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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

My short essay about contending with my fears at a wild river crossing is now available in print. Issue 4 of Deep Wild can be purchased at local bookstores, and also online. I just love this beautiful journal, perfectly sized for an overstuffed backpack, and brimming with prose and poetry that will transport you to deep, wild places even if you’re sitting at home on your couch!

The morning after they stole my reproductive rights, I needed to get away. My husband and I loaded our day packs and two happy dogs into the car and headed to Olympic National Forest—about 90 minutes from home. We drove past strip malls and gas stations and American flags that had been hung for freedom.

When I first approached Stefan Frei at our photo shoot for Tideland magazine, I tossed him my husband’s soccer ball and quipped, “just testing your reflexes.” He deftly caught the ball, of course, before tossing back a quick-witted response: “Hey, I didn’t think I was going to have to work today!” Frei’s playful smile belied the competitive intensity that he brings to the pitch for the Seattle Sounders—and that fuels his success as one of the best goalkeepers in Major League Soccer today.

Deep Wild journal recently blogged an excerpt from my flash nonfiction essay, “Lessons in Survival,” to be published in print in June. I’m excited to be included in issue 4 of Deep Wild, whose “Writings from the Backcountry” are bound in a compact, lightweight package so that you can bring the journal with you to read on your own backcountry adventures.