Bill Graham's Blog, page 28

Patterns In Nature : Reverence For Life

I’ve been reading and writing about wolves, cormorants, elk, and many other creatures who are being killed off by mankind in the name of  conservation. Whether he/she be a hunter killing game, a rancher who employs lethal predator control, or an ecologist who justifies killing in the name of controlling Nature’s ecosystems, I am deeply […]

Patterns In Nature: Bison, Cattle, and Wolves

“Cattle had indeed wrecked havoc. They destroyed watersheds, trampled riparian vegetation, and turned grasslands to hardpan, triggering severe erosion. To top it off, the livestock industry spent the twentieth century securing cheap access to public lands through thousands of grazing permits now granted by the Bureau of Land Management  and the U.S. Forest Service. Today, […]

Patterns In Nature: The Case For Passive Restoration

In the course of doing research for my blog posts and book writing, I recently I came across a term that deeply resonated with me. “Passive Restoration”. It resonated so deeply that I wanted to share it with my readers and followers. I often get frustrated with those who oversee our public lands. They are […]

Patterns In Nature: Celebrating The Return Of The Birds

Today I want to spread some joy. I am on a big high !!! I’m jumping with excitement. I live close to an important estuary in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. This mangrove lagoon is called El Estero del Soldado (The Soldier’s Estuary). It connects with the Sea of Cortez. Like other lagoons along the northwestern coastline […]

Patterns In Nature – Wolves, Cougars, and Rivers

“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes–something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because […]

Patterns In Nature: RV Generator Noise Breaks Connections In Nature

I spend each summer living in my camper while writing books and doing Nature photography. My primary locations are in the forests and meadows of the United States. My camper is equipped to travel on rough roads to remote locations on public lands that are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the US […]

Patterns In Nature: The Wolf and The Elk

I rarely cry at movies. But, when the callous Army troops shot “Two Socks”, the wolf who befriended Lt. Dunbar in Kevin Costner’s Academy Award film “Dances With Wolves”, my throat choked up and I cried. Likewise, when a native Alaskan told me how renegade hunters trespassed on her property and killed an aged wolf […]

Patterns In Nature: Icebergs Are Ecosystems

I saw my first iceberg in 2004 on a voyage into the Southern Ocean. It was a pristine experience that I will never forget. The entire trip included South Georgia Island, the Falkland Islands, and Antarctica. I was so enthralled that I did it all again in 2007.  The iceberg, to me, is a symbol […]

Patterns In Nature: Bugs and Flowers

This picture of an insect on a flower represents two empires that are united by intricate relationships. These empires personify critically important connections in Nature that life on Earth, including we humans, depend upon to survive. The plant-insect interface is a major interacting force that has generated the present diversity of both terrestrial plant and […]

Patterns In Nature: Coyotes Are Good Guys

Coyotes are an important connection in Nature because they play a critical role in keeping natural areas healthy. Coyotes are a keystone species, meaning that their presence or absence has a significant impact on the surrounding biological community. Keystone species like the coyote can have a regulatory effect on smaller predator  populations, which allows prey […]