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Get a jump on spring with Gardening for Your Table, Oregon Peace Tree Project, Plants for the Planet and more

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Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Events are free unless noted. Please email calendar submissions at least three weeks in advance to events@oregonian.com.ONGOINGPlants for the Planet Native Plant Sale: Browse profiles of more than 100 native plant species and shop for plants online through March 24 to be picked up at one of four outdoor pop-up events in April or early May. sparrowhawknativeplants.com.Portland Fruit Tree Project Home Orchard Workshops: Various dates and locations through May. These hands-on workshops are designed to empower participants with practical knowledge on fruit tree care, composting, grafting and more. $50; visit portlandfruit.org or email treecare@portlandfruit.org.Tualatin SWCD spring workshops: Various dates and times through May 30. Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District offers a variety of spring workshops, including Soil School, Weed Wranglin’, Sustainable Equine Management and more. Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District, 7175 N.E. Evergreen Parkway (#400), Hillsboro; tualatinswcd.org.Grow Your Own Produce: The Workshop Series: (online via Zoom) First Wednesday of the month through Nov. 6. Taught by permaculture expert Marisha Auerbach, each workshop features seasonally relevant information about planning, growing, maintaining and harvesting food from the garden. $130 for a five-class series, or $30 per class; fertileground.org.Walk With a Friend at Tualatin Hills Nature Park: 9 a.m. first Wednesday and third Sunday of the month. Take a guided walk and learn about the plants, wildlife and history of the park. Tualatin Hills Nature Park, 15655 S.W. Millikan Way, Beaverton; thprd.org.East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District free webinars: Discover how to care for land in ways that benefit people, water and wildlife. From stormwater solutions to biochar to water conservation, these workshops will help you save time, money and energy. Register at emswcd.org/workshops-and-events/upcoming-workshops.Greater Portland Iris Society meeting: 7 p.m. first Tuesday of the month in March, April, September, October and November. Enjoy discussions of irises with guest speakers. Ainsworth House, 19130 Lot Whitcomb Drive, Oregon City; greaterportlandirissociety.org.Happy Valley Garden Club monthly meeting: 9 a.m.-noon second Tuesday of the month. Happy Valley Baptist Church, 14095 S.E. King Road, Happy Valley.Ikebana for Every Season: 1-2:30 p.m. second Tuesday of the month; $45. Become knowledgeable about basic concepts, techniques, tools, equipment and care for ikebana. The Resource Center, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.Portland Dahlia Society monthly meeting: 7 p.m. second Tuesday of the month February through November. Take part in a discussion of seasonal topics. Oaks Park Dance Pavilion, 7805 S.E. Oaks Park Way; portlanddahlia.com.Estacada Garden Club monthly meeting: 1-3 p.m. second Thursday of the month. Estacada Public Library, 825 N.W. Wade St.FRIDAY, MARCH 15Oregon Peace Tree Project Presentation: 1-2 p.m. Learn about the project that has helped Oregon have the densest concentration of trees outside Japan that were grown from the seeds of trees that survived the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima. Hoyt Arboretum, 4000 S.W. Fairview Blvd.; hoytarboretum.org.SATURDAY, MARCH 16Gardening for Your Table: 8:45 a.m.-4 p.m. Eight speakers will cover topics ranging from growing fruits and vegetables to backyard composting. $25 includes snacks, $12 optional lunch; Church on the Hill, 700 N.W. Hill Road, McMinnville; register at YCMGA.org.Northwest Native Garden Plants and the Amazing Insects They Attract: 10 a.m.-noon. Join garden writer and photographer Amy Campion for an exploration of some of the best natives to plant in your wildlife-friendly garden and learn about the insects they support. CASEE Center (Building B, Room 205), 11104 N.E. 149th St., Brush Prairie, Washington. $15 registration required at info@naturescaping.org, marlene52ns@gmail.com or 360-737-1160. naturescaping.org.Raising Mason Bees: 10 a.m.-noon. Join mason bee expert Ron Spendal for a class focusing on environmental needs, nesting behaviors and housing devices attractive to mason bees. PCC Rock Creek (Building 4, Room 103), 17705 N.W. Springville Road; washingtoncountymastergardeners.org.Early Spring Container Planter Workshop: 1:30-3 p.m. In this hands-on session, you’ll learn every step of the art of creating container arrangements using the thriller, spiller and filler method. $35; Al’s Garden & Home (all locations); als-gardencenter.com.TUESDAY, MARCH 19Healing Herbs of the Arboretum: Noon-2 p.m. Stroll around the arboretum to explore medicinal trees, weeds and native plants and talk about which parts to use and which plants to avoid. $25 registration required at hoytarboretum.org; Hoyt Arboretum, 4000 S.W. Fairview Blvd.FRIDAY, MARCH 22Hillsboro Farmers Markets presents “The Green Fork Initiative”: 6 p.m. Enjoy a special premiere of the short film capturing a segment of Washington County’s food narrative, highlighting the individuals and abundant agricultural diversity that shape the region’s distinctive fruits, vegetables, grains and pasture-raised meats. $15; The Vault Theater, 350 E. Main St., Hillsboro; bagnbaggage.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket#.SATURDAY, MARCH 23Tree School Clackamas: Opens at 7:15 a.m. Attend any of 73 classes covering forestry and tree grower topics key to the support of successful management of small woodlands. Participants will learn about forest management, tools and techniques, wildfire preparedness, marketing and business, forest health, wildlife habitat, weed management, forest fungi and more. $70 Clackamas County resident, $85 out of county, $35 ages 14-18 with adult; registration required at beav.es/tree-school-clackamas; Clackamas Community College, 19600 Molalla Ave., Oregon City.Newell Creek Canyon Spring hike and ecoblitz: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Join Metro for a spring hike, learn about local plants and birds and take an optional survey of plant and animal life. Registration required at oregonmetro.gov/GuidedActivities; Newell Creek Canyon Nature Park, 485 Warner Milne Road, Oregon City.SUNDAY, APRIL 7Mushroom hike at Smith and Bybee: 9:30-11:45 a.m. or 12:30-2:45 p.m. Discover the fascinating world of mushrooms on this woodland hike with local mushroom guide Leah Bendlin. Learn about identification, ecological roles of fungi, their forms and how they eat and reproduce. $6 registration required at oregonmetro.gov; Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area, 5300 N. Marine Drive.SATURDAY, APRIL 13Soil School 2024: 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Open to all gardeners – from aspiring to advanced – this event offers eight sessions taught by experts to learn about how improving soil health improves plant, garden and habitat wellbeing. $35 includes breakfast and lunch; Portland Community College, Rock Creek Event Center, 17705 N.W. Springville Road; register at wmswcd.org/soil-school.Mushroom hike at Oxbow Regional Park: 9:30-11:45 a.m. or 12:30-2:45 p.m. Discover the fascinating world of mushrooms on this woodland hike with local mushroom guide Leah Bendlin. Learn about identification, ecological roles of fungi, their forms and how they eat and reproduce. $6 registration required at oregonmetro.gov; Oxbow Regional Park, 3010 S.E. Oxbow Park Road, Gresham.Spring Lawn Maintenance: 1-2:30 p.m. Get tips for keeping your lawn healthy and green throughout the summer in the Northwest. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.SATURDAY, MAY 4Gardenfest 2024: PCC Rock Creek, 17705 N.W. Springville Road; washingtoncountymastergardeners.org.THURSDAY, MAY 16Florence Rhododendron Festival: May 16-19. Enjoy the rhododendron show, vendor fair, live music, art, festivities, activities and more at this family-friendly Oregon institution. FlorenceChamber.com.SATURDAY, MAY 18Gathering in the Garden: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Celebrate gardening and appreciation of community green spaces with a vendor fair, exhibits, live music and more. Eastmoreland Garden Park, Southeast 27th Avenue and Bybee Boulevard; eastmorelandpdx.org.Spring Maintenance on Pines: Noon-2 p.m. Learn the Niwa Method of candling and needling to maintain cloud-prune aesthetics and keep a manageable size and aesthetic focal point of your pines in a landscape. $45; Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.SATURDAY, JUNE 8Fundamentals of Pruning: 1-2:30 p.m. Take a tour, learn about tools and tool care, the four basic cuts of pruning and the subsequent reactions from these cuts. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.SATURDAY, JUNE 15Creating Pollinator Habitat for your Garden and Home: 10:30-11:30 a.m. This seminar will focus on information about bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and native host plants for creating your own pollinator yard. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.SATURDAY, JUNE 22Pruning Lace-leaf Maples for Character: 12:30-2:30 p.m. Discover the fundamentals of pruning as they pertain to lace-leaf maples and listen to a short lecture on basic botany and growth habits. $45; Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.FRIDAY, SEPT. 6Parade of Homes: Sept. 6-22. Explore three luxury homes on large lots at the Reserve at Lake River in Felida, Washington. clarkcountyparadeofhomes.com.SATURDAY, OCT. 26Gardening with Pacific Northwest Native Plants: 10 a.m.-noon. Learn about the native plants that thrive in the Northwest and how to naturescape in support of wildlife and pollinators. PCC Rock Creek (Building 4, Room 103) and WCMGA Education Garden, 17705 N.W. Springville Road; washingtoncountymastergardeners.org.-- Corey SheldonStay in the loop. Sign up to receive a weekly newsletter and join the conversation at the Homes & Gardens of the Northwest on Facebook

