What a win for the Midwest! Not only did the Louisville Cardinals take home the crown in last night’s NCAA championship, but the title of “Ultimate Big Tree” also went to a Midwestern tree in the Big Tree Madness final. Congratulations to Missouri’s “Prickly and Persistent” Ozark chinkapin! Many may look at the champion and [...]
You know that old expression about “work following you home”? Well, last week, I had work following me on vacation. No, I wasn’t checking emails while visiting the Caribbean, but I did find myself reflecting on topics that are often discussed around the halls of American Forests and here on Loose Leaf, such as: Rainforest [...]
This week, the National Park Service released a list of the most visited National Parks during 2012. The total number of national park visitors for the year — over 282 million people — was the sixth highest number of annual visitors in the history of the National Park Service. Great Smoky Mountains National Park maintained [...]
Big Tree Madness Final Four kicked off today with the “Mighty” Montezuma Baldcypress from Texas representing the South and the “Brave Giant” Acacia Koa of Hawaii representing the West. Tomorrow the “Prickly and Persistent” Ozark Chinkapin of Missouri will go up against the “Overtly Awesome” Osage-orange from Virginia. The Ozark chinkapin will be one to [...]
I was feeling a bit whimsical the other night, so in honor of National Poetry Month I pulled out my old copies of The Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, immersing myself in the lyrical, satirical world of Shel’s creation. All of the funny bits were still there: the [...]
The arrival of Washington’s cherry blossoms is a highly anticipated event that draws thousands of people to the National Mall and Tidal Basin every year. Since 1935, the Cherry Blossom Festival has marked this annual occasion with parades, performances and exhibits. This year’s festivities will surely be no exception. But while many people flock to [...]
American Bird Conservancy’s current Bird of the Week has been drawing a lot of attention. For the second time, they have declared the bird of the week to be the peep — that marshmallow treat so popular this time of year. Though the peep has earned the honor once before, in 2011, only the yellow [...]
Most people know that Yellowstone was America’s first national park, established back in 1872, but less well-known is the fact that Yellowstone also claims the status as our first national forest, established on March 30, 1981. There’s a national forest named Yellowstone? Not anymore … but let’s start at the beginning. For much of the [...]
“Conservation is about waiting for a long time,” says Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. So, in a society that wants speed and short waits, Ashe explains, conservation too often gets neglected. Ashe was one of four plenary speakers at the 78th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, a week-long [...]
During my spring break “vacation,” I spent last week camping on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis, Md. With 13 of my fellow classmates from the University of Maryland’s Alternative Breaks program and a fearless staff advisor, I participated in service projects to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay, a waterway plagued [...]
