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The Week that Got Away

This week I find myself facing writing deadlines, revision problems, disrupted routines, and household repairs to attend to. News stories from around the nation and globe have further disordered my normal work strategies. I have not managed it all. I apologize and expect to be back next week. For now,

Independence in the Woods?

A glimpse of logging in postwar Washington

A Failed Experiment in Shelton

Trying to sustain forests and jobs on the Olympic Peninsula

Securing a Legacy Through Careful Succession Planning

"Securing a Legacy Through Careful Succession Planning," Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, The Dirt, January 12, 2026. Securing a Legacy Through Careful Succession Planning — Skagitonians to Preserve FarmlandTo protect privacy, this story uses no names, identifying information, or direct quotations. Whether a farm produces from a single acre or

Violence in the Woods

The pervasive harms in Washington's early timber economy

My Year in Books

Another idiosyncratic year-end reflection

Favorites from a Year of Parks

Idiosyncratic categories for diverse places

When War Knocked on the Wilderness Door

World War II and the North Cascades

A Lover and Nurturer of Words

Rick Ardinger's life of service to the humanities

On the Nature of Change

Reports of the National Park Service

E Pluribus Unum for the Parks

How the National Park Service united its disparate parts

Common Ground in November

E. B. White in his time and ours

King Sequoia!

The 1875 journey that inspired John Muir

The Relicensing of the Skagit River Dams

"The Relicensing of the Skagit River Dams: Farmland at Risk," Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, The Dirt, November 17, 2025. The Relicensing of the Skagit River Dams: Farmland at Risk — Skagitonians to Preserve FarmlandDid you know Seattle City Light is nearing a major decision about the future of the