For the first time in 15 years, the Philadelphia Zoo welcomed the birth of a Sumatran orangutan. The critically endangered species is part of a breeding program among zoos intended to ensure the survival of species at risk of extinction.
The infant orangutan was born in late June to 31-year-old female Tua and 28-year-old male Sugi, who live at the zoo’s primate preserve. Zoo staff said they haven’t yet determined the gender of the baby, who’s unnamed for the time being.
“It is a joy to be able to share this wonderful news with the greater Philadelphia region and the world,” Rachel Metz, the zoo’s vice president of animal well-being and conservation, said Thursday. “This critically endangered species is rapidly losing habitat largely due to deforestation as a result of an increased demand for logging, palm oil, and other natural resources located in their habitats.”
The species is native to the forests of Sumatra, part of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. They’re one of three species of orangutans, who are the only members of the great ape family to spend most of their time off the ground. They use their long and muscular arms to scale trees and have a diet that consists mainly of fruit, bark and vegetation. They are considered among the planet’s most intelligent non-human species, with recent research suggesting they’re capable of communicating about past experiences to warn each other about predators.
It’s estimated that fewer than 14,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild. The birth of the orangutan in Philadelphia is part of the Species Survival Plan of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which strives to maintain genetically diverse populations of threatened animals.
Provided Image/Philadelphia Zoo
Tua, a Sumatran orangutan, is shown carrying her baby at the Philadelphia Zoo after giving birth in late June.
The Philadelphia Zoo was the world’s first to successfully breed orangutans in 1928. There have been 20 born at the zoo since then.
Tua last gave birth in 2009 to a female, Batu, who remained with her parents at the Philadelphia Zoo through 2021. She has since been paired with a male at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and is now expecting a baby of her own. Orangutans have an eight-month gestation period. Babies nurse from their mothers for up to six years, but often start to eat solid food at around four months. They reach adolescence between the ages of 7 and 10.
Tua is now bonding with her baby in their indoor habitat at the primate preserve, where they have the choice to enter an area visible to guests or spend time alone in their bedroom. Sugi will be given a chance in the future to reunite with the pair. In the wild, males typically don’t raise their young. Orangutans are usually solitary in the wild but can be social with their peers.
The zoo is planning to hold a dedicated public debut for the baby orangutan in August. Details on the celebration will be released in the near future.
“Our entire zoo community and those that work closest with our orangutans are thrilled to watch Tua become a mother again and watch this baby grow,” said Michael Stern, the zoo’s curator of primates and small mammals.
In my youth, I had the fortune of travelling a lot. It was my passion and I was working on building a business around it (a women’s travel-zine turned website intended to be a hub for women travellers to connect and find resources – but alas, a story for another day). But in all of this exploring, I feel that I have seen very little of my own province, and now with a little one in tow, there is so much of my city I want to experience again. And so I’ve been drawing upon my creative staycation ideas!
If you’re staying close to home this summer, beyond having a dance party, cooking up something new and exciting, and tending your garden, I hope some of these staycation ideas help you pass the time with a little more fun and enjoyment.
9 summer staycation ideas
Berry Picking / Pick Your Own
There are loads of farms offering experiences for families. Whether it be berry picking, visiting farm animals, or helping out on the farm, explore the options in your area for a fun day in nature, with sweet treats to reward your efforts.
Home Spa Day
I am a huge fan of natural beauty care and there are many ways that you can make an at-home spa day special for you or your family. Depending on what kind of supplies you have at home, your at-home spa day could include:
Outdoor Drinks or BBQs
If you have an outdoor space, like a patio or a backyard, take advantage and host something! Enjoy mocktails, BBQ classics like burgers and ketchup, iced tea, or anything else you and your friends and family would love. If you don’t have a backyard or patio, then visit a neighbourhood park (ensure you follow the regulations for the park you’re in).
Do or Learn Something Creative (Or Share Your Skills With Others)
Tap into the creative side of your brain by getting out some art supplies, starting a journal, taking a writing class, making jewelry, or whatever other creative endeavour you’d love to pursue. Even better, if it can be brought outside, invite friends over for a craft party and take turns hosting. It could become a really nourishing skill share event to look forward to.
Have a Concert, Comedy, or Movie Night
There are many wonderful concerts, stand-up shows, and obviously movies on streaming services like Netflix, Prime, and others. Have a weekly movie night – I highly recommend that you include popcorn with this amazing popcorn topping. If you have creatives in your house, try having a live talent show where family members can celebrate and show off their skills.
Neighbourhood Adventures
It’s so easy to get stuck in our own neighbourhoods and most cities offer amazing surprises, delights, and interactions as soon as you venture off your usual path. There are loads of small businesses in operation and great restaurants you don’t even know exist – and small businesses really need help right now. Be a tourist in your own city and pick a neighbourhood to explore top to tail without a specific destination or goal.
Go For a Walk in Nature
Aside from the exercise, walking in nature (also called forest bathing) has many positive effects on our immunity, mood, nervous system, and cardiovascular health. Increase the fun by making an outdoor scavenger hunt (or find one that’s already been done online) where you have to find flowers, animals, statues, or other special things. If you’re walking in the city, there are many city mural walks or alleyway art shows that you can enjoy.
Enjoy a Picnic
Enjoy the sunshine and fresh air by packing a picnic, whether you decide to have it in your own backyard or visit an outdoor park. I like to keep my picnics zero waste so I don’t leave any garbage behind. Find a bikeable location and make getting there a part of the fun.
City-Wide Scavenger Hunt (Or Keep It To Your Local Park or Backyard)
So these are my best summer staycation ideas. I am sure I am missing loads. Please post a comment below and let me know what I missed! Happy to keep this list growing to keep us all enjoying new experiences all summer long.
Michigan is home to 21% of the world’s fresh water, but in recent years the Great Lakes have had a problem with invasive carp.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on Monday that Michigan has signed an agreement in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Illinois to create the Brandon Road Interbasin Project — massively stepping up efforts to block pesky invasive fish from the Great Lakes.
With $274 million in federal funds and $114 million in state funds secured for the first of three phases, the overall $1.15 billion project promises to make an impact.
“The Great Lakes are the beating heart of Michigan’s economy,” Whitmer said in a press release. “Brandon Road will help us protect local communities and key industries, including fishing and boating, that support tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. I am grateful to Governor Pritzker in Illinois, the Army Corps of Engineers, and our champions in Congress for their long-term partnership on this monumental task. Together, we will get the job done so we can protect our lakes and power economic growth for generations to come.”
Invasive carp, particularly bighead, silver, and black carp, are like the bullies of the fish world, pushing out other Great Lakes species such as lake whitefish, perch, and walleye. If these carp were to invade the Great Lakes basin, inland rivers and lakes would also be at risk. Additionally, the high-flying silver carp are known for their acrobatic leaps out of the water, sometimes crashing into boaters and causing injuries. Their antics have driven many boaters away from infested lakes, ruining fishing trips and fun on the water.
The Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, is like the ultimate bouncer for the Great Lakes, ready to stop invasive carp in their tracks. The upcoming project will feature an elaborate series of deterrents to keep these unwelcome guests and other aquatic nuisance species out.
“This agreement is a pivotal step forward in preventing the spread of harmful, invasive carp throughout our Great Lakes,” U.S. Senator Gary Peters said. “For years, invasive carp have threatened our environment, as well as key industries that rely on healthy Great Lakes to help power our state’s economy.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel added, “The Great Lakes hold countless memories for many of us, from catching our first fish to watching loved ones play on their shores. They are central to our Pure Michigan identity. This landmark agreement marks a significant victory in protecting these lakes from invasive, dangerous carp, ensuring the joy and beauty of these waters remain for all to enjoy.”
MIAMI, June 18, 2024 (Newswire.com)
– Hungary, renowned for its historic cities and cultural heritage, invites travelers to delve deeper into its rich natural tapestry. The nation’s stunning biodiversity, expansive national parks, and exceptional stargazing opportunities make it a hidden gem for nature enthusiasts and adventure seekers.
Hungary’s commitment to preserving its natural heritage is showcased by its impressive biodiversity. With over 2,200 plant species and 45,000 animal species, Hungary is a wildlife sanctuary. This rich biodiversity is protected and celebrated across the country’s 10 national parks, which span over 480,000 hectares. These parks offer diverse landscapes, from the rugged peaks of the Bükk Mountains to the serene wetlands of Hortobágy, each providing unique habitats for various species.
