For almost a decade while working in Yosemite National Park, I served as one of the original members of the Keep Bears Wild Project, a comprehensive and educational initiative directed at park visitors to solve the escalating numbers of bear incidents in Yosemite.  In 1998, a record breaking total of 1,590 human-bear incidents occurred, with bears breaking into 1,143 automobiles, causing $659,999 in property damage and “wreaking havoc in the back country.” For people, this usually meant a missed picnic or filling out some insurance forms. Problem bears, however, could face a death sentence.

How did they do it? Using a newly allocated appropriation in 1999, the bear management team increased to four biologists, and added up to ten rangers at the height of the season to the bear patrol. A bear canister requirement for the backcountry was instituted, along with an affordable rental program ($5 a trip) to make them accessible. Keep Bears Wild brochures, flyers and posters got distributed all around the park, and bookstores and retail gift shops across the park offered a complete line of products: stuffed toy bears, bear t-shirts, bear pins, and a Wild Bear is a Beautiful Sight to See poster. As visitors checked in at the hotels, the front desk showed video footage of bears breaking into a car. Employees for the national park service received intense training. And the park also did outreach to the Yosemite gateway communities, asking for their cooperation and compliance as well.

As she told me in an interview, she wanted to write this book to fill a gap in knowledge. “A lot of the history had never been written up—it was largely stored in people’s memories. Meanwhile, those people were retiring and growing older, and it wouldn’t be long before decades of experience would be lost. As so many places are dealing with human-bear conflict, I thought a full compilation of lessons learned from the Sierran parks would be a useful reference. I decided to start by recording oral histories of key people, and ended up interviewing over 100 people. I discovered each person knew something that others didn’t. I also discovered there were several inventions central to bear management in the Sierra, including the culvert trap, the food storage locker, the counter-balance, and the bear-resistant food canister.”

I found Rachel’s oral history invaluable for my research as it’s a searingly honest and forthright examination of bear management in the parks. At times it’s heartbreaking and tragic, yet this is ultimately a tale of atonement—how the National Park Service, concessions, local communities, and visitors all stepped up to right a conservation wrong and collectively acknowledge the real source of the problem with human-bear conflicts: ourselves. Rachel demonstrates that history really did teach us something—and can continue to—about keeping bears wild in our parks. As Yosemite’s newly appointed chief of wildlife, she, like the rest of us, can continue to put that lesson to use.

As I write in my upcoming book, “A wild bear is a beautiful sight to see. My wish for you is wherever you see a bear, in Yosemite or outside of Los Angeles, I don’t want it to be begging for food in campgrounds, fleeing from a damaged car with a loaf of bread in its mouth. I want it to be doing wild bear things, munching on a dandelion, scratching it’s back on the rough bark of tree, chasing a hapless butterfly, or rolling in the mud.” And as Rachel also details in her new book, the bear’s wildness largely depends on us.

When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: Wildlife in Today’s California, written by NWF’s California Director, Beth Pratt, will be released early in 2016 by the award-winning publisher Heyday. The book celebrates the remarkable wildlife of the Golden State along with the people
caring for it—sometimes in their own backyards.

To frame the larger issues at stake, Beth shares her own wildlife adventures, which include tracking mountain lions in the middle of Los Angeles, visiting the Facebook campus in Menlo Park to meet its family of gray foxes, watching a peregrine falcon from the mayor’s office in San Jose, and gazing at porpoises swimming under the Golden Gate Bridge. When published, the book will be the center of a statewide public education program.

Donors to the project will receive special recognition in the book and can sponsor a dedication or a chapter. Please contact Beth Pratt at prattb@nwf.org or visit the book’s website for more information.

What did the fox say? I still don’t know, but James Franco gave it his best interpretation on New Year’s Eve in Yosemite while wearing a sparkly mask and dancing at the Ahwahnee Hotel.