Webinars and other events offer lessons in beekeeping, growing produce, ikebana and more.

Events are free unless noted. Please email calendar submissions at least three weeks in advance to events@oregonian.com.

ONGOING

Plants for the Planet Native Plant Sale: Browse profiles of more than 100 native plant species and shop for plants online through March 24 to be picked up at one of four outdoor pop-up events in April or early May. sparrowhawknativeplants.com.

Portland Fruit Tree Project Home Orchard Workshops: Various dates and locations through May. These hands-on workshops are designed to empower participants with practical knowledge on fruit tree care, composting, grafting and more. $50; visit portlandfruit.org or email treecare@portlandfruit.org.

Tualatin SWCD spring workshops: Various dates and times through May 30. Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District offers a variety of spring workshops, including Soil School, Weed Wranglin’, Sustainable Equine Management and more. Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District, 7175 N.E. Evergreen Parkway (#400), Hillsboro; tualatinswcd.org.

Grow Your Own Produce: The Workshop Series: (online via Zoom) First Wednesday of the month through Nov. 6. Taught by permaculture expert Marisha Auerbach, each workshop features seasonally relevant information about planning, growing, maintaining and harvesting food from the garden. $130 for a five-class series, or $30 per class; fertileground.org.

Walk With a Friend at Tualatin Hills Nature Park: 9 a.m. first Wednesday and third Sunday of the month. Take a guided walk and learn about the plants, wildlife and history of the park. Tualatin Hills Nature Park, 15655 S.W. Millikan Way, Beaverton; thprd.org.

East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District free webinars: Discover how to care for land in ways that benefit people, water and wildlife. From stormwater solutions to biochar to water conservation, these workshops will help you save time, money and energy. Register at emswcd.org/workshops-and-events/upcoming-workshops.

Greater Portland Iris Society meeting: 7 p.m. first Tuesday of the month in March, April, September, October and November. Enjoy discussions of irises with guest speakers. Ainsworth House, 19130 Lot Whitcomb Drive, Oregon City; greaterportlandirissociety.org.

Happy Valley Garden Club monthly meeting: 9 a.m.-noon second Tuesday of the month. Happy Valley Baptist Church, 14095 S.E. King Road, Happy Valley.

Ikebana for Every Season: 1-2:30 p.m. second Tuesday of the month; $45. Become knowledgeable about basic concepts, techniques, tools, equipment and care for ikebana. The Resource Center, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.

Portland Dahlia Society monthly meeting: 7 p.m. second Tuesday of the month February through November. Take part in a discussion of seasonal topics. Oaks Park Dance Pavilion, 7805 S.E. Oaks Park Way; portlanddahlia.com.

Estacada Garden Club monthly meeting: 1-3 p.m. second Thursday of the month. Estacada Public Library, 825 N.W. Wade St.

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

Oregon Peace Tree Project Presentation: 1-2 p.m. Learn about the project that has helped Oregon have the densest concentration of trees outside Japan that were grown from the seeds of trees that survived the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima. Hoyt Arboretum, 4000 S.W. Fairview Blvd.; hoytarboretum.org.

SATURDAY, MARCH 16

Gardening for Your Table: 8:45 a.m.-4 p.m. Eight speakers will cover topics ranging from growing fruits and vegetables to backyard composting. $25 includes snacks, $12 optional lunch; Church on the Hill, 700 N.W. Hill Road, McMinnville; register at YCMGA.org.

Northwest Native Garden Plants and the Amazing Insects They Attract: 10 a.m.-noon. Join garden writer and photographer Amy Campion for an exploration of some of the best natives to plant in your wildlife-friendly garden and learn about the insects they support. CASEE Center (Building B, Room 205), 11104 N.E. 149th St., Brush Prairie, Washington. $15 registration required at info@naturescaping.org, marlene52ns@gmail.com or 360-737-1160. naturescaping.org.

Raising Mason Bees: 10 a.m.-noon. Join mason bee expert Ron Spendal for a class focusing on environmental needs, nesting behaviors and housing devices attractive to mason bees. PCC Rock Creek (Building 4, Room 103), 17705 N.W. Springville Road; washingtoncountymastergardeners.org.

Early Spring Container Planter Workshop: 1:30-3 p.m. In this hands-on session, you’ll learn every step of the art of creating container arrangements using the thriller, spiller and filler method. $35; Al’s Garden & Home (all locations); als-gardencenter.com.

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

Healing Herbs of the Arboretum: Noon-2 p.m. Stroll around the arboretum to explore medicinal trees, weeds and native plants and talk about which parts to use and which plants to avoid. $25 registration required at hoytarboretum.org; Hoyt Arboretum, 4000 S.W. Fairview Blvd.

FRIDAY, MARCH 22

Hillsboro Farmers Markets presents “The Green Fork Initiative”: 6 p.m. Enjoy a special premiere of the short film capturing a segment of Washington County’s food narrative, highlighting the individuals and abundant agricultural diversity that shape the region’s distinctive fruits, vegetables, grains and pasture-raised meats. $15; The Vault Theater, 350 E. Main St., Hillsboro; bagnbaggage.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket#.

SATURDAY, MARCH 23

Tree School Clackamas: Opens at 7:15 a.m. Attend any of 73 classes covering forestry and tree grower topics key to the support of successful management of small woodlands. Participants will learn about forest management, tools and techniques, wildfire preparedness, marketing and business, forest health, wildlife habitat, weed management, forest fungi and more. $70 Clackamas County resident, $85 out of county, $35 ages 14-18 with adult; registration required at beav.es/tree-school-clackamas; Clackamas Community College, 19600 Molalla Ave., Oregon City.

Newell Creek Canyon Spring hike and ecoblitz: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Join Metro for a spring hike, learn about local plants and birds and take an optional survey of plant and animal life. Registration required at oregonmetro.gov/GuidedActivities; Newell Creek Canyon Nature Park, 485 Warner Milne Road, Oregon City.

SUNDAY, APRIL 7

Mushroom hike at Smith and Bybee: 9:30-11:45 a.m. or 12:30-2:45 p.m. Discover the fascinating world of mushrooms on this woodland hike with local mushroom guide Leah Bendlin. Learn about identification, ecological roles of fungi, their forms and how they eat and reproduce. $6 registration required at oregonmetro.gov; Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area, 5300 N. Marine Drive.

SATURDAY, APRIL 13

Soil School 2024: 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Open to all gardeners – from aspiring to advanced – this event offers eight sessions taught by experts to learn about how improving soil health improves plant, garden and habitat wellbeing. $35 includes breakfast and lunch; Portland Community College, Rock Creek Event Center, 17705 N.W. Springville Road; register at wmswcd.org/soil-school.