“Discovering Hungary’s natural beauty is like unveiling a hidden gem. Our national parks, diverse wildlife, and incredible stargazing opportunities provide a unique and enriching experience for travelers,” said György Lendvai, Head of Business Development (North America) for Visit Hungary. “We are committed to preserving our natural heritage and inviting the world to explore and appreciate Hungary’s wonders.”
One of Hungary’s standout natural offerings is its network of dark sky parks, providing unparalleled stargazing experiences. Hungary’s efforts in reducing light pollution have earned the country recognition as one of Europe’s premier destinations for astronomy enthusiasts. The Zselic Starry Sky Park and the Hortobágy Starry Sky Park, in particular, are havens for those looking to explore the cosmos and marvel at the Milky Way’s splendor.
For adventure seekers who prefer exploring on foot, Hungary offers over 11,000 kilometers of marked hiking trails. These trails traverse the country’s varied terrain, providing hikers with breathtaking views and a chance to encounter Hungary’s rich flora and fauna up close. The National Blue Trail, one of the oldest long-distance hiking routes in Europe, offers an unforgettable journey through Hungary’s picturesque landscapes, from verdant forests to charming villages.
Hungary’s national parks are also a haven for birdwatching. The Kiskunság and Hortobágy National Parks are recognized as important bird areas, hosting thousands of migratory birds annually. These parks provide unique opportunities for bird enthusiasts to observe rare species in their natural habitats, contributing to Hungary’s reputation as a premier bird-watching destination.
Visit Hungary invites nature lovers, adventure enthusiasts, and curious travelers to uncover Hungary’s natural world. Whether it’s hiking through ancient forests, observing rare wildlife or gazing at the starry night sky, Hungary promises an unforgettable adventure.
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About Visit Hungary
The Hungarian Tourism Agency operates in international markets under the brand name Visit Hungary. Visit Hungary performs domestic and international sales and marketing communication tasks related to tourism, manages the international tourism representation, executes image and product campaigns both in Hungary and abroad, produces tourism and image publications, conducts research and analysis in support of marketing communication activities, and participates in fairs and tourism trade fairs to promote domestic and foreign tourism. For more information, please visit www.visithungary.com.
Spending time in nature has a multitude of benefits, but sometimes the outdoors can have its drawbacks – especially if you’re in a spot that is crawling with bugs that love to feast on warm-blooded people like us. Itchy, painful and inflamed bites can certainly put a damper on your forest bathing experience, but making your own natural bug repellent can help arm you against those critters without endangering your overall health.
I’m a cottage-obsessed nature lover and can easily live without the city comforts and conveniences when I’m in the woods. I grew up in the prairies, in Winnipeg and went to summer camp near there where the mosquitoes were so big and vicious that if you swatted one, they’d often swat you right back.
No matter how bad the bug situation is, I can’t resort to using conventional bug repellents to protect me.
Most traditional bug sprays use DEET as the primary ingredient. And sure, DEET works, but it also comes with its own health risks.
Health Concerns of DEET
DEET has been:
Here in Canada where I live, DEET is permitted in bug sprays but the government recommends children under the age of 12 “do not use a DEET product on a daily basis for more than a month” and babies under 6 months should not use them at all.
When Should You Use DEET?
Suddenly bugs have become a lot riskier than the annoying itchy bite. With concerns over West Nile Virus, Zika Virus and Lyme Disease, you can use your own discretion and safety measures which would include covering your face with a mask when spraying, not touching your eyes, ears or mouth if using, and bathing thoroughly as soon as possible after use.
The Environment Working Group states: “Among the three repellent chemicals that are EWG’s top picks is DEET, which is widely used but much maligned. DEET’s safety profile is better than many people assume. Its effectiveness at preventing bites is approached by only a few other repellent ingredients. DEET isn’t a perfect choice nor the only choice. But weighed against the consequences of Zika disease and West Nile virus, we believe it is a reasonable one.”
You will need to weigh the risks, pros and cons based on where you live, your exposure and other factors that could increase your risk.
Of course, if you’re in a high-risk area and it’s for a short duration, there’s always a bug net. Nerdy but effective!
What Else Is In Conventional Bug Repellent?
DEET isn’t the only ingredient in bug repellent that gives me pause. I took a look at a bug repellent made by Johnson and Johnson, one of our good ‘ol healthwashing friends. In addition to DEET, they use:
Fragrance: This is an umbrella term for thousands of chemicals that are untested and potentially unsafe. Fragrance is also used in beauty care and cleaning products, and can trigger allergic reactions, respiratory issues like asthma, headaches and hormonal disruptions.
Ethanol: Otherwise known as alcohol, ethanol is used as an emulsifier in bug spray and can also be found in disinfectants and anti-bacterial soaps and hand washes. It’s associated with skin conditions like dermatitis, psoriasis and eczema and can disrupt our skin’s microbiome.
Butane, propane, isobutane: These propellants help spray the liquid from the can. Inhaling these petroleum products can impact both the brain and the heart, plus inhalant abuse – you may have heard of huffing – can impact children and teens. And these chemicals are highly flammable! They’re not the kind of thing I want around my campfire.
Natural Bug Repellent Options
The good news is that there are many natural bug repellent options and you can easily DIY your own bug spray. Many traditional bug sprays incorporate essential oils like citronella, eucalyptus, camphor, and others into their formulations, and with good reason: they work. Research shows that plant-based oils can protect against common bugs like mosquitoes.
Some of the natural bug repellent options are:
As I’ve mentioned before, the quality of essential oils you use is important. If you’re going to opt for a natural bug repellent, ensure that the essential oils will actually protect you and do what the company claims they will.
If you’re on board with making your own natural bug repellent, this is my favourite recipe to use. I whip up batches of this every summer and spray liberally as needed. And, unlike some traditional bug sprays, this one actually smells good too!
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between IPR andGrist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
Planters — those big boxes that hold ornamental plants — are a staple of many downtowns, often used to beautify the streets.
In Traverse City, they’re also the basis for a citizen science program to count pollinators.
Small signs stuck in the boxes among the flowers encourage passersby to take three minutes to count and categorize the visiting insects, such as bees, flies, and butterflies.
People can scan a QR code on the signs to open an online survey. There, they can list the number of insects they see around the planters.
The project started a few years ago as a collaboration between the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority, the Master Gardener Association of Northwest Michigan, and Michigan State University Extension.
“It’s a little piece of an effort… that’s going on around the country, and I’d say around the world, about just getting more information about pollinators,” said Nate Walton, an educator with MSU Extension based in Leelanau County. “This is kind of our way to raise awareness about pollinators and also to do what we can to just collect some data and contribute to that. I think as a standalone project we need more data.”
It will likely take many years before they have a solid data set for the region, Walton said. In the meantime, he hopes the project will continue to encourage public participation.
“One of the things that I get more excited about, honestly, is the fact that humans are doing this,” he said. “That they’re taking time out of their vacations usually, or maybe their workday, and at least spending three minutes to look at flowers and look at insects visiting those flowers.”
Pollinators are facing a slew of threats — from pesticide use to dwindling habitat to a warming climate.
Even small efforts to monitor the populations are meaningful in more urban areas like Traverse City, said Sue Hudnut, the president of the Master Gardener Association of Northwest Michigan.
“You have a lot of cement, and you’re displacing a lot of animals and insects,” she said. “If you do counts, that helps further the data for scientists to study what’s going on around us.”
Data gathering is one thing, but keeping the planters pretty is another. And they require quite a bit of maintenance.
Hudnut said volunteers meet weekly to prune and clean up the planters (sometimes people leave garbage in them).
The plants also have to be watered several times a week. The Downtown Development Authority helps coordinate that with the local Child and Family Services YouthWork program.
“That’s no small feat,” said Harry Burkholder, the DDA’s interim CEO.
Another question is which species to choose. Right now, the planters contain mainly non-native plants; native plants can be taller and less than ideal for businesses.
“We don’t want anything too tall, so it blocks the view of the shops and restaurants that line Front Street, so they need to complement the storefronts,” Burkholder said.
Walton, with MSU, said they chose plants that would attract pollinators and provide flowers throughout the season, and they are aiming to include more native species in the coming years.
MSU has worked with volunteers to establish a similar project in Frankfort, and organizers hope to expand to other towns as well.
It’s been over 5 years since Karlie Gusé disappeared from her home in Chalfant Valley, California. She was 16 at the time. Karlie was born on May 13th, 2002 which would make her 22 years old today. Her story is one of mystery and intrigue that has left her family and police dumbfounded.
