Category: Conservation and Climate
When you think of forests you might not think of fish, yet native Eastern Brook Trout and endangered Atlantic Salmon are signature species of the North Maine woods. AMC’s Maine Woods Initiative has been working to protect and enhance brook trout and salmon habitat, one of the largest fisheries restoration projects in the nation reconnecting […]
Are you looking for ways to honor the environment this Earth Day? As we celebrate the 50th anniversary, let’s start thinking about what you can do today and every day to help protect our planet. Even in the midst of a pandemic, you can still contribute from home while adhering to physical distancing and […]
It is adventures like these that remind us why we love to do the work that we do. At the beginning of March, the Dragonfly Mercury Project(DMP) core team convened for the annual core team meeting, spending three days at Joshua Tree National Park preparing for the 2020 sampling season. The Joshua Tree meeting was […]
When staff scientist Georgia Murray launched AMC’s first initiative on iNaturalist in 2018, she had a hunch she was on to something. As far as theses go, this one seemed like a safe bet: Murray—who tracks plant phenology, or how plant species respond to weather patterns and, over time, to climate change—anticipated that using the […]
Before dawn on January 12, the temperature at the summit of Mount Washington—famously home to some of the world’s worst weather—had already hit an eerily balmy 43 degrees Fahrenheit, nearly 50 degrees higher than the average mid-winter low. It was part of a two-day winter warmup that sent temperatures into the 60s and 70s across […]
One million animal and plant species are on the verge of extinction, according to a United Nations report released in May, and we humans bear much of the blame. Climate change, overfishing, pollution, and urban expansion are all threatening Earth’s biodiversity, and with it our own food security, health, and quality of life, according to […]
What might be the most successful river cleanup you’ve never heard of just received a big assist from Washington, D.C. By the 1960s, the Nashua River—which runs between Worcester County, Mass., and Nashua, N.H.—had earned the distinction of being one of the most polluted in the country, awash with discharge from area paper mills. The […]
Update: On Thursday, October 18, 2018, Central Maine Power announced they will bury the proposed transmission line under Kennebec Gorge. While this satisfies one of AMC’s concerns regarding the project, it fails to address others and AMC remains opposed to the project. The Appalachian Mountain Club has officially been designated an intervenor opposing the plan […]
Update: The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee unanimously voted on May 24, 2018, to uphold its February decision, choosing not to reconsider the Northern Pass proposal. Northern Pass’s parent company, Eversource, is deliberating whether to appeal to the state supreme court. After more than eight years of research, public hearings, expert testimony, and debate, one […]
AMC Cheers Highlands Conservation Act Renewal and Full Funding Protecting the places you love just got a lot easier. Congress last week renewed the popular Highlands Conservation Act for seven more years, providing $10 million this year to fund open space projects in the Mid-Atlantic region. First passed in 2004, the Highlands Conservation Act (HCA) allowed […]
Thousands of birds migrate to warmer climates every fall, but not every species packs up ship and leaves New England. Some overwinter in the region, despite the cold temperatures and lack of food. Hang a bird feeder filled with seeds and suet blocks in the fall for migratory birds to enjoy, then watch as winter […]
My first visit to the alpine zone in New Hampshire’s White Mountains was on Mount Washington. I was 15 years old, surviving day three of a high school orientation camping trip. The challenge of climbing several thousand feet to stand atop an iconic peak filled me with a sense of accomplishment. While the summit view […]
An interview with Peter Landres Appalachia, Summer/Fall 2014 In honor of the 50th anniversary of the federal Wilderness Act, Appalachia caught up with Peter Landres, an ecologist with the federal Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute in Missoula, Montana. Peter Landres is an ecologist with the federal Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute in Missoula, Montana. The […]
Hurricane Sandy is lashing the Northeast as I write this. Heavy winds and powerful gusts are hitting the region from Boston to North Carolina, with maximum gusts in many areas expected to reach well above 50 miles per hour. Here’s a quick refresher on how to estimate wind speed at your location. The following information […]
Can you explain the changing colors of autumn leaves to a child? I admit it sometimes takes me a minute to remember the basics about chlorophyll and hidden pigments. But I just found a quick refresher on the science and some fun hands-on activities to help the lessons stick, thanks to Yankee magazine’s foliage website […]
As I wrote earlier the Appalachians have a very complex geologic history that built major mountain chains which formed and then eroded over vast periods of time. I will begin the history around 500 million years ago during the Late Cambrian/ Early Ordovician periods. Since the rock record covers such vast quantities of time geologists […]
A number of the people coming through have been asking about the geology of the area and after talking to a couple of school groups and guests on some of my hikes I thought I would put my passion into words. Now the White Mountains have a very complex geologic history and it will take […]