Saving the Great Lakes will require new ways of thinking about, and working on, conservation. We need to think of the largest freshwater ecosystem as whole; we need to overcome geopolitical boundaries; and we need to remember, and apply, the history of the special places we love. These lessons, and more, were brought home to … Continue reading The Haunted Forest Preserve
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Saving Nature at Ives Road Fen
Cutleaf Toothwort Dentaria laciniata (Chuck Pearson)Can we save nature? This question has vexed humans for some time. Several generations ago, we wanted to be saved from nature: from the wild animals beyond the campfire, floods and droughts, storms at sea. Then, with our increased technological prowess, the question became seemingly irrelevant. For the last four decades, since … Continue reading Saving Nature at Ives Road Fen
Smartphones and Nature
"Clearly, we have compiled a record of serious failures in recent technological encounters with the environment," wrote ecologist Barry Commoner in 1969. His point of view reflects the suspicion, if not antagonism, that some environmentalists have had about the engineering advances of modern society. Recently, I took some new technology along with me on my … Continue reading Smartphones and Nature
Winter Like it Used to Be
"In my day, the winters were so much more . . . snowy, or colder, or predictable" seems to be a frequent complaint I hear from mid-Michigan residents over the age of 30 (climate data shows that anyone under the age of 27 has never experienced a colder than average month, anytime of year). I … Continue reading Winter Like it Used to Be
Great River, Great Lakes
The Confluence When I started this quest and this blog, I wanted to add more places to my set of outdoor achievements (you can read my first blog post here). I look at my shelves and certain books I keep as touchstones to learnings and life moments. How too to keep the experience of a day in … Continue reading Great River, Great Lakes
Celebrating Lake Erie
How to save a lake, and a Great Lake at that? This is the question that faces those of us who care about the body of water that supports more fish, and sport fishing, than any other Great Lake; the lake whose shorelines provide some of North America’s most critical habitats for migrating waterfowl; the … Continue reading Celebrating Lake Erie
Hiking and Biking Bois Blanc Island
There is something about being on an island: the onboard anticipation of the journey there, the defined boundaries of a shoreline, the sense of shared belonging with other castaways. It's romantic escaping to an island, and as summer waned Anna and I spent a day marooned on Bois Blanc Island, where The Nature Conservancy (TNC) … Continue reading Hiking and Biking Bois Blanc Island
Legacies from Legacies
Where did you gain your interest in nature? What were your first experiences in the out-of-doors? Who first introduced you to the mysteries and joys of some special place? These thoughts crossed my mind as I attended the dedication of a preserve addition on a Great Lakes shore on a blue-sky day in July.Big Trout … Continue reading Legacies from Legacies
The UP: Use It, Don’t Lose It
In 2005, Michigan's Upper Peninsula (the UP) began a new relationship with the natural resources that so define it as a place. Recently, I revisited the site that memorializes that moment, returned to a Lake Superior beach that shaped my relationship to the Great Lakes several decades ago, and thought a lot about the future … Continue reading The UP: Use It, Don’t Lose It
An Earth Day Sermon
In addition to my volunteer commitments to nature, I am also a lay preacher in the Episcopal church. This Earth Day I was asked to give a talk at Christ Episcopal Church in Owosso, MIchigan. I share it here as an expression of my particular spiritual view, but I recognize and appreciate other expressions from … Continue reading An Earth Day Sermon
Walks with Tom 