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Picture a clear stream where spawning salmon undulate over clean gravels, pressing upstream through waters the iconic fish once vanished from entirely. That’s Lookingglass Creek, in the Umatilla National Forest.In the Wallowa National Forest, Huckleberry Mountain sustains rare species like the Wallowa rosy finch, and on the Malheur National Forest, there’s an Alaska yellow cedar forest hundreds of miles inland from its core range.These three national forests in eastern Oregon share something in common: They are intact roadless forests now on the verge of losing the protections that have kept them free from industrial logging and new roads. These lands are also common ground shared by Tribal members, hunters, anglers, wildlife watchers and anyone who values a quiet trail into the backcountry.

If you’ve ever stepped outside on a clear night here on the Western Slope, especially away from the lights of the town, you’ve probably noticed something so obvious we rarely question it; the sky is dark. Not just shadowed – but truly, deeply dark.It seems simple, but for astronomers, this idea leads to one of the most interesting questions in science, If the universe is full of stars, why isn’t the night sky bright everywhere you look?

“The problem with heroes, of course, is that no one is perfect, says Heather Hansman, author of Fierce Country. “Mine aren’t. They bumbled and lied and burned bridges and screwed up. They were often egotistical and angry, driven by an obsessive kind of love.” In this episode of Emerging Form, we talk with Heather about how her new book explores new kinds of heroes–specifically women in the outdoors–and why these voices have not been heard much in the past and why it’s important that we do hear about more women. In addition we talk about how hard it is to be honest about our heroes–to present them with all their flaws and struggles as well as their triumphs. We talk about researching real people after they’ve died, the importance of walking away from a project, and obsession.Heather Hansman is an award-winning freelance writer and the celebrated author of Fierce Country: The Untold Story of Three Women Who Ignited America’s Love for the Wild, Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns and the Future of Chasing Snow and Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Outside, among others. She lives in Durango, Colorado, right by the river.

Your local almanac for gardening, landscaping, and much more for your home and valley living.

Your local almanac for gardening, landscaping, and much more for your home and valley living.

Many of us have heard about or participated in a mindfulness or meditation retreat. Retreats vary in length, cost and content and it can be overwhelming to deciding which one, if any, would benefit us. I do believe that retreats are very beneficial but I don't believe they have to be organized or costly in order to be so. Some of my most beneficial retreats have been those that I have done for free on my own in nature. Today we'll talk about the key components of a retreat and next week, we'll talk more about the benefits.

Last week we talked about the key components of a retreat and today we're going to talk about the benefits. Retreats are one of the many ways that I feed my soul and reconnect with my heart. They take us out of our habitual thinking, doing, pursuing, perceiving and place us in a whole new context completely geard towards peace, intention, healing and insight. They have the ability to get us unstuck from tough places by shifting our environment and routine, and surrounding us with symbols, sounds, movements and people that represent a pure and supportive energy.

Have you traveled along a dark road and been temporarily blinded by bright oncoming headlights? I think we all can relate.Vehicle headlights are among the most widespread and least regulated sources of artificial light at night. A full moon produces roughly 0.1–0.3 lux. Lux measures how bright light appears on a surface, specifically the amount of light that falls on a given surface. One lux equals one lumen per square meter. Lumens measure the total light output from a source. Lux depends on distance and beam focus: the closer you are to a light source or the more focused the light beam, the higher the lux reading.

There’s a major reason that Yellowstone National Park attracts close to 5 million visitors every year. Yes, there are spectacular geysers and world-class trout rivers, but what’s unique about the national park is that it’s home to all the wild animals native to its area, from grizzly bears and wolves to elk, deer and bison.That they flourish is due to Yellowstone’s huge expanse of wildlands — you’d have to drive 1,000 miles to circle what’s called the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.But new policies from Washington, D.C., would dramatically reduce the size of these wildlands and threaten wildlife’s ability to survive.

Your local almanac for gardening, landscaping, and much more for your home and valley living.