A Wild River of Food: How Traditional Knowledge Can Help Rewild Ecosystems

Originally published in Graduate Food Studies.The wild and scenic Klamath River (also called Ishkêesh by the Karuk, Koke by the Klamath, and Hehlkeek ‘We-Roy by the Yurok)1pours into the Pacific Ocean from a tidal estuary in the northernmost part of California. The river winds its way through 250 miles of wilderness, marshes, and forests. It is the third-largest salmon and steelhead-producing2 river on... Continue Reading →

New flash fiction: Hat Party

‘Hat Party’ It will start with the madness of the Hat Party. Parents and kids pile inside their town’s old community hall. The one that bursts with the click clack of salsa dancing on Tuesdays, and the ghoulish howls of a haunted house at Halloween. They’ve come to get hats. Folding tables are lined with... Continue Reading →

The sweet sound of song dogs

In Sonoma County, California a warm summer twilight can feel like magic. In rolling golden hills, set softly against a coastal valley, the light shimmers through the grasses with what can only be described as sweetness. Everyone feels it, and people wander outside without quite knowing why, just to feel that gentle electricity in the... Continue Reading →

The Heart of Freedom – Cecil the Lion

The killing of Cecil the lion has outraged the public and not simply because he suffered needlessly for days. Why has he reached our hearts when so many other animals are hunted & poached? Why is everyone – from animal advocates to hunters to talk show hosts to the New York Times and the Guardian - so horrified by this brutal... Continue Reading →

November Song Dogs

November reminds me of my final autumn days as a resident of Yosemite National Park. I had come to the park at the age of eighteen, looking for something I had not yet found within myself. Many stragglers had come to work in the forest for that very reason—lost, fallen, or beginning, we were all... Continue Reading →

On Being Left Alone, Outdoors

When I don’t get enough solitude, I grit my teeth over simple things. My creativity becomes a stagnant, shallow creek. Real solitude, the kind I need, is quiet, alone with my dog in nature. People ask me if I get lonely—but the truth is, loneliness is seeking solitude and not finding it. This morning, a friend... Continue Reading →

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