Mushroom hike at Oxbow Regional Park: 9:30-11:45 a.m. or 12:30-2:45 p.m. Discover the fascinating world of mushrooms on this woodland hike with local mushroom guide Leah Bendlin. Learn about identification, ecological roles of fungi, their forms and how they eat and reproduce. $6 registration required at oregonmetro.gov; Oxbow Regional Park, 3010 S.E. Oxbow Park Road, Gresham.

Spring Lawn Maintenance: 1-2:30 p.m. Get tips for keeping your lawn healthy and green throughout the summer in the Northwest. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.

SATURDAY, MAY 4

Gardenfest 2024: PCC Rock Creek, 17705 N.W. Springville Road; washingtoncountymastergardeners.org.

THURSDAY, MAY 16

Florence Rhododendron Festival: May 16-19. Enjoy the rhododendron show, vendor fair, live music, art, festivities, activities and more at this family-friendly Oregon institution. FlorenceChamber.com.

SATURDAY, MAY 18

Gathering in the Garden: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Celebrate gardening and appreciation of community green spaces with a vendor fair, exhibits, live music and more. Eastmoreland Garden Park, Southeast 27th Avenue and Bybee Boulevard; eastmorelandpdx.org.

Spring Maintenance on Pines: Noon-2 p.m. Learn the Niwa Method of candling and needling to maintain cloud-prune aesthetics and keep a manageable size and aesthetic focal point of your pines in a landscape. $45; Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.

SATURDAY, JUNE 8

Fundamentals of Pruning: 1-2:30 p.m. Take a tour, learn about tools and tool care, the four basic cuts of pruning and the subsequent reactions from these cuts. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.

SATURDAY, JUNE 15

Creating Pollinator Habitat for your Garden and Home: 10:30-11:30 a.m. This seminar will focus on information about bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and native host plants for creating your own pollinator yard. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.

SATURDAY, JUNE 22

Pruning Lace-leaf Maples for Character: 12:30-2:30 p.m. Discover the fundamentals of pruning as they pertain to lace-leaf maples and listen to a short lecture on basic botany and growth habits. $45; Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; greshamjapanesegarden.org.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 6

Parade of Homes: Sept. 6-22. Explore three luxury homes on large lots at the Reserve at Lake River in Felida, Washington. clarkcountyparadeofhomes.com.

SATURDAY, OCT. 26

Gardening with Pacific Northwest Native Plants: 10 a.m.-noon. Learn about the native plants that thrive in the Northwest and how to naturescape in support of wildlife and pollinators. PCC Rock Creek (Building 4, Room 103) and WCMGA Education Garden, 17705 N.W. Springville Road; washingtoncountymastergardeners.org.

-- Corey Sheldon

Stay in the loop. Sign up to receive a weekly newsletter and join the conversation at the Homes & Gardens of the Northwest on Facebook

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The David vs. Goliath Story of a Ranching Family and an Oil Giant

They were cowboys amid the mesas in a corner of New Mexico. For years they coexisted with an oil company — until one day they couldn’t. The post The David vs. Goliath Story of a Ranching Family and an Oil Giant appeared first on .

