In the fall of 2003, I walked across southeastern England along the Prime Meridian, the line of zero longitude. I started at the English Channel, near Brighton, then trekked north until I hit the North Sea, about 185 miles as the crow flies.
Articles with Conservation
Ramblers on a public footpath • Photo by Andrew Bowden (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Stowe gardens, Buckinghamshire • Photo by flowcomm (CC BY 2.0)
Taming the wild
Last week’s visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in England put me again under the spell of Lancelot “Capability” Brown.
Photo by William Hook on Unsplash
Whither champions of the countryside
What are England’s greatest gifts to civilization?
Photo by Nikola Jovanovic on Unsplash
Future awaits ethical decisions
The Earth’s biosphere has no more ardent champion than Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson.
Photo by Mike Marrah on Unsplash
Can we use it all and still have it?
We have no shortage of gurus willing to lead us into the environmental future.
Photo by Yassine Khalfalli on Unsplash
Bringing flora, fauna with us
It has been my privilege for 38 years to walk to work each day through land that belongs to the Natural Resources Trust of Easton. Woods, fields, water meadows, a stream: This gentle countryside has been a source of solace, inspiration and education.
Photo by Ed 259 on Unsplash
We are poorer for paving paradise
The natural contours of a landscape mean nothing to an 80-ton Caterpillar bulldozer. A stand of trees, an outcrop of granite, or a purling stream can be erased in a trice.
Photo by Stefan Widua on Unsplash
The word yet hinges existential debate
Yet. Such a little word. Such a feisty little word.
DDT being sprayed over an Oregon forest in 1955 • USDA Forest Service (Public Domain)
Balancing perils against blessings
Not long ago, I was sitting with students on a high outcrop of rock in the woods near our college campus. A deep screen of color on every side — oaks, maples, and hickories in their autumn glory — absorbed the sounds of highway and town.
Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash
Can the hard or soft get us machine green?
Environmental liberals and conservatives are bashing each other in print. They have the same ostensible goal — saving the planet from despoliation — but very different strategies for doing it.