Wild Hope for Urban Dwellers
Photo: Woodland Park Zoo
My feature piece in the current issue of Wild Hope celebrates those bold wild animals who eke out an existence in our yards and city parks, and the passionate people who study them.
Photo: Woodland Park Zoo
“Urban Dwellers” shines a spotlight on the Seattle Urban Carnivore Project, a citizen science-driven effort, led by Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University, to inspire city people to get to know their wild neighbors. The article begins:
In April 2019, back when we could still take human contact for granted, my husband, Robert Long, and I ventured out on a nature walk with retired pediatrician Richard Weiner. After we greeted our unassuming host in his driveway, he led us down a steep, muddy trail into a shady ravine, occasionally slowing his rabbit-like pace to pointout Pacific Northwest flora with his hikingstick—red huckleberry, Oregon grape, devil’s club. When Weiner stopped to yank up a vine of invasive ivy by its tenacious roots, I asked him how many native seedlings he’d restored to these woods with his own hands. “Oh, at least a thousand, I suppose,” he replied humbly before wandering off toward the stream. Weiner is a man who loves his proverbial backyard…
Please look for Wild Hope at your local bookstore or purchase a copy on their website—where you can now view the entire issue in digital format (please make a donation to support this great magazine). You can also read my article here.