This week the multi-talented James and his artistic posse visited Yosemite and my hometown of Midpines and Mariposa to film a segment of his upcoming movie, “Palo Alto Stories.”  Franco sightings raced across social media, from him stopping at the local Pizza Factory to filming at the intersection of Triangle and 140 (literally in the middle of nowhere), to hiking the Mirror Lake Trail.

I had always considered James more of a cool city hipster than someone likely to don fleece and check out the stars in the Ahwahnee Meadow. It just shows you how much I know (nothing).

As someone who writes about Yosemite and wildlife both professionally and personally, this summer I stumbled upon the notice for an Indiegogo campaign set up by James for his film. I was intrigued: James Franco-Yosemite-mountain lions-bears? I knew James as a gifted actor, but had no idea he also had penned a book or two (or three or four).

I ordered the short story collection the film is based on not knowing what to expect, but soon placed James on the bookshelf next to my Raymond Carver volumes, one of my favorite short fiction writers. He possesses his same lyrical quality, and a compassionate yet distant eye. The work is also one of the best testaments I’ve read about growing up in California, it both dispels and enhances the mythical life of plenty in the Golden State. I highly recommend the book and his others.

In September, I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Franco at a showing of his film “Sal” in Los Angeles, and became even more admiring of his artistic range. In directing a film about the last day of the actor Sal Mineo, James penned a brilliant ode to the extraordinariness of the ordinariness of life, elevating the mundane to the scared in the context of a person’s last moments.

In Palo Alto Stories, wildlife and nature possess a sort of remembrance of things past quality as development has already started overtaking California and the teenagers in his stories seem to long for wildness without quite being able to articulate it. In his story Wasting, one character rediscovers the animal themed children’s books of Bill Peet, and wistfully thinks, “It was good to read those books again, all those feelings came back to me.”

The short story Yosemite, one that the film will be based on, deals with a father and his two sons driving to the park—James plays his father in the movie. The boys discuss the shooting they witness of a ‘friendly’ bear with their dad, which causes one of them to consider his own mortality: “The bear had ribs like I had ribs. Underneath had been lungs, and a stomach and a heart and they all got burned away.”  In another sequence of the film, teenagers deal with “the threat of a killer mountain lion looming over the community.”

This past Sunday I decided to go hiking with a friend. It was a gorgeous day and we decided to go to a favorite local spot, Great Falls. As we drove up to the entrance, it hit us. It’s Great Falls National Park, and it’s closed because of the government shutdown. We were already in Great Falls and needed a new place to hike.

That’s where the National Wildlife Federation’s Nature Find tool saved the day. We found Riverbend Regional Park just down the road, and it was fantastic! I thought it would be useful to take a few popular national parks and find nearby alternatives while the parks are closed.

1. Grand Canyon National Park

Alternative: Willow Lake Park

Prescott, AZ has several nature sites worth checking out, especially Willow Lake. The natural beauty is undeniable (just look at the photo below) and the park is an important birding area designated by the National Audubon Society.

2. Yosemite National Park

Alternative: Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve

This thing is ancient. I mean, over 1 million years old, and one of the oldest lakes in North America. Mono Lake has incredible limestone towers (called tufas) that form by the interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. Also, it’s also a sensitive habitat for 1-2 million birds each year.

3. Yellowstone National Park

Alternative: Custer State Park

South Dakota’s Custer State Park has over 73,000 acres full of wildlife, including bighorn sheep, prairie dogs and pronghorn antelope. The park’s herd of 1,300 free-roaming bison is one of the largest publicly-owned herds in the world!

4. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Alternative: Indiana Dunes State Park

Yes, there are beaches in Indiana. Amazing beaches. The sand dunes at Indiana Dunes State Park (formed over thousands of years) tower nearly 200 feet above Lake Michigan. The area is ecologically diverse offering the chance to explore bogs, fens, prairies and woodlands!

5. Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Alternative: Frozen Head State Park and Natural Area

This park is filled with streams, waterfalls and mountain views. It’s one of the least disturbed forests in the Cumberland Mountains. View brilliant fall colors and some of the best wildflowers in Tennessee.