By all accounts, Karlie was your everyday teenager. She had a boyfriend. She had plenty of friends. People knew who she was at school, and she was well-liked. However, things got murky during the weeks leading up to her disappearance.
Two North Shore road stream crossings, including one in West Newbury, have been selected by the state Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration for future ecological restoration studies.
The culvert replacement sites – one on River Road in West Newbury and the other on Concord Street in Gloucester – were selected due to their vulnerability to coastal erosion, flooding and future sea-level rise, agency said.
Although the culverts are crossing freshwater streams, the division says they are expected to become tidal as sea levels rise, a transition presenting significant challenges for road infrastructure, DER officials said.
The Division of Ecological Restoration announced it is funding and managing future studies at the sites to help the communities, nearby landowners and partners overcome technical challenges and plan for ecological restoration and climate adaptation.
“Ecological restoration provides innumerable benefits,” Fish and Game Commissioner Tom O’Shea said in a prepared statement. “Projects like this will improve public safety, build resilience to sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and mitigate flooding, and restore water quality and wildlife habitat.
“By supporting municipalities and partners, we can scale our efforts to steward a biodiverse and climate ready future.”
“DER looks forward to helping these two communities evaluate and plan for sea-level rise while building resilient, fish-friendly road stream crossings,” Division of Ecological Restoration Director Beth Lambert said in a prepared statement. “Culvert upgrades and other nature-based solutions can be technically challenging and costly for our municipalities to pursue alone. State-municipal partnerships like this are key to successful implementation of ecological restoration and climate adaptation projects.”
In West Newbury, the River Road culvert is on an unnamed stream of the Merrimack River. The crossing faces challenges due to flooding and erosion, and has the potential to be heavily influenced by increased storms and sea level rise.
Conducting models of the way water moves at the culvert site and investigating potential ecological improvements through restoration would enable a systematic approach to improving infrastructure and natural resource resiliency, the state said.
In Gloucester, the Concord Street culvert is along a tributary of Walker Creek.
The DER indicated the culvert is affected by coastal storms and is at an increased risk for erosion and flooding. The replacement of the culvert with a structure of resilient design would address flood water retention and bank stabilization and sedimentation; improve fish passage and wildlife habitat; and increase climate resilience by preparing for sea level rise, storm surge, and coastal marsh mitigation.
A 2019 technical report called “Great Marsh Barrier Mitigation: A comprehensive program to mitigate aquatic barriers in the Great Marsh Area of Critical Environmental Concern region” by the Ipswich River Watershed Association looked at the single culvert on Concord Street, among many other “priority barriers” in the region.
“The site has been identified as a site that has experienced flooding and ranked as having poor aquatic organism passage in the (North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaboration) Tidal Crossing Assessment,” the report said. It singled out the culvert as having “no passage due to rock piles/undersized structures.”
Jade Stevens stands at the edge of a snowy cliff and takes in the jaw-dropping panorama of the Sierra.
Peaks reaching more than a mile high form the backdrop to Bear Valley, a kaleidoscope of green pastures mixed with ponderosa pines, firs, cedars and oak trees.
Stevens, 34, is well aware that some of her fellow Black Americans can’t picture themselves in places like this. Camping, hiking, mountain biking, snow sports, venturing to locales with wild animals in their names — those are things white people do.
As co-founder of the 40 Acre Conservation League, California’s first Black-led land conservancy, she’s determined to change that perception.
Darryl Lucien snowshoes near Lake Putt.
The nonprofit recently secured $3 million in funding from the state Wildlife Conservation Board and the nonprofit Sierra Nevada Conservancy to purchase 650 acres of a former logging forest north of Lake Tahoe. It will be a haven for experienced Black outdoor lovers and novices alike.
The land trust, almost by necessity, has both an environmental and a social mission, Stevens says as she leads a tour of the parcels straddling Interstate 80.
The most obvious goal for the property is to help the state reach a target of protecting 30% of its open space by 2030 — as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s overall climate and conservation initiative.
Given that Black Americans historically have not enjoyed equal access to national parks and wilderness recreation areas — and have often been deprived of the chance to steward large open spaces because of discriminatory land policies — the purchase carries immense cultural importance too.
The group’s name derives from Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s unfulfilled promise to grant some emancipated slaves “40 acres and a mule” to help them start over after the Civil War.
An avid cyclist, Stevens is part of a growing movement among environmentalists, outdoor enthusiasts and naturalists who believe that safeguarding the ecosystem, promoting wellness and confronting historical injustices go hand-in-hand.
Although surveys show that Black people care as much about climate change and protecting the environment as other Americans, these issues aren’t necessarily top of mind in a era when racial strife, police violence and economic inequities command more attention.
Lake Putt is the main attraction among the the 40 Acre League’s recently purchased parcels.
How can you heed the call of the wild when life in your own backyard presents so many challenges? Stevens, a marketing professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills who lives in a historically Black neighborhood in Los Angeles — 385 miles to the south — can appreciate why some might feel this way.
The 70-mile drive from Sacramento, the state capital, feels like a journey to another dimension, one where Black people make up only about 1% of the population.
A Trump 2024 sign greets you upon leaving Sacramento’s suburbs and entering Placer County. Winding past Gold Rush-era towns, forests and rocky outcroppings, the elevation soon rises to 3,000 feet, 4,000 feet and finally 5,000 feet.
At Emigrant Gap, Stevens sits at the edge of Lake Putt and smiles like a woman on top of the world. The lake is the main attraction among the conservancy’s parcels and it’s the body of water motorists see on the right as they head toward Nevada.
The water is so still you can see a perfect reflection of the snow-capped ridges.
Jade Stevens walks over a bridge in Emigrant Gap.
This is also an ideal spot for Stevens to envision all that the 40 Acre group wants to do on this land, from helping to protect species such as southern long-toed salamanders and foothill yellow-legged frogs to helping humans who don’t see themselves as nature or wildlife lovers develop a new appreciation for California’s fragile ecosystem.
“These plants, everything here, they all rely on each other,” she says. “I haven’t brought my family out here yet, but just from them seeing what I’m doing, it’s already sparking conversation.”
Trudging in snowshoes alongside Stevens is Darryl Lucien,an attorney for the 40 Acre group who has acted as a liaison between the nonprofit and officials in local and state government.
The land trust isn’t as disconnected from Black Californians as some might think, Lucien says.
Next to the lake, a spillway flows into a stream that the Department of Water Resources refers to as Blue Canyon Creek.
Blue Canyon Creek runs through land recently purchased by the 40 Acre Conservation League, California’s first Black-led land conservancy.
Waters from Blue Canyon Creek eventually flow into the North Fork of the American River, then the Sacramento River, and then the California delta, where some flows will be channeled into the State Water Project, “which eventually finds its way down to Los Angeles,” Lucien says.
A look of racial pride washes over Lucien, 38, when he contemplates the possibility that these waters might reach the homes of Black Angelenos.
“Little do they know their water starts on Black land,” he says. “You’re standing at the source, baby.”
It has been less than a year since state Assemblymember Mike Gipson, a Democrat from South L.A. County and an early champion of the nonprofit, presented the group with a check to purchase the land. The planned habitat restoration will take time, but Stevens already has other big ideas.
Gazing across the lake to the southern shore, Stevens sees a location for a nature center that can hold environmental education classes and double as a rentable lodge for gatherings.
She daydreams about installing a pier for fishing, lookout points along the shore and adult treehouses for glamping among conifers so tall they don’t fit in a camera’s viewfinder.
Just beyond the southern shore there are old timber-company clearings which could someday be converted into trails that hikers can use to reach the adjacent Tahoe National Forest.
“This is an area where a lot of community building will take place,” Stevens says. “We’re hoping that everyone finds at least one thing that makes them feel welcome on this property.”
The 40 Acre Conservation League has secured $3 million in funding from the state Wildlife Conservation Board and the nonprofit Sierra Nevada Conservancy to purchase 650 acres of a former logging area north of Lake Tahoe.
“Welcome” is not a word that has historically greeted Black people in the nation’s rural spaces and wilderness parks, says KangJae “Jerry” Lee, a social and environmental justice researcher and assistant professor in the University of Utah’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Lee notes the irony that most Black Americans descend from enslaved Africans who were stolen from their homelands specifically for their expertise in land stewardship and farming. Engaging with the outdoors was anything but a foreign concept.
“Some of them had better skill sets than the European colonists,” Lee says.
