August: Dog Days Fun

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Come along now for a visit to a national wildlife refuge I had never visited before, and join me for a fun, heartening, and educational baby turtle release on the bank of the Ouachita River! August 1, 2022 – Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge is 24,000 acres of marshes and forests waaay down in the toe of the Louisiana boot, on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain. I don’t make it down that way very often, so when I had to drive I-10 and I-12 from points farther east all the way to Baton Rouge, I took a little…

June: National Forests

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According to Wikipedia, the U.S. has 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands containing 193 million acres. That’s 8.5 percent of the total U.S. land mass. Add to that the 12 percent of U.S. land protected as national wildlife refuges for a total of 20.5 percent. This means we must protect another 9.5 percent in the next 6 years if we are to meet the current “30 percent of land by 2030” conservation goal. I’m for it! I’m deeply grateful for what we have. But the esteemed naturalist and scientist E. O. Wilson says we must protect half of earth…