Jackie, the world-famous Big Bear bald eagle, has been melting hearts and educating the public about her species since 2015, thanks to a web camera run by the California nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV).
The fact that the Burns Paiute and Bannock Shoshone tribes are still battling our government and politicians for protection of the sagebrush steppe habitat and our native sage grouse isn't spiritually uplifting.
Abiqua Falls is a stunning 92-foot waterfall that tumbles over a wall of columnar basalt into a wide pool, perfect for swimming. The surrounding area features a pebbled beach that provides breathtaking views of the falls and lush greenery.
"Nobody is asking for this. None of the farm groups want this. No one in conservation wants this. Nobody." Robert Bonnie, former Forest Service undersecretary, highlights widespread opposition to the reorganization.
The city of Orlando happens to have the most green space per resident than any other major city, according to a new analysis from travel platform BookRetreats. The city, known as The City Beautiful, offers roughly 2,777 square feet of greenery per person. That translates to more than 148 parks, gardens, and recreation areas, according to the study, with plenty of lakes, trails, and botanical gardens to explore.
The nine national parks in the Golden State - including Yosemite, Death Valley and Joshua Tree - attracted nearly 12 million recreational visits in 2025, according to statistics from the National Park Service. That's up more than 800,000 visits from 2024 and up more than 300,000 from the previous record set in 2019, according to the data, which stretches back to 1979.
A lot of people really underestimate the sizes of our national parks, as well as the accessibility of certain features. A lot of people come to Death Valley, and they want to see that, but they don't often realize that it's along a pretty crappy, 25-mile dirt road, and it often takes well over an hour and a half to get to.
It's an opportunity for people to get out and see birds without pressure, no matter how long it takes or how many birds we see, said OBara, a retired nurse who has been leading the accessible outings for three years. She said disabled people often cannot keep up on traditional outings, especially when competitive birders are focused on checking off a list of the greatest possible number of species.
Formal groundbreaking for the Ahmanson Ranch project, a town-style development on 2,800 acres in the Simi Hills in southeastern Ventura County, will not take place until 2001. However, the project has already achieved historic status for the size of the private-to-public land transfer it produced and for reviving a design concept that marks a major departure from the car-dependent suburban enclave typical of the postwar era.
Our workshop has encountered all kinds of issues with vehicles over the years, but a set of fox cubs is a brand new one for us. At first, our technician thought they might be rats because the cubs are grey, rather than the typical red you would expect of a fox they gave him quite a fright.
Not only do we have an amazing trail with 10 waterfalls (four of which you can walk behind), but it's a great place to see and learn about plants and wildlife. We also have several historic buildings that are open to the public-all built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s and 1940s.
The idea that hiking trails are a tool for conservation is based on a simple premise: people protect what they know. That requires making conservation areas accessible. There's no point telling people you only protect what you know, if you don't give them the tools to know. The trail is this tool. People who hike, people who camp, these people often become defenders of the environment.
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Wildlife populations are in decline. Recreation sites are crowded and often underfunded. Wildfires are larger, more destructive and harder to control. Climate change is reshaping natural systems, from ocean fisheries to mountain snowpacks, faster than institutions can respond. At the same time, communities are being asked to host new energy projects, transmission lines and mineral development - often without clear processes, adequate resources or trust that decisions are being made in the public interest.
The body is a shifting landscape transformed by surfaces and sensations. Each look captures a different tactile world: the heat of blood, the cool weight of metal, the yielding drift of water. The result is a sculptural study of how the elements carve, shield, and release the self. The materials we embody become the emotions we carry, and the body becomes a materialised exhibition of our emotions, from the pulse of Blood to the discipline of Metal to the surrender of Water.
It was a Saturday in February 2020 when the flood came. It had been a wet winter, so wet it seemed that before the month was out, the brown trout of the River Taff might be washed clean out into Cardiff Bay before the fishing season had even begun. But this is Wales. People are used to a spot of rain.
Visitors can skip the entrance fees at California parks on Monday, part of a state effort to reduce barriers to accessing the outdoors. More than 200 California state parks are offering the free vehicle entry including motorcycles on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday to California residents and visitors. Entrance fees are typically around $10. The complete list of parks offering free entry on Monday can be found here.
Many of them were built for purposes that no longer exist - cattle drives, mining prospecting, early U.S. Forest Service fire patrols - while others were packed by the footprints of the Chumash people well before the colonization of North America. Sections of trail cling to steep slopes that seem to barely resist gravity, shedding soil and stone with each winter storm.
I trekked it in December 2023 with plans and a permit to camp at Bright Angel Campground, a scenic cottonwood-shaded hideaway just near the famed Phantom Ranch (the only lodging on the world wonder's floor). Then, two days before my trip, a miracle happened: One last-minute reservation became available for Phantom Ranch. The ranch digs typically book out over a year in advance, but if you're lucky, you can either get in via the lottery or a last-minute opening. This made the grueling but gorgeous hike down and up the steep South Kaibab Trail even more memorable.
Whenever I'm asked about my recent trip to Alaska-a journey to visit Katmai National Park & Preserve and Kenai Fjords National Park-I nearly always mention the scale. The scale of the glaciers, the mountains, the sunsets, and the utter wilderness; every aspect of the landscape was just so much larger and more grand than anything I'd ever experienced. Magnitude is a continuous theme all across Alaska.
The next morning, I checked the critter-cams and saw the bear again, now captured by a camera I'd placed by a little mesh-covered opening near the small basement under my house. I watched as a massive shape emerged from the hole. My brain refused to believe it. The bear looked too large to fit in that tiny gap. I watched it again, shocked. My hands started to sweat.