Black people built whole towns in the Great Plains and the West — including Allensworth, in Tulare County — though many were overrun by white mobs, seized or suffered decline due to a lack of equal access to resources such as water.
Some of the first rangers stationed at Yosemite and Sequoia national parks were Black, yet the reality is that the national park system was originally designed as way for white visitors to enjoy nature’s splendor, Lee says.
In response, Black-owned resorts catering to an African American clientele sprang up in the early 20th century — including in Val Verde, a “black Palm Springs” an hour’s drive north of Los Angeles; at Lake Elsinore near Riverside; and at Manhattan Beach.
The parks ostensibly welcome all today, but studies show that Black Americans are among the least likely of any racial group to visit them.
“Black people inherently had a deep, deep connection to the land,” Lee says.”That relationship has been severed over centuries.”
Stevens reflects on this painful history as she talks about the group’s plan to acquire other lands throughout California, including open spaces closer to L.A.
Recreation and conservation aren’t the only imperatives at Emigrant Gap.
Stevens pulls out a copy of a handwritten letter she received from a Black man from L.A. who is an inmate at San Quentin. He saw a TV report about the land purchase and felt inspired by its mission. He writes about how exposure to nature and recreation can help steer Black and brown teens away from gangs and violence, and out of the criminal justice system. Stevens agrees.
The property will be a small-business incubator too. The nonprofit intends to help Black and brown entrepreneurs develop sustainable, outdoor-oriented ventures such as hiking excursions — fostering generational wealth in the process.
“How we get back to this truth of appreciating nature, being connected to the outdoors, is our story to tell,” Stevens says.
One local ally wants to help the group shift the narrative around Black people and nature — Cindy Gustafson, who sits on the Placer County Board of Supervisors.
Gustafson also serves on the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, which awarded the league $750,000 to help purchase the land.
The 40 Acre League’s Jade Stevens, left, and Darryl Lucien walk along an earthen dam at Lake Putt.
Gustafson, who is white, appreciates the league’s desire to help Northern Californians manage forested lands, which have been devastated in recent years by deadly and costly wildfires. Fires have grown more and more severe due to rising global temperatures, posing a greater risk to flora, fauna and residents in cities and rural areas alike.
“Many of us haven’t had the experiences or the background to understand the nature of these forests and how important they are to our climate, our environment,” Gustafson says. “Having new stewards is really important, as is diversity. It’s a sign of hope for me in these divisive times. … Taking care of this land takes us all.”
Stevens seems undaunted by the challenge of persuading reluctant Black Californians to view Emigrant Gap as a setting where they can celebrate their culture while learning about the ecosystem.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between IPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
Walking around Traverse City, it’s hard to miss the yard signs with a smiling cartoon bee proclaiming “No Mow May.”
The signs are part of a conservation initiative aimed at raising awareness of how lawn care can impact pollinators and plant life.
The “No Mow May” movement started in the United Kingdom and has caught on in other parts of the world. Recently, more Michigan communities have joined in. By mowing less, organizers hope to help feed pollinators, preserve their habitat, and benefit the climate.
This spring, the Grand Traverse Area Children’s Garden teamed up with the GT Butterfly House & Bug Zoo to coordinate the effort locally. They ordered 300 signs, supported by a grant from the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
“Traverse City can step up and start thinking about native plants, start thinking about their leaf pickup, and make an impact one yard at a time,” said Sarah Kuschell, executive director of the Children’s Garden.
Sarah Kuschell planting in the Grand Traverse Area Children’s Garden on May 2, 2024. Kuschell is the garden’s executive director.
They’re encouraging people to help out pollinators by mowing less, planting native flora, and more carefully considering the use of insecticides.
The Grand Traverse Conservation District, Traverse City Parks & Recreation, Grand Traverse County Parks & Recreation, and some schools in the area are also participating in the initiative, according to a news release.
It’s not the first time “No Mow May” signs have popped up around Traverse City; the Greenspire School promoted it in the past as part of its curriculum.
This year is different, said Cyndie Roach, a curator at the GT Butterfly House and Bug Zoo who helped coordinate the effort.
Roach said “many businesses and community leaders have stepped up to take a stand” to raise awareness about both mowing and the negative effects of various chemical lawn treatments on local plant, insect, and animal life.
Traverse City’s noxious weeds ordinance still requires that grass and weeds not grow above 8 inches in lawns. But organizers say people can still participate just by mowing less, or leaving patches of longer grass and plant life.
“We understand — the city understands — that it’s a good cause… for the pollinators and what have you,” said Michael Trombley, a code enforcement officer for the City of Traverse City.
Michigan State University Extension reviewed the educational materials handed out with the signs, Kuschell said, and the Children’s Garden also distributed milkweed seeds to participants.
While many pollinator enthusiasts and gardeners have embraced the movement, critics have pointed out pitfalls, saying it would be best to leave lawns alone well beyond May and focus on fostering native plants year-round.
Some horticulturists say the success of these efforts depends on the type of plant life in the yard, and suggest that when people start mowing again, they do so gradually. The University of Minnesota recommends participating in a “Slow Mow Summer” instead.
Roach said that’s actually in line with what they’re doing, which is getting people to think about how gardening, lawn care and insecticides can impact local ecosystems.
“We’re creating an awareness that wasn’t there before,” she said. “And the awareness surrounds letting native plants, animals and habitat thrive.”
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between IPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
The Michigan Climate Action Network says it will join challenges to a permit approved last December by the state public service commission.
At issue is the commission’s permit for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
The Canadian company Enbridge wants to relocate the existing dual pipelines running some four miles along the lakebed in the Straits of Mackinac into a proposed tunnel that would be built in the bedrock underneath the straits.
Last December, the Michigan Public Service Commission approved the project. Since then, it has faced appeals from tribes and environmental groups. Now, the climate action network will join that legal opposition.
Opponents of the tunnel worry about Line 5 continuing to operate at all, risking a spill and billions of dollars of damage to the environment.
“The most viable and sensible course of action is to shut down Line 5, and focus on cleaner, better energy alternatives,” said Denise Keele, the network’s executive director, speaking as part of a panel held on Wednesday in Traverse City.
The event was called “Tunnel Vision: A Masterclass in Rejecting the Line 5 Oil Tunnel.” It was organized by Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, Sierra Club, Progress Michigan, and Oil & Water Don’t Mix.
Keele didn’t say what exactly the appeal would argue, although she told the Traverse City Record-Eagle that it would use the state’s environmental protection law, including protections against methane emissions.
When the public service commission announced the permit, chair Dan Scripps said the tunnel would be the best way to reduce the risk of a “catastrophic” oil spill in the straits. Opponents of the project hold that the best way to address that risk is to shut down the pipeline. Enbridge maintains that the pipeline is necessary to transport oil and natural gas liquids.
The public service commission’s permit for Enbridge’s pipeline relocation plan was the first time a state agency considered greenhouse gas emissions in an analysis under Michigan’s environmental policy act.
The climate action network and the Environmental Law & Policy Center pushed for the commission to do so, winning an appeal in 2021.
“We decided to have our own day in court, and to challenge Enbridge, challenge the Michigan Public Service Commission and, frankly, challenge the law itself to recognize what we already know — that we are living in this climate crisis,” Keele said.
Previously, experts told the Michigan Public Service Commission that continuing to operate Line 5 in a tunnel would release tens of millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, compared to shutting down operations in the straits altogether.
But the commission said in its decision that proposed alternatives to the tunnel project, like transporting fuel by rail and truck, could be more harmful to the environment and that “there are no feasible and prudent alternatives to the Replacement Project pursuant to MEPA.”
Panelists at a Traverse City-based event on April 24, 2024. From left to right: Holly Bird of the nonprofit Title Track, Denise Keele of MiCAN, engineer Brian O’Mara, attorney Dan Bock of the Michigan Attorney General’s office, Sean McBrearty of Oil & Water Don’t Mix and Ashley Rudzinski of Groundwork.
In an emailed statement to IPR, Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said “we are building the Great Lakes Tunnel as a sustainable way to ensure energy is delivered reliably and safely, while protecting the waters of Lake Michigan and Huron for Michiganders now, and generations to come.”
As for the legal challenges, Duffy said Enbridge officials believe the Michigan Court of Appeals will ultimately uphold the public service commission’s decision to green light the project.
Beyond the state Court of Appeals, the project still needs a federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A decision is expected in 2026.
Editor’s note: Enbridge is among Interlochen Public Radio’s financial supporters. They have no role in decisions about our news coverage, which are made independently by the IPR newsroom.
