Last week, as part of my research for a magazine article about I-90 SPE, Robert and I had the opportunity to tour several of the 13 crossing structures that have been installed specifically for wildlife. We’ve slowly watched these structures come to fruition during our occasional travels on the highway…

In the North Cascades, it’s unusual for us to visit a remote camera station that HASN’T been visited by Pacific martens—smaller cousin to wolverines and every bit as charismatic. But not so in the Olympic Range, where martens are rarely sighted and may even be at risk of local extinction. Last week, Robert and I initiated our seasonal camera deployments for the Olympics’ missing martens, as part of Woodland Park Zoo’s ongoing collaboration with Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park.

Robert and I were recently interviewed by Wilderness and Wildlife, a radio show broadcasted by KGVM 95.9 out of Bozeman, Montana. We spoke with host Jay Shellenberger about noninvasive carnivore research, our ongoing wolverine surveys in the North Cascades, and my own path merging wildlife conservation and creative writing.

While enrolled in my MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University, I had the privilege to work with mentor Gary Ferguson—acclaimed author of more than two dozen books, and an inspirational thinker, speaker, and writer on behalf of wild nature. On Earth Day, April 22, Gary and social scientist Mary M. Clare will launch their new book, Full Ecology, via a virtual event titled, “A Walk in the Wild: Reclaiming Human Nature.”

In celebration of National Wildlife Week, Woodland Park Zoo published my post about Washington’s wild cats on their blog today. I wrote about the zoo’s efforts to document wild cats and other carnivores with remote cameras in greater Seattle and beyond—research in which I am proudly involved.

Last evening, as the sun sank low in the Easter sky, I decided to take a stroll on a local beach. I hadn’t been at my best all day. The night before, while watching Minari, I received a text from a friend telling me another friend had passed.

A few weeks ago, I began to hear rumblings about a cougar on Bainbridge Island. Such rumblings are not uncommon, but this time there was supposedly photographic evidence. Sure enough, just after Christmas, a friend sent me a video clip of a large cat with a long tail approaching a wire fence and then leaping straight into it, apparently stalking a wary goat on the other side.

This week, President Biden’s German shepherd, Major, was “indogurated” as the first shelter dog to inhabit the White House. Our own regal rescue, Alder, and his best friend, Bessie, helped mark the occasion by partying like puppies in the snow. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand woofs.

The morning began like most others during the pandemic. I woke up, read the news, wished I hadn’t, took a quick glance at email—and that’s when I saw the message on Nextdoor Bainbridge: Help! Wild animal rescue needed.

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. “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.

In the spirit of the March for Science that had occurred a few months prior, Robert carried a fluorescent green sign bearing the words “Science is Patriotic” penned in red and blue. The sign is still taped to the wall of our garage, where we build survey equipment for wolverines and other carnivores so we can better understand their needs.

Normally, I would try to ride it out—close the windows, turn on some piano music, do my best to focus while the engines roared. But coupled with the daily barrage of political noise and a minor construction project underway in our garage, I decided to flee.

Skirting the sheer cliffs makes my knuckles tingle. My right hand grips the armrest while my dominant left coils around a cold bottle of ginger beer, which I release into the cup holder only long enough to nibble on one of the stomach-soothing saltines cached in my lap. Up-up-up we go—like we’re climbing a roller coaster, except I’m far from amused.

When we first checked this camera a year ago, Robert and I completed the trip in three days—allowing ourselves no cushion to explore the surrounding wildlands. Sometimes we’re so busy chasing photos of carnivores that we forget to stop and smell the lupine. We vowed to build in a little extra time this year…

Growing up in New England, I had two mental images of Washington. The first featured the Space Needle, a spaceship perched upon a tall, skinny building. The second consisted of lush green mountains that dropped dramatically to the sea. I never knew of the other Washington…

Are you craving great company and creative sustenance? Please come to our virtual book release party at Rewilding Café! This FREE event will be held on the Summer Solstice, June 22, at 12pm PST (3pm EST).