Wild Prose

Where Writing Meets Wildness

Wild Prose is a blog for people who cherish wildness. Enjoy field notes, essays, and other wild musings.

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Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay

New Paper: How Wildlife Responded to COVID-19 Lockdowns

It takes a global community of researchers to shed light on how wildlife responded to COVID-19—and I’m honored to be one of many co-authors on a new paper that achieves just that. Led by Dr. Cole Burton, a conservation biologist at the University of British Columbia, the ambitious paper looked at 102 camera-trap projects around the world to determine how wildlife responded to changes in human activity during the pandemic.

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Wild Prose, Interviews Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Interviews Paula MacKay

Podcast: Carnivore Conservation in the PNW

When we agreed to talk about carnivore conservation with Jack Humphrey for the podcast, Rewilding Earth, Robert (Long) and I knew we’d be in for an interesting conversation. Jack has hosted more than a hundred of these podcasts over the last few years, and each one explores yet another fascinating tendril of rewilding—the bold approach to conservation that has driven our respective careers for the better part of three decades.

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Wild Prose, E-Newsletter Paula MacKay Wild Prose, E-Newsletter Paula MacKay

Glimmers of Pam Houston

Last week, I participated in an online writing class with Pam Houston. Pam’s work is witty and important, and I savored her soul-stirring memoir, Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country—which, come to think of it, could easily serve as the title of my own memoir-in-progress.

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Wild Prose, Musings Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Musings Paula MacKay

Rewilding Scotland: A Photo Essay

Last fall, I visited Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands to attend the 8th International Martes Symposium. This intimate conference occurs every 5 years, inviting biologists who share a passion for members of the Martes Complex (martens, sables, fishers, tayras, and wolverines) to get together and discuss the latest science and conservation priorities pertaining to these little-studied animals.

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Wild Prose, Interviews Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Interviews Paula MacKay

Podcast: On the Path to Rewilding

In this podcast interview with “How It Looks From Here,” I talk with host Mary Clare about my longstanding relationships with writing and rewilding, and how the two have been intertwined throughout my life and career. A social psychologist and deep thinker, Mary guides our conversation with skill, generosity, and her own love for wild nature.

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Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay

Wolverines in a Land of Wildfire

I first learned that About Place Journal would be dedicating its October issue to the more-than-human-world as a participant at the Kachemak Bay Writer’s Conference in May. Already a fan of the conference, I couldn’t resist making the trip to Homer, Alaska, to spend time with Robin Wall Kimmerer as the 2023 keynote.

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Wild Prose, Musings Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Musings Paula MacKay

Mourning for Tokitae

I glanced at my phone only moments after I’d been peering across Puget Sound in hopes of seeing a distant splash, that dreamlike flash of black and white and glimmering blubber that bellows “Orca!” from the depths of my primordial brain. I’d been blessed with such a sighting a few weeks before, after my husky mix, Alder, cued me (nose in the air) that something very special was happening out there. Today there was no such indication, nor a dorsal flare. On this tragic August morning, there was only a headline pronouncing Tokitae was gone.

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Wild Prose, Interviews Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Interviews Paula MacKay

Grizzly Interview, KIRO-7 News

In the context of my role in carnivore conservation with Woodland Park Zoo, I recently interviewed with KIRO-7 News about grizzly bear recovery in the North Cascades. The interview is part of a longer segment that is well worth watching: the first 8 minutes show how the zoo’s animal care staff use clicker training to work with rescued brown bears Fern and Juniper.

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Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay

Coexisting with Coyotes

Here in my own community on Bainbridge Island, neighbors who are generally fond of forests and wildlife sometimes surprise me with their negative comments about coyotes. I wish they could see what I see when a coyote slips through the yard and casts a glance my way, her wild beauty taking my breath away every single time. My new article in Tideland magazine is a celebration of coyotes, and a plea for coexistence from my little slice of Puget Sound.

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Wild Prose, Event Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Event Paula MacKay

Reading at Orcas Island Lit Fest

I’m honored to be joining the lineup of guest artists at the Orcas Island Lit Fest, June 2–3, 2023. Lit Fest is an intimate gathering of inspiring authors, and includes a (free) Friday night Lit Walk—during which I’ll be reading at Darvill’s Bookstore with other writers whose work has been published by Wandering Aengus Press or Homebound Publications. Our readings begin at 6pm.

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Wild Prose, News Paula MacKay Wild Prose, News Paula MacKay

National Geographic: Return of the Grizzly

The return of grizzly bears to the North Cascades is once again on the map, and my colleagues and I are eagerly anticipating the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement as soon as June or July. Last week, I was quoted in National Geographic in my capacity as a carnivore conservation specialist with Woodland Park Zoo, and as one of numerous field biologists who previously conducted surveys for grizzlies—to no avail.

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Wild Prose, News Paula MacKay Wild Prose, News Paula MacKay

Happy World Rewilding Day

In recognition of World Rewilding Day, friends at Northeast Wilderness Trust posted an inspiring new video, “Forever Wild,” written by author-conservationist Tom Butler and narrated by author-naturalist Sy Montgomery. Rewilding groups across the globe are celebrating this special day with the theme rewilding = hope.

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Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay

Heart of a Wolverine

On a dark day in January, I took a ferry to Seattle to participate in the necropsy of a wolverine, whose body was being held at the Burke Museum. A necropsy is an autopsy for a nonhuman animal; even in probing death, we set ourselves apart. Here is how Cornell’s Wildlife Health Lab distinguishes the two terms…

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Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay

Rewilding Bloedel

When the editors of Tideland magazine invited my to write an article about the Bloedel Reserve, I happily accepted. I’d once been a member of Bloedel but my membership had lapsed; I figured this would be a good opportunity to reacquaint myself with a nationally treasured botanical garden located only a few miles down the road. What I didn’t envision was that the reserve’s 10-acre Buxton Bird Marsh and Meadow would inspire me to write about rewilding.

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Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay Wild Prose, Publications Paula MacKay

Op-ed for Grizzlies in Seattle Times

Grizzly bear restoration has been a long time in coming to the North Cascades, where the absence of these iconic animals denotes a dark period in the relationship between people and wildness. Grizzlies roamed this rugged region for thousands of years but were hunted and persecuted off the map in the 19th century—along with other carnivores whose ecological, cultural, and intrinsic values were brutally disregarded. Rarely do we have a chance to rewind and rewild at such a grand scale.

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Wild Prose, News Paula MacKay Wild Prose, News Paula MacKay

Marten! Field Research in the News

Sometimes field work is a slog: soaring temps, steep trail, mosquitoes so thick you feel like you’re in a Hitchcock film. This summer, my colleagues and I encountered all of these conditions during a backpack into the Buckhorn Wilderness in the Olympic Range. And then there was the moment that made it all worthwhile.

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