Are you searching for the best flower quotes and flower captions? This list has over one hundred beautiful flower sayings and inspirational floral quotes to lift your mood and put a smile on your face.
The power of flowers
Flowers just make life better, don’t they?
We use them to convey messages of love and support, we enjoy the beauty of flowers and their fragrance, and growing them in our gardens helps us to embrace nature and can even improve ourmental health. Flowers are also an absolutely vital part of our food chain, and contribute to the welfare of pretty much every species on our planet.
When you think about all of these ways that flowers impact on our lives, it’s no wonder that so many people have been inspired to write about them.
The very best flower quotes
I’ve created this bumper collection of flower quotes and captions about flowers to make it easy for you to find the perfect words.
I’ve included beautiful flower quotes, inspiring quotes about a flower, happy flower quotes, flower love quotes, and short flower quotes for when you want to keep it simple. There are also flower proverbs to enjoy, and funny flower quotes to make you giggle.
Make sure you bookmark this post, so you can come back to it whenever you need a floral quote for a photo or social media post – or simply a bit of a flower fix!
Aesthetic flower captions for instagram and flowers quotes for instagram photos
Looking for instagram captions about flowers, or a selection of flower quotes for instagram? You’ll be spoilt for choice with this selection of aesthetic flower quotes to use with your flower pictures. As well as being great captions for flowers photos, they’re also perfect for adding to floral greeting cards, school nature projects, and texts.
Make sure you check out my nature hashtags copy and paste lists too. As well as a list of popular hashtags for flower photos, there are lots of other nature-themed lists that will save you loads of time and help your instagram posts reach a wider audience.
Beautiful flower quotes
Here’s a selection of beautiful quotes about flowers to get you started.
“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” – Gerard de Nerval
“Flowers are the music of the ground. From earth’s lips spoken without sound.” – Edwin Curran
“Earth laughs in flowers.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“She wore flowers in her hair and carried magic secrets in her eyes.” – Arundhati Roy
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.” – Buddha
“Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul.” – Luther Burbank
“Flowers whisper ‘Beauty!’ to the world, even as they fade, wilt, fall.” – Dr. SunWolf
“How does the Meadow flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and in that freedom bold.” – William Wordsworth
“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower and draws all good things towards you.” – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Joyful and happy flower quotes
If you need an uplifting caption for flowers, there are plenty here to choose from.
“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” – Luther Burbank
“In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.” – Okakura Kakuzo
“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” – Iris Murdoch
“Flowers are like friends; they bring colour to your world.”– Unknown
“Joy can spring like a flower even from the cliffs of despair.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.” – John Harrigan
Inspiring flower quotes
These inspirational flower quotes work brilliantly as captions for flower photos, but they’re also a lovely pick-me-up in their own right.
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” – Lady Bird Johnson
“Even the tiniest of flowers can have the toughest roots.” – Shannon Mullen
“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” – Zen Shin
“Flowers grow back, even after they are stepped on. So will I.” – Unknown
“The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days.” – Robert Leighton
“Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet.” – Jeremy Bentham
“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” – Theodore Roethke
“I’d rather wear flowers in my hair, than diamonds around my neck.” – Unknown
“A rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose. All flowers are beautiful in their own way, and that’s like women too.” – Miranda Kerr
“By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.” – Rabindranath Tagore
“Flowers don’t tell; they show.” – Stephanie Skeem
“It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees.” – George Eliot
“Don’t let the tall weeds cast a shadow on the beautiful flowers in your garden.” – Steve Maraboli
“Be honest, be nice, be a flower not a weed.” – Aaron Neville
Funny flower quotes
Keep things light-hearted with these funny flower blossom quotes and funny flower captions.
“If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.” -Doug Larson
“I named all my children after flowers. There’s Lillie and Rose and my son, Artificial.” – Bert Williams
“If you think squash is a competitive activity, try flower arranging.” – Alan Bennett
“If you want to say it with flowers, remember that a single rose screams in your face: ‘I’m cheap!” – Delta Burke
“At my age flowers scare me.” – George Burns
“Money is a powerful aphrodisiac but flowers work almost as well.” – Robert A. Heinlein
“Don’t send me flowers when I’m dead. If you like me, send them while I’m alive.” – Brian Clough
Blooming flower quotes
These best quotes about blooming flowers are the perfect accompaniment to a stunning bouquet.
“A flower does not use words to announce its arrival to the world; it just blooms.” – Mashona Dhliwayo
“Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.” – Jim Carrey
“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colours, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
“Minds are like flowers; they open only when the time is right.” – Unknown
“A flower blooming in the desert proves to the world that adversity, no matter how great, can be overcome.” – Matshona Dhliwayo
“Every flower blooms in its own time.” – Ken Petti
“If you tend to a flower, it will bloom, no matter how many weeds surround it.” – Matshona Dhliwayo
Wild flower quotes
Like your flowers more natural? Check out these wildflower quotes.
“Like wildflowers, you must allow yourself to grow in all the places people thought you never would.” – E.V.
“Almost every person, from childhood, has been touched by the untamed beauty of wildflowers.” – Lady Bird Johnson
“She is like a wildflower; beautiful, fierce, and free.” – Unknown
“One person’s weed is another person’s wildflower.” – Susan Wittig Albert
“What a lonely place it would be to have a world without a wildflower!” – Roland R. Kemler
“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair.” – Susan Polis Schutz
Flower love quotes
Sometimes flowers can say a thousand words, but these love quotes about flowers can also help you get the message across.
“A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love.” – Max Muller
“If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden.” – Claudia AdrienneGrandi
“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” – Victor Hugo
“Love is flower like; Friendship is like a sheltering tree.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“The rose is the flower and handmaiden of love – the lily, her fair associate, is the emblem of beauty and purity.” – Dorothea Dix
“She sprouted love like flowers, grew a garden in her mind, and even on the darkest days, from her smile the sun still shined.” – Erin Hanson
“Love is like wildflowers; it’s often found in the most unlikely places.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“No matter how chaotic it is, wildflowers will still spring up in the middle of nowhere.” – Sheryl Crow
“My love for you blossoms every day.” – Unknown
“A weed is no more than a flower in disguise, Which is seen through at once if love gives a man eyes.” – James Russell Lowell
“Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.” – John Lennon
Short flower quotes
Keep it simple with these short quotes about flowers and short flower captions for instagram.
“A flower blossoms for its own joy.” – Oscar Wilde
“Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.” – Sigmund Freud
“The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly.” – William Wordsworth
“He is happiest who hath power to gather wisdom from a flower.” – Mary Howitt
“I must have flowers, always, and always.” – Claude Monet
“Butterflies are self-propelled flowers.” – Robert A. Heinlein
“Every flower must grow through dirt.” – Laurie Jean Sennott
“A weed is but an unloved flower.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“These stars of earth, these golden flowers.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” – Henri Matisse
“To me, flowers are happiness.” – Stefano Gabbana
“Flowers preach to us if we will hear.” – Christina Rossetti
Flower quotes about life
How about some quotes on flowers and life to inspire you?
“We don’t ask a flower any special reason for its existence. We just look at it and are able to accept it as being something different from ourselves.” – Gwendolyn Brooks
“Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” – Hans Christian Andersen
“Flowers grow out of dark moments.” – Corita Kent
“I am in awe of flowers. Not because of their colours, but because even though they have dirt in their roots, they still grow. They still bloom.” – D. Antoinette Foy
“I always think the flowers can see us, and know what we are thinking about.” – George Eliot
“Flowers didn’t ask to be flowers and I didn’t ask to be me.” – Kurt Vonnegut
“A world of grief and pain, flowers bloom – even then.” – Kobayashi Issa
Quotes about spring flowers
There’s an abundance of spring-themed flower quotes and blossom quotes to enjoy.
“The first blooms of spring always make my heart sing.” – S. Brown
“Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.” – Bishop Reginald Heber
“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” – Pablo Neruda
“If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.” – St Therese of Lisieux
“If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.” – Audra Foveo
“What a strange thing! To be alive, beneath cherry blossoms.” – Kobayashi Issa
“Never yet was a springtime, when the buds forgot to bloom.” – Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
“Can words describe the fragrance of the very breath of spring?” – Neltje Blanchan
“Blossom by blossom the spring begins.” – Algernon Charles Swinburne
“When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” – William Wordsworth
“I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” – Ruth Stout
Gardens and flowers go hand-in-hand, so you may need one of these garden-themed instagram flower quotes.
“Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together, drawing them from their homes.” – Clare Ansberry
“The very best relationship has a gardener and a flower. The gardener nurtures and the flower blooms.” – Carole Radziwill
“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.” – A A Milne
“I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error.” – Sara Stein
“If you’ve never experienced the joy of accomplishing more than you can imagine, plant a garden.” – Robert Brault
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” – Audrey Hepburn
Smell the flowers quotes
These meaningful flower quotations will get you thinking.
“You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” – Walter Hagen
“I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some.” – Herbert Rappaport
“Take time to smell the roses.” – Proverb
“I love to smell flowers in the dark … You get hold of their soul then.” – Lucy Maud Montgomery
“As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.” – Ben Hogan
“The beauty of life is in each precious moment! Stop and smell the roses” – Unknown
Flower sayings & Flower proverbs
For a time-honoured saying about flowers, proverbs are always worth a look.
Happiness is to hold flowers in both hands. – Japanese proverb
All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today. – Indian proverb
A person born to be a flower pot will not go beyond the porch. – Mexican Proverb
April showers bring May flowers. – English proverb
The flowers in your garden don’t smell as sweet as those in the wild, but they last much longer. – Chinese Proverb
To an optimist every weed is a flower; to a pessimist every flower is a weed. – Finnish proverb
A good bee will not go to a drooping flower. – Romanian Proverb
The most beautiful flowers flourish in the shade. – Japanese Proverb
The gardener who loves roses is slave to a thousand thorns. – Turkish proverb
Yesterday’s flowers are today’s dreams. – Japanese proverb
More lovely flower quotes
Still hungry for more quotations about flowers?
“Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same.” – Helen Keller
“Perfumes are the feelings of flowers” – Heinrich Heine
“All the stars are a-bloom with flowers” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“These flowers are like the pleasures of the world.” – William Shakespeare
“The Amen of nature is always a flower.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
“After women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.” – Christian Dior
“The butterfly is a flying flower, The flower a tethered butterfly.” – Ponce Denis Écouchard Lebrun
“Loveliest of lovely things are they on earth that soonest pass away. The rose that lives its little hour is prized beyond the sculptured flower.” – William Cullen Bryant
“Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character.” – Lydia Maria Child
“Every flower blooms at a different pace.” – Suzy Kassem
“Politeness is the flower of humanity.” – Joseph Joubert
“Open the bloom of your heart and become a gift of beauty to the world.” – Bryant McGill
“Flowers are love’s truest language.” – Park Benjamin Sr.
“Live life in full bloom.” – Unknown
“No matter how chaotic it is, wildflowers will still spring up in the middle of nowhere.” – Sheryl Crow
Love exploring nature with the family? My book *A Year of Nature Craft and Play is full of 52 nature-based crafts, games and activities to keep kids busy all year round.
The Southwest flight, originally bound for Houston, returned safely to Denver after damage to the jet’s engine area.
Denver International Airport, July 19, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
A Southwest Airlines jet returned to Denver Sunday morning after the engine cover fell off and struck the wing flap during takeoff, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Boeing 737 landed safely, and the passengers headed to Houston were being put onto another aircraft, Southwest Airlines said in a statement.
“We apologize for the inconvenience of their delay, but place our highest priority on ultimate Safety for our Customers and Employees. Our Maintenance teams are reviewing the aircraft,” the statement reads.
It’s the second mishap this week for the airline, with a flight from Texas canceled Thursday after a report of an engine fire. The Lubbock, Texas, fire department confirmed online a fire in one of the two engines that needed extinguishing.
The FAA is investigating both incidents.
Both planes were Boeing 737-800s, an older model than the 737 Max.
Neighborhood placekeeping nonprofit Sidewalk Detroit is using public art to try and help mitigate air pollution in Detroit’s East Canfield Village.
The organization has commissioned a regenerative installation by New York-based sculptor and activist Jordan Weber that will monitor the levels of volatile organic compounds resulting from the nearby Stellantis Mack Assembly Plant.
The project is being called Detroit Remediation Forest and will include air-purifying trees like pine and cypresses, space for community recreation, and air quality monitors, alongside Weber’s sculpture called “New Forest, Ancient Thrones.” The forest, in collaboration with the Canfield Consortium, will open to the public on May 18 with the unveiling of Weber’s installation.
“We’re honored to realize artist Jordan Weber’s most ambitious public artwork to date,” Sidewalk Detroit founder and director Ryan Myers-Johnson said. “Detroit Remediation Forest was conceived in response to the environmental racism prevalent in Detroit and it speaks to Sidewalk’s core mission of advancing spatial equity through the lens of community vision and restorative power of public art.”
Stellantis’s Mack Assembly Plant, located blocks away from where the Detroit Remediation Forest will be located, has racked up repeated violations for paint and solvent odors over the last several years. Earlier this week, Stellantis agreed to pay a roughly $84,000 fine issued by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) for air quality violations at its Jefferson North Assembly Plant, which is located in the same neighborhood.
“New Forest, Ancient Thrones” will take the shape of crowns honoring two African queens — Queen Idia of Benin and Queen Ranavalona III of Madagascar — for their fight against colonialism. The crowns are also a tribute to Canfield Consortium co-founders Kim and Rhonda Theus and their fight against environmental racism as longtime residents of the neighborhood. “New Forest, Ancient Thrones” will serve as the entryway into the Detroit Remediation Forest and an air monitoring system will be installed on the sculpture.
“When one controls the land, one controls the people,” Weber said in a statement. “It is important that my projects help counteract the negative effects of discriminatory urban planning and supremacist constructs in the U.S. through education about environmental apartheid and quantitative change. It has been an honor to work with Sidewalk Detroit and Canfield Consortium to engage directly with residents and center their growing concerns about their surroundings in this work.”
Additional conifer trees and an elevated walkway will be installed in the Detroit Remediation Forest following the unveiling of Weber’s installation in May. The forest will also be a space for outdoor programming for the students of neighboring Barack Obama Leadership Academy and residents in partnership with Ecology Center, Green Door Initiative, Detroit Tree Equity Partnership, Greening of Detroit.
Placekeeping or placemaking uses art and cultural activities to shape the social and cultural nature of neighborhoods by and for people who live there. Sidewalk Detroit does this through public art and urban greenspace initiatives including the biennial Sidewalk Festival which spreads installations and public performances across the city.
Every year, the Philadelphia Flower Show seems to expire as quickly as a cheap bouquet in a discount vase after Valentine’s Day.
But the closing of the 195th installment of the massive horticultural event doesn’t mean an end of your opportunities to be one with nature. There are plenty of gardens, arboretums and greenhouses in the region to visit and celebrate the arrival of spring.
If you’re still looking to get a floral fix, here are six botanic gems in the Philly area.
Jeff Tomik/PhillyVoice
Tyler Arboretum features multiple treehouses.
Tyler Arboretum
With 17 miles of trails through woodlands and meadows, fragrant and edible gardens, a butterfly house, a StoryWalk (pages from a children’s book placed along a path) and a gnome scavenger hunt, Tyler Arboretum is acres of adventures.
LOCATION: 515 Painter Road, Media, Delaware County
FEE: $10-$18 for general admission; $65-$300 for annual membership
BEST TIME TO GO: May 3-5 for the annual plant sale. The fundraising event, which includes a members-only day on Friday, has experts available to offer gardening advice and a wide range of flowers and plants for sale.
PHOTO OP: In 2008, artists and architects designed Totally Terrific Treehouses for an exhibit and a few wacky structures remain – including the Crooked Goblin Shack, Thoreau’s Cabin, Strummin’ and Drummin’, and Fort Tyler.
Courtesy of/Morris Arboretum
Morris Arboretum features gardens, sculptures and fountains.
Strolling through the 92-acre, 19th century Victorian arboretum is a walk through history. The grounds include a 100-year-old rose garden, an English Park fountain that dates back to 1916 and a six-foot wall made from Wissahickon schist filled with perennials that was built in 1924.
LOCATION: 100 E. Northwestern Ave., Philadelphia
FEE: $12-$20 for adults depending on the season, with discounted tickets and memberships available
BEST TIME TO GO: A warm spring day is the perfect time to sign up for a guided tour of Morris Arboretum or explore the 1.4-mile loop trail on your own, taking in the old trees and unusual plants from around the world. With all the gardens, sculptures and fountains, there’s something to see at every turn. During the holiday season, Morris builds a model train railway with thousands of lights on a third of a mile of tracks.