About two months ago, a slow fall hit rock bottom for Richard Hodgson and his son Kaleb Hodgson when a white pickup truck drove through the middle of an elk hunt on their property in far northwest New Mexico. Elk scattered, their hunting clients left, and the Hodgsons realized that the oil companies that had drilled their land for decades might not be their friends after all. “It just drives me totally insane,” Richard said.  He’s the patriarch of three generations of Hodgsons who live on a spread he started 42 years ago in the high, dry country he loves. Richard was born and grew up in nearby Farmington but always wanted to be a cowboy in the San Juan Basin, among the region’s green and tan mesas under an electric blue sky.  As a young man he bought the ranch’s initial parcel with money made from driving trucks and working as a roustabout for oil and gas companies. In lean ranching years he’d go back to the oil patch for the money, using that to buy more land.  Today the family runs around 200 mother and calf pairs on the 5,600 acres it owns and roughly 32,000 it leases from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. And everywhere you look on that land, there’s an oil or gas well — the family doesn’t know how many. “I don’t know if we really want to know,” said Kaleb, Richard’s eldest son. “It’s kind of overwhelming, honestly.” Kaleb said a movie crew came to the ranch a few years ago to shoot scenes for a film and loved the place — but won’t be back. Crew members told him it cost too much to digitally remove all the wells that appeared in the background. Father and son think they have room enough to run another 60 to 100 cow-calf pairs, but recent droughts have shriveled the forage and dried up the natural watering holes. The oil and gas that come out of the ground in the San Juan Basin contribute to the changing climate that’s drying the region. This summer, the dust was so thick on the grass that it wore down the cows’ teeth. “It takes years off their life,” Kaleb said. “Everything’s an uphill battle out here,” Richard said. “All I ask for is respect.” Kaleb Hodgson, Luke Whitley and Richard Hodgson stand in a pasture on the Hodgson ranch. Years ago, the well tanks behind them leaked and flooded the pasture with produced water and oil. And the family feels it isn’t getting any from its biggest neighbor, Hilcorp Energy Co. The Houston-based company is one of the largest privately held oil and gas producers in the country, with operations in nine states. In 2017 the company began a massive acquisition campaign in the San Juan Basin when it bought ConocoPhillips’ assets. In the New Mexico portion of the basin, it now operates 11,400 wells. Roughly 1,600 of them pepper the area on and around the Hodgsons’ lands. Hilcorp and the Hodgsons are close neighbors because of a legal quirk called a split estate, under which the property rights to the surface land are separate from those of the minerals that lie beneath. The Hodgsons own the surface rights, and the federal government owns the underlying mineral rights, which, in this area, it leases primarily to Hilcorp. By law, landowners must allow subsurface rights owners to have access to those minerals. For the Hodgsons, that access takes shape in a spiderweb of roads and wells stitching their thousands of acres of pine-dotted mesas and valleys.  For years, that arrangement between the Hodgsons and Hilcorp worked —  until very recently, when it didn’t. Hilcorp did not respond to Capital & Main’s repeated requests for comment. *   *   * Over the years, relations with oil companies were manageable, if not always great.   Richard recalled his days as a roustabout and truck driver decades ago and what he called the industry’s almost complete lack of environmental controls at the time.  One example: He said that companies used natural gas to flush out newly drilled wells, then lit the polluted mixture on fire in massive flares. “This whole country at night was orange,” he said. “It was so wasteful.” Richard Hodgson. Another example: Wastewater from oil production — often called produced water and  laden with hydrogen sulfide — was dumped in ditches and ponds throughout the region. “I done it. I was sent out to do it,” Richard said. He’s sure that all of the ground beneath waste pits near older wells are contaminated from that dumping. Another example: A few years ago, he watched a neighbor’s cow drink from a puddle of filthy water pooled beneath a pumpjack. The cow stumbled off, bellowing, then fell in a ditch and died. And another: On a hot summer day, before he could grab its collar, one of Richard’s dogs jumped into an open waste pit to cool off. The dog swam around and came out covered in grease, immediately got sick and went deaf. The dog lived for a couple of years before it was run over by a truck it couldn’t hear. One more: In November, 2023, there was a spill at a well he could see from his front door. He worked for a whole day alongside a crew hired by Hilcorp to dig out 1,000 yards of petroleum soaked soil. “We got out of the hole, and everybody had a headache [from the fumes]. It was that dirty,” he said.  Richard said he left for a few hours. When he returned, the company had fenced off the pit and said their work was done. In April, 2024, Richard called the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division — the state’s primary oilfield enforcer — to get Hilcorp to remove more contaminated soil. Nothing more was removed, and two weeks later Hilcorp submitted a closure report to the Division, saying the company had finished its cleanup work. The Division closed the case the same day. The Division’s response read, in part, “Since the release occurred within an area reasonably needed for production operations (on-pad), the reclamation report will be due after the gas well has been plugged and abandoned.” That may be a while. Last year the well produced 25,500,000 cubic feet of natural gas, worth roughly $56,000.  When a previous company wanted to put a well atop the untouched mesa behind Richard’s home, he offered a spot at the base of the mesa, 500 feet from his front door. “I’d rather have that than destroy this last piece of land we got,” he said. There are now 30 active gas wells within a mile of Richard’s house. The family coped with all of it over the years with different companies.  “We did have a good working relationship to them,” Kaleb said. A truck hauling sand for a fracking job passes Kaleb Hodgson as he drives a road on his ranch. And the Hodgsons do a lot of work in their three main businesses on the ranch: raising cattle, hosting elk hunts and maintaining the maze of dirt roads connecting all the wells on the property. That maintenance happens — happened — through a long-running series of agreements with oil companies going back years. Richard and Kaleb said that earlier this year, a new landman — the person companies hire to deal with landowners — began slowly cutting them off. They don’t know why. The landman didn’t take their calls. He said if the Hodgsons had anything to say, they could call Hilcorp’s lawyers. The Hodgsons said Hilcorp also canceled its agreement with them to maintain the roads on the property. In addition to clearing access to the wells, that work channeled the region’s intermittent — and occasionally torrential — rains off the roads and well pads and onto surrounding grasslands. The work was good for the oil crews, good for the Hodgsons and good for the livestock and wild game. Plus, there was no way the Hodgsons could afford to do the work without the contract. “They come up fighting like I’ve never seen an oil company do after 40 years,” Richard said. “I’ve never had a company just stomp their feet … and say, ‘We ain’t going to deal with you.’” In September, after months of deteriorating relations with Hilcorp, a line was crossed.  The Hodgsons nurture the elk population on their land. “We take care of them all year round,” Richard said. “We provide feed, shelter and water. And then we do harvest some.” Hunters pay thousands of dollars for that privilege. But it’s not easy to track wild animals over thousands of acres, and successful hunts aren’t guaranteed. Many factors can spoil a hunt. To keep some variables in their favor, every year Richard and Kaleb have negotiated with Hilcorp and its predecessor companies to keep trucks off certain roads in the early mornings and early evenings. That allows elk to gather in herds to eat and drink, increasing the chance that hunters can find them amid the mesas. Kaleb said he texted the landman the day before a scheduled bow hunt, asking Hilcorp to keep trucks away from specific areas, and the landman agreed.  