6. Crater Lake National Park

Alternative: Silver Falls State Park

I’m an Oregonian and couldn’t resist including one of my favorite state parks. Silver Falls has an abundance of Douglas firs, hemlocks and cedars and the forest floor is covered with ferns, moss and wildflowers. There are 10 waterfalls to choose from, or see them all!

7. Acadia National Park

Alternative: Baxter State Park

The site has a wonderful view of the Katahdin Range, and presents the vibrant and iconic fall colors of Maine. Wildlife is abundant and includes black bears, moose, bobcats and red foxes. Throughout Baxter State Park, several secluded waterfalls, streams and ponds can be found, explored and enjoyed!

I Just Want Our National Parks Back

Perfect, so do I. Let’s be honest, there really aren’t “alternatives” to our National Parks. Your voice is critical in telling Congress that they need to pass a funding bill so that our National Parks can return to service!

I Don’t Live Near Any of These Suggestions

Don’t worry, NWF’s Nature Find database has over 12,000 nature sites across the country! You can find parks, trails, campsites and more near you.

We can help each other by sharing favorite parks for viewing wildlife, getting outdoors and enjoying nature. Share yours in the comments below!

When I was young, my parents took me and my two older sisters for three weeks of backpacking in the high country of Yosemite every summer. Yosemite was my Dad’s Mecca. My father rented two burros from the stables in Yosemite Valley to carry our gear and off we went.

I think I was about 4 when I joined this family tradition and was allowed to let the burro carry me when my legs got tired of hiking (my sisters were always jealous).

When my own children were young, every Columbus Day weekend we would head off  to Assateague Island National Seashore to join the wild ponies at a great campout on the beach. Assateague is an island on the coast of Virginia. My kids still remember the year we woke up early one morning to the sound of ponies munching away on a bag of apples I had put in the screened section of our tent. The ponies used their hooves to tear the screen so they could gain access to a tasty breakfast.

Then there is my husband’s family camping tradition, affectionately called “Mud, Blood and Beer.” I’ve now been part of this tradition for 27 years. My husband grew up on a cattle farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  There is a river that runs through the bottom land of the farm.

Every summer the family gathers for a long-weekend camping adventure on the banks of the river.  It started with my husband and his siblings over 50 years ago. Over the years wives, children and a bunch of friends and their families have joined the festivities. I think last year we counted 40 people and about 15 tents in all. Grandkids can’t be far behind. The favorite activity is riding the rapids down the river on a float when the dam up river from the campsite lets out water about every 2 hours.

Singing Around the Campfire

As I think about these camping traditions, I’m reminded that music was always an important part of the experience. My father played the harmonica and I can still hear its jaunty sound when Dad would play as we gathered to watch the sun set over the majestic Sierra Mountains. At Assateague, there always seemed to be a neighboring campfire where someone played the guitar and all were welcome to join in to sing the old children’s classic campfire songs like “She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain,” “Do Your Ears Hang Low,” “Down by the Bay” and “Frogie Went A Court’n.”

Music at Mud, Blood and Beer is always a treat. My brother-in-law is a talented musician and some of the friends he brings camping are equally musically inclined. There are always several guitars, a banjo, a mandolin and a fiddle. One year Henry even brought his giant base along. The music plays on through the night, depending on how much “libation” we have all enjoyed. Sometimes I conk out earlier than the others and there is nothing better than snuggling down in a sleeping bag and dozing off to the sounds of great campfire music being played in the background.

Another group of talented musicians and story tellers was recently brought to my attention. “The Okeedokee Brothers” and their CD “Can You Canoe” would make the perfect accompaniment to any camping trip when live music isn’t an option. Songs like “Campin Tent” and “Thousand Star Hotel” capture the magic that sleeping under the stars is all about.

Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing spent summers at their neighborhood creek, building makeshift rafts, fishing for crawdads, and dreaming of great river adventures. In 2011 those dreams came true when they spent 30 days canoeing down the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to St. Louis. During their journey they camped, canoed, filmed and most importantly, composed the songs that make up their album for kids and families. They hope their project and songs will inspire kids to take an active role in their lives, get outside and make their dreams realities.

