Wetland conservancy is making a comeback. For our country’s first two centuries, wetlands across the United States were viewed as a waste. As a result, the U.S. lost an estimated 53 percent of its total wetland area from the colonial times through the 1980s. Wetlands were dried, drained and eliminated as the country expanded, which […]

Regrettably, wetlands have often been viewed as undesirable wastelands to be avoided or destroyed. Today less than half of America’s original wetlands remain. The recent devastation left behind by Hurricane Ida is a grim reminder of what we have lost with them. Wetland losses have slowed in recent years thanks to our better understanding of […]

America loves a good lawn. A lush green lawn is a symbol of the American Dream; it’s been that way ever since the country’s post-World War II economic expansion. As the suburbs boomed, so did the idea of trying to grow the best lawn in the neighborhood. Any company that had a lawn usually hired […]

The PA Queen Project and the HHBBC, with support from Penn State University and Purdue University, collaborated on a study comparing colonies with varroa mite-resistant queens versus non-varroa mite-resistant queens from 2018 to 2019. The study enlisted 100 hobbyist beekeepers in the comparison study with the objective of helping change their behavior to promote varroa […]

As municipalities search for cheaper and cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels, the number of solar installations across the United States is ramping up. With the U.S. government expecting solar energy sites to cover an area about the size of Massachusetts by 2050, one important issue will continue to arise: what should energy companies do with the […]

Solar farms can (and should) do more than produce clean energy. Creating pollinator habitat at solar energy sites means renewable energy in a sustainable landscape that benefits us all. As the sight of rows upon rows of solar panels sprawling across the landscape becomes increasingly more common, we have good reason to feel hopeful. With […]

Iconic is the most appropriate word to describe the Monarch butterfly. Most of us have fond childhood memories of the unmistakable orange and black beauty flitting around the blue sky on sunny summer days. They were everywhere — and their presence was so magnificent. Their name, in Greek, means “sleepy transformation” in recognition of their […]

Given the current realities of pesticide use, habitat destruction, parasites and disease, climate change and air pollution among yet other stressors, there is no denying that conserving bees is a complex problem demanding complex solutions. Poor nutrition, linked to widespread declines in both the abundance and diversity of flowering plants, has profound health consequences for […]

Allergy sufferers often curse the golden sea of blooms from goldenrods that appear in fallow fields, landscapes and along roadsides from July to November. Sadly, these complaints are based on an unfortunate case of mistaken identity. Both members of the aster family (Asteraceae), goldenrods (Solidago genus) are often errantly identified as allergenic ragweeds (Ambrosia genus). Though there […]

Pheasants and bobwhite quail have become iconic symbols of the American grassland and prairie restoration movement. For upland game bird hunters, they represent satisfying days afield with a loyal bird dog. The frenetic rush of cackling and wing beats on the flush. For others, these birds are indicators of healthy, biodiverse prairies and grasslands. Their […]