I was cleaning up my archive of nature sound recordings and ran across a lovely pre-dawn recording from the mountains north of Mimbres, New Mexico. In this rather remote area between two large wilderness areas was a small USFS campground where I stayed for a couple of nights back in June of 2015. It was […]
The only constant is change Read More »
It’s been a horrible year for fires out west. I’ve spent much of the summer dodging smoke and trying to find areas to record that are not on fire. Southeastern Arizona is a naturally fire-prone area, with much of the flora and fauna adapted to wildfires from dry lightning storms at the start of the
Threading its way north from the mountains of northern Mexico, the San Pedro River meanders to the Gila River, then westward to join the Colorado River on its way back to Mexico. It is one of the few remaining undammed rivers (in the desert, they call any flowing water a “river”) in the US. It
San Pedro River–the thin fragile line Read More »
In mid-June of this year (2014), I continued on my quest to record the howls of lobos (Mexican gray wolves). This time I headed for the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in east-central Arizona, to the wild country along the west fork of the Black River. I met up with Jean Ossorio (who actually planned the trip)
El lobo, part 2: Greenfire’s Ghost Read More »
An interesting article came across my desk recently. Entitled, “Ecological homogenization of urban USA,” it presented some recent research on landscape structure within some of the major US cities, compared to their surrounding ecosystems. In general, there is a great similarity among neighborhood landscapes, whether they are in Phoenix, Baltimore, Miami, or Boston. The “idealized”
Urbanizing the soundscape Read More »
On my return trip from northern Nevada this summer, I made a stop in Yankee Meadow, just north of Brian Head Ski Area in Utah. From Parowan, we headed east, winding up a lovely canyon and passing some beautiful and dramatic red cliffs, which were sitting on a thick layer of blue-gray rock that looked
Dawn at Yankee Meadow Read More »
I just finished reading Gordon Hempton and John Grossman’s book, One Square Inch of Silence, about Hemptons’ attempt to preserve the quiet of the Hoh rainforest in Olympic National Park, Washington. Hempton is an Emmy-winning nature recordist (yes, it’s possible!) who has traveled the world seeking not only natural sounds, but quiet landscapes. Three trips
The Search for Quiet Read More »
It seems as if every mountain range in the southwest has had a huge wildfire in the last decade or so. Millions of acres burned, forests charred, ecosystems altered. If the drought continues, it may be millennia before some of the dryer, south-facing slopes see a forest again. The Horseshoe 2 fire burned in the
After the fire, the flowers bloom Read More »