The Gift of Camping

The OkeeDokee Brothers exemplify what NWF’s Be Out There campaign is telling parents: give kids time to explore the outdoors and connect with nature to encourage creativity, and let kids play with their own imaginations and gain a respect for the natural world, all while having fun and engaging in activities that benefit their health.

Giving kids a tradition of camping is one of the best things parents can do for their children. A perfect place to start is by participating in National Wildlife Federation’s Great American Backyard Campout on June 23. The Campout web site is loaded with ideas and tips to make your camping experience one that your family will want to repeat year after year.

Check out this new video shot at Yosemite National Park.

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There is no difference between this scene at Yosemite and road crossings all over the Northeast. In fact, the Northeast has an insane amount of roads that wildlife have to traverse to find food, shelter and mates.

The National Wildlife Federation’s Northeast Regional Center is working to make wildlife crossings safe for people and wildlife as part of a Wildlife Corridor Initiative. For more information, check out one of our earlier blogs: “The Moose that Stole the Show.” That post chronicles another amazing road crossing of a moose during a press conference NWF had organized about priority wildlife road crossings in that area.

Critical Paths is a model project that seeks to maintain natural wildlife migration corridors by identifying critical wildlife road crossings in the State of Vermont. Recently, we have targeted the landscape between the northern Green Mountains and the Northeast Kingdom. The project uses a combination of cutting-edge computer modeling and good old fashion on-site field work to determine where bottlenecks and impermeable crossings exist that can impede the free movement of animals. This project was made possible with funding from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife and generous donations for individuals.

It’s great to see these bears frolicking at Yosemite. Do you have photos to share of America’s public lands? Share them in our monthly photo challenge.

Please give today to help create safe pathways for wildlife, and protect vulnerable animals across the country from the many threats they face.

I also counted myself lucky with wildlife sightings, although I am still adjusting to being forced to downgrade my expectations in the Sierra after having just returned from three years of living in Yellowstone where I encountered charismatic mega-fauna on a daily basis. I miss the wolves, but I’ve had no better wildlife encounter than on this hike when a pika—an animal I cherish seeing in the high country—ran over my foot. My friend, the naturalist Jack Laws, who I have often scrambled up boulders with in the high country searching for these remarkable creatures, claimed when I related the story to him that it was the pika’s way of welcoming me back to the Sierra.

Discovering a well-populated frog pond, however, certainly qualifies as the highlight of the day (along with observing some “misguided” frog mating—see photos below), as I am a well know frog-o-phile. For most of the day, running water and the boisterous call of the Clark’s nutcracker dominated the soundscape, but as I descended down the basin to lower Gaylor Lake, suddenly I heard the distinct and very loud call of the Pacific chorus frog. Music to my ears! And did I hit the frog jackpot. I spent a couple of hours taking photos and filming these little guys as they swam and sang. A couple hiking Roper’s Sierra High Route stopped to listen when they passed, along with another couple, one who taught biology and who was delighted at the sight of all the frogs.  To paraphrase Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that people just love frogs.

I’ve shared some photos and video from my bully day below. For more photos, visit the National Wildlife Federation’s California Facebook page.

Video of Pacific chorus frogs at Gaylor Lakes

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Video of Gaylor and Granite Lakes

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U.S. Today Science Fair reports:

The report – National Parks in Peril: The Threats of Climate Disruption – outlined hazards due to rising temperatures in 25 of the country’s 351 national parks. The top risks to the parks include loss of snow and water, rising sea levels, more extreme weather, loss of plants and wildlife, and additional air pollution.

According to the report, the risks of a changed climate dwarf all previous threats to our national parks: ‘If we continue with high emissions of heat-trapping gases, our nation could be 7 to 11 degrees hotter by the end of the century — and our parks would be drastically changed.’ Endangered parks include some of the nation’s most popular, including Great Smoky Mountain, Yellowstone and Yosemite.  See full article.