Articles for tag: coastal ecosystems, maine puffins, puffin population recovery, seabird conservation, Wildlife Restoration

white and black bird on brown tree trunk

Maine Puffins Bounce Back

Suhail Ahmed

I still remember the first time a puffin skimmed past my kayak, orange feet flashing like traffic cones in a storm. Not long ago, these birds felt like a memory in parts of Maine, their burrows quiet and their food uncertain. Now, signs of a come ripple across the Gulf of Maine, cautious but unmistakable. ...

a fox standing in the snow

The Science Behind the Swift Fox’s Comeback on the Great Plains

Suhail Ahmed

At dusk on the shortgrass prairie, a flash of cinnamon fur slips between yucca shadows – and for the first time in decades, it belongs here. The swift fox, once missing from vast stretches of the Great Plains, is edging back thanks to a rare blend of Indigenous leadership, state-and-federal coordination, and new science. The ...

How Bison Herds Are Restoring the Great Plains

How Bison Herds Are Restoring the Great Plains

Andrew Alpin

Once nearly vanished from our continent, these massive mammals are proving to be nature’s ultimate engineers. You might think their story ended tragically in the 1800s when hunters reduced their numbers from tens of millions to just a few hundred survivors. But today, something remarkable is happening across America’s heartland. The return of bison isn’t ...

California's Sea Otters Are Rebuilding Kelp Forests

California’s Sea Otters Are Rebuilding Kelp Forests

Jan Otte

Picture this: you’re floating on the surface of Monterey Bay, looking down through crystal-clear water at what should be a vibrant underwater forest. Instead, all you see is barren rock covered in purple spiny orbs stretching as far as the eye can see. This devastating transformation has become all too common along California’s coast over ...