It was 6 a.m. the next day, just before dawn. One of Kaleb’s nephews was walking slowly between pine and cedar trees in the faint light atop a mesa, leading a small group of bow hunters. They had spent the night in a camp to be ready at first light. At that point, they could see elk gathering in the valley below.  Then they heard a truck, and the elk scattered. The nephew texted Kaleb to explain what happened, but the damage was done. The hunters hiked to the next valley over, hoping to find more elk, but didn’t. “We’ve had these hunters for five years,” Richard said. “They’ve always paid a deposit for next year, and [this time] they didn’t pay no deposits. I don’t think they’re coming back.” The spoiled hunt was a clarion call for the family. “It showed us that they put a bullseye on us,” Richard said. Meanwhile, other problems grew. A week and a half after the botched hunt, water from a colossal cloudburst ran off the mesa behind their houses, washed over one of the untended roads and flooded a well pad with two and a half feet of water. The water flushed the sludge from two open-top below-ground storage tanks, creating a pond of black goo. Kaleb kept a mason jar filled with a sample, which had the consistency of old motor oil. Kaleb Hodgson holds a mason jar filled with oily sludge he collected from a spill site in September. Several days later, while standing next to the muddy well pad, Kaleb explained how much waste Hilcorp told him was flushed from the tanks. “They say it was only 21 barrels, but it covered that whole entire berm,” he said. At two and a half feet deep, the 5,400-square-foot area inside the berm could hold roughly 2,400 barrels of liquid. Kaleb said that much of the oil and water simply sank into the ground. As he spoke, workers from a cleanup company shoveled contaminated soil into a vacuum truck that could hold 80 barrels, the second that Kaleb had seen at the site.  “Contaminated dirt should have been dug out,” he said. Kaleb said he sees the resulting problem as twofold. There’s the obvious groundwater contamination from the spilled sludge, and then there’s the wasted rain water. If the roads had been maintained, the runoff would have bypassed the well pad and filled a pasture the Hodgsons have nurtured over the years, turning two hundred acres of scrubby dirt to a grassland that feeds cattle and other animals. “We wasted all that water,” Kaleb said. And the waste may have polluted the land where the family’s cattle and elk graze. A cleanup crew sucks up the oily remnants of waste sludge that was sluiced from two underground tanks by a rainstorm on the Hodgson ranch in September. *   *   * Though Hilcorp didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story, after Capital & Main visited the ranch, the Hodgsons said company representatives asked them if they had been talking with journalists. “I think we somewhat got their attention,” Richard said.  He said Hilcorp sent a new landman, who allowed the Hodgsons to fix the washed-out road near the flooded well pad so it wouldn’t flood again. Hilcorp also tested the soil there. “They did some core drilling, but I won’t accept that,” Richard said. “We’ll have to dig it out and find out what we got.” He said Hilcorp also hired a company to take care of another spill he recently came across. After months of problems, Richard and Kaleb are skeptical of the quick about-face. “They’re getting really worried about these spills because they know that I’m upset, and I’m going to make some noise,” Richard said. “I’m not saying, ‘Do not drill.’ I’m just saying, ‘Do it reasonably,’” he added. “I mean, hell, the country’s making you just very, very wealthy. Why would you not put a little bit back into what you tear up?” he asked. “That’s all I want these companies to do. Just be reasonable.” After the Hilcorp truck spoiled the elk hunt, Richard and Kaleb got in touch with their nearest neighbors, Don and Jane Schreiber, who live about 15 miles away. “There are not very many of us that live out here,” Richard said. “So anybody who can live out here and appreciate the land is a friend of mine.” The Schreibers are known for fighting oil and gas companies that thoughtlessly drill or poorly maintain wells on their land. And like Richard, Don grew up in Farmington and harbored a dream of running a ranch. Also, like the Hodgsons, the Schreibers’ own land is split-estate.  Don Schreiber looks over paperwork from a years-long battle with Hilcorp Energy about a spill on his ranch. The Schreibers bought their ranch in 1999 and over the years they have slowly sold off their cattle and leased the land to other ranchers. “I turned my back on my dream,” Don said. Instead, they spend much of their time raising awareness about how oil and gas drilling has degraded the landscape in the northwest corner of the state.  “We had two blissful years out here,” Don said of their earliest ranching days. “But then the fights started.” He said a childhood friend who worked for an oil company explained to him what companies thought of the Schreibers’ ranch and lands like it: “Pard, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but we’d just as soon have this S.O.B. paved.” After a half-dozen years of contesting sporadic oil and gas well proposals on their land — which they lost — the Schreibers’ big fights with oil and gas companies began in earnest in late 2007, when a company proposed drilling 44 new wells on their property. The Schreibers thought most of those should be “twinned,” by adding the new wells to existing well sites, which would preserve untouched ranch land from more well pads and connecting roads. After an “intense fight,” the company put in just 22 new wells, all “twinned” on existing pads, Don said.  “So in the end, we did win,” he said. But, he added, “I mean, every time you drill a well, you lose a bit.”  Over the years, Don and Jane recorded each tussle, filling binders with letters, emails and documents recording the slow but relentless fights to protect their land. Don also keeps a small display with photos of nine separate incidents in which he got a company to clean up an unacknowledged mess or unnecessary well. He shows it off at public meetings and to company representatives at their first meetings. He said its message for them is clear: “I don’t know if it’s gonna take four years or 14 years — we’re gonna beat you.” In his experience, constant, determined pressure gets a company to do what you want it to do. It’s a style of work familiar to the Hodgsons. In late September on an afternoon spent driving to a far corner of the ranch, a thin column of diesel smoke from a distant fracking site was the only thing that marred a crisply blue sky. The San Juan Mountains in southern Colorado sketched a dark jagged blue line on the horizon. Richard, his grandson Luke Whitley and Kaleb were out to round up some cows that had wandered off a pasture.  One of the Hodgson’s dogs corners loose cows near a natural gas compressor station on the family’s ranch. Aside from their Ford dually pickup and cellphones peeking from their pockets, the three could have walked off a Western film set a century ago. Each wore a cowboy hat — Kaleb’s in black felt — as well as scuffed boots with worn spurs. Later, they donned scarred chaps to protect their pants from the sage, juniper and piñon trees. Three calm horses and a clutch of excitable ranch dogs rode in the trailer behind. The leather on the horses’ saddles was dull on the sides and polished in the seats from years of use. As he drove, Kaleb described how he and his family trained horses — an integral part of running the ranch.  “Horses are very smart, complicated animals. But also they’re very simple,” he said. “They react off of your pressure.” Pressure from the reins, pressure through the knees. Pressure and release. Slowly pressure the horse in the direction you want it to go — then release the pressure.  “You do that a few times. And then you ask for half an inch. And then you do that a few times and you work your way up to an inch. Then you’re asking at the end of it for a foot,” he said. Kaleb said all horses react to pressure and release in some way. “Even bucking horses,” he said. “They’ll react to pressure and release if you’re just consistent with it.” Eventually, no matter how big or powerful the horse, careful, determined pressure gets it to do what you want it to do.  The same principle appears to be working in their relationship with Hilcorp. After meeting with the Schreibers and calling Capital & Main, the Hodgsons said Hilcorp honored their recent late-September elk hunt hours and have been working on the spill sites. But Kaleb and Richard remain ready to apply more pressure.  “I don’t know where we’re going to go with all of it,” Richard said. “[We’re] just not letting anything lie.” One of Richard Hodgson’s ranch dogs joins him in the field. Copyright 2025 Capital & Main. All photos by Jerry Redfern.