PHOTO OP: The white marble Love Temple on Swan Pond, an artificial lake that was made in 1905, is a fan favorite to snap pics, but just be warned that you might get photo bombed by Flora and Fauna, the swan sisters who call the pond home.
Jeff Tomik/PhillyVoice
Ott’s Exotic Plants in Schwenksville has a greenhouse with an indoor waterfall and koi pond.
Ott’s Exotic Plants
Whether you’re looking to take a picture by the indoor two-story waterfall and koi pond, buy a massive fruit tree or start a succulent garden, Ott’s Exotic Plants is the perfect place for any gardening enthusiast — or anyone trying to find a spot for a cheap date.
LOCATION: 861 Gravel Pike, Schwenksville, Montgomery County
FEE: Free
BEST TIME TO GO: In autumn for “Mum Mountain.” In the 1960s, dirt excavated to build Ott’s parking lot was used to form a 40-foot hill behind the greenhouse. To avoid it looking like an eyesore, Ott’s owners began covering it entirely with chrysanthemums every fall, and the pile of dirt quickly transformed into a tourist attraction along Route 29. The only thing that cuts through the splashes of autumn colors are rocks that frame a cave-like underground tunnel and a meandering path to the top of the hill.
PHOTO OP: Climbing the few stairs to Mum Mountain’s “peak” provides you with a bird’s-eye view of the store’s whimsical cottage-like stone structure and its multicolored slate roof.
Jeff Douglass/PhillyVoice
Longwood Gardens’ annual Christmas display, including here in 2019, draws huge crowds.
Pierre S. du Pont purchased the land in 1906 to preserve trees on the farm, and in 1921 the entrepreneur opened the 1,100-acre estate to the public. Now more than 1.5 million people (about the population of Philadelphia) every year come to see the gardens, fountains, woodlands and meadows on the vast grounds.
LOCATION: 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, Chester County
FEE: $25 for adults
BEST TIME TO GO: The holiday season draws huge crowds to Longwood Gardens – and it’s totally worth fighting through the masses to see each year’s new theme. About a third of Longwood Gardens’ annual visitors come for the decorations, trees and lights of its elaborate Christmas display.
PHOTO OP: Longwood is endlessly instagrammable, but the challenge is all the people. The best spot to capture Longwood Gardens’ beauty – and not its crowds – is the main fountain. With 1,719 jets, including some the shoot water as high as 175 feet, it provides plenty of opportunities to take a picture that makes it seem like you’re in a secluded enchanted garden.
Source/Awbury Arboretum
The Francis Cope House at Awbury Arboretum was built in 1854.
Awbury Arboretum
The Germantown estate was formerly home to a wealthy Quaker family and has been open to the public for more than 100 years. The Victorian-style Francis Cope House, built in 1861 out of Wissahickon schist, is the epicenter of the grounds, which feature gardens, meadows, ponds, streams and wetlands. The Awbury Arboretum is across Washington Lane station on SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill East Line, so it’s easily accessible by public transit.
LOCATION: 1 Awbury Road, Philadelphia
FEE: Free
BEST TIME TO GO: On a late spring day, magnolias, tulip trees, orange-leaf hydrangeas and many more of Awbury’s blossoming beauties can be enjoyed in full bloom on a walk through Haines Field.
PHOTO OP: The wildflower meadow offers a backdrop of bright colors and an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the many feathered friends on the grounds.
Chanticleer Garden
The 48-acre botanical garden that’s built on the Rosengarten estate dates back to the early 20th century. The grounds, which are closed to the public during winter, will be open Wednesdays to Sundays from March 27 through Nov. 3. Seven horticulturists are each responsible for the design, planting and maintenance of an area, which can feature perennials and seasonal, tropical and subtropical plants.
LOCATION: 786 Church Road, Wayne, Chester County
FEE:$15 (13 and older)
BEST TIME TO GO: During the summer on Friday nights, guests to Chanticleer Garden are welcome to bring food and drinks and have picnics at the estate.
PHOTO OP: The Teacup Garden has a Mediterranean look, with olive trees that frame a fountain and white flowers of clary sage.
Activists protest Line 5 at 2021 rally along the Detroit River.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR andGrist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
• The Bad River Band is suing to get Enbridge to move a section of Line 5 off its lands.
• Lawyers and tribes say the case could have wide-ranging implications for tribal sovereignty.
• Now, tribes from northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula are among those asking the United States government to weigh in on the case to remove Line 5 from the Bad River Band’s lands.
Twelve miles of the Line 5 pipeline cross the lands of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in northern Wisconsin.
In some places, the pipeline is just feet from the banks of the Bad River. The river meanders, and severe flooding eroded its banks last spring, prompting the tribe to call for an emergency shutdown of the pipeline.
A federal judge ordered Enbridge to do so by June 2026, and to pay the tribe over $5 million. But the tribe and the company both appealed, with the tribe saying it was too little money and too long a timeline.
If the court rules in favor of the company, tribes and legal experts say it could have major implications for tribal sovereignty.
Bad River lawsuit
Enbridge’s easements for the pipeline expired in 2013. In 2017, the Bad River Tribal Council voted not to renew them, and called for the removal of Line 5 from its lands.
The Bad River Band sued Enbridge in 2019, saying it was trespassing and that the pipeline was at risk of rupture, posing an imminent threat to the watershed and threatening sources of food and water, as well as their ways of life.
In the fall of 2022, U.S. District Judge William Conley agreed that Enbridge was trespassing. But he didn’t order a shutdown, referring to economic concerns and the implications doing so would have on public policy and trade between the U.S. and Canada.
Then came the 2023 ruling and the appeals.
On Feb. 8, a three-judge panel heard oral arguments in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
The Bad River Band wants Enbridge to cease operations before the spring flooding season and remove the pipeline from the reservation.
Enbridge has argued that it’s not trespassing, that it needs more time to move the pipeline outside of the reservation before shutting down that section, and that the court’s decision would not be in the public interest.
Enbridge and the Government of Canada say shutting down the pipeline before relocating it would also violate a 1977 treaty between the U.S. and Canada.
But missing from that discussion in court last month was input from the U.S. government, something one judge on the panel called “extraordinary.”
Transit treaty
Under the 1977 transit treaty, the U.S. and Canada agreed to allow for uninterrupted transport of hydrocarbons — like oil and natural gas liquids — between the two countries. The treaty is rarely used in pipeline cases, and invoking it may mean confidential hearings between Canada and the U.S.
Enbridge and Canada argue that it “prohibits public authorities from permanently shutting down transit pipelines,” and that Line 5 cannot be shut down on the tribe’s lands before a reroute is complete.
Tribes across the Great Lakes are asking the federal government to weigh in on this case — among them, the Bay Mills Indian Community, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
In a letter to the Biden administration, representatives from 30 tribal nations across Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin say this has serious implications for tribal sovereignty and the transition away from fossil fuels, and they urge the administration to show where it stands.
“If the United States doesn’t weigh in, what they are risking is that states, tribes, and even the federal government could be subject to trespass by a corporation for the rest of time,” said Whitney Gravelle, president of the Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
“Whatever decision this court makes will have an impact not only on the Bad River Band, but also on every single tribal nation in the United States,” she said. “And the determinations made will either continue to support tribal sovereignty, or it will undercut tribal sovereignty and allow foreign corporations to trespass on tribal land without any ramifications.”
Appeal arguments
The Bad River Band pushes back against Enbridge’s reading of the 1977 transit treaty in its appeal.
Among its arguments, the tribe cites its 1854 treaty with the U.S. that recognizes its right to exercise sovereign authority over its lands, such as excluding non-Indian people.
And the tribe says that even if the 1977 treaty applies, it still allows for pipelines to be regulated, including for pipeline safety and environmental protection.
Enbridge maintains that shutting down the pipeline before it’s rerouted would not be in the public interest.
“The district court shutdown order in this case will cause a massive disruption in energy supplies and economies in the Midwest and Canada,” said Enbridge attorney Alice Loughran during oral arguments last month.
Loughran said the pipeline section in question is less than half a percent of the total length of Line 5.
The company declined IPR’s request for an interview.
Enbridge also argues that the tribe is not following a 1992 agreement; the company says it’s not trespassing, as the agreement allows it to continue operating there until 2043.
The band’s attorneys have pointed to emails from 2016 and 2017 between Enbridge employees, made public during trial, that acknowledge the trespass.
Where to go?
Enbridge’s proposed reroute of the pipeline, skirting around the reservation, is another point of contention.
