Arts, Race & Climate Change
This essay introduced Spectrum Dance Theater’s Race & Climate Change Festival No stranger to human-concocted environmental calamity, the South Park neighborhood in Seattle has been assaulted by pollution from land, air and sea. It sits astride a superfund site, and life expectancy there is 13...
Bison Under Attack in Montana
A group of Montana tribes and conservation groups are urging Montana Governor Greg Gianforte to veto a pair of state bills that they say will undermine reintroduction efforts of wild bison to Montana. The bills, HB 318 and HB 302, would restrict the bisonβs status...
The Great Blue Heron
I see Great Blue Herons just about anywhere and any time I go to photograph nature. They are sometimes so abundant, they’re easy to overlook. But I don’t. I find them fascinating. And I’m not alone: In Seattle, where I live, they are the city’s...
Four Ways to Meaningfully Invest in DEI
Here are four examples of how outdoor companies have effectively put their money where their mouths are where DEI is concerned. The first two, done in isolation, can be performative if not part of something like the third and fourth, which drive more significant change....
Will Outdoor Industry Ever Get DEI Right?
Last summerβwhen the streets across America started burning, Black Lives Matter became a mainstay in the national discourse and her employees began pushing loudly for a company reckoning on raceβDonna Carpenter knew she was in the midst of another one. Another βoh, shitβ moment. Carpenter...
The Belted Kingfisher
Ever since I really was aware of birds, the Belted Kingfisher was among my favorite species. I’ve always lived and recreated around water, which means I’ve always lived and recreated among lovely blue-gray Kingfishers. Once you hear them, you’ll never not be aware that you...
An American Journey
For as long as I can remember, I have struggled with fitting my identity into the complex puzzle of race and ethnicity in this country. My mother is from Japan, and I was also born there, though my family moved to the U.S. when I...
2021 Nature Calls
Wow, I’m not telling you anything new: 2020 has been … different. I managed to get out just enough to do another calendar. But I have to change the way I do things this year. * Because of social distancing, I will do all distribution...
Big, Loud Californians
I arrived well before sunrise, but the cacophony had already begun. While I unpacked my gear in the parking lot, the staccato barking is echoing throughout the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle. I’m guessing people don’t need alarm clocks from fall to about early spring, when...
Toppling Muir Not Enough
The last time I visited Yosemite National Park, I stood atop Glacier Point and gaped at the views of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls and the other geological baubles of Yosemite Valley. Lost in the almost hallucinatory beauty, I imagined myself in conversation with John Muir...
Joys, Risks of Black Birding
During the wee hours of a recent Sunday morning, a Black man and his mixed-race, Black and Latinx friend meet in front of Beβer Sheva Park in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood, among the most diverse in the city. They are wearing caps and face masks...