Animals
Business
Climate

Jaguars and Whales are NOT carbon OFFSETS

by Tom BK Goldtooth Originally published by CBD Alliance   ‘Indigenous Peoples’ sacred animal relatives, such as jaguars, whales, and elephants, are being used as carbon and biodiversity offsets and extractive industries’ greenwash, a grave affront to our traditional knowledge systems and spiritual lifeways. For example, in Peru, the Jaguar Amazon REDD Project of the […] The post Jaguars and Whales are NOT carbon OFFSETS first appeared on Indigenous Environmental Network.

by Tom BK Goldtooth Originally published by CBD Alliance   ‘Indigenous Peoples’ sacred animal relatives, such as jaguars, whales, and elephants, are being used as carbon and biodiversity offsets and extractive industries’ greenwash, a grave affront to our traditional knowledge systems and spiritual lifeways. For example, in Peru, the Jaguar Amazon REDD Project of the […] The post Jaguars and Whales are NOT carbon OFFSETS first appeared on Indigenous Environmental Network.

Animals
Indigenous

Our bodies are ageing faster than ever. Can we hit the brakes?

All over the world people are ageing more rapidly and succumbing to diseases that typically affected the elderly. But there are ways to turn back the clock on your biological age

A decade or so ago, I had my biological age measured. I was in my mid 40s at the time and was fit, slim and a disciplined eater. When the results came back, I was gratified to discover that I was, biologically, quite a bit younger than my age. Around six years, if I remember correctly. I dread to think what it is now. In the intervening years, I have gained weight, stopped exercising as much, experienced multiple heatwaves and been through an extremely traumatic event, the suicide of my wife. I definitely feel all of my 55 years, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m biologically older. If so, I wouldn’t be alone. In the past few years, scientists have discovered a troubling trend in biological ageing. All over the world, people are getting older faster. Those born after 1965 are ageing, biologically, more rapidly than people born a decade earlier, and diseases that were once considered to be a scourge of the elderly are becoming ever-more common in younger people. People born before 1965 are ageing, biologically, more slowly than those born more recentlySTR/AFP via Getty Images “Cancers are increasing in younger age populations, people under 40 years of age have more heart attacks, more diabetes,” says Paulina Correa-Burrows, a social epidemiologist at the University of Chile in Santiago. “Why? My answer is because we’re ageing faster.” The reasons for this shift are starting to become clear. Some, unfortunately, are unavoidable. Many, thankfully, are modifiable. So, how can we endeavour to keep our biological and chronological ages in step? The best way to measure how rapidly somebody is ageing is by measuring their biological age and then doing so again a few months or even years later. The most accepted tool for this, says Antonello Lorenzini at the University of Bologna in Italy, is epigenetic clocks, tests that analyse modifications to DNA. These aren’t perfect – precise biological ages should be taken with a grain of salt – but they are enough for telling who, out of a group of participants, is ageing faster or slower. “ Some people are 10 years or more younger or older, biologically, than their actual age “ These tests recognise that chronological age – the number of years someone has lived – isn’t always a good indicator of how far along the ageing trajectory they are. In fact, it can be way off. For most people, there is a reasonably good correspondence, but some people are 10 years or more younger or older, biologically, than their actual age. And unlike chronological age, biological age can go down as well as up. The first suggestions that biological ageing is accelerating came from the world of obesity research. In 2016, a team led by Beatriz Gálvez at the National Centre for Cardiovascular Research in Madrid, Spain, noted that the biological effects of obesity overlap substantially with those of ageing. Both are hallmarked by dysfunction of the white adipose (fat) tissue, leading to metabolic conditions, widespread inflammation and damage to multiple organs, including the kidneys, bones and those of the cardiovascular system. Impacts of obesity These effects are usually directly attributed to obesity itself. But Gálvez wondered whether the causality is more indirect: obesity leads to premature ageing, which leads to the early onset of the diseases of old age. She and her colleagues coined the term “adipaging” to capture this relationship, and proposed that “to a great extent, obese adults are prematurely aged individuals”. A couple of years later, Lorenzini and his colleagues took the idea and ran with it. They started from an influential 2013 research paper called “The hallmarks of aging”, which describes nine molecular and cellular causes of age-related diseases. Lorenzini compared these with the consequences of obesity and found strong parallels. Both obesity and ageing lead to imbalanced nutrient sensing, altered intercellular communication, disturbances in protein metabolism, dysfunction of energy-producing mitochondria in cells, and cell senescence, when cells stop dividing but remain alive. “I think that fits very well with accelerating ageing,” says Lorenzini. “For many of the chronic diseases of our time, the major factor is ageing. So, of course, if you accelerate ageing, you will accelerate everything.” That includes death: the life expectancy of people over 40 with obesity is reduced, by about six years in men and seven in women. The biological clocks of people with obesity tick fasterALDOMURILLO/GETTY IMAGES Various attempts have also been made to measure whether the biological clocks of people with obesity really do tick faster. In 2017, for example, a team largely from the University of Tampere in Finland reanalysed archived blood samples from a group of 183 people taken 25 years apart: first during the teenage years or young adulthood, then again in middle age. The participants’ body mass index (BMI) was recorded when the samples were taken, so the researchers knew which of them had become obese. As expected, those who had gained a lot of weight had aged more biologically than they had aged chronologically, some by more than 10 years. Those who had remained lean had less of a mismatch. (The team also wanted to see what had happened to the rate of ageing in people who had lost weight, but there weren’t enough people in this category to do the analysis.) A similar study in women in their 20s, 30s and 40s also found that a higher BMI was associated with an older biological age, with each rise of 1 kilogram of weight per metre of height squared adding about 1.7 months. Another discovered that increased biological age was associated with various measures of obesity – BMI, waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference – in women aged 35 to 75. Those with a BMI of 35 or more, putting them firmly in the obese category, were on average 3.15 years biologically older than women of the same chronological age who were a healthy weight. Cause and effect None of these studies, however, proved the direction of causality. It is possible that obesity accelerates biological ageing, but also that an increase in biological age somehow leads to obesity. Last year, researchers in Beijing teased these possibilities apart. They reanalysed data on tens of thousands of people who had been enrolled in a previous study and whose BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio had been recorded on several occasions, along with five measures of their biological age. Applying a statistical method that can indicate the direction of causality, the researchers showed that obesity causes accelerated ageing compared with people of a healthy weight, to the tune of around three years. These studies all point in the same direction, says Lorenzini. “We are moving from hypothesis to data. The data is piling up.” The latest addition to this pile comes from the lab of Correa-Burrows and her colleagues at the University of Chile. They piggybacked on a research project called the Santiago Longitudinal Study, which started in 1992 and followed around 1000 people from birth up to their late 20s, originally to study the effects of nutrition on health in children and young adults. Correa-Burrows and her team recruited 205 participants who had made it all the way through the study. They were aged between 28 and 31 and comprised three groups: those who had maintained a healthy weight throughout life, those who had been obese since adolescence and those who had been obese since early childhood. There were already masses of data on these people, including their BMI throughout the study, but Correa-Burrows also used epigenetic clocks to measure their biological age. What she found was very clear. Those in the healthy weight group had, on average, biological ages slightly lower than their chronological age. But those in both obese groups were biologically older than their chronological age. This was by an average of 4.2 years in the obese-since-adolescence group and 4.7 in the obese-since-childhood group. A few had biological ages over 40. “We were expecting to find that, but we never expected the magnitude of difference that we saw in some individuals,” says Correa-Burrows. “Some of them had a 50 per cent gap between their biological age and the chronological age, which is huge.” It is now generally accepted in geroscience circles that obesity speeds up the ageing process, she says. Accelerated ageing is also attracting the attention of researchers outside the obesity field. Premature ageing is a well-known phenomenon among adult survivors of childhood cancer, who often become frail and die early as a result of the aftereffects of their illness and treatment. They are also at a higher-than-average risk of developing an unrelated cancer in later life. That may be because they are genetically predisposed to cancer, but this can’t fully explain the elevated risk. The cancer factor Last year, Paige Green at the US National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, had a brainwave. Cancer is typically a disease of old age, and the survivors of childhood cancer were ageing prematurely. Maybe they were more vulnerable to cancer because they were biologically older than their chronological age. And not just that: accelerated ageing in the general population might also explain the rise in early-onset cancer, heart failure and strokes. “Cancer used to just be considered a disease of ageing,” says Jennifer Guida, an independent researcher who was formerly Green’s colleague. “Now people are being diagnosed with colon cancer in their 30s, breast cancer in their 30s. Why is that? Perhaps some of the processes of ageing are acting earlier and causing ageing to accelerate, which then causes early-onset cancer.” Green, Guida and their colleague Lisa Gallicchio wrote the idea up in the journal JAMA Oncology as a challenge to others to test it. “We put it out there as a hypothesis,” says Guida. “Maybe somebody will run with it and do the work to show that this is true, or disprove it.” The way to do it would be to measure the biological ages of a large number of people already enrolled in a large-scale study and tally that with early-onset cancers, she says. In fact, a team has already done that. Last year, Ruiyi Tian at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, told the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting in San Diego, California, that she and her colleagues had analysed blood samples from nearly 150,000 people stored in the UK Biobank, looking for signs of accelerated ageing. The participants were aged between 37 and 54 when they had their blood taken. Measuring their biological age revealed that those on the younger end of the age spectrum, who had been born after 1965, were 17 per cent more likely to show signs of accelerated ageing than the older ones, born between 1950 and 1954. The researchers also found that accelerated ageing increased the risk of early-onset cancers of the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and uterus. “Accumulating evidence suggests that the younger generations may be ageing more swiftly than anticipated,” Tian told the association’s press office at the time. (The results haven’t been published in a peer-reviewed journal and Tian and her supervisor didn’t respond to requests for further information.) The “obesogenic” environment of many industrialised nations promotes ageing, but there is promise that weight-loss drugs can reverse thisDhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images All in all, it seems we have created a world that not only promotes obesity – known as the obesogenic environment – but also ages us. Perhaps we need a new shorthand for it. I suggest the “senesogenic environment”, derived from the Latin verb senescere (“to grow old”). So, if younger people are ageing more rapidly, what is the cause? Obesity is the main one. “We have a huge obesity problem in places that have a Western-type diet,” says Guida. Obesity rates in 5 to 19-year-olds increased 1000 per cent between 1975 and 2022, according to the World Obesity Federation, and children with obesity tend to remain obese as adults. “Obesity’s prevalence has kept rising despite governmental efforts to try to reduce the rates, and by 2030, 1 billion people in the world will be obese,” says Correa-Burrows. What drives accelerated ageing? The mechanism by which obesity leads to accelerated ageing is a bone of contention. It may be that carrying around too much fat is a direct cause, possibly because it promotes long-term inflammation. “When you have chronic inflammation, it triggers these biochemical ageing signatures,” says Correa-Burrows. Alternatively, it could be that flooding the body with excess calories causes both obesity and ageing. Lorenzini favours this hypothesis, noting that many of the pathways associated with the ageing process are involved in nutrient sensing. It is well established that switching these pathways off in animal models – using drugs or caloric restriction – activates repair processes and retards ageing. Maybe people with a high-calorie, morning-noon-and-night diet chronically stimulate the pathways, so their body never has a chance to fix the damage that leads to ageing. Obesity isn’t the only culprit, however. “Anything that increases hormones related to stress, particularly cortisol, is going to have an adverse effect in terms of your biological ageing rate,” says Correa-Burrows. “Pollution has this effect. Early childhood adversity also. Trauma.” Exposure to heatwaves has also been found to speed up biological ageing (see “Heatwaves and premature ageing“), maybe because it activates stress hormones. People are also more sedentary than they used to be, says Guida. “All these things feed into each other to create this perfect storm.” Winding back the biological clock So how can you avoid becoming old before your time? “A lot of it comes down to lifestyle change,” says Guida. “Exercise is probably the biggest thing that you can do to slow your ageing. We know caloric restriction works too, but it’s not always feasible for everybody. Sleep is a great way to promote restoration and repair. And avoiding alcohol and smoking.” Avoiding obesity through healthy eating and exercise is key for slowing down biological ageingAlexander Spatari/Alexander Spatari Down the road, drugs might also help. The type 2 diabetes medicine Ozempic, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, was recently shown to slow the rate of ageing, and another study found that this drug family is also linked to a lower risk of obesity-related cancers. But we don’t yet know enough about the long-term effects to recommend them as an anti-ageing strategy, says Correa-Burrows. The good news, however, is that even if your biological clock has outpaced your chronological clock, lifestyle changes can throw it into reverse. “There are ways to synchronise both clocks or even put your biological clock below your chronological clock,” says Correa-Burrows. “Most of the interventions are based on changes in your lifestyle: exercising and changing your diet.” OK, I get it. Time to lose some weight and get active again. I doubt I can get back to being biologically six years younger than my age. Fifty-five would suit me just fine, though. Need a listening ear? UK Samaritans 116123; US 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988; hotlines in other countries Heatwaves and premature ageing Accelerated ageing isn’t just caused by obesity, stress and pollution (see main story). Climate change is also making us age faster. Earlier this year, Eun Young Choi and Jennifer Ailshire at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles analysed biological age data from 3686 adults aged 56-plus across the US, and cross-referenced it against climate records going back six years. They found that people who had been exposed to more hot days were ageing more rapidly, with each 10 per cent increase in exposure adding 1.4 months to their biological age. And in August, a team led by Cui Guo at the University of Hong Kong analysed data from nearly 25,000 adults in a medical screening programme in Taiwan. The researchers estimated the participants’ biological age and tallied their exposure to heatwaves – defined as periods of abnormally hot weather lasting for more than 48 hours – in the preceding two years. They found that people with a greater cumulative exposure to heatwaves were ageing faster than those with less exposure. Each four-day increase in total heatwave exposure was associated with a rise in biological age of about nine days. Totted up over a typical lifetime, this adds up to about five months. The mechanism by which heatwaves accelerate ageing isn’t clear, according to Paul Beggs, an environmental health scientist at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. But we know that acute heat exposure can damage the brain, heart and kidneys, and disrupt sleep.

