The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is a desperation coming through over the airwaves that is making people sick. It’s no wonder so many people in the United States have stopped paying attention to news, and that includes me. It’s all just too much. Too much sensationalism. Too much…
Photo Essays
Secret Vistas: A Day Trip to Shenandoah to Focus the Mind
Snow Covers Washington, but Congress Somehow Manages to Avoid a Government Shutdown
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Where I come from, the American South, snow is rare. Or at least it used to be. When it comes, it’s a momentous event. New gleeful opportunities for entertainment and beautiful fun. It’s also dangerous, since state and local governments are rarely prepared. It…
If A Tree Falls in the Forest, Will it Ever Be Heard From Again?
National Park Service Announces Free Days for 2024
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Park Service announced Saturday that there will be six holidays in 2024 when entry fees will be waved. On these dates, the public is invited to experience the wonder of national parks for free. “National parks are places that awaken senses, inspire curiosity, encourage reflection, and foster…
Best Places to View and Photograph Autumn Foliage
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s October, perhaps my favorite month of the year, when the leaves start falling from the trees and begin to changes colors. Studies show that fall is one of the busiest travel seasons of the year, and many people are motivated to visit national parks and other beautiful…
National Parks Set Visitation and Economic Impact Record: Biden Administration Addresses Funding Shortfalls
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the American public appears to be divided on political issues these days and sometimes disagree on the role of government, there is one federal program most people love no matter what political party they vote for at election time: National Parks. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns called this “America’s…
American Ambivalence About the State of Freedom on the Fourth of July
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It is understandable why many Americans are having mixed feelings about celebrating Independence Day this year. So many things seem conflicted in our divergent feelings about what freedom, liberty and independence mean in these trying times when the vox populi seems so divided. Many…
Exploring the Mind of the Raven and the Bird’s Role in Human Culture and Evolution
“This is an amazing book by an amazing author. Heinrich is a naturalist of the first rank, champion ultramarathoner, woodsman of skills seldom seen in modern times, and not least, as Mind of the Raven illustrates, a nature writer of uncommon talent. By living with the ravens for many years, literally at home and in…
Celebrating Nine Years of Publishing News in the Nation’s Capital
Senator Angus King of Maine Presses Biden Administration on ‘Inadequate’ Maintenance Budget and Staff Shortages at National Parks
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anyone who works in national parks, volunteers with the National Park Service or visits the parks can attest to the fact that staff shortages and maintenance backlogs have plagued the parks for years, through the administrations of Republicans and Democrats. If there is any truth to documentary filmmaker Ken…
Capturing Fall Foliage Pictures in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountain Park
Feed Your Biophilia by Tracking the Art of Rich Autumn Color
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – CATOCTIN MOUNTAINS, Md. — Many years ago in a land far away, I proposed a way to test E.O. Wilson’s Biophilia hypothesis by adding a few questions to annual surveys of visitors in the most visited national park in the United States, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park…
The Story of Wild, Native Brook Trout and Why They Are So Ecologically Important Like the Canary in the Coal Mine for Climate Change
When the Brook Trout Leaps – By Anonymous – The slender dew-tipped grasses are trembling in the breeze, The east is blushing rosy red beneath the Sun’s caress, The wild rose bends to kiss the stream—but only Nature sees, And the reed-harps play weird music just above the water cress. The quail is calling loudly…
Camping Out and Living the Nomadland Life in the Washington Capital Region
Ranger Program: Welcome to Washington
Endeaver to Persevere – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — From humble beginnings in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, where I was not even expected to live after my premature birth in a Southside hospital, I’ve climbed and clawed my way out of what seemed destined to be a mundane…
Somehow We Made It to the First Day of Spring 2022: Get Outside
Senate Sherpa Doug Jones Says He’s Confident of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Confirmation – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — At 11:33 a.m. Sunday, we cross the vernal equinox from winter into spring, and it feels like it’s about time, y’all. The Japanese cherry blossoms are blooming along the Tidal…
National Park Service Highlights Less Famous Parks in Reporting Annual Visitation Numbers
“Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” – John Muir, 1869 The Yosemite (1912), page 256. Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – In reporting annual visitation numbers to America’s national parks for 2021, the…
Photo Essay: A Day Trip to the Maryland State Capital of Annapolis
By Glynn Wilson – ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Jan. 12) — Two days before Christmas in 1783, George Washington appeared in the old Senate chamber here to submit his resignation as commander in chief to the Continental Congress. “Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate…
Sunday Reader and Photo Essay: What If Wildlife Could Vote?
The Big Picture -Â By Glynn Wilson -Â WASHINGTON, D.C. – What if the wildlife could vote? I don’t know if the white-tailed deer would be Republicans, Democrats or independents. Would the bucks be conservatives and the does and fawns liberals? Would the male and female Northern cardinals argue about whether the federal government should…