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The Sounds of Silence
I am not one for loud noises. I do not go back to restaurants or bars if I cannot have a conversation. I shut down if friends talk too much – and I don’t like the sounds of helicopters, loud cars, motorcycles or ATVs on my treks in the wilderness. Life is a great deal more than noise. Some of the most meaningful experiences that I have had in nature were when it was so quiet that (more…)
Rescuing Sea Turtles – A guest post by Susan Branting
You’re probably familiar with the danger humans pose to sea turtles—from plastic waste and fishing lines to damage from boat propellers—but have you heard of “bubble butt”?
If you take the fascinating 90-minute tour of the Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys, you’ll not only learn about this human-created problem, you’ll meet (more…)
Defeating the Frederick Incinerator – Guest post by Don West
![incinerator2large[1]](https://savingtheplaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/incinerator2large1.jpg)
The (Frederick) Board of County Commissioners struck down plans Thursday for a regional waste-to-energy incinerator … by canceling the contract and related permits.“ Frederick News Post Friday, November 21, 2014
How on earth did we get to this point, when as recently as April 2014, both Carroll and Frederick Counties were under contract to build this 1500 ton per day incinerator and all the necessary permits had been issued?
Many people worked (more…)
Major Issues
A comment I am hearing more and more often is how do I choose the most important issue to focus on. There are so many issues, most of us get overloaded and sometimes we become less effective. To help you through this process, I have listed some of these issues here and have pointed you toward ways to help address the ones that resonate with you the most. You don’t have to support them all, but (more…)
Threats to the Blue Ridge Mountains – guest post by Mark Southerland
Eight acres on the south side of Sugar Mountain in western North Carolina, remain in my family from the first permanent Scotch-Irish (and Welsh) settlement of the mountain by my ancestor Martin Banner and his brothers in 1848. Our family, as well as our adjacent relatives, retain most of the land in its natural state of forest and streams. As a result the biodiversity of the land remains such that 13 species of salamander can be found on it, enough for me to complete a doctoral dissertation on their communities. (Photo of salamander on tree -Plethodon jordani). This homestead remains our connection to the natural and cultural history of one of the most beautiful regions in the United States, the southern Blue Ridge mountains.
The forces threatening this and other southern Appalachian ecosystems include (more…)
Managing our Backyards – A guest post by Ann Coren
Lifting off for my vacation I flew over the Chesapeake Bay. We’d had another rainstorm. The brown sediment washing into the Bay, covering marshes and oyster beds, was obvious from the air. The satellite views that NASA has been showing us, I now saw for myself. Since the 1970’s, suburbanization with its impervious roofs, driveways, and lawns has significantly contributed to the dying of our beloved Bay. As my plane landed in Miami for my transfer flight I saw the same thing, miles of high-rise hotels and brown sediment stretching into the ocean. People were swimming, oblivious to the habitat degradation caused by the impervious surfaces of the hotels and roads because they had never seen it when it was pristine, clear, and full of life.
My second flight, south from Miami, flew over (more…)
Saving The Places 