Animals
Chemicals
Climate

Save This Species: The ‘Little Three-Horned Devil,’ One of Puerto Rico’s Rarest Plants

As the island faces continuous urbanization, this rare shrub has gone unnoticed and ignored for decades, shrinking into near-forgotten obscurity. The post Save This Species: The ‘Little Three-Horned Devil,’ One of Puerto Rico’s Rarest Plants appeared first on The Revelator.

Species name: Diablito de Tres Cuernos, Vahl’s boxwood (Buxus vahlii) IUCN Red List status: Endangered Description: Buxus vahlii is a short, slow-growing evergreen shrub or tree that reaches 3-10 feet (1–3 meters) in height, with ovular, dark-green, glossy leaves. It produces delicate, greenish-white flowers with small, rounded fruits growing close to the stem at the base of the leaves. Locally it’s called Diablito de Tres Cuernos (“Little Three-Horned Devil”) because of the distinctive shape of its fruits, which have three horn-like projections, giving this plant an eerie appearance when fruiting. Where they’re found: Buxus vahlii plants can be found in only a few highly restricted sites on the islands of Puerto Rico and St. Croix in the Caribbean Sea. They thrive in shallow, rocky limestone soils that few other plants can tolerate. Populations are found in small, forested patches surrounding areas that have long been developed or disturbed, often clinging to cliffs, ravines, and other rugged limestone terrain. It’s hard to say how many of these plants remain. Studies conducted between 2001 and 2018 documented up to seven remaining fragmented populations in Puerto Rico. There are four known populations on St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, including one within the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge and others on the hills south and east of Christiansted. Why they’re at risk: An immense amount of habitat destruction from urban development has placed Buxus vahlii at risk of total extinction. In Rincón, Puerto Rico, for example, the plants’ already restricted habitat and surrounding natural areas are threatened by the construction of a new highway that is unnecessary and opposed by the community. With no conservation attention, these populations continue to decline, unnoticed. On St. Croix, similarly, they’re threatened by urban development, invasive species, and human-caused wildfires. Who’s trying to save them: Buxus vahlii has been legally protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 1985. The law requires the species to be reassessed every five years, but the assessments have not been carried out on that schedule — the first was in 2010, the next in 2018. Notably, they used outdated data, as the only recent field surveys have been conducted on St. Croix. The last field survey in Rincón was conducted in 2001. A new five-year review was initiated in 2023. Can we trust its findings without current data? Meanwhile development continues unabated. While federal agencies such as the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have regulatory authority to intervene, enforcement and active conservation measures have not been upheld. There are no active conservation programs protecting this plant’s populations in Puerto Rico. Why I advocate for this species: I’ve often ventured into the harsh limestone ridges of Rincón, Puerto Rico, where I’ve found myself alone in the one of the rarest of ecosystems. B. vahlii is one of the few species that thrives in the subtropical dry forest life zone, with its shallow, rocky limestone soil and exposure to coastal winds and salt spray. There, the plants are short and chlorotic due to these salty, windy conditions. Photo courtesy Marina E. De León, Ph.D. I’ve also enjoyed guiding community members through these terrains, where I share knowledge about the local flora while learning from their ancestral wisdom. During these times together searching for B. vahlii individuals, we’ve observed old, tall, red-orange Bursera trees that grow together with the native species of Ceiba. While hiking, it’s not uncommon to disturb big, beautiful black witch moths (Ascalapha odorata) that fly off in swaths when we walk by. It’s impossible to capture their true beauty with a camera; the best way to experience them is in the daytime. Navigating these steep hillsides is challenging and reminds me that there are sacred places in the world. The majority of plants we see are short Marias (Calophyllum antillanum). It’s not easy to spot a B. vahlii individual, so finding one is always exciting. You need to look at the leaves and notice the thickness, the glossiness, the shape of the leaf, and its little point at the tip. When I find one, I recognize that due to its rarity, I’m one of the few people on Earth who has ever been this close to one. B. vahlii is not necessarily an interesting plant. Its flowers are not large or fragrant, its leaves are plain and nondescript. It offers no direct economic or practical value to humans, yet its ecological and intrinsic worth are undeniable. Like all species, it has the right to exist, independent of human use or interest. Tragically, because it holds no perceived benefit to people, it has been overlooked, neglected, and steadily displaced by human activity. What else do we need to understand or do to protect this species? To protect B. vahlii effectively, conservation extends beyond the immediate boundaries where the plant is found. A buffer zone is an essential area surrounding the critical habitat that acts as a protective margin, shielding the core habitat from the harmful effects of nearby land use and development. Although B. vahlii itself may not grow within the buffer zone, this transitional space is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the habitat it depends on. It helps reduce the impact of external threats such as pollution, soil disturbance, altered hydrology, and the introduction of invasive species. The need to designate an official buffer zone is necessary due to edge effects, which occur where intact habitat meets the surrounding roads, construction sites, and cleared land. These edge zones experience increased fluctuations in light, temperature, and moisture, along with a higher risk of erosion and the spread of invasive plants or animals. For B. vahlii, which thrives under stable and specific conditions, such changes are probably detrimental, weakening the population’s ability to survive and reproduce. Fragmented habitats with high edge-to-interior ratios are vulnerable, and without an adequate buffer, the microclimatic and ecological conditions needed by B. vahlii degrade. We also need to conduct detailed surveys of the plant’s remaining fragmented habitats. This will allow land managers to understand where B. vahlii grows, as well as the quality and extent of the surrounding environment. Meanwhile ecological studies should examine the species’ interactions with pollinators, seed dispersers, soil microbes, and other components of its dry limestone forest habitats. Data from these surveys help determine the appropriate size and shape of a buffer zone, taking into account soil type, water flow, light exposure, and the presence of mutualistic species like pollinators or seed dispersers. The goal is to preserve not only the current populations, but also the ecological processes that support their long-term viability. Encroaching development poses a significant threat to both the critical habitat and the buffer zones of B. vahlii. Urban expansion can alter hydrology, compact soil, introduce chemical runoff, and facilitate the spread of aggressive non-native plants. Once such changes take place, they could be irreversible. Therefore, to ensure the survival of B. vahlii, development in and around its habitat, including within designated buffer zones, must be strictly limited or prevented altogether. Legal and regulatory protections should be created and enforced. Effective mitigation will require coordination with local and federal authorities to ensure that projects comply with environmental laws, and that buffer zones are respected and maintained. What you can do to help: Please email the following agencies and let them know that the public cares about this plant and we will not allow it to go extinct. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Caribbean Ecological Services Field Office): Email: caribbean_es@fws.gov Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales, DRNA): Email: amartinez@drna.pr.gov Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Region 2 (Caribbean): Email: mears.mary@epa.gov Here’s a draft letter you can adapt or simply copy and paste to send to these agencies: Dear [Agency Name], I am writing to express serious concern over the status of Buxus vahlii (Diablito de Tres Cuernos), a federally listed endangered plant native to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. This rare species depends on highly specific limestone and serpentine habitats that are rapidly dwindling due to ongoing development, including recent road construction in Rincón. Under both federal and Puerto Rican environmental laws, your agency is legally responsible for protecting this species and its critical habitat. Yet the most recent five-year assessment of B. vahlii reported outdated literature rather than current field data. Without updated surveys, it is impossible to evaluate the true condition of existing populations or the extent of their remaining habitat. I urge your agency to immediately conduct comprehensive field surveys to document the number of plants left and the size and condition of their habitat, and to ensure that all projects near known populations undergo full environmental review. The public is watching closely to ensure Buxus vahlii receives the protection it is legally owed. Safeguarding this species is not only a regulatory duty but also an ethical commitment to preserve Puerto Rico’s irreplaceable natural heritage. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your response and to learning what actions your agency will take to ensure the survival of Buxus vahlii. Sincerely, [Your Name] [Locality] [Optional: Affiliation or organization] Previously in The Revelator: Save This Species: The Bettas of Bangka Island The post Save This Species: The ‘Little Three-Horned Devil,’ One of Puerto Rico’s Rarest Plants appeared first on The Revelator.

