in visionary maps of a rewilded North America. Wildlands Network’s Executive Director, Greg Costello, says it’s time to to fill in the gap. Photo: Bill Thompson, USFWS
“The Snow Leopard” chronicles Peter Matthiessen’s journey with renowned wildlife biologist George Schaller into the remote mountains of Nepal. Paula MacKay explores the question: What does it actually mean to SEE a snow leopard? Photo: Snow Leopard Trust
When you think about “wildness” today, what does this term—and related terms, like wilderness, rewilding, and wild—mean to you? We recently posed this question to members of the Wildlands Network staff, and here we share some of their varied responses. Photo: Robert Long
Dr. Bill Lynn, research scientist and thought-leader in the field of ethics and sustainability, is especially passionate about human-animal relations. In this essay, Dr. Lynn urges conservationists to think beyond the fundamental science of rewilding and reconnect with its ethical roots. Photo: J. Henry Fair
The year was 1995. I was just wrapping up my first graduate thesis, which focused on coyotes and white-tailed deer in Acadia National Park. Although I cared deeply about animals and the environment, I had begun to wonder how my background in wildlife management could make much of a difference in an unraveling world. Photo: Woodland Park Zoo
In the face of increasing threats to native wildlife and the Endangered Species Act (ESA)—one of America’s bedrock conservation laws—the Washington, D.C.-based Endangered Species Coalition today released their annual report highlighting the “Top 10” species at-risk of extinction in the U.S. Photo: Jim Clark, USFWS
When E.O. Wilson wrote “Half-Earth,” in which he proposes that we set aside half the Earth for wildlife in order to protect biological diversity, he surely was thinking of Alaska. Alaska comes closer to protecting half of wild nature than does anywhere else on the planet. Photo: Steven Chase, USFWS
“I pray to the birds. I pray to the birds because I believe they will carry the messages of my
heart upward…” In celebration of Thanksgiving, Wildlands Network shares an inspirational poem from Terry Tempest Williams. Photo: William C. Gladish
Did European Colonizers really cut all the Eastern old-growth forest? If not, how much remains? These were questions posed by famed wilderness defender Dave Foreman while sitting by a campfire in the Sonoran Desert in the late 1980s. He was wondering aloud to John Davis—back then, a young apprentice, now a veteran wildlands explorer. Photo: Robert Llewellyn
Earth Touch News Network’s Ethan Shaw explores the controversial genetics of North America’s wolf species, highlighting Wildlands Network’s ongoing efforts to survey the rare and endangered red wolf. Shaw’s piece includes a 40-second compilation of WN video footage featuring wild red wolves in North Carolina. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
A new report released today by Wildlands Network highlights how 4 wildlife species native to the U.S.-Mexico borderlands are critically imperiled by existing and proposed border wall construction. “Four Species on the Brink” summarizes habitat, population data, and bi-national conservation efforts for Sonoran pronghorn, black bear, jaguar and Mexican wolf. Photo: Juan Carlos Bravo