When I first heard that the Edwards Dam on Maine’s Kennebec River was coming down, I couldn’t believe my ears. The 917-foot-long dam, built in 1837 from an early mix of concrete and timber, existed in some form or fashion for 162 years until it was demolished in 1999. Edwards Dam, along with 14,156 other New England dams built during the foundational era of hydropower, all had purposes related to our country’s development. Many gathered water for...

Most hunters and anglers old enough to fantasize about retiring can’t wait for that never-ending vacation so they can spend every possible hour outdoors.
Some retirees live out those recreational dreams, smugly heading for the boat ramp or tree stand each morning while younger folks mope off to work. That’s great, but those die-hards are the exception and their self-satisfaction likely won’t endure. Their endless vacation fantasies usually fade...

An idea once considered radical—removing dams on rivers to restore fisheries—is becoming mainstream as scores of conservation efforts are paying off with restored river habitats and rejuvenated fisheries across North America.
In 1981, when the environmental group Earth First! wanted a publicity stunt to show how radical they were, they unfurled a giant black “crack” on the face of Arizona’s Glen Canyon Dam. Times have changed. Recently, a...

For some, wild horses and burros are an iconic symbol of the West, representing the freedom and ruggedness that define the frontier. For a growing number of conservationists, hunters and others concerned about native wildlife and habitats, feral horses are a scourge on the landscape. They trample sensitive plants, devour food meant for native species and bully wildlife away from water sources.
The Bureau of Land Management says there are at least...

An enormous Burmese python was captured last week at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. The snake measured 17 feet long, weighed 140 pounds and contained 73 developing eggs. It’s the heaviest python ever documented in The Sunshine State, outweighing the previous record by about 40 pounds.
The majority of pythons captured in the area range from 6 to 10 feet long. In their native range of Southeast Asia, specimens have measured as big as 2...

“Beyond aggravating,” is how wildlife biologist Kevin Monteith describes elk hunting in forests where bark beetles have killed most trees and you have to scramble over dead logs at every turn. “There’s no way you’re going to navigate through it quietly if elk were in there, so you get torqued off and you try to get through it as fast as you can.”
But what does beetle kill mean for elk and hunters beyond being a massive pain in the butt to...