Sacred Places, Trees, and Songs

Interior Department Poised to Rescind the Public Lands Rule Action: Comment by November 10, 2025 It has been almost a year since we first wrote about the dangers to our millions of acres of public lands ( here is the post ). When the Republicans regained office, they moved swiftly to realize their vision of the destruction of forests, parks, wilderness, nature preserves and other public lands. At times, the brazeness of these assaults has taken our breath away and the magnitude of the damage has been despairing. At other times, we know the pillaging is happening in the shadows and behind closed doors. We don't know the magnitude until the destruction is done and there's no turning back.  Now, 250 million acres managed by the BLM are in danger of being opened to "uses" like oil and gas development, mining and construction. The Public Lands Rule, which puts conservation on a par with these destructive and extractive uses, is squarely in the Administration's sites. I...

 My Mini Three-Sisters Front-Yard Garden Back in the spring, I encouraged readers to try growing some food this year, even if just in a planter on the balcony.  I wanted to be sincere about this commitment, so I cast around for a good spot to start a new garden myself. I settled on an unlikely place: a bare spot in my front yard where the grass was thin and brown.  It was about 100 square feet and I had been eyeing it ever since my friend and mentor David Braden started the 100-Square-Foot Challenge back in the 2010s. (He passed on to the Big Garden in the Sky in 2024 and I miss him constantly.) In the first few years, I prepped by breaking sod and piling leaves, grass clippings and sometimes even brush on the pile, which was fortunately somewhat hidden from the road by a large dogwood bush. When I changed the cooling media in my evaporative cooler, I put the mineral-rich used media (essentially corrugated cardboard) on there too. The surrounding grass took notice and sta...

 Mitigation Masks True Intentions in the Urban/Wild Interface  New sounds ring out in the forest. Not of birdsong, the chattering of the squirrel or the howl of the coyote, but the loud buzz of chain saws. "We must thin the forests, to lower the risk of wildfires," those who wield the power saws say. Fearful local homeowners support and add to this effort, creating "defensible space" around their homes.  Wait a minute. Does cutting, thinning and logging really lower the risk of wildfires? In the past year, I have visited several homeowners who live on the Front Range of Colorado, in communities such as Evergreen, Boulder, Conifer and Pine. Just by their names, you know the homes are nestled among trees. After the disastrous Marshall fire that burned  6,000 acres including 1,000 homes and commercial buildings at the end of 2021, people, insurance companies, and governments are turning to cutting down trees as a deterrent and solution.  Those who promote timber ha...