Enbridge said in a statement that it doesn’t intend to be on the Bad River Reservation “for a moment longer than it takes to relocate the segment of Line 5 around the reservation.” Attorneys have said they’re waiting for the federal permits to do so.
The company has asked the tribe to mitigate erosion of the riverbanks near the pipeline in the meantime, which the tribe has yet to do.
In an open letter to the Bad River Band published in January, Enbridge asked the tribal council to engage with the company directly on mitigation efforts.
“We have done our best to explain the urgency and seriousness of addressing this issue, yet in December, Enbridge’s latest proposal to reinforce the riverbank using trees was denied based on inaccurate and incomplete information,” the company wrote.
In court, the tribe’s attorney said it didn’t want to take actions that could impact the environment when it’s the responsibility of Enbridge to remove the pipeline.
In another open letter posted this month, the company says it’s offering the tribe $80 million in compensation to end litigation and cooperate on relocating the pipeline.
The Bad River Band has opposed the reroute Enbridge has proposed, saying it still threatens their watershed.
“It’s a band-aid for an aging pipeline,” said Stefanie Tsosie, an Earthjustice attorney who has represented the tribe. “The risk of an oil spill will still exist in the Bad River watershed. And instead of moving it out of the watershed, [Enbridge moves] it upstream of the reservation. So now the entire reservation would be subject to an oil spill.”
Where are the feds?
In all of this, the federal government has been unusually quiet.
In December, the court asked the Biden administration to weigh in on the case. A day before oral arguments last month, the administration finally submitted a one-page notice saying they needed an additional 30 days. On Friday, the U.S. said it would file a brief on the case by April 8.
“It really is extraordinary, in a way, that the United States and all of its agencies, collectively, have maintained silence about this,” said Judge Frank Easterbrook, speaking to Enbridge’s attorney during oral arguments. “We’ve asked them to break their silence.”
Any input from the federal government will likely hold sway, said Native American Rights Fund attorney Wesley Furlong.
“Courts are generally pretty reticent to weigh in on issues that deal with international affairs and international commerce and things like that, because the Constitution specifically gives the president and Congress the authority to speak on behalf of those issues for the United States,” he said.
The reason there has been so much attention on this case from other tribal nations, Furlong said, is because the stakes are high.
“The ability for tribes to protect and maintain their homelands and their reservations in a trust land is a fundamental, core aspect of tribal sovereignty,” he said.
The State Department declined IPR’s request for an interview.
The three judges on the case said they were waiting for the U.S. to weigh in before making a decision.
This story was updated to include the U.S. government’s response to the court late Friday, March 8.
Philadelphia is just a month away from cherry blossom season, according to one expert prognosticator.
Sandi Polyakov, the head gardener at the Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center, predicts a peak bloom around the first week of April. This would put the blossoms on pace with last year’s timeline.
“Upcoming weather trends can certainly stall or hasten things; but the blossoms have already begun their development process,” Polyakov said in a March 1 statement. “Based on the story the buds are telling us, it appears we’re roughly four weeks out from the full-bloom show.”
Polyakov said that while some of the trees, such as the Okame and Higgan varieties, began blooming in late February, most of the city’s cherry trees are still in the earliest stage of development. Those include the Yoshino cherry trees planted along the Skuylkill River and in West Fairmount Park, where the center is based. The center is operated by the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, whose annual cherry blossom festival is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, through Sunday, April 14.
According to the National Park Service, peak bloom is “almost impossible” to conclusively predict more than 10 days in advance, since the blossoms’ development is so dependent on weather conditions. But cherry trees in the U.S. have been blooming a bit earlier in recent years. The famous collection on the National Mall has reached peak bloom in the penultimate week of March for the past two years, and 2024 looks no different. Philadelphia’s peak bloom typically follows about a week after D.C.’s.
It’s been 70 years since Michigan has experienced a total solar eclipse, but we may get another chance to see it this year on Monday, April 8.
The path of totality, or the shadow cast when the moon completely blocks out the sun, will fall across just a tiny sliver of southeast Michigan. Since it will be another 75 years, in 2099, when Michiganders fall in the path of another total solar eclipse, astronomers are urging people to travel to see the beautiful, rare phenomenon if they can.
While there is also something called an annular eclipse that happens every one to two years, this one is different, and much more spectacular, according to University of Michigan astronomer David Gerdes. With both eclipses, the moon passes directly in front of the sun, but it is not completely covering it during an annular, or “ring of fire,” eclipse, so “the spectacular sights of a total eclipse — the delicate solar corona, darkness in the middle of the day, 360-degree twilight around the horizon — are not visible.”
Only three Michigan cities — Luna Pier, Ottawa, and Vienna, all located on the southeastern border — will be in the line of totality for the event.
However, most of Michigan will see at least a partial eclipse, and the closer to Ohio or Indiana borders the better. People in Ann Arbor can experience a very deep partial eclipse at 98.5%, while Detroiters will be able to see around 95%.
Fortunately, the event will last twice as long as the last one in 2017, at around four whole minutes.
So take a little road trip for the best view or catch the nearly total eclipse from home, but either way be sure to mark your calendar. You won’t want to miss this rare cosmic event.
Two male Humpback whales were recently recorded having a homosexual encounter in the wild off the coast of Maui.
According to a new study by the Pacific Whale Foundation published in Marine Mammal Science, humpback whales have been studied extensively but documented instances of reproductive actions have been exceedingly rare. That is until some photographers – Lyle Krannichfeld and Brandi Romano – caught two male humpbacks engaging in sexual contact right below their boat 2 kilometers west of the Molokini crater off the coast of Maui on January 19, 2022.
They sent their photos to scientists who recently confirmed in a peer-reviewed study that the photos were confirmed to be one of very few documented instances of humpback penis extrusion and the very first documented instance of homosexual interactions between humpbacks.
“The sighting occurred when individuals aboard a private stationary vessel, located approximately two km west of the Molokini crater, saw two humpback whales approaching their boat. One whale was visibly thin and covered in whale lice, displaying signs of poor health and drawing the attention of the photographers,” said the Pacific Whale Foundation on their website. “During the encounter, a second whale engaged in an unexpected behavior—repeatedly approaching the first whale, using its pectoral fins to hold the injured whale in place, and initiating shallow, brief penetrations.”
The whales in question reportedly circled the photographers’ boat for a while, giving them ample opportunity to take their NSFWW (not suitable for whale workplace) photos. Scientists with the Pacific Whale Foundation hypothesized that since one of the whales seemed to be having health issues, this may have contributed to the behavior for whatever reason.
“The two whales circled the boat numerous times, allowing Krannichfeld and Romano the opportunity to carefully document the event by holding their cameras over the side of the stationary vessel (note: it is illegal to swim with or approach humpback whales within 100 yards in Hawaii and the vessel remained in neutral as the whales approached),” the Pacific Whale Foundation said. “The health disparity between the two whales adds a layer of complexity to this unique observation. One whale’s poor condition, possibly caused by a ship strike, may have contributed to the observed behavior.”
A male humpback whale with its penis inserted into the genital opening of another male humpback whale. Courtesy: Pacific Whale Foundation
The sexual encounter between the whales reportedly took place when one of the whales extruded its penis and penetrated the genital opening of the other whale. The penetrations lasted about two minutes at a time, according to the study, and lasted for about a half hour. When the encounter was over, the whale doing the penetrating took off right away (typical) and the sick whale hung out for a few minutes until swimming away as well.
“Upon reviewing the photographs, it was noticed that Whale A had a significant jaw injury, that likely impaired normal feeding behavior,” the study said. “It was also observed that Whale B had its penis extruded throughout the entire encounter and, at times, would penetrate the genital opening of Whale A, using its pectoral fins to hold Whale A.”
The study said that male humpback whale penis extrusions have been documented in the presence of other male humpbacks, but that this is the first time penetration has been documented. It has been previously theorized that the penis extrusions were acts of aggression towards the other males while competing for females during mating season.
Homosexual behavior is not particularly uncommon among members of the animal kingdom. It has been documented in dolphins, orcas, seals, walruses and several of my neighbors’ dogs. An entire book called Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity was published about the topic in 1999.
“The world is, indeed, teeming with homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered creatures of every stripe and feather. From the Southeastern Blueberry Bee of the United States to more than 130 different bird species worldwide, the ‘birds and the bees,’ literally are queer,” the book said. “On every continent, animals of the same sex seek each other out and have probably been doing so for millions of years. They court each other, using intricate and beautiful mating dances that are the result of eons of evolution.”
Provided Image/Philadelphia Zoo
