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Shoot Game With Cameras, Not Guns

According to data from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, hunting is fading as a recreational activity. In 1980, Americans bought 16.3 million hunting licenses. By 2018, that number had dropped to 15.6 million. During that same time period, the total U.S. population grew from 227 million to 327 million, so the percentage of the total population that purchased hunting licenses actually fell from 7.2% to 4.8%. Compare those numbers to the 86 million Americans who call themselves “wildlife watchers.” Clearly enthusiasm for hunting has faded. There are many reasons. Rural lifestyles ...

Mud Can Be Another Form Of Pollution

When I first heard Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Executive Director John Jablonski say that “mud is pollution,” I was completely confused. The word pollution brings to mind Love Canal, acid mine runoff, Erin Brockovich and the Cuyahoga River burning in the 1960s. But not mud. ...

The List Is Endless

Most, if not all of us, have experienced some sort of internal hardship at some point in our lives. It could be depression, anxiety, nervousness, grief, or overworking. The list is endless. These feelings are not easy to talk about and many issues get put on the back burner. Having such an ...

Enjoy November’s Secrets

November. Each day the sun rises a few minutes later and sets a few minutes earlier. Days grow chilly. Nightly frosts become the rule. It’s just a matter of time until the first snow falls. Yes, it’s November. By month’s end, the whole world seems on the brink of death. The few brown leaves that cling tenaciously to their branches eventually will fall, leaving behind naked, seemingly lifeless trees. They will have become mere skeletons of their summer selves. Hayfields and thickets fade to brown. The sky turns monotonously gray. November’s lifelessness, however, is an ...

Misunderstood

Algae are not plants but, rather, simple photosynthetic protists which are typically aquatic. “Blue-green algae” are not true algae at all but photosynthetic bacteria called cyanobacteria. They form a large diverse group that ranges from seaweeds like kelp to pond scum to freshwater lake ...

Late Fall Is The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

I admit it. I don’t really enjoy this time of year. In a walk outside, it is a challenge to find joy, beauty, and warmth in late fall, especially compared other seasons. The blooms and songs of summer are over. The bright pinks, yellows, reds have fallen away. The last hurrah of fall ...