Tigard's Backyard Habitat Certification Program

From the Columbia Land Trust's article by Jay Kosa, Nature Knows Best:

If you’re reading this, it’s a safe bet that you care about the environment (thank you). It’s also a safe bet that in the process of staying informed about the challenges of pollution, habitat loss, and global climate change, you’ve recently found yourself feeling overwhelmed by the sheer gravity of it all. It seems as if every day we learn how changes are happening faster and more severely than we feared even the day before.

The science is clear: we have 11 years to make sweeping changes that will keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and thus avoid catastrophic consequences. The scale of both the challenge and the solutions required can be immobilizing. After all, what can one person do to make a difference?

It turns out nature may provide the most straightforward solution for us all: if protected, forests, grasslands, and other natural lands can remove carbon from the air naturally. For our part, we can each make a difference by investing in natural climate solutions, namely conserving, restoring, and better managing land.

Read more of this article at columbialandtrust.org/nature-knows-best

From the Audubon Society article From Birding in the Bronx to Birding on Your Screens, It's Been a Journey:

Jason Ward, a birder and host of the new Topic show 'Birds of North America,' reflects on the unorthodox path that got him to this point.

Birders share a certain kinship with one another. We're able to perceive and travel through the world in a unique way. We can’t help but notice out-of-place bird songs in movies. In the midst of serious conversation, our gaze is often hijacked by a fluttering passerine. And not to mention the fact that no matter the occasion, we typically keep our favorite pair of binoculars nearby. I’m guilty of all of those, as I’m sure most of you are. But that’s probably where our similarities end. Sure, we both love and appreciate our feathered friends, but we're more different than we are alike. Which is something that I don’t see as a bad thing, I see that as a cause for celebration. Let me explain.

Read the rest of this article at audubon.org/news/from-birding-bronx-birding-your-screens-its-been-journey

From the Chicago Botanic Garden's Project Budburst website:

Soaring from Mexico into the United States and Canada, monarch butterflies are searching for one thing--milkweed plants. Monarch butterflies are beautiful, charismatic insects known for their long-distance migration and their reliance on milkweeds (Asclepias species). Milkweeds are the only plants on which monarchs lay their eggs. After the eggs hatch, the caterpillars, also called larvae, eat milkweed leaves to grow. Unfortunately, this relationship is in danger. Over the last 20 years, the number of monarch butterflies in North America has dropped, and one possible cause is a lack of milkweed plants. As efforts to plant more milkweeds are growing, researchers are studying the relationship between milkweeds and monarchs more closely. Some scientists have found that monarchs prefer to lay eggs on young milkweeds that have not yet started to flower. You can help us answer this question!

Visit the Project Budburst website to learn more about ways you can grow Milkweed and support Monarch butterflies.