Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Foothills Land Conservancy recently completed a conservation easement on 100 acres near Cane Creek in Anderson County, Tenn.  Shelby Lyn Sanders/ Foothills Land Conservancy

Generations have crisscrossed the expansive pastures near Cane Creek in Anderson County

During winter migration, visitors to Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge can view thousands of greater sandhill cranes.  Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency via Appalachian Voices

Sandhill Crane Festival at Hiwassee Refuge set for Jan. 12-14 in celebration of the crane’s revival and survival

BIRCHWOOD — As many as 12,000 cranes have overwintered at the confluence of the Tennessee and Hiwassee rivers. Whether you’re an avid birder or you’ve never seen a Sandhill crane before, the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival represents an extraordinary opportunity to witness a truly unforgettable natural phenomenon.

Experience the migration of the Sandhill cranes and many other waterfowl, eagles, white pelicans and whooping cranes. The entire region buzzes with birds and birdwatchers alike.

The festival will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 12 – 14. Free buses run the short distance from the Birchwood Community Center to the Hiwassee Refuge and Cherokee Removal Memorial. Volunteers are set up at each location for birders and curious visitors alike.

In September, six California condors repeatedly ventured north from their Pinnacles National Park homeland to Mount Diablo in the San Francisco Bay area, becoming the first condors seen in that area in over a century. Biologists speculate the sorties may indicate new nesting territories. Seen here is a condor deemed California condor 87 by biologists tracking the rare bird population.  Michael Quinn/National Park Service

Rare and threatened animals used innate skills and courage to recover lost territory, expand their ranges, or simply survive against the odds. Humans helped.

This article was originally published by The Revelator. Tim Lydon writes from Alaska on public-lands and conservation issues. He has worked on public lands for much of the past three decades, both as a guide and for land-management agencies, and is a founding member of the Prince William Sound Stewardship Foundation.

It’s tradition to honor the past year’s human achievements. From peacemakers and scientists to athletes and artists, we celebrate those who inspire us. But what about the wildlife who surround us who make up the biodiversity that sustains us? Each year standout members of those populations also set records and push boundaries, many with lasting results.

Consider P-22, also known as the “Hollywood cat.” In 2012 this young mountain lion surprised biologists and captured hearts by establishing a decade-long residency in the Griffith Park area of Los Angeles. Stealthily threading through backyards and freeways, he demonstrated the value of landscape connectivity, even in urban areas. And though he died in 2022, he inspired a massive fundraising campaign that helped build the largest wildlife bridge in the United States, to be completed in 2025 over California’s 10-lane Highway 101. In this way he changed the world.

Alewives returned by the millions after the Edwards and Ft. Halifax dams were removed in Maine.  John Burrows/ASF via The Revelator

By providing both mitigation and adaption, dam removal can lower greenhouse gas emissions and restore carbon sinks.

This article was originally published in The Revelator. Gary Wockner is an environmental activist, scientist and writer in Colorado.

As the climate crisis escalates, a huge amount of attention and money is being focused on climate solutions.

These can be divided into two categories: solutions that pursue “mitigation,” which lowers greenhouse gas emissions, and those that pursue methods to adapt to climate impacts to increase human and ecological resiliency.

Dams, of course, create enormous environmental harms, many of which have already been described in scientific literature. Equally well documented is the fact that removing dams can restore seriously damaged ecosystems. But missing from almost every climate-solution story and study is how dam removal can be key for both mitigation and adaptation.

Here are 10 reasons how dam removal fights climate change.