As a kid, there was nothing more exhilarating than walking down the dirt road adjacent to my aunt and uncle’s house, hunting for monarch caterpillars under the warm August sun. I would walk hand in hand with my mother as she pulled my brother along behind in a red wagon, my cousins ...
Most Americans who remember President Richard Nixon probably associate his name with the Watergate break-in and his abbreviated presidency. Despite Nixon’s self-inflicted problems, I remember him as the greatest environmental president of my lifetime. Among Nixon’s environmental accomplishments: He signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. It encouraged harmony between man and his environment; it promoted efforts to prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; it sought to enrich the understanding ...
Have you ever seen your neighbor push a wheelbarrow full of grass clippings to a nearby empty lot and, without hesitation, dump the load over the edge of the streambank? What about seeing someone rake his or her yard clean of fall leaves and then pile them behind some shrubbery along the ...
There are many ways to look at a trail, but I have never looked at how to make a trail exactly 3.1 miles before. Last fall, Audubon started looking at ways to create a new course for the Wild 5K that showed off more of the property, avoided parking lots, and was easy to follow. The ...
This summer, if you’d like to save some money (and blood, sweat, and tears), convert a portion of your grassy backyard to native vegetation. Maintaining turf is expensive, unhealthy, and to many people, boring. With less grass to mow, you’ll save time and money. American homeowners spend more than $30 billion per year on lawn care. That works out to about $500 per home. And let’s not forget about the fresh, potable water needed to keep lawns green — nearly eight billion gallons every day. Finally, the Environmental Protection Agency reports that Americans use 800 million ...
Did you hear the story about the conversation between two friends? The one said to the other, “I love summer in Chautauqua County!” “Really?” said the other. “Yep,” the first one replied. “It was on a Sunday last year!” All kidding aside, I thought this joke was going to ring true this year. With a frost in June, torrential rains, tornadoes and temps in the 40s at night, what else would a person think? But finally, by the end of June, it seemed we are getting some beautiful summer weather. With at least two great weekends now under our belts, I am ready for ...