Animals
Chemicals
Conservation

Hiking with the wildlife author who studies Yosemite’s high peaks: ‘These animals are equal to us’

Inspired by childhood encyclopedias and Jane Goodall, Beth Pratt writes about the more than 150 species in the national park – and transports readers to a rarefied worldA shrill call was followed by a flash of movement through a pile of boulders on a high country slope in Yosemite national park. “Hello, Sophie!” Beth Pratt responded to the round, feisty pika who had briefly emerged to pose defiantly in the sun.Pratt, a conservation leader and wildlife advocate, has spent more than a decade observing the tiny mammals and the other inhabitants of these serene granite domes and the alpine meadows they overlook, which gleamed gold on a crisp afternoon in mid-October. Continue reading...

A shrill call was followed by a flash of movement through a pile of boulders on a high country slope in Yosemite national park. “Hello, Sophie!” Beth Pratt responded to the round, feisty pika who had briefly emerged to pose defiantly in the sun.Pratt, a conservation leader and wildlife advocate, has spent more than a decade observing the tiny mammals and the other inhabitants of these serene granite domes and the alpine meadows they overlook, which gleamed gold on a crisp afternoon in mid-October.Their stories are woven into Pratt’s new book, Yosemite Wildlife: The Wonder of Animal Life in California’s Sierra Nevada – the first in more than a century to focus solely on the more than 150 species who call the park home.Pratt’s book is designed to be more than a coffee-table tome. Each chapter features stories, facts and intimate insights about a different animal. The book isn’t necessarily meant to be read cover to cover. Rather, she was inspired by the encyclopedias she got lost in as a child.Paired with hundreds of photos from naturalist-photographer Robb Hirsch, as well as archival images, natural history and research, her storytelling transports readers into a world they don’t often have access to. Published by the Yosemite Conservancy, proceeds also directly benefit the park.Along with a glimpse into the lives of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects who dwell in one of the country’s most treasured parks, Pratt hopes to foster a deeper connection to the tenacious creatures who are surviving through the harshest conditions.“We think we as humans are so exceptional, but come up here and even the smallest of critters will put you in your place very quickly,” she said.Sophie the pika in Yosemite national park. Photograph: Gabrielle Canon/The GuardianThe world Pratt captures is fierce and fragile: Butterflies, weighing no more than a feather, fly over 12,000ft (3,650-meter) peaks. Freshwater crustaceans called fairy shrimp spring to life in small temporary ponds left after the mountain snow melts, their eggs able to last up to a century waiting in suspended animation for the right conditions. Pratt even saw a marmot chase off a coyote.But it also highlights how exceedingly vulnerable these animals have become. The climate crisis and the encroaching development into once-wild places have added challenges even for the most hardy.“People don’t understand that wildlife operate on the barest of margins,” Pratt said, pausing to ferry a caterpillar off the trail and onto the underbrush in the direction it was heading. “Something like trampling their nest or leaving trash out can result in dead animals or a loss of habitat or scaring an animal who doesn’t have a lot of energy reserves to begin with.”‘Stuff your eyes with wonder’For more than 30 years, Pratt has worked in environmental leadership roles, including heading the campaign behind the world’s largest wildlife crossing of its kind, stretching across 10 lanes of a bustling highway near Los Angeles.Her work helped the city fall in love with P-22, a celebrated urban mountain lion who lived in Griffith Park and died after being struck by a car in 2022, which inspired the P-22 Day festival – held in October this year – to honor and increase awareness around protecting wildlife. She is also the author of I Heart Wildlife and When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors.But from her first visit after she moved from Massachusetts to California in 1991 at the age of 22, “Yosemite claimed me”, she wrote in the book’s preface. Her adoration of national parks, first introduced in a book she dreamed over in middle school, was cemented during a first winter trip to the park that she now refers to as “her north star”.Beth Pratt and “pika hill,” in Yosemite National Park. Photograph: Gabrielle Canon/The GuardianFor 25 years, Pratt has made her home in the Sierra foothills just outside Yosemite, and she makes frequent trips through the park gates.With her new book, she’s invited the public deeper into a process 15 years in the making: Pratt said she’s about halfway through an attempt to record three decades of changes in Yosemite’s highest elevations.The hike up to an area Pratt affectionately refers to as “pika hill” is steep, but the rewards come quickly. “This is my happy place,” she said, gesturing toward a craggy ridgeline and the 13-mile (21km) route she’s looped countless times over the years to document how her friends are faring. The trail sweeps out from Yosemite’s eastern entrance on the Tioga Pass – a scenic thoroughfare that snakes through the Sierra at nearly 10,000ft – and offers access to the dramatic landscapes in a less-frequented part of the park.The high country is one of the places Pratt feels most at home and it inspired the intro to her book. “Stuff your eyes with wonder,” she quotes from the author Ray Bradbury, calling it a creed. Here, it is easy to do.In the distance, a lone coyote stalked through the amber plains in search of a snack. Overhead, a hawk, held fast by the wind, hovered in place. Sophie the pika retreated into tunnels burrowed deep under the rocks, as an azure lake on the horizon sparkled in the afternoon sun.Her process, though rooted in scientific observation, is simple: “I wander around and pay attention,” she said. Pratt’s patience has been rewarded again and again with rare encounters.She’s one of the few people who have seen burrowing owls here. She’s watched black bears sniff the air, and presided over the “commute of the newts”, an annual march of the small rust-colored amphibians as they descend down-canyon into their breeding-ground ponds near the Merced River.“When I was younger, it was such a push to see different places. Now I am really focused on one place,” she said. She knows the landscapes well – watching over them week to week through the seasons – and they have begun to know her in return. Sophie the pika wouldn’t have emerged for just anyone.“I treat them as people – because to me they are,” she said. “They are equal to us.”A gray fox captured by a camera trap on a rainy night with the moon rising. Photograph: Robb Hirsch/Yosemite ConservancyIt’s been her life mission to be a voice for those who have none, something she said was inspired by her love for wildlife and the late Jane Goodall. Goodall, who died earlier this year, was a primatologist and leader in her field who also named the animals she worked with – a practice once regarded as a coup against scientific convention.Goodall’s work inspired people around the world to take a greater interest in wildlife and in the negative impact humans have had, and Pratt’s work carries on that legacy.“Losing her couldn’t come at a worse time,” Pratt said. “All of us who do the work for the wildlife need to be louder now.”National parks facing threatsBefore heading back to the parking lot, Pratt called to Sophie one final time. They may not meet again. Soon, the pika would burrow deep beneath the snow, seeking protection from the cold by the drifts and the piles of vegetation she’d gathered to get her through.“You can see it’s the last hurrah – they can tell something is coming and they are out here preparing,” Pratt said, before turning back to the trail leading downhill. There was work left to do, both for Sophie and for Pratt.The effects of climate change have continued to unfold. Support for wildlife protections has eroded under the Trump administration, which has gutted budgets and pushed extractive policies. Yosemite and the national parks more broadly are facing greater threats; left without adequate staffing, there’s more pressure being put on landscapes and the animals who live within them.Beth Pratt. Photograph: Gabrielle Canon/The Guardian“Some days I am in despair,” she added. The setting sun offered a last brilliant glow as it slowly sank behind the purple horizon. “And then I think about the pika who have to gather enough hay for three months to live under the snow for the winter. Or these butterflies that are literally flowing over peaks with tattered wings. Or the Yosemite toad that has to walk sometimes up to a mile over snow to their breeding grounds.”With the first big snow foreshadowed in the darkening clouds gathering above, another winter was on its way. The hike was coming to an end, along with the season. But plans were already being made for the future. She’d soon be back.“If these animals can do this,” she said, “we got this.”

Animals
Conservation